MyCardBlog

My post—”my favorite rewards credit cards” has already told you guys how I use my credit cards in a combination manner. Yes, in this way, I can get myself rewarded for using my credit cards to a maximum degree. These days I notice another useful information for National City Everyday Rewards Cardholders. If you use your National City Everyday Rewards Card at Wal-Mart or other supermarkets, the spending will be counted as “Groceries”. Yes, it’s true! The expense category is “Groceries” and it will give you 2% cash back for using this card at Wal-Mart or other supermarkets. If you don’t have a Household Bank or Orchard Bank 2% cash back card, this maybe a good choice for you. National City is accepting online application now.

OK, let’s go to today’s topic—how to manage your credit cards?

My rule for credit card usage is:

• Use a credit card for every expense whenever or wherever you can.
• Only charge as much as you can pay off every month—never carry a balance on your credit cards.
• Try your best to get a rewards credit card—I know sometimes it’s hard to get a perfect one but keep trying.
• Take the every opportunities as you can to get some free money—get yourself rewarded for having a good credit history!

Many people indicate that you can easily go crazy spending money by using credit cards. Because when you are using that piece of plastic, you are not feeling that you’re using your money. Yes, it won’t touch your money at your checking or savings account right away. But, finally, you have to write a check to credit card company otherwise you will be charged for a high interest rate. So, when you use it, you can tell yourself that you have to pay the money back to the credit card company. If you can’t pay off the balance every month, you have to pay the interest which is typically around 18% APR. Actually, credit card companies try to intrigue you to charge everything on your credit cards and hope you will not be able to pay off all the balance. In this way, they can get more profits other than some transaction fees. Don’t carry balance on your credit cards is always the top 1 tip for every debit management expert.

Get rewarded for using your credit cards is a sweet thing. If you pay your bills using check or money orders, you get nothing back. But, if you use you Chase Freedom Card to pay your cell phone bills or cable bills, you can get 3% cash back. Or if you use the SimplyCash Card from American Express, you can get 5% cash back. So why not get a plastic to pay for the bills online? You can also save the money for stamps.

When you’re using a credit card, you have to remember that use your plastics wisely can bring some profits for you. If you have a very high FICO credit score, you chance to get a new credit card is very high. When there’s a sign-up bonus opportunity, you can’t let it go. Because it’s the reward for maintaining a good credit score. You can always check “MyCardBlog” for updated sign-up opportunities. Warn: If you’re gonna purchase a mortgage in two years, please forget about this. A hard pull on your credit report might give you a 0.5% difference on your mortgage rate which will cost your hundreds of dollars. If you don’t have such a plan, then just go ahead. Hard pulls mean nothing to you! (Of course, there’s a trick to bump all of your hard pulls from your TransUnion and Equifax credit report.)

I have a special page for credit card sign-up bonus where you can find a complete list of credit cards which will offer you a certain amount of sign-up bonus. I hope this list will be helpful for those App-O-Rama planners. Today I think it’s necessary to keep a tidy list of credit cards with some fulfillment requirements. The aim is to keep you updated with sign-up bonus offers. There are two main requirements for a specific credit card entering in this list: minimum $50 sign-up bonus and must be a mainstream brand like American Express, Discover, Citi, Chase, BOA, etc. Thus all the credit cards on this list are available to everyone.

All the credit cards are listed in order of value and I will try my best to keep this list updated in a monthly manner. Basically, I assume 100 points/miles=$1. Because you can always redeem your points or miles for certain gift cards.

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Due to the mortgage losses, banks are reducing the credit card borrowing limits, even for those who have good credit records. I have some friends recently received letters from their credit card issuers stating that their credit limits have been reduced. Rich Helmich, my colleague, told me that he had a Citi Dividend Platinum Select Card got closed by Citi Bank last week. Factors that could let credit card issuers make this decision: minor mess-up (late payment once? exceed the credit limit once?), carrying too much balance on your credit cards (usually credit issuers “soft” pull your credit report periodically) or other risky debts, not profitable to the credit card issuers……

Lowering your credit limit can push up your debt-to-credit ratio, which will hurt your credit score. How can you defend your credit limit if this happen to you?

Make An Appeal: maybe a computer may cut your credit limit, but a costumer service representative can fix the bug for you manually. You can always call them up and request to have your previous credit limit reinstalled. Please be polite during the appeal process.

