Alright, as I've mentioned in other threads, credit cards can be great, or they can kill you. Do you use a debit card for EVERYTHING you buy? That's not building any credit for you. Why not get a credit card and pay it off every month? You can do it all online, very easily. It'll build credit, and if you do it right, you'll get rewards in exchange for using the card. Only go for Rewards Cards if you can pay your balance every month.

majik's Quick points:
If you want to earn rewards for hotels/airlines, pick one and stay with it! You'll earn elite status faster and maximize your rewards by doing so. Having 100,000 with American Airlines is much more beneficial than 50,000 on American Airlines and 50,000 on Delta Airlines. Also make sure that you pick something you can use. If you live in Dallas, American Airlines might be the best for you. If you live in Canada, I'd avoid Southwest Airlines (do they even fly to Canada?). Be smart. Ask questions. Do research.

I choose to maximize on American Airlines. I enjoy Citibank's rewards offers, so I stick with them. I also keep a credit card for travel, and earn Marriott Rewards Points for that. If you want to start a Marriott Rewards account (free), let me know. If I refer you, we'll both earn additional points.

It's free to join any of the major rewards programs. If you'll be staying at a Hilton, even if just once, sign up for their Hilton Honors program... you might get free bottled water or free parking just for being a member. It CAN'T hurt you, so might as well take 2 minutes and do it.

Here are a few articles I found recently:
Your Five Minute Guide to Credit Cards - Article #1 below

The 15 Most Rewarding Credit Cards - Article #2 below

Are Gas Rebate Cards a Good Deal? - Article #3 below

Article #1
By MSN Money staff Use a credit card wisely and you can reap benefits like cash back, bonus points and airline miles, not to mention a better credit score. Use it unwisely and you could end up under a mountain of debt.



The No. 1 rule is: Pay off your balance every month. Otherwise, you'll pay interest on your purchases. Paying the balance takes discipline. About 40% of households carry credit card debt, according to the Federal Reserve.
Protect your good name (and score)

Make your payments by the date -- and time -- they're due. Late fees are $29 or more. A couple of late payments will trigger an interest rate increase. Because late and missed payments lower your credit score, the interest rate can go up on your other credit cards and for future loans as well. (See "7 fast fixes for your credit score.")
Limit the number of cards you have. Experts recommend having two to six cards. Applying for lots of cards can hurt your credit score. Conversely, closing several credit cards at once will trigger a decrease in your score. (See "1 in 7 Americans carry 10 or more cards.")
Read the fine print. Know the interest rate you will be charged, the grace period for paying your debt before interest kicks in and your credit limit. Does your company use two-cycle billing? (Better look, because two-cycle billing means you could pay interest even when you carry no balance.) Also, almost half come with a "universal default" clause, allowing an increase in your interest rate if you are late paying any other bill. (See "Credit card companies' evil tricks.") Negotiate. If your credit score is 700 or above, you may be able to get a lower interest rate or get the company to drop a late fee. (Estimate your credit score.) [*]Don't exceed 30% of your credit limit. Credit bureaus don't care if you pay off your balance each month. They're interested in how much of your available credit you use. If it's excessive, your credit score will drop. [/list]

The devil in the details
Credit card companies market different types of cards, featuring low interest, rewards or other benefits. Be careful about the terms, which are subject to change.


If you're transferring a balance to a new card with lower interest, find out how much the company will charge for the transfer. Urge that it be done electronically so you don't accumulate interest on both the old and new accounts. Low-interest introductory offers may apply only to the balance transfer and not to new purchases. [*]Reward cards that provide dividends like rebates and airlines miles sound too good to be true, and can be. The higher interest rate charged by most reward cards can more than offset the reward if you carry a balance. Reward offers can change with little notice and may come with budget-busting conditions -- for instance, you have to spend a certain amount to earn the reward. [/list]

Convenience? Sometimes
If you buy a defective item or protest a charge, your credit card company is obligated to investigate. If your card is stolen, you're liable for no more than $50 for unauthorized charges.



Other "services" offered by credit card companies have potential drawbacks.


