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Your credit limit represents the maximum amount you can spend on a credit card before the card issuer cuts you off. Having a higher credit limit means your card has greater purchasing power. A high limit helps protect your credit score by keeping your credit utilization ratio low on both individual accounts and across all accounts.
Raising your credit limit is also convenient if you tend to max out your cards, since it keeps you from having to pay down your balance more than once per statement cycle.
Read on to see our picks for the best high-limit credit cards currently available, and to learn some alternative strategies for boosting your spending power.
We're focused here on the rewards and perks that come with each card. These cards won't be worth it if you're paying interest or late fees. When using a credit card, it's important to pay your balance in full each month, make payments on time, and only spend what you can afford to pay.
Methodology: How we chose the best credit cards with high limits
Plenty of the best credit cards on the market may give you a high credit limit if you have an excellent credit history, high income, and a strong credit score. In this guide, we only evaluated cards that offer high limits by default, either because of their card type (charge cards versus credit cards) or tier (Visa Infinite).
Beyond that, we considered other factors to narrow down our list, including:
Annual fee — Most credit cards with high limits are premium cards with high annual fees. We examined the card's benefits (like statement credits and travel perks) and rewards to decide if the fee is worth it for most users.
Welcome bonus offer — A high welcome bonus offer is a great incentive to apply for a new card and can give you a head start in earning rewards. While it's not the major factor if your goal is a high credit limit, we did look at how the card's bonus compares to similar cards.
Ongoing rewards — A high earning rate in bonus categories that are broadly useful to consumers is a big plus. We compared the card's earning potential to that of competing cards in our assessment.
Benefits — We evaluated the card's benefits in comparison to similar cards, especially in relation to the annual fee. Perks like statement credits, lounge access, and elite status are all valuable and boost a card's rating.
Here's a closer look at how we rate credit cards at Insider for more details about our methodology.
Credit Cards With High Limits Frequently Asked Questions
What is a high limit credit card?
A card is considered to have a high limit if it has no preset spending limit, or if its minimum credit limit is $5,000 or more.
What's the highest limit on a credit card?
Card issuers don't advertise their maximum credit limits. That said, anecdotal evidence suggests long-term bank customers with high incomes and spotless credit history have qualified for credit limits of $100,000 or more.
What credit score do I need for a high limit credit card?
Most high-limit credit cards require at least a good (FICO score of 670+) or excellent credit score (FICO score of 800+). If you're still building your score, you may want to open a starter credit card or credit card for fair credit and work on increasing your existing credit line first.
What happens if I go over my credit limit?
If you go over your credit limit, either because of a transaction or because of added fees or interest, the bank will usually decline the charge if it's from a purchase. A few banks offer over-limit protection, but you'll have to opt-in and pay fees for going over your limit.
Can I get a high limit credit card with bad credit?
The amount of credit a bank will extend to you is based on your creditworthiness, income, and other factors. If you have a bad credit score, it's extremely unlikely a card issuer would give you a high credit limit.
The Platinum Card® from American Express - Product Name Only typically ranks among the best travel rewards cards, but it unequivocally tops this list thanks to its flexible spending limit. The The Platinum Card® from American Express - Editorial Name Only doesn't apply a fixed cap to your credit line; instead, the amount you can spend changes along with your purchase, payment, and credit history. You can easily check your spending power online and in the Amex app to see whether a given purchase amount will be approved.
When I checked, my The Platinum Card® from American Express - Editorial Name Only was approved for purchases of roughly seven times the highest credit line available on my other cards. For raw purchasing power, that's hard to beat.
The The Platinum Card® from American Express - Editorial Name Only comes with a welcome offer of The Platinum Card® from American Express - Intro Bonus. With an average redemption value of 1.8 cents per Amex point (thanks to Amex's roster of airline and hotel transfer partners), we value that welcome bonus at The Platinum Card® from American Express - Featured Reward Value in travel.
