In the redesigned October issue of Consumer Reports (www.ConsumerReports.org), there is a report about the American’s best and worst credit cards. This result is based on a complete study of hundreds of credit cards and actually only a small portion of them is named. In this report, consumer experts indicates 12 credit cards that are worthy of consumers’ consideration and 3 to stay away from.

Most of credit cards in the 12 named credit cards are very common at mycardblog.com. But some of them are not that good, at least, from my point of view. The best credit cards for low-rate or low-fee as rated by consumer reports were: Capital One Platinum Prestige, Clear from American Express, and Iberiabank Visa Classic (You might find a similar credit card from some credit unions). The best cash-back cards included Capital One No Hassle Cash Rewards, Chase Freedom Visa, and Discover More. The best gas cards were Chase PerfectCard MasterCard, Discover Open Road, and Hess Platinum Visa (I would also put Chase BP Visa card here.).

Three cards to avoid were First Premier Bank, HSBC American DreamCard and New Millennium Visa or MasterCard. These are subprime credit cards. They usually charge very high interest rates and sky high annual fees or other kinds of fees like account setup fees, processing fees, and monthly service fees. Of course, you should avoid them.

In this report, the experts also point out that consumers should do a credit card checkup to make sure their accounts haven’t changed for the worse. “Several card issuers have doubled or tripled interest rates for some customers in recent months, even though many were current on their bills and have good credit.” said Greg Daugherty, executive editor of Consumer Reports.

According to this report, the consumers’ credit card balances are up from $825 billion at the end of 2005 to $962 billion in May. Some credit card issuers are beginning to tighten their credit limits and charge higher interest rates for many borrowers. We also often hear that someone’s credit cards are closed by the credit card issuers these days. This is a sign that credit card issuers are going to make some changes to minimize their risks.

The most interesting part of this report is the consumer experts give out some useful tips on how to get most from a credit card.

1. Find a low interest rate or even 0% APR credit card if you carry balance on your credit cards.

2. Check your mails from credit card issuers to see whether they are about changing your credit card terms like lower credit limit or increase interest rate.

3. Try to contact credit issuer if you find anything that you feel uncomfortable.

4. Be aware of some “dirty tricks” from your credit issuers.

5. Choose the right credit cards according to the type of borrowers you are.

The full report can be found at ConsumerReports.org with paid subscribers.

Consumer Reports is an American magazine published monthly by Consumers Union. It publishes reviews and comparisons of consumer products and services based on reporting and results from its in-house testing laboratory.