Threaten to Cancel: If the customer representative doesn’t fulfill your request, you can ask him/her to close your account. And tell him/her that you never use a credit card with low credit limit! Banks can’t afford to lose a good customer. Last year, I requested to increase my credit limit on my Chase Freedom Card and got rejected! Then I called Chase up and asked the credit specialist to close my account. Then she increased my credit limit immediately plus a $10 rewards credit on my Chase Freedom Card!

Apply for A New Credit Card: It might help you to increase your overall credit limit. Citi is in a big trouble right now. I think most of you can avoid Citi. American Express and Discover are still in a good shape. Some credit cards from American Express and Discover are still easy to get.

In a word, if you are profitable to your credit issuer, your chance to get hurt in this credit crunch is very low.

Need tips for how to deal with customer service representatives?

Suggested posts:10 Confessions of A Chase Customer Service Representative 1

10 Confessions of A Chase Customer Service Representative 2

These days my post about earning enough thankyou points for a free trip to Europe and Asia have been proved to be a very popular blog post in the internet. It was also highlighted at www.digg.com. If you have a solid credit history and willing to take advantage of the bonus thankyou points, I think it’s a great idea to accumulate your thankyou points and redeem them for a flight ticket. Actually, most frequent flyer forums conclude that the best way to use your thankyou points is to redeem them for a flight ticket. Considering that the Citi Platinum Select AAdvantage World MasterCard is offering 25,000 bonus AAdvantage miles, I think it’s a good idea to get enough AAdvantage miles to get a free flight ticket.

How can you get enough AAdvantage miles for a free ticket?

Sign-up bonus miles from Citi:

Citi Platinum Select AAdvantage World MaterCard 25,000 bonus miles

Citi Gold AAdvantage World MasterCard 15,000bonus miles

CitiBusiness AAdvantage MasterCard/Visa Card 25,000 bonus miles

Another card you can consider is the Starwood Preferred Guest Card from American Express. They offer 10,000 bonus starpoints which can then be converted to AAdvantage miles later. (If you are lucky, you can get 20,000 bonus points.)
According to AA, 50,000 miles are enough for an economy class ticket to Europe or Asia at off-peak season. (see the detailed requirement)

Fidelity is offering AAdvantage miles for opening a new nonretirement brokerage account. If you deposit $2,500 in the new account, you will get 5,000 miles. If you deposit $10,000, you will get 15,000 miles. If you deposit $50,000, you will get 25,000 miles.

I hope this post will be of some help to those who want to get a free ticket!!!

My post “Earn ThankYou Points for A Free Trip to Europe and Asia” turned out to be a very popular post. It was also mentioned at Fatwallet! It’s amazing. However, recently, Citi is about to change the terms on using fixed flight option. I have to make some changes here.

There will be only a limited credit cards can be eligible for the fixed flight travel option at thankyou network. Please remember that the new terms will be effective on April 15, 2008.

Certain ThankYou Members have the option of redeeming for air travel at fixed ThankYou Point amounts. As of April 15, 2008, ThankYou Members with a Smith Barney Account, Citibank® Account, Expedia® Account or the following Card Accounts are eligible for fixed flight airline tickets at fixed ThankYou Point amounts: Citi PremierPass® Card – Elite Level, Citi PremierPass® Card – Smith Barney Elite Level, Citi PremierPass® / Expedia.com® Card – Elite Level, Citi® ChairmanSM Card and Citi Chairman® American Express® Card. This list is subject to change without notice. Fixed flight option Travel Rewards are only available when you call the ThankYou Service Center. Agents will work to offer you the best deal on available flights – you are not required to select the fixed flight option.

It’s very straightforward, some popular credit cards like: Citi PremierPass Card, CitiBusiness Card with ThankYou Network, Citi Professional Card with ThankYou Network and CitiBusiness PremierPass Card will not be eligible for the fixed flight option. It seems that if you want to take advantage of this program, you’d better have Citi PremierPass Card-Elite Level or Citi PremierPass/Expedia.com Card-Elite Level. Other credit cards are not so easy to get.

So the key to play this program is to get one of above mentioned credit cards and get enough thankyou points. Following is a list of cards offering great thankyou points bonus:

CitiBusiness Card with ThankYou Network: 15,000 ThankYou Points—-by far, the easiest business card to get!