Contactless credit cards make it even easier to purchase items because you don't need to swipe your card or hand it to a cashier. But thieves can scan the info on your card. You can buy a signal-blocking sleeve or make one out of aluminum foil. (See "New credit cards allow hands-free theft.")
Don't use "convenience" checks your credit card company sends you unsolicited in the mail. They're costly -- with a fee of 3% or 4% of the amount you write, plus high interest rates with no grace period -- and don't provide the consumer protection you get when you make a purchase with your credit card. (See "Dangerous checks in the mail.")
Credit card protection insurance generally covers only the minimum payment if you become disabled or unemployed, and interest continues to build on your outstanding balance. [*]Using a credit card issued by a department store you frequent can entitle you to cardholder discounts, but limit yourself to one card. Each department store account you open reduces your credit score. [/list]
Getting back in the game
Getting and using a credit card could be the easiest way to re-establish credit if yours has gone sour. But getting back into the credit game comes with potential hazards.



Cards issued to those considered credit risks come with interest rates in the 18% to 22% range and low spending limits. Such cards sometimes have extra fees hidden in the fine print. (See "Credit cards for the desperate.") [*]Don't take the bait when companies want to issue you one low-limit card after another. You can find yourself back in debt, paying late fees, over-limit fees and high interest rates on multiple cards. [/list]If you've fallen off the wise-spending wagon, seek counseling from a nonprofit credit-counseling agency certified by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling.

Tired of unsolicited offers of pre-approved cards? Call 1-888-5 OPT-OUT.

If you've got a hint we haven't included or find a factual error, let us know by sending an e-mail to Five.minute@hotmail.com.

Published April 20, 2007



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Article #2
By Liz Pulliam Weston The thrill of a credit card rewards program is so fleeting.

Yes, it's wonderful to get free stuff -- travel, cash back, money for college -- just by using your credit card.

But with so many rewards programs out there, it's hard not to second-guess your choice. Have you got the best card? Are you using it to its best advantage? Could you get more from a different one?

I could comfort you by repeating the usual advice that there is no single best card for everyone, that the right card for you depends on the kind of rewards you want and how much you charge, yadda yadda yadda.

But the fact is that some rewards programs are better -- much better -- than others.

To sniff out the best ones, I asked five credit card industry experts -- Curtis Arnold of CardRatings.com, Bill Hardekopf of LowCards.com, Ron Lieber of FiLife, Justin McHenry of IndexCreditCards.com and Ben Woolsey of CreditCards.com -- and frequent-flier guru Randy Petersen of WebFlyer to nominate their favorite plastic in three rewards categories:


[*]Travel programs. These generally offer the richest returns but only if you get the right card and know how to use it. If you're an infrequent traveler or not looking for upgrades, a different card might be a better fit.[/list]


[*]Cash-back programs. These are a good, simple choice for many, and the best rebate 1.5% or more of your purchases.[/list]


[*]Savings programs. This category encompasses a variety of cards that help you put aside money in an investment plan, pay down your mortgage or get discounts on major purchases such as cars.[/list]I also asked the experts to reveal which cards they use for their own spending. Interestingly, two of the six were taking advantage of special offers not widely available to the public -- as if you needed anything more to fuel your paranoia that you weren't getting the best deals. More on that here.

I broke the results down into winners, runners-up and worthy alternatives. In each case, the winner and the runner-up are almost interchangeable; either choice will put you in good stead. The alternatives aren't exactly also-rans, but they typically trail the best in the ease of earning or redeeming rewards.



And the winners are:
Travel
The winner: Starwood American Express.



The runner-up: Diners Club MasterCard.

Worthy alternatives: American Airlines AAdvantage MasterCard, United Mileage Plus Visa, Choice Privileges Visa, Citi PremierPass Elite MasterCard.

Starwood is a hotel company that runs the Sheraton, W and Westin chains, among others, but its branded credit card gives you a lot more options for redeeming points than just hotel stays. That array of options, plus a better-than-average "earn" rate, is what propels it to the top of the heap.

What travelers love about the Starwood card is that you can dump your rewards into most airlines' frequent-flier plans and do so at a good exchange rate. That means you're not tied to one airline for free tickets and upgrades, or stuck with the weird routes, lack of upgrades and limits on ticket value that come with some non-airline travel-rewards programs.


[*]Video: The coolest credit card perks[/list][/color]

You earn one "Starpoint" for each dollar spent (and you get 10,000 points for signing up). The $30 annual fee is waived for the first year. Every time you convert 20,000 points into airline miles, you get a 5,000-point bonus, "which means you're really earning 1.25 miles per dollar on most every carrier, better earning than any other card," WebFlyer's Petersen said.