On the downside, the The Platinum Card® from American Express - Editorial Name Only's The Platinum Card® from American Express - Annual Fee annual fee is one of the highest you'll find on any publicly available credit card. It also offers a weak earning rate of just 1 point per dollar on most purchases, so even though the card can accommodate very large purchases, it's not the best option to maximize them.
The Chase Sapphire Reserve® - Product Name Only doesn't have a flexible spending limit like the Amex Platinum, but as a Visa Infinite card, it does come with a minimum credit limit of $10,000. While the Chase Sapphire Reserve® - Annual Fee annual fee places it among the most costly premium credit cards, it's also one of the top-rated travel rewards cards overall.
The Chase Sapphire Reserve® - Editorial Name Only offers a wide variety of travel perks, including up to $300 in annual credits toward eligible travel purchases, access to Priority Pass airport lounges, and an application fee credit for expedited security programs like Global Entry and TSA PreCheck. The card also offers first-rate protections for travelers, including primary rental car insurance, roadside assistance that covers the first $50 of services like towing and jump starts (up to four times each year), and both baggage delay insurance and trip delay reimbursement that apply after only six hours.
Apart from individual benefits, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® - Editorial Name Only is useful for accumulating travel rewards. It comes with an introductory offer of Chase Sapphire Reserve® - Intro Bonus. With a redemption value of 1.8 cents per Chase Ultimate Rewards® point, we value that bonus at Chase Sapphire Reserve® - Featured Reward Value in travel. You'll also earn 3 points per dollar on travel and dining purchases, and 10 points per dollar on rental cars and hotels booked through Ultimate Rewards, as well as on Lyft.
The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card - Product Name Only is another Visa Infinite card, offering a minimum credit limit of $10,000. The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card - Annual Fee annual fee is lower than most premium travel rewards cards, and is more than offset by statement credits of up to $300 you get each year toward travel booked through Capital One, plus the anniversary bonus of 10,000 miles.
The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card - Editorial Name Only comes with an introductory offer of Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card - Intro Bonus (worth around Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card - Featured Reward Value in travel, based on Insider's valuations). Beyond that, you'll earn a flat 2 miles per dollar on nearly every purchase. The exception is the Capital One Travel portal, where you'll earn 5 miles per dollar on flights and 10 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars.
Capital One miles are most valuable when you transfer them to Capital One's roster of airline and hotel partners, where you can get an average return of 1.7 cents per mile. Alternatively, you can redeem miles at a rate of 1 cent apiece to book travel through the Capital One Travel portal, or to offset eligible travel purchases made on your card in the past 90 days.
The card's ancillary benefits are competitive with other premium cards. You'll get an application fee credit of up to $100 for expedited security programs Global Entry and TSA PreCheck, and access to Priority Pass, Plaza Premium, and Capital One airport lounges. The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card - Editorial Name Only also offers primary car rental insurance and trip delay insurance that kicks in after just six hours.
Like the The Platinum Card® from American Express - Editorial Name Only, the American Express® Gold Card - Product Name Only has no preset spending limit, and you can check your spending power through the Amex website or app in a similar fashion. You might expect the American Express® Gold Card - Editorial Name Only's lower American Express® Gold Card - Annual Fee annual fee to correlate with a lower flexible spending limit, but that's not the case. How much you can spend is again determined by your purchase, payment, and credit history. If you want the spending power but don't need all the bells and whistles, this card is a good fit.
That said, the American Express® Gold Card - Editorial Name Only has lucrative benefits of its own. You'll earn 4 Membership Rewards points per dollar at restaurants (including takeout and many delivery services) and on up to $25,000 spent at U.S. supermarkets each calendar year (then 1x). Those bonus categories put the American Express® Gold Card - Editorial Name Only among the best credit cards for both dining and groceries. You'll also earn 3 points per dollar on flights booked directly with airlines or through American Express Travel.