Citi PermierPass Card-Elite Level:20,000 ThankYou Points or the non-Elite Level card: 10,000 ThankYou Points.

Citi Professional Card with ThankYou Network: 10,000 ThankYou Points

CitiBusiness PermierPass Card: 15,000 ThankYou Points (this sign-up bonus will expire on March 31, 2008)

40,000 ThankYou Points from CitiBank (this post)

Other methods to earn ThankYou points:

Use Citi checking/saving account and debit card (Citi Bank will send about 300 ThankYou points every month. If you use all of the banking services provided by Citi Bank, you may get up to 800 points per month.) You can also use other credit cards like Citi mtvU card and Citi Diamond Preferred Rewards card to earn ThankYou points.

I think the fixed flight travel option is by far the most valueable way to redeem your thankyou points. Because there are not so many good gift cards in the thankyou network.

Sometimes credit card issuers will make some changes about your credit card terms and conditions. And Usually it will be related to all kind of credit card fees. Congress is holding hearings on legislation that aims to reform credit card industry abuses. It might take some time for the new act comes out. While we may not see protections anytime soon, here are some top tips on how you can fight credit card fees.

Pay Attention on You Interest Rate

Credit card companies reserve the right to change your interest rate at any time and for any reason. They don’t have to let you know before they make the decision.

If you make a late payment or go over your credit limit, your credit card interest rate could skyrocket to over 30%. If you always carry balance on your credit cards, you’d better read your monthly statement carefully. Don’t make any mistake here.

Pay attention to your mail and notices from your credit card company. You may be mailed a notice of a rate increase and being given the choice to either close the account, or keep the card with the increased rate.

Negotiation is very important. If your rate increases, call and ask for a lower rate. If you have a good credit score and good payment history, don’t accept the rate increase. If the customer service representative doesn’t agree to cut your rate, you can request to close this account. Sometimes, put a little pressure on the other phone end works out great. If they insist on refusing your request, you can seek another credit card. At this time, you may also want to check your credit report. It is possible that your rate increased because your credit score dropped. Look for errors that should be corrected, or changes that you can make to improve your score.

Be Aware of Late Fees

If you make a late payment you’re usually charged a penalty that can be $39, not to mention your interest rate could increase.

Right now, credit card companies are allowed to mail billing statements out two weeks before the statement is due. That means you need to send in your payment before the due date. Sometimes companies even specify to the hour when a payment must be received in order to avoid late charges.

Make sure you follow the guidelines for late payments clearly. If you find that you just put your billing statements aside and forget about them, it may be worth your while to automate your payments. You can sign up for these services on your credit card’s web site. If possible, you’d better set up online payment. In this way, you can schedule the date on which your payment will be posted to your account. It’s very convenient and simple. All you need is your checking account route number and account number. The credit card issuer will deduct the amount you scheduled on time without a fee. Of course, you have to keep a close eye on how much money you have in your checking account. And if you find that you really need a last-minute fix, you may be able to pay by phone. Keep in mind you may be charged a few dollars, but it’s better than the alternative.

Be Aware of the Programs You Enrolled

Currently, the most popular program that every credit card issuer is trying to sell to you is payment protection plan. The names of this plan maybe vary by different credit card issuers. Normally the credit card issuers will charge you $0.85 for every $100 new balance. Some consumers enroll this kind of plan because of some free money credit card issuers paid. Chase is paying $20 for their consumers to enroll this program and claim that you can cancel this plan at any time. If you have cashed the check and enrolled the plan, you have to remember to cancel it at some time. You can find the phone number in you statement. There are many other programs in the market right now. You have to be aware of what program your credit card(s) enrolled. And remember to cancel them before it’s too late.

Generally, there is no easy way for you to get rid of credit card fees. You’d better read every monthly statement carefully.

You might have already observed that I seldom introduce some credit card issuers like Capital One, WaMu, and Advanta. The most frequently mentioned credit card issuers are Citi, Chase, American Express, Discover and Bank of America. I think the reason is Citi, Chase, American Express, Discover and Bank of America often offer some great promotions. Some small credit card issuers can’t afford the costs to get a new customer through promotions. So they seldom offer some great deals. However, we can’t ignore the fact that Advanta is a great small business card issuer. Hereby I will briefly introduce two credit cards offered by Advanta.

