Ready for Rewards
The reward credit card has become commonplace to today’s consumers. While it used to be a rarity offered only to those with the highest credit limits or those who had their cards for the longest periods of time, this is no longer true. Rewards are no longer limited to luggage or special discount checks. These days, the majority of credit card companies have several different reward cards available for which almost everyone who can qualify for a credit card is eligible.
In some cases the reward is simply money. You can receive a percentage of what you spend back in the form of a cash rebate, which can often be applied directly to your account. Every time you use your card you increase the size of the payment you will get back.
Other reward cards offer discounts at certain hotels, restaurants, and gas stations. The first step in choosing your card is to assess your options. With so many types of rewards available, you need to look at your spending habits before you choose your reward card. If you don’t drive very often, you are not going to get much benefit from a card that rewards you for buying gas. If you rarely travel, you won’t get much from a frequent-flyer miles card. Be careful to choose a card that not only sounds like a good deal, but will actually work for your lifestyle.
With gas prices so high, if you drive very often, especially if you commute to work, you probably could use some help with saving money at the pump. Credit Card companies have responded to the high gas prices and some are offering special rebates or extra points when you buy your gas. There is a credit card that actually gives you six percent back for your gas purchases at any gas station as well as a full one percent back for any other purchases elsewhere. You can compare this to popular gas company cards but you generally only get small rebates that work only for gas purchases at their stations.
If you do travel a lot, then you should look into the many travel rewards cards out there. Airline frequent flyer cards and hotel points cards continue to be popular, for business users and families that take frequent vacations. With most frequent flyer programs, however, you run into a similar problem as that of gas station rebate cards, where you are limited to only flying on one airline in order to accumulate or use your miles. Don’t limit yourself to just frequent flyer cards until you explore the many travel reward card options available these days.
Even if you have bad credit and are looking to earn reward points, there may be cards out there for you. In general, you may have to pay some fees to get these cards, but if you use them enough to earn the rewards, you may break even or end up ahead. Just keep in mind that any time you carry a balance or pay fees, it is actually a cost that you are paying to receive your reward. The same applies for the few cash back cards offered to those who do not have perfect credit. Even if you earn 2% back on all your purchases, if you are paying more than that in interest, you aren’t actually being rewarded in the big picture. The best way to use a rewards card is to charge the things that you would have to pay for anyway each month and then pay off your balance in full before the end of the grace period. Then, those rewards and rebates will actually be free.