Important Tips for Frequent Flyers

Here are a few other tips that will help you make the most of your reward cards:

• Watch your spending levels with an airline reward card. Avoid the trap of spending more just to earn the reward.

• Free reward tickets might be taxable if you earned them during business travel and then used them for personal, leisure travel.

• Consolidate, consolidate, consolidate! Miles spread out over various airlines, cards, and FFPs will not likely get you your desired reward.

• If you won’t be able to use all your earned miles, consider getting a cash-back card instead.

Finding the right card takes a little research and use of your math skills, but the payoff in the end is worth it, whether or not you choose to apply for an airline reward card. CardRatings.com makes it easy to evaluate and compare the different airline reward cards available. Good luck and bon voyage!

Have Fun
Finally, have fun with reward cards! Peter Flur, founder of the Grapevine, views the pursuit of credit card rewards as a game—albeit, a potentially profitable one—where cardholders can rack up considerable rewards on a regular basis. If you don’t like one card after trying it out for a while, simply switch to another. As I’ve often said, you aren’t married to the current credit card in your wallet or purse.

Reward cards are expanding and evolving so fast that it’s worth making sure your current card is still the best fit for you. New cards come out all the time, so keep your eyes peeled and go to CardRatings.com regularly to learn about new choices.
The good news is that reward cards already offer a plethora of ways for you to get freebies, and more offers are on the way. Go forth and enjoy the fruit of the competition among card issuers!

Cut Your Gas Bill by 5% with Gas Rebate Credit Cards

Are you feeling a little light in the wallet? Suddenly regretting the decision to go for that V-8 engine? Vowing to look into one of those hybrid cars? Chances are you’ve just been to the gas station. A With gasoline prices so high, many people are searching for ways to cut costs at the pump. If you’re one of them, you might be interested in credit cards that offer rebates on gas purchases.

Traditionally, gas cards have been affiliated with a particular oil company—Shell, Exxon Mobil, Phillips 66, and so on. These cards are great if you habitually purchase your gas from a specific company, but they’re not so handy if you’re not particular about where you fill up, or if you might find it aggravating to have to search for a certain gas station.

Newer gas cards are more versatile and offer rebates regardless of where you fill your tank. As Ira Stoller explains on the CardRatings forum:
Ten years ago, credit cards charged consumers a premium for using their credit cards at the pump.
Now these same companies have recognized that the pay-at-the-pump business is huge, and they’re engaging in a ‘semibattle’ competing for that business by offering increasingly better rewards and rebates.

Here’s how to take the maximum advantage of the available gas cards:

• Most gas rebate cards don’t charge an annual fee.
Most that do charge a fee will waive it if you make a minimum number of purchases. Ask!
• Plan to pay off your gas card every month. Gas rebate cards generally offer higher APRs than other rebate cards, thus you’ll end up losing most of your reward if you carry a monthly balance and pay interest.
• Pick a card that gives rewards in the way you prefer.
Usually, the gas rebate is given as a monthly credit on your statement. Sometimes, however, a gift card for a particular vendor is issued.
• Some offers come with incredible introductory rebate rates that will decrease in just a few months.
Find out when the starting rebate expires and what the new rebate rate will be.
• Most cards have rebate restrictions on gas purchases made at wholesale clubs, grocery stores and discount stores. As always, read the fine print carefully!

With skyrocketing gasoline prices, there has never been a better time to check into a credit card that gives cash rebates for your gasoline purchases. You’ll certainly remember this tip the next time you hit the pump for a fill-up.

Credit Cards, It’s Not Just Plastic—It’s Money

What would we do without credit cards? Most of us have at least one in our wallet. From purchasing airline tickets and shopping online to filling up the grocery cart and topping off the gas tank, we use credit cards as a convenient, quick way to pay.
But they can be far more than just fast and easy. Although it sounds counterintuitive and even an oxymoron, you can actually profit from credit cards if you apply the insider tips:

• Your cards will pay you between 1% and 5% in cash just for charging things you would have bought anyway.
• You can use cards as creative financing tools to buy virtually anything, at rates as low as 0%.
These ideas have helped countless consumers, including me; get hundreds and even thousands of dollars from their credit cards.