Credit card benefits and perks - airline miles, rebates and cash back credit card.
Enjoy credit card benefits and perks, ranging from free airline miles, rebates, to cash back credit card incentives and rewards. Typically, platinum credit cards offer the best rates.
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Use our credit card guide for help choosing a credit card
Instant approval credit card: If you've been denied credit, or are behind on several bills, or if your annual income is less than $24,000 or you've filed bankruptcy, apply for a secured card or a guaranteed credit card.
Fair or Bad credit credit card: If you have minor credit problems, or are late paying a few minor bills, you may still qualify for a no deposit, unsecured credit card.
Excellent credit credit card: If you make over $30,000 per year, and if you make all your payments on time plus have 3 good credit references, you may qualify for a platinum credit card.
Credit Card Benefits
Credit cards are safe: If your card was issued in the United States and is lost or stolen and used by a thief, the most you'll be held liable for is $50. You don’t get that kind of guarantee with cash or checks.
Credit cards provide emergency buying power: Car broke down? An unexpected emergency room visit? A reassuring credit card benefit is that you don’t need to worry about having enough cash on hand or if a merchant accepts checks.
Credit cards offer protection: In most cases it's easier to reverse a credit card charge than to cancel a check payment or get a cash refund.
Credit cards can build your credit rating: A major credit card can help build credit ratings. Fact: the single strongest reference on a credit report is a major credit card, paid on time over time.
More credit card benefits
In many countries, major credit cards are widely accepted. You’ll often get a favorable exchange rate as well. And some cards offer benefits like emergency card replacement or free Collision Damage Waiver Coverage on rental cars.
With a credit card, you have the option of paying your bill in full and usually avoiding any interest charges, or making smaller payments. Charge cards, on the other hand, require you pay the entire balance in full each month. Of course it’s a good idea to pay as much as you can each month to avoid carrying too much debt or paying large finance charges.
Credit card perks range from free frequent flier miles to extended warranties on merchandise you buy with the card.
There are credit cards for just about every walk-of-life, meaning; chances are, there's a credit card tailored to satisfy your individuality. Credit card issuers; in their attempts to attract new customers, are creating card offers leaning heavily towards user personality.
But before you rush out to find a card that fits your personality, you first need to determine which types of credit cards you may qualify for. If you aren't sure of your credit score, you should order a credit report, or you can use the estimated prequalification guide.
Once you have an idea of what types of credit cards you may qualify for, you can begin your search to find your personality card. Listed below are examples of these types of credit cards:
Airline Miles Credit Card - this card is perfect for anyone who travels frequently. In addition to awarding frequent flyer miles to the user, this card can also offer discounts on airfare at participating airlines, such as Southwest.
Cash Back Credit Card - this type of card is ideal for people who rarely use cash when making purchases. By making purchases with the card, users can earn cash back based upon a percentage of their charges. Some issuers tailor the card to the user's personality, by allowing a higher cash back percentage on charges they most frequently make. For example; if the user mostly makes charges at a grocery store, the issuer credits a higher cash back percentage for those purchases. Other issuers may offer higher cash back percentages for purchases made at participating retailers, such as Home Depot or Sears.
Business Credit Card - these are not only for large businesses, now even small businesses can get this type of credit card, and can get separate cards for employees who make purchases on behalf of the company. Again, some business credit card issuers will sweeten the offer by awarding discounts for purchases made at participating retailers, such as Office Depot, or will award cash back percentages.
Retail Credit Card - if a person uses a credit card only at one particular store, a retail credit card can offer discounts on purchases. Examples of this type of card are: Sears Card, JC Penney Card, Wal Mart etc. Regarding the Wal Mart Card, users can get discounts on Wal Mart gasoline purchases, which is quite beneficial during current high gas prices.
Shopping Credit Card - typically known as Catalog or Merchant credit cards, these allow even bad credit people to obtain an unsecured line of credit. Purchases are restricted to a certain merchant or a specified catalog, but nonetheless offer the ability to make purchases on credit. For people with very bad credit, this is an excellent way to obtain credit. Just be sure to use a card that reports your timely payments to a major credit bureau so you can build your credit.
Other Rewards Credit Cards - you can find cards that offer a variety of discounts and free services, such as free music downloads, free roadside assistance, as well as protection against identity theft.
For nearly every individual personality and credit rating, their is a credit card issuer who wants you to become their customer. Be sure to read all the Terms and Conditions, so you know exactly what you will get before you apply.
Need more credit card information? Read our financial and credit articles related to benefits.
Credit
Card
Before
traveling, call the credit card company so that purchases will not be halted due
to fraud measures. This is especially necessary when traveling to a foreign
country. This helps avoid a freeze on a credit card account. There is antifraud software that monitors customers’ spending
patterns. When cardholders stray from usual habits, for example, like making
purchases in another state instead of at a store in the home ZIP code area, it
could be flagged as fraud.
Many
people are glad about this, but others get upset when purchases are denied. In
addition to watching for unusual spending patterns, banks also monitor where criminals use stolen
cards, which can be places like automated payment kiosks in metropolitan areas.
This is why some people have more than one credit card when they travel. It can
be a big problem to unfreeze a card when traveling in a foreign country.
For
people who travel all the time, countries in Europe, Japan, Canada, and Mexico have adopted a
credit card that has a chip. The customer must enter a PIN. Merchants that accept
Visa, MasterCard and
American Express are supposed to let customers pay with either type of
card, yet some employees at stores outside the United States do not always know what to do with the magnetic version.
Another
problem can be that automated kiosks in Europe, may only accept chip and PIN cards, particularly in
train stations, parking garages, gas stations, and some tollbooths. When this
happens, Americans with magnetic stripe cards usually have to wait in line to pay with cash or have a clerk swipe their cards.
These lines can be long and frustrating when trying to catch a train. Some merchants in other parts of the world often have higher minimum-purchase
requirements, to use a credit card or simply do not accept the cards because they
do not want to pay the fees card companies charge retailers. Be sure to contact
card issuers before traveling and check the credit limits on each card.
Auto Loan: Get free quotes and apply for a new or used auto loan or for auto refinancing.
Credit Report: Free credit report help to fix credit report errors and improve credit score ratings. You are entitled to one free credit report annually.
Debt Counseling: Get your expenses under control with credit counseling, an unsecured debt consolidation loan, debt management or negotiate debt settlement.
Free Credit Offers: Get no obligation, free credit offers plus financial tips to help effectively manage your personal finances.
Home Loan: Free multiple quotes from mortgage lenders. Apply for a new home loan and start building your financial security.
Mortgage Refinancing: 2nd mortgage loan and other types of mortgage refinancing for home remodeling, equity cash out or a debt consolidation loan and more.
Payday Loan: Easy approval bad credit unsecured loan with no credit check, no deposit and no security.
Personal Loan: Submit a short or long term personal loan application (if available), or apply for other secured or unsecured loan offers.
Personal Finance: How to file bankruptcy plus free bankruptcy forms. Create a household personal budget, balance a checkbook register, track expenses and more.
Tip of the Day: To curb credit card charges, wrap your credit card in a sheet of paper and keep a log of purchases written on the paper, with a grand total of charges in view each time you reach for your card. Before swiping your card, figure out how many hours you'll have to work in order to payoff the charge and jot on the paper: "IOU #Hours of Work". Perhaps seeing how long you'll need to work to payoff the charge will help curb spending.
