The Rewards Card That’s Best for You
Reward cards today offer an overwhelming array of ways to earn and spend credit card rewards. There are credit cards that can knock thousands off the price of your next car, pay for free theme-park tickets or even contribute to your retirement account. How do you decide which rewards card is best for you?
The first step is to take a look at your actual lifestyle. What are your travel and spending habits? You should use these to help you determine which rebates, rewards and rules will work for you.
An important consideration before deciding on any credit card is whether you carry a monthly balance. If you do, then you should be comparing APR’s and not rewards. If, however, you are able to manage your money so that you rarely or never carry a balance on your credit card, then you can move on and look at other factors to determine which reward card is the right one for you. The best reward card will depend on a number of factors.
Getting the most from a rewards card takes time and effort on your part. If you want to get the optimum deal, you must be willing to invest some time in choosing a card and in managing it afterwards. Wise rebate card users look at their credit card programs as an investment and they realize that the payoff will depend on the amount of attention they give to the plan. They are able to focus their spending patterns to give them the most rebate reward for their money.
To compare deals, you should know how rewards are valued. In other words, how much will you actually have to spend before getting a reward? This can be determined by how many points you must earn before redemption as well as by what benefit or reward you plan to redeem your points for. Some rebate cards may even limit how much of a reward you can earn in any one year.
To find the best rewards card match for you, you also need to look at your current spending habits. While those who use their cards a lot may be frustrated by the limits on how much reward they can earn, those credit card users who rarely charge their expenses can find that they don’t earn enough rebates with their credit card to make it worthwhile.
You also need to decide if you should focus on one type of reward, such as airline miles, or use a card that offers many options for redemption. The good news is that even airline and travel reward cards have gotten much better at offering alternatives to miles. This means that more cards are offering you more flexibility in both earning and spending your rewards. Some consumers still find that rebate cards offering cash back are the simplest and most versatile option.
No matter which card you choose, remember not to risk ruining your credit score in a quest to earn enough points for any reward. The cost of bad credit outweighs the benefit of any reward plan available.