You can, of course, redeem your points for Starwood hotel rooms across the globe, with a redemption rate that typically translates into 2 to 4 cents per point, an enviable exchange rate for any rewards program.

There are two main drawbacks to the card:


[*]This is not the card to use for flying United. That airline requires you to give up two Starpoints for every frequent-flier mile, which makes the airline's own co-branded card a better bet for dedicated United fliers.[/list]


[*]This is not a card that's accepted everywhere. Visa and MasterCard are accepted by more than 6 million merchants each, American Express by about 4 million.[/list]

If you want a flexible travel program without the acceptance issue, pick Diners Club. Now that the card has partnered with MasterCard, it's accepted virtually everywhere you can use a credit card.

With Diners Club, you earn one point per dollar spent, and each point translates into one frequent-flier mile that can be used in any of 21 airline programs. Or you can choose to allocate your points to one of seven hotel frequent-guest programs, including those run by Hilton, Marriott and Starwood. You also can use your points to pay for travel expenses, including flights on any airline or rooms in any hotel, that have been charged to your Diners Club card.

The real kicker, for Petersen anyway, is that Diners Club offers primary insurance coverage on rental cars. Most other cards give you coverage that kicks in only after your own insurance carrier has paid most of the bill; with Diners Club, your insurer doesn't even have to know if you've had an accident. The annual fee is $95, steep for today's rewards cards, but one that's generally offset by sign-up bonuses and the richness of the program.




Cash back
The winner: American Express Blue Cash.



The runner-up: Chase Freedom Visa.

Worthy alternatives: Citi Professional Cash MasterCard, Discover Motiva.

American Express Blue Cash leads the pack with its 5% rebate on "everyday purchases" at supermarkets, gas stations and drugstores, and its 1.5% rebate everywhere else. Unlike many other cash-back cards, there is no cap on the rebates you can earn. The trick is that you have to spend at least $6,500 annually to get this rate of return; until you hit that magic level, your rebate is 1% on "everyday" purchases and 0.5% on everything else. Given normal spending patterns, you'd probably have to charge $2,500 a month before the card made more financial sense than its fellow top picks. But for big card users, that could happen.

If you're not a big spender, though, check out the Chase Freedom Card, which allows you to automatically earn 3% back on purchases in the three categories where you spend the most each month, plus 1% everywhere else.


[*]Video: The coolest credit card perks[/list]

"If this month you happen to spend more heavily at grocery stores, fast-food restaurants and the dry cleaners, your 3% rebate will come off those," explains McHenry, of IndexCreditCards.com. "If next month your heavier spending is at gas stations, local utilities and the vet's office, those purchases would get the 3% rebate, plus the 1% back on any purchases that didn't fall into your top purchasing categories."



In addition, said CardRatings.com's Arnold, you can redeem every $200 you earn in awards for a $250 check. That $50 bonus makes for a 1.25% redemption rate.
Savings
The winner: [color="#07519a"]Fidelity Investments 529 College Rewards American Express.



The runner-up: Citi UPromise MasterCard.

Worthy alternatives: Citi Home Rebate Platinum Select MasterCard, GM Flexible Earnings MasterCard, NestEggz Visa.

The best cards in this category are aimed at those who are saving for a child's college education.

With 1.5% rebates, the Fidelity card is an excellent supplement for anyone with a Fidelity-managed 529 college savings plan. According to LowCards.com's Hardekopf, you earn 1.5 points per $100 spent on retail purchases. One point is equal to one Fidelity 529 dollar, and points are automatically deposited into the Fidelity-managed 529 plan each time 50 points are accrued. There's no annual fee, and the card has a 0% introductory rate for the first year.

An alternative, McHenry said, is Citi's Upromise card, which offers 1% rebates on all spending, plus bigger rebates on some gas and grocery purchases. The card is affiliated with the free Upromise service, which offers rebates of 1% to 25% on purchases from partner merchants and companies.

"Using the card allows you to double up, getting rebates on the purchase via Upromise partner retailers and also getting the 1% rebate from the card," McHenry said.

Your accumulated rebates can be deposited into one of 13 affiliated 529 college plans or used to pay down student loans.



