April 11
Rewards Cards – Good and Bad
I’ve posted numerous times about my love of earning miles and points through the use of various airline and hotel credit cards. They can represent a fantastic opportunity to top off your accounts and keep them active if you are not traveling as much. If you channel most or all of your spending through them, they may even earn you a lot of miles or points to use for free or upgraded travel.
Rewards cards are NOT low-cost financing and if you are carrying a balance, you should not bother. The finance charges you accrue will more than likely exceed the value of any awards you earn. At the very least, any balances you are needing to “carry” should be transferred to a card with a low rate of interest. I don’t want to sound preachy. I know life happens, and in some instances you may need to float a balance for a little while. But that’s all it should be, a little while.
You cannot successfully play the credit card rewards game if you: 1) live beyond your means through credit, and 2) don’t keep up with what you spend. Rewards cards need to be paid off each month, period. And that’s advice you can count on from the blogger you can trust.
“Off Soapbox”
[...] This article, on Smartmoney.com, entitled “Why Airline Cards Aren’t Worth It” prompts a few words from me on the topic. Many readers already know that I use a handful of rewards credit cards to top off my mileage and hotel accounts from time to time, and recommend others do the same on one condition…..that they pay their bills in full and on time every month without exception. Refresh your memory on my thoughts by reading my April 2009 post on the topic. [...]
[...] This article, on Smartmoney.com, entitled “Why Airline Cards Aren’t Worth It” prompts a few words from me on the topic. Many readers already know that I use a handful of rewards credit cards to top off my mileage and hotel accounts from time to time, and recommend others do the same on one condition…..that they pay their bills in full and on time every month without exception. Refresh your memory on my thoughts by reading my April 2009 post on the topic. [...]
[...] This article, on Smartmoney.com, entitled “Why Airline Cards Aren’t Worth It” prompts a few words from me on the topic. Many readers already know that I use a handful of rewards credit cards to top off my mileage and hotel accounts from time to time, and recommend others do the same on one condition…..that they pay their bills in full and on time every month without exception. Refresh your memory on my thoughts by reading my April 2009 post on the topic. [...]
[...] This article, on Smartmoney.com, entitled “Why Airline Cards Aren’t Worth It” prompts a few words from me on the topic. Many readers already know that I use a handful of rewards credit cards to top off my mileage and hotel accounts from time to time, and recommend others do the same on one condition…..that they pay their bills in full and on time every month without exception. Refresh your memory on my thoughts by reading my April 2009 post on the topic. [...]