Many popular credit cards are heavily advertised using the lure of rewards including cash back and free travel. From the bank’s standpoint, this only makes sense as few would be encouraged to apply for a credit card after being reminded of the possibility of debt or fees. While many cardholders are able to use their cards to earn fantastic rewards, these products are not well suited to those who tend to carry a balance.  In fact, there are three great reasons why those who have credit card debt should not be using reward credit cards.

First, those who carry a balance should be concerned primarily with find a card with the lowest possible interest rate. Unfortunately, these tend not to be available on reward cards. The cost of extending cash back or other types of rewards is justified by the higher interest rates charges. Continue Reading »

While airline credit cards have always tended to offer consumers the most lucrative sign up bonuses, the current trend among the best airline and travel credit cards today is to offer long term, value adding perks that extend beyond initial sign up bonuses of 25,000 or more frequent flyer miles.

The two best airline credit cards available today, for example, waive fees on checked bags and offer priority boarding to cardholders. Perks such as these are often worth much more over the long term than miles, even for consumers who only travel the same airline once a year.

Below are details on the best offers available this month:

United MileagePlus Explorer Card

Sign-Up Bonus: The United credit card offers up to 40,000 free MileagePlus frequent flyer miles – the largest bonus currently available from a major U.S. carrier. Continue Reading »

One of the beautiful things about the highly competitive market for credit cards is that banks are willing to pay customers to sign up for their products.  These payments can come in the form of cash back, loyalty points, or frequent flier miles.

In March, credit card companies are continuing to offer generous incentives ranging from $100 or $200 of cash back to as much as $500 worth of loyalty points. These bonuses are available on all types of cards and with many offers there is no annual fee. Nevertheless, some of the best credit card reward sign up bonuses are available on cards with annual fees. However, most of these cards charge no fees the first year, giving consumers a full year to cash in on rewards and evaluate whether or not they want to pay an annual fee over the long term. Continue Reading »

Unlike in 2011, 0% APR balance transfer credit card offers appear to be quickly deteriorating this year. At the start of 2012, the longest balance transfer offers available lasted 21 months and there were two no fee 0% APR balance transfer offer available. A mere two months later, the longest 0% credit card offers are now only 18 months and, while one no fee balance transfer offer remains, it is highly likely that this offer will end in the near future.

In addition to these factors, credit card companies may soon begin making it harder for consumers to gain approval. Some, for example, have stopped allowing applicants to list household income and instead require individual income. This is a particular issue for stay at home Moms and Dads who don’t currently bring in a paycheck and thus would need to input zero in the income field. Continue Reading »

Five Tips to Help Reduce Credit Card Debt

Credit card debt is an especially difficult type of debt to pay off. People who get into credit card debt rarely understand how their interest is calculated and compounded daily, not to mention how quickly credit card debt can spiral out of control. Once cardholders find themselves in trouble with this most expensive type of personal debt, it is important that they take immediate steps to pay it off. Here are the five most important actions to take to get out of credit card debt:

1. Stop Spending Money. While cardholders cannot abstain from some necessary purchases, it is important that they do everything possible to stop adding to their debt. This means curtailing all discretionary spending on their credit cards in order to keep their debt from growing.
2. Perform A Balance Transfer. There are many cards on the market that offer 0% APR balance transfers for as long as 18 months. With a 0% balance transfer, consumers can move their high rate balances to a new card that offers 0% rate. This stops interest from piling up and allows card-holders to repay debt significantly faster than they can at a regular rate. It also helps those who can’t afford to start repaying debt prevent interest expenses from adding 15% or more to their current debt over a year. Continue Reading »

Credit card annual fees can be a justified expense, but only when the cardholder is earning a large amount of rewards from his or her spending. For those with more modest budgets, or those who do not use reward cards, choosing a product without an annual fee can be the best way to go. Here is an overview of the best fee free cards that are offered by all of the major issuers:

Citi

Citi offers several different cards with no annual fee. Consumers with credit card debt and can benefit from a 0% APR balance transfer or a 0% rate on purchases for up to 18 months can benefit handsomely with their Citi Platinum or Citi Simplicity cards.

Those without credit card debt can get a $200 cash back bonus with the Citi Dividend Card or up to 25,000 points with a no annual fee Citi ThankYou Rewards card. Continue Reading »

Credit card users want to earn the best credit card rewards on their card spend. These rewards typically come in the form of cash back or loyalty points with the most popular type of loyalty point offering being frequent flier miles. Unfortunately, frequent flyer credit cards have many drawbacks, especially due to the fact that large airlines have been limiting award availability while raising the number of miles needed to for many flights, thereby decreasing the value of miles.

Due to adverse miles revaluations, customers have become increasingly frustrated with this reality, and in response, banks have begun to promote their own loyalty point systems. Citi’s proprietary ThankYou program lets cardholders earn points that can be redeemed for cash back, travel, gift cards or a variety of merchandise rewards.

How the Citi ThankYou Rewards Program Works

Eight different Citi credit cards allow members to earn ThankYou points. These products are the Citi ThankYou Preferred Card, Citi Forward Card, Citi ThankYou Premier Card, Citi ThankYou Prestige Card, AT&T Universal Savings & Rewards Card, CitiBusiness World MasterCard, and the AT&T Universal Business Rewards Card. Continue Reading »