If you don't have kids but you do have a mortgage, check out the Citi Home Rebate card. According to CreditCards.com's Woolsey, it offers a 6% rebate on utilities, cable or satellite TV service, Internet connections and telecommunications bills for six months, plus 1% for all other purchases. The rebate is applied automatically to your mortgage principal each year, and the program works with any mortgage. There is no cap or limit on the rebates you can accumulate, but the rate drops to 1% for all purchases after the first six months.

Another alternative: the NestEggz Visa, which works like the Upromise card but deposits your 1% rebate into the retirement account of your choice.



Or, if you'll be in the market for a new car, consider the GM Flexible Earnings card. Your 1% cash-back rebate can be applied to any new-vehicle purchase, but your rewards are tripled if you use them for an eligible GM vehicle.
The fine print
Before you apply for any of these, though, there are some basics you need to know about rewards cards:




[*]They're for "deadbeats." "Deadbeat" is the credit card industry's code word for people who pay their balances in full every month. If you carry a balance, you need to bypass rewards cards, which typically have high interest rates, and seek out the lowest-rate card you can find. Once you're in the habit of paying off your balance every month, you can switch to a rewards card.[/list]

[*]The deals change constantly. The better the rewards program, the more likely it is to get watered down over time. Credit card issuers will change how fast you earn rewards and how you're able to redeem them. Airlines will ratchet up how many miles you need for free tickets or upgrades. Last year, many hotels increased the number of points needed for free rooms, in some cases by as much as 30%. If you get a rewards card, you should monitor the program for changes; consider signing up for its e-mail newsletter and periodically visiting its Web site. Also, periodically check out the sites run by our experts -- CardRatings.com, LowCards.com, FiLife, IndexCreditCards.com, CreditCards.com and WebFlyer.com -- to see if a better deal has emerged.[/list]

[*]Watch your scores. Applying for any new credit account can ding your credit scores, and the damage increases the more cards you add to your wallet. Don't apply for new cards if you're in the market for a major loan such as a mortgage or auto loans. Instead, wait until the loan closes before you get more plastic.[/list]
Liz Pulliam Weston's new book, "Easy Money: How to Simplify Your Finances and Get What You Want Out of Life," is now available. Columns by Weston, the Web's most-read personal-finance writer and winner of the 2007 Clarion Award for online journalism, appear every Monday and Thursday, exclusively on MSN Money. She also answers reader questions on the Your Money message board.

Published Jan. 7, 2008

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Article #3

By Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine

With today's high gas prices, gas-rebate credit cards are becoming increasingly popular. And chances are, you've been tempted. Should you sign up?



Scott Strumello, who works for a financial-services consulting firm in Westbury, N.Y., says: "Not without understanding that there's a difference between what's featured on the outside of the envelope -- frequently an introductory offer -- and what's in the fine print."
Introductory vs. reality
With Chase's PerfectCard MasterCard, for example, you get a 6% rebate on all gas purchases, but only for the first 90 days that the account is open. Thereafter, the gas rebate drops to 3%. Citibank's Dividend Platinum Select offers 5% cash back on gas (and on drugstore, convenience store, supermarket and utility purchases) for six months, but then it drops to 2%. Still, the card is an "editor's pick" at CardRatings.com.





A few other potential problems:
They hold the cards
Remember: Issuers can change their terms and conditions with little notice. A perfect example is MBNA's AAA credit card. The card was once extremely popular -- you got a 5% rebate on all of your gas purchases. Then the issuer realized that consumers were using it only for gas, says Curtis Arnold, president of CardRatings.com, and the plan was scaled back dramatically.



"All of a sudden, consumers got a letter in the mail," Arnold says. "Instead of getting that 5% rebate on gas, most customers now get only 2% if all they do is use the card for gasoline." If terms are changed on your card, ask the issuer if it will offer you any enticing alternatives.




Not all gas stations qualify for a full rebate
Given the high cost of gasoline, filling up at a wholesale club may sound appealing. Not so fast. If you use your American Express Blue Cash card to pay for gas at a warehouse club, for instance, you'll get a paltry 1.5%. And that's after you spend $6,500 that year.





"Typically, to get the full rebate, which is generally 5%, you have to go to a standalone station," explains Arnold -- that is, a place whose primary function is selling gas.
Your savings may go up in smoke
Interest rates on unpaid balances of gas-rebate cards can be more than 20%.



"Accruing debt and then paying interest to save a few dollars at the pump doesn't make any sense," says Robert Manning, author of "Credit Card Nation: The Consequences of America's Addiction to Credit."

