Card comparison
Which card is better between Choice Privileges Select Mastercard and Dillard's Elite American Express Card?
Choice Privileges Select Mastercard is the better overall pick over Dillard's Elite American Express Card because it leads on Madeen's weighted scorecard (58 vs 42) across categories, bonus, benefits, and fee.
Effective rate Choice Privileges Select Mastercard
Annual fee Dillard's Elite American Express Card
Welcome bonus Choice Privileges Select Mastercard
Benefits value Choice Privileges Select Mastercard
Choice Privileges Select Mastercard is the stronger overall pick between Choice Privileges Select Mastercard and Dillard's Elite American Express Card because it leads on Madeen's weighted scorecard (58 vs 42) across categories, bonus, benefits, and fee. Choice Privileges Select Mastercard (3% top effective rate) vs Dillard's Elite American Express Card (1%): Madeen's catalog compares fees vs fees across dining, grocery, gas, and travel — not just headline categories.
Choose A if
Choose Choice Privileges Select Mastercard when its strongest categories, bonus, or perks match how you actually spend.
Choose B if
Choose Dillard's Elite American Express Card when the fee, welcome bonus, or issuer ecosystem fits better than the headline winner.
Full comparison
How do Choice Privileges Select Mastercard and Dillard's Elite American Express Card compare across all spend categories?
Across all five spend categories, Choice Privileges Select Mastercard and Dillard's Elite American Express Card trade wins row by row. Choice Privileges Select Mastercard peaks at 3% effective; Dillard's Elite American Express Card peaks at 1%. Choice Privileges Select Mastercard wins the headline effective-rate view in this pair.
| Category / metric | Choice Privileges Select Mastercard | Dillard's Elite American Express Card | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dining | 1x points (0.6%) | 1x points (1%) | Dillard's Elite American Express Card · 0.4 pts |
| Grocery | 5x points (3%) | 1x points (1%) | Choice Privileges Select Mastercard · 2 pts |
| Gas | 5x points (3%) | 1x points (1%) | Choice Privileges Select Mastercard · 2 pts |
| Travel | 1x points (0.6%) | 1x points (1%) | Dillard's Elite American Express Card · 0.4 pts |
| Other | 1x points (0.6%) | 1x points (1%) | Dillard's Elite American Express Card · 0.4 pts |
| Welcome bonus | ~$360 estimated | — | Choice Privileges Select Mastercard |
| Est. annual benefits | $7985/yr | $7200/yr | Choice Privileges Select Mastercard |
| Annual fee | $95 | $0 | Dillard's Elite American Express Card |
| Holistic overall | 58 pts (cat 21, bonus 20, benefits 13, fee 4) | 42 pts (cat 19, bonus 0, benefits 12, fee 11) | Choice Privileges Select Mastercard |
Madeen take
How to think about this pair
Choice Privileges Select Mastercard (3% top effective rate) vs Dillard's Elite American Express Card (1%): Madeen's catalog compares fees vs fees across dining, grocery, gas, and travel — not just headline categories.
Strategy
Use Choice Privileges Select Mastercard when Best for spenders who put meaningful volume in grocery and can earn 5x points. The welcome bonus can help if you can meet the spend requirement. Travel perks may add value beyond the earn rate.. Use Dillard's Elite American Express Card when Best for spenders who put meaningful volume in dining and can earn 1x points.. Choice Privileges Select Mastercard is weaker when Compare.
Hold both?
Many Wells Fargo users can hold both cards if each covers a different spend lane and the combined annual fees still clear your break-even math.
Welcome bonus playbook
If you are chasing a welcome bonus, Choice Privileges Select Mastercard leads on catalog bonus value. For long-term category earn after the bonus, Dillard's Elite American Express Card is the stronger keeper in this pair — but only if its annual fee still makes sense for your spend.
Madeen analysis
Which card has stronger benefits: Choice Privileges Select Mastercard or Dillard's Elite American Express Card?
Madeen estimates $7985 annual benefit value on Choice Privileges Select Mastercard versus $7200 on Dillard's Elite American Express Card. Credits only matter if you will use them.
Choice Privileges Select Mastercard
Total est. value: $7,985/yr
Credits and perks only help if you will actually use them in a typical year.
- Cell phone protection $7,200/yr
- Mastercard Transit Benefit $200/yr
- Instacart $140/yr
- Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® $120/yr
- Anniversary bonus $100/yr
Dillard's Elite American Express Card
Total est. value: $7,200/yr
Credits and perks only help if you will actually use them in a typical year.
- Cell Phone Protection $7,200/yr
- 10% off
- Complimentary gift wrapping
- Complimentary standard shipping
Welcome bonus
Which welcome bonus is stronger for Choice Privileges Select Mastercard or Dillard's Elite American Express Card?
If you are chasing a welcome bonus, Choice Privileges Select Mastercard leads on catalog bonus value. For long-term category earn after the bonus, Dillard's Elite American Express Card is the stronger keeper in this pair — but only if its annual fee still makes sense for your spend. Choice Privileges Select Mastercard lists 60k Choice Privileges Points; Dillard's Elite American.
Choice Privileges Select Mastercard
60k Choice Privileges Points
Dillard's Elite American Express Card
—
Caps & conditions
Caps and earn limits
Choice Privileges Select Mastercard has catalog caps that can change the winner on heavy category spend, while Dillard's Elite American Express Card looks cleaner on cap structure in this snapshot.
Choice Privileges Select Mastercard
- 5X points on purchases at gas stations
- 5X points on purchases at grocery stores
Who should pick which
Scenario playbook
Cashback-first user
Pick Choice Privileges Select Mastercard
Choice Privileges Select Mastercard is the better cashback-style pick because it has the cleaner effective-rate and fee blend for this pair.
