A survey done by CreditCards.com showed that 60 percent of credit card holders in the United States with investable assets of US $100,000 prefer cash back as a credit card perk while only 22% enjoyed frequent flier miles.

A recent Fidelity survey also confirms this with 55 percent of cardholders having a rewards credit card, and 67 percent of them favoring the cash back card.

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Merchandise points, airline miles and gas or dining discounts trailed behind.

However, in the Creditcard.com survey, cash back turned out to win over more affluent women than men, 4 to 1 (or 67 percent to 17 percent) fancying cash back over miles.

On the other hand, male cardholders preferred cash back more than 2 to 1 (or 56 percent to 25 percent) compared with miles.

Among even the wealthiest of American (those with investable assets of half a million dollars or more), cash back was the top of the list, with 53 percent of them citing cash back as their favorite reward and only a third choosing flier miles.

Credit cards with rewards perks have gained popularity over the years. Revolving credit picked up 7.9 percent in December, the most significant growth since March of last year.

Total outstanding consumer credit, to include debt outside of real estate borrowings, saw a US $3.31 trillion dollar increase, the US Federal Reserve recently noted.

 A recent survey by CardHub in 2014 saw credit card rewards levels skyrocketing in recent years, from card issuers offering rewards bonuses of hundreds of dollars to reel in consumers with good credit.

In fact, as much as US $48 billion are distributed annually as loyalty rewards.

Surprisingly, however, a third of consumers do not redeem the loyalty rewards due to forgetfulness and rewards limitations (i.e. expiration and cash-in mechanics).

Matt Schulz, senior analyst at CreditCards.com noted that,  "These cards can be a good deal, but you want to get something that fits your life."

These data show credit card holders returning to pre-financial crisis levels. However, it also shows that holders are not charging as much as before the recession.

TagsCredit Cards, perks, Rich