If you carry a balance -- as 60% of all cardholders do -- carry it on a low-interest-rate card.




Your rebates may be held hostage
Some issuers don't automatically put the money into your account or issue you a check. Instead, you have to request it.





Moreover, your rebate may disappear if you don't act within six or 12 months.
You can buck the system
No gas-rebate card will save you 20 to 30 cents per gallon -- unless you get creative.



At CardRatings.com, one savvy consumer says the Speedway/SuperAmerica, where he buys gas, sells a $50 gift card for $48. When he buys or reloads a gift card, he pays with a Citi Dividend Platinum Select credit card, with its 5% rebate on gas-station purchases. On $3-a-gallon gas, that's an 8.8% discount, or 26 cents per gallon.

This article was reported and written by Vera Gibbons for Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine.

Updated Dec. 21, 2007

 

If you're going to sign up for Frequent Flyer accounts or Hotel rewards, you need to know what the points are worth. Being told you'll earn 20,000 points doesn't mean anything unless you know what you can do with those points.

American Airlines - AAdvantage Program - www.aa.com
There are no historical promotions for signing up for the program. It's free, they don't offer any bonus miles for setting up an account or referring someone.
They have different redemption levels, but these are the normal:
25,000 or 30,000 miles earns you a free roundtrip ticket.
60,000 miles earns you a free roundtrip ticket in first/business class

Marriott Hotels - Marriott Rewards Points - www.Marriott.com
If you refer someone to MR, you and the person you refer get additional points everytime they stay at a hotel. Contact me if you want to be referred.
What's great about Marriott Rewards, is that you can use points for more than just hotel stays. Let's say you want to go to Aruba -- Marroitt offers "Vacation Packages" where you can use 180,000 Marriott Points and receive 7 Hotel Nights in a Category 6 (Marriott Hotels are rated from Category 1 to Category 7) as well as 50,000 airline miles (enough for two roundtrip tickets) to be transferred to one of your Frequent Flyer accounts. (details taken from here).

You can also use Marriott Points to redeem plasma TVs, digital cameras, Best Buy gift cards, etc. etc...

It's very easy to earn Marriott Points. I have their Premier Visa Signature credit card, and I earn 5 points for every $1 spent at a Marriott. If I go out of town for a week for business, and I stay at a Marriott, when I check out I pay with my Marriott CC and earn 5 points/$ (if I spend $700, that's 3,500 points). They also run promotions - they recently ran one where you'd earn an extra 2,500 bonus points for each stay between November and January. But, because I have the credit card I'm automatically a "Silver Elite" member, and I earn an extra 20% on points just for my elite status.

I recently went to Fort Wayne, IN for work. Total hotel bill was about $750 or so. I earned 7,740 points. I also received 20,000 points when I opened the card.

http://www.marriott.com/rewards/pointsGrid...rdType=Standard - shows point redemptions
category Number of nights / Points required for stay*

...1 night . 2night . 3night . 4night . 5night . 6night . 7night
1 7,500 14,000 20,000 25,000 30,000 35,000 40,000
2 10,000 19,000 27,000 35,000 43,000 50,000 55,000
3 15,000 28,000 41,000 52,000 63,000 73,000 82,000
4 20,000 38,000 55,000 70,000 85,000 95,000 105,000
5 25,000 46,000 65,000 80,000 95,000 105,000 115,000
6 30,000 55,000 78,000 95,000 110,000 120,000 130,000
7 35,000 65,000 90,000 110,000 130,000 140,000 150,000
*Point values are based on a standard room and may vary by length of stay and hotel category. Upgrades may be available for extra points.

So... after just one stay, I'd have 27,000 points (AND the CC gives me one free night/yr at Cat. 1-5), so I could stay a Category 3 for 3 nights, or a Category 5 for two nights. It's easy to see how fast points can rack up.

Southwest Airlines - Rapid Rewards
They're pretty much standard. You can get a Southwest credit card and earn "segments" but I don't know specifics on them. You will earn 1 point for each segment (roundtrip, nonstop would be 2 segments). You need 16 segments to redeem a roundtrip ticket, but it's a rolling 18-moth window, so you have to fly 8 roundtrips in a year and a half in order to get a free roundtrip ticket.

 

Thanks MajikTib. There were some things i didn't know about on there. Mainly the part were you should only carry 30% of your credit. The guesstimating of the credit score was a pleasant surprise as well.