Travel & points user
Pick Choice Privileges Select Mastercard
Choice Privileges Select Mastercard is the stronger travel-style pick because it combines better reward value with more travel-friendly positioning.
No annual fee priority
Pick Dillard's Elite American Express Card
Dillard's Elite American Express Card is easier to keep for no-fee users because it has the lighter annual-fee burden in this pair.
Heavy dining spend
Pick Dillard's Elite American Express Card
For restaurant and dining-coded spend, the winner is whoever posts the stronger dining effective rate after caps and exclusions — see the category matrix for the current snapshot.
Heavy grocery spend
Pick Choice Privileges Select Mastercard
Supermarket and grocery coding can differ from superstores and delivery, so compare the grocery row before you optimize a weekly shopping basket.
Welcome bonus chaser
Pick Choice Privileges Select Mastercard
If you are chasing a welcome bonus, Choice Privileges Select Mastercard leads on catalog bonus value. For long-term category earn after the bonus, Dillard's Elite American Express Card is the stronger keeper in this pair — but only if its annual fee still makes sense for your spend.
Fee-sensitive keeper
Pick Dillard's Elite American Express Card
When you want the card that is easiest to keep year two, annual fee often matters more than a narrow category edge.
Decision guide
Which card is better between Choice Privileges Select Mastercard and Dillard's Elite American Express Card?
Choice Privileges Select Mastercard is the better overall pick because it leads on Madeen's weighted scorecard (58 vs 42) across categories, bonus, benefits, and fee. Choice Privileges Select Mastercard (3% top effective rate) vs Dillard's Elite American Express Card (1%): Madeen's catalog compares fees vs fees across dining, grocery, gas, and travel — not just headline categories.
When should you pick Choice Privileges Select Mastercard over Dillard's Elite American Express Card?
Choose Choice Privileges Select Mastercard if Best for spenders who put meaningful volume in grocery and can earn 5x points. The welcome bonus can help if you can meet the spend requirement. Travel perks may add value beyond the earn rate.. Best for grocery-heavy spend when the $95 fee fits your usage; confirm issuer terms before applying.
Strengths
- Strongest Madeen category is grocery at about 3% effective (5x points).
- That grocery rate ranks higher than about 97% of cards we track in the category.
- No foreign transaction fee listed.
Tradeoffs
- $95 annual fee requires enough spend in bonus categories to offset.
- Choice Privileges Points value depends on how you redeem, not straight cash back.
When should you pick Dillard's Elite American Express Card over Choice Privileges Select Mastercard?
Choose Dillard's Elite American Express Card if Best for spenders who put meaningful volume in dining and can earn 1x points.. Best for dining-heavy spend when you want to avoid an annual fee; confirm issuer terms before applying.
Strengths
- Strongest Madeen category is dining at about 1% effective (1x points).
- No annual fee in our catalog snapshot.
Tradeoffs
- Charges $3 foreign transaction fees.
- Dillard's value depends on how you redeem, not straight cash back.
Common questions about Choice Privileges Select Mastercard vs Dillard's Elite American Express Card
Which card is better between Choice Privileges Select Mastercard and Dillard's Elite American Express Card?
Choice Privileges Select Mastercard is the stronger overall fit because it leads on Madeen's weighted scorecard (58 vs 42) across categories, bonus, benefits, and fee. The overall winner depends on your spend mix — use the scorecard rows and scenario playbook to see where each card actually wins.
Which card wins on dining: Choice Privileges Select Mastercard or Dillard's Elite American Express Card?
Dillard's Elite American Express Card leads dining at 1% effective versus 0.6%.
Which card is better for cashback users: Choice Privileges Select Mastercard or Dillard's Elite American Express Card?
Choice Privileges Select Mastercard is the better cashback-style pick between Choice Privileges Select Mastercard and Dillard's Elite American Express Card.
Which welcome bonus is stronger between Choice Privileges Select Mastercard and Dillard's Elite American Express Card?
If you are chasing a welcome bonus, Choice Privileges Select Mastercard leads on catalog bonus value. For long-term category earn after the bonus, Dillard's Elite American Express Card is the stronger keeper in this pair — but only if its annual fee still makes sense for your spend.
Which card has stronger benefits: Choice Privileges Select Mastercard or Dillard's Elite American Express Card?
Choice Privileges Select Mastercard leads on estimated annual benefit value in the Madeen snapshot.
Which card has the lower annual fee: Choice Privileges Select Mastercard or Dillard's Elite American Express Card?
Dillard's Elite American Express Card has the simpler fee story in this pair ($95 vs $0). Annual fee only wins if you use the rewards and credits that justify it.
Is Choice Privileges Select Mastercard or Dillard's Elite American Express Card better for travel spend?
Choice Privileges Select Mastercard is the stronger travel-style pick between Choice Privileges Select Mastercard and Dillard's Elite American Express Card in this snapshot.
Can you hold both Wells Fargo cards?
Yes, many people can hold both Wells Fargo cards when each covers a different spend lane and the combined fees still make sense.
Compare
Related comparisons
Related topics
Explore the related pages
Reviewed by Madeen editorial review
Catalog snapshot 2026-05-01
Updated 2026-06-25
Content tier Standard
Wells Fargo and Wells Fargo (and related product names) are trademarks of their respective owners. Madeen is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by either issuer. Madeen is an independent credit-card comparison and education service.
Madeen compares cards you add to your wallet using published catalog rules — no bank login required. Issuer pages control current fees, caps, exclusions, and eligibility; Madeen does not issue cards, make approval decisions, or provide financial advice. Apply links are temporarily hidden on madeen.app. Affiliate disclosure