1. Advanta Life-of-Balance Platinum Card

This card would be a great substitute for those who often carry credit card balance. This card offers 2.99% APR on balance transfer for life! Of course, you have to make the balance transfer process in 3 months after you get approved. More importantly, there is not balance transfer fees associate with this card! If you need some emergency money, this card would be your great choice. Besides the great balance transfer offer, you can still get up to 6% cash back on certain places at your choice.

Up to 6% Cash Back on Gasoline and Diesel Fuel and Up to 2% Cash Back on all other purchases or

Up to 6% Cash Back on Utilities and Telecommunications and up to 2% Cash Back on all other purchases or

Up to 6% Cash Back on Computers and Office Supplies and up to 2% Cash Back on all other purchases or

Up to 6% Cash Back on Dining Expenses and up to 2% Cash Back on all other purchases or

Up to 6% Cash Back on Building Supplies and up to 2% Cash Back on all other purchases

You can choose one of the above mentioned rewards program by calling customer service. Or you can also enroll in a free travel rewards program! This card is really awesome!

2. Advanta Platinum Business Card with Rewards Options

This card also offer great balance transfer offer—0% APR on balance transfer for up to 15 months! After that the rate is fixed at 7.99% APR. Plus you can earn up to 5% cash back on certain purchases (Cash Back rewards are also earned on Bonus Qualifying purchases, which include purchases in the following categories: “gasoline and diesel fuel,” “computers, computer supplies, electronics and office supplies,” “online advertising services,” and “utilities and telecommunications.”) However, you can only earn 5% cash back on the the first $1200 that spent on above categories. You may also choose the no fee travel rewards program and earn unlimited rewards.

Advanta Business Cards are rated as the best business cards by the SmartMoney Magezine in 2006. Advanta was ranked among the “America’s Most Admired Companies” by Fortune magazine.

AS I mentioned previously, everyone can apply for business cards although you don’t own a business entity. You can choose “proprietorship” at the “business type” and put in your own name as your “business name”. You can also transfer balance from your own personal cards to Advanta Business Cards. One thing I should point out is their credit check is a little bit trick. You must have 2 years solid credit history.

Brad has previously sent me some results about his business mini App-O-Rama (AOR). He has got a lot of sign-up bonus and moved some money to his high rate online CDs. He told me that his current business balance to credit limit ratio is about 55%. It’s pretty high but it’s in his business report which will not affect his personal credit report. SO it’s not a big deal. Yesterday afternoon he sent me an email about his favorite credit cards.

He has about 13 credit cards now but he only selectively use several of them to maximize his rewards.

Chase Freedom Card: This is by far his favorite card (according to his statement). You can get 3X the rewards where you spend the most automatically. In order to get most from this card, you have to know what are the 15 categories that will give you 3% cash back. He currently uses this card to pay his cable and cell phone bills. Since He shops a lot at Mejier, he uses this card at Mejier. He can’t get 3% cash back at Wal-Mart stores by using this card but he can still get 3% cash back at Mejier which is still counted as grocery store by Chase. (I have a post about this. We have confirmed to have 3% cash back at Mejier—a major retailer serves Midwest America Area.) Geez, this save him a lot!

Citi Professional Card with ThankYou Network: Actually, the reason why he wanted to apply for this card is to get the 10,000 bonus ThankYou Points. Although he can get 3 ThankYou Points at restaurants, gas stations and office supply merchants, it’s not very intriguing to him. And the “ThankYou Network” program is not as good as 2 years ago. However, he doesn’t have any other better credit cards for shopping at Staples and Office Depot. Besides, he also uses this card at restaurants.

Starwood Preferred Guest Business Card: He got this card when I was playing business App-O-Rama. The reason why he uses this card for every other purchase is he agrees with my opinion that this card can actually gives him more than 4% cash back if he travels a lot. He recently redeemed 2 night stays at Chicago for only 4000 starpoints. He really likes it very much!

I believe most of us would agree that using a lot of credit card is not very wise. Selectively and combinationally use credit card is the best way to maximize your rewards. I have my own favorite rewards credit cards. If you have better ideas or want to share your stories about credit cards, please feel free to drop me a line at cardoffer8 @ gmail.com.