When most people consider a travel rewards credit card they immediately think of one that earns frequent flier miles. Their next thought is often about the difficulty they will have booking award flights at the lowest mileage levels.

Sadly, most airlines have made it almost impossible to find multiple award seats to popular destinations anywhere near the peak season. Fortunately, members of American Airline’s AAdavantage frequent flyer program still have a reasonable chance of redeeming their miles for the flights they want. Via the Citi Platinum Select AAdvantage World MasterCard, American Airlines travelers can earn the miles they need to fulfill their award travel aspirations.

Citi AAdvantage Credit Card Overview

New Citi AAdvantage credit card applicants will earn 30,000 miles after making $750 worth of purchases within the first four months of opening an account. Customers can earn an additional 10,000 miles for spending $5,000 in the first six months card membership. Continue Reading »

Earning cash back rewards from credit cards is all about receiving the highest percentage of cash back while paying the lowest annual fee. While some cards offer a standard rate of return on all purchases, other products provide different cash back bonuses depending on the type of merchant charge. The American Express Blue Cash Everyday card is unique in that it offers a well above average cash back rate on gas and groceries year round and does not require annoying quarterly sign-ups to earn bonus rewards

American Express Blue Cash Everyday Benefits

At minimum, each dollar spent with the Blue Cash Everyday card earns one cent in cash back. Two cents per dollar are earned from purchases at both gas stations and department stores, with three cents per dollar being earned at supermarkets. The ability to earn 3% at supermarkets makes this card an excellent option for families. Continue Reading »

America is the home to dozens of major big box retailers. Perhaps no other merchant has exemplified this genre the way that Costco has. Costco is not just known as a place that offers low prices, it has also been recognized as one of America’s best employers.

Costco devotees who want to realize further savings will find the American Express Costco True Earnings card is a good option to save more at Costco as well as on travel and gas.

Costco Credit Card Benefits Overview

For each dollar spent on Costco credit card, customers will receive one cent in cash back for must purchases, including those at Costco. Two cents per dollar spent is earned at restaurants and on travel related expenses such as hotels, airfare, and car rental. Customers can also earn 3% cash back on their first $3,000 spent each year on gasoline.

Cash back earned on the Costco credit card is awarded once a year in February in the form of a voucher. Only current card members in good standing will receive their voucher, which can be redeemed at any Costco location for merchandise or cash. Continue Reading »

Chase’s Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Plus credit card has undergone a number of makeovers during the past year. The latest rendition of the Southwest credit card provides applicants with a very respectable 25,000 Rapid Rewards point sign up bonus worth slightly more than $400 in Wanna Get Away Fares as well as all the standard reward features consumers have come to expect from airline credit cards.

Southwest Credit Card Benefit Overview

Approved applicants who make a single purchase obtain the aforementioned 25,000 Rapid Rewards point bonus. The points have a value of 1.7 cents each when used for Wanna Get Away fares and can thus be used to purchase a round-trip flight comprised of two one way $200 tickets. Given that it is often possible to get Wanna Get Away fares for as low as $50, these points could theoretically be enough for four flights.

Apart from the sign-up bonus, card-members earn 2 Rapid Rewards points for every dollar spent on Southwest Airlines purchases in addition to rewards earned from flying. Given the value of the points, this equates to a 3.4% discount on Southwest flights. Everyday purchases earn a straight one point per dollar, the equivalent of a 1.7% discount on all purchases. Continue Reading »

It has gotten difficult to watch TV and not see a Chase Freedom rewards card commercial. The recent marketing onslaught, which shows consumers opting for the largest cash back credit card getting pummeled by quarters, is a not so subtle attack on Discover. Nevertheless, it does highlight the key differences between the Chase Freedom card and competing cash back cards that advertise, but fail to deliver in the cash back rewards arena.

Chase Freedom Cash Back Rewards Overview

The Chase Freedom card’s cash back rewards program is among the best available and Chase backs this up by offering applicants massive sign up bonuses. At present, the Chase Freedom $200 promo is the largest, but there is also a Freedom card with a $100 bonus as well as a third version with a $50 bonus. While the promotional bonuses attached to these offers vary, the underlying Freedom rewards program is the same. Card-holder’s earn 1% cash back on all purchases, plus 5% cash back on up to $1,500 of purchases in categories that rotate four times a year. Apart from the limits on Freedom’s 5% cash back reward categories, there is no annual limit on cash back earnings. Continue Reading »

Many credit card holders are unsatisfied with their credit cards, their bank, or both. They do not like paying late fees and over the limit fees that they feel are arbitrary and punitive. Nevertheless, most cardholders continue to do business with super-sized banks that charge these fees. They may do so out of habit, out of convenience, or perhaps out of a perceived lack of choices. Cardholders actually do have a choice to do business not with a bank, but with a credit union.

The Pentagon Federal Credit Union, which is easy to join, offers the PenFed Promise Visa card as an alternative to fee laden major bank credit cards. The PenFed Promise Visa card charges no late fees, no balance transfer fee, and no foreign transaction fees, features that many consumers can benefit from.

PenFed Promise Visa Card Overview

The PenFed Promise Visa  is a rare card that may best be defined by what it isn’t rather than what it is. This card has no annual, foreign transaction, balance transfer, cash advance, over the limit, or late fees. New customers will receive a 4.99% APR on balance transfers for 36 months, and an introductory APR of 7.49% on purchases for three years. After that, customers will incur interest at a rate equal to the Prime Rate plus 6.74%.  There is a no-fee cash advance rate of 17.99% APR, and there isn’t even a penalty interest rate that applies when customers fail to make timely payments. Continue Reading »

Throughout 2011, credit card offers have grown increasingly generous. In the past, only airline credit cards offered substantial sign-up bonuses. Today, a wide range of rewards credit cards are being promoted that provide new card-members with bonuses ranging from $50 to $500. While there are always strings attached, the hurdles that stand between applicants and the bonuses being advertised are minimal and are simply based on meeting certain spending requirements within a three month period.

Below are some insights on credit card reward promotions worth considering ahead of the holiday season.

Credit Card Offers with the Largest Credit Card Reward Bonuses

As has been the case throughout the year, Chase Sapphire and Chase Sapphire Preferred offer consumers two of the largest bonuses. Each card requires new applicants to spend $3,000 during the first three months of card-membership in order to obtain the bonuses offered. Of the two cards, Chase Sapphire Preferred leads the pack, serving up a 50,000 Chase Ultimate Reward point bonus that, at bare minimum is worth $500. However, if these miles are redeemed for travel rewards, the value of the bonus increases to $625. This card charges no annual fee the first year, but does charge $95 in subsequent years. Continue Reading »