Apart from its earning potential, the American Express® Gold Card - Editorial Name Only offers up to $10 per month in dining credits with participating food delivery services and restaurants, and up to another $10 per month in Uber Cash credits you can use toward eligible US Uber rides or Uber Eats purchases (up to $120 per calendar year, and the Gold Card needs to be added to the Uber app to receive the Uber Cash benefit) The card also has strong travel and purchase protections, and comes with an intro offer of American Express® Gold Card - Intro Bonus (worth American Express® Gold Card - Featured Reward Value in travel, based on our valuations).
Unlike the other Ink Business cards from Chase, the Ink Business Premier Card - Product Name Only is a charge card, so it has no preset spending limit. Among the options on this list that offer a flexible spending limit, this card has the lowest annual fee at Ink Business Premier Card - Annual Fee. However, it lacks benefits like dining and travel credits that can offset the annual fee easily.
The Ink Business Premier Card - Editorial Name Only comes with an intro offer of Ink Business Premier Card - Intro Bonus. You'll earn 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards, and 2% cash back on most purchases. It also comes with travel and purchase protections similar (but not identical) to those on the Chase Sapphire Reserve® - Editorial Name Only, such as primary rental car insurance when renting for business purposes, cell phone protection, extended warranty, and trip cancellation and interruption insurance.
The highlight of the Ink Business Premier Card - Editorial Name Only is the opportunity to get a higher cash-back rate for large purchases. Instead of the usual 2%, you'll earn 2.5% cash back on every purchase totaling $5,000 or more. That compares favorably with other cash-back cards for spending outside of bonus categories.
The downside is that the card's rewards are purely cash back and are not interchangeable with Ultimate Rewards points. Since they can't be transferred to airline and hotel partners, the redemption value is capped at 1 cent per point.
As a Visa Infinite card, the U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® Card - Product Name Only comes with a minimum credit limit of $10,000. Its U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® Card - Annual Fee annual fee is on the low end for a premium travel rewards card, and is mostly offset by up to $325 in statement credits you get toward travel and dining purchases each cardmember year.
The U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® Card - Editorial Name Only earns 5 points per dollar on prepaid hotels and car rentals booked through the Altitude Rewards travel portal, and 3 points per dollar on other eligible travel purchases. One of the card's highlights is another uncommon bonus category: you'll earn 3 points per dollar on purchases using a mobile wallet (specifically Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and Google Pay). Since a wide variety of merchants accept mobile payments, this creates opportunities to earn bonus points in circumstances where you wouldn't otherwise.
As a welcome bonus, you can earn U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® Card - Intro Bonus. US Bank doesn't have airline or hotel transfer partners, but points are worth a respectable 1.5 cents apiece when you redeem for travel through the US Bank travel portal or directly using Real-Time Mobile Rewards. You can also redeem Altitude Rewards for cash at a rate of 1 cent per point.
The U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® Card - Editorial Name Only doesn't offer any other standout benefits, but it comes with a package of travel and retail perks similar to those available on other cards in its class. You'll get a $100 application fee credit for expedited security programs Global Entry and TSA PreCheck, four visits per year to Priority Pass airport lounges, and various travel and purchase protections. None of those benefits are primary reasons to get the card, but they all add value to it.
If getting a new credit card with a high spending limit isn't an option, you may be able to increase your spending limit on existing accounts. One strategy is to request a credit limit increase; if your credit is in good shape, you may be able to get a 10-25% boost in spending power simply by asking. Some card issuers will raise your limit based on your account history, but beware that some requests will result in a hard inquiry on your credit.
When you have multiple accounts with a single card issuer, another strategy you can try is to move a portion of your credit line from one account to another. For example, if your cards A and B each have credit limits of $15,000, you could ask to shift $10,000 of credit from A to B, leaving the two cards with limits of $5,000 and $25,000, respectively. This won't work with all card pairings, so ask your card issuer about your options. Also, note the distinction between a credit transfer and a balance transfer, which involves moving debt between accounts rather than credit.
If the above options fail, you can increase your total credit limit by getting a new card. This isn't the same as raising your credit limit on a single account, but it does give you more cumulative spending power. For example, a charge that's over the limit for one card could be split between two, enabling you to make purchases that would otherwise be declined.
