Yesterday when checking my organizer for the next week’s plans I looked at the date, and guess what… I’ve suddenly realized that it’s just 3 weeks left before summer is here! I love summer. Everybody does. Summer is the season of vacations and trips. Summer… beach, a lot of sun, sand, light sea breeze… That’s the way I spend my vacations. While many people choose a more active way of spending holidays – travelling.

Some just travel across the country, some go to see Europe, others decide to explore some remote corners of the world. Every type of “vacation activity” has its advantages. But not every budget can afford travelling. Actually, you can spend your total annual income during a couple of weeks of your vacation.

And what can save the situation? Right, airlines miles rewards credit cards. These deals are really profitable for travelers. Well, of course, I do not mean that a frequent flyer card can save you enough money to go on a world tour, but it is a good way to save money and get quality service.

Here are a few airmiles credit cards that are among top plastics for travel aficionados.

British Airways Visa Signature Card

This card gives you 15,000 miles after your first purchase. Plus you get a wide choice of international and domestic flights. Besides, if you pay the full price for an airline ticket, when using the card for the first time you are granted a free companion ticket.
The interest rate it comes with couldn’t compete with low interest credit cards but this card’s perks are worth 16.49% APR to be paid for. And the card comes with a $75 annual fee, which is quite normal for an airmiles card.

Northwest Visa

You get 10,000 miles for signing up. With this card you can earn miles beyond $10,000 a month. The rewards program implies no mileage cap and no blackout dates on booking tickets. This plastic is very for vacationers who go to Europe or Asia. Northwest visa offers a lot of options for them. The card comes with 18% rate on purchases and $55 annual fee for its Platinum version, and $90 for a Signature one.

JetBlue Card from American Express

If you choose travelling within U.S. borders, this card is a smart choice for you. Once you earn 100 miles (which means spending $20,000 with this credit card) you get a roundtrip ticket on JetBlue. But you are given 50 miles for just opening the account. So, your round trip ticket will cost you $10,000 in purchases made. The annual fee JetBlue Card comes with is moderate - $40, the APR is $17.49.

Delta American Express SkyMiles

With this combination of Delta – one of the most famous airline companies with partners all over the world, and worldwide accepted AmEx – one of the leading credit card networks with numerous outlets all around the globe you can choose any destination to travel. 10,000 SkyMiles after the first purchase, double miles for Delta purchases. you can also redeem your SkyMiles at other 13 international carriers. However, there are such pitfalls as $85 annual fee starting with the second year of use, an earning limit of $60,000 for eligible purchases a year, and this card is considered to be not that beneficial in everyday life. But this card gives you service of the first-class standard and worldwide acceptance. The APR is 17.49%

And there is one more beneficial offer for travelers. Citi Platinum Select American Airlines AAdvantage World MasterCard. It combines the great opportunities of a banking empire that allows you to earn, probably, the biggest amount of miles, and the services of one of the largest airlines of North America.

So, choose the right card for travelling and spend a perfect getaway. Bon voyage!

A credit card with no credit limit seems to be the dream of every card holder. It feels so good to buy whatever you want and just overlook prices. Unlimited credit card freedom attracts a lot. Like in the Nickelback’s song “I need a credit card that’s got no limit and a big black jet with a bedroom in it…” Well, maybe having a black jet with a bedroom inside is really a prerogative of big rock stars, but getting a no-limit credit card is available to ordinary people with good credit.

But even if you are sure that you can afford having a no-limit plastic, I mean, you feel confident about your income, do not rush to apply for it. Have you thought how such a credit card can damage your credit score?

So, how can a credit card with no limit affect your credit score? “Credit utilization” is one of the basic components that make up your credit score. To be more exact, it is about 30% of your credit score. Credit utilization is the ratio of your actual debt to your potential debt. So, if you have a credit limit of $ 10,000 and a balance of $ 5,000, the credit utilization equals to 50%. The lower this percentage is, the higher your credit score rises.

When a card comes with no limit, credit reporting agencies cannot calculate this ratio. Here how it is reflected in your credit report. It looks like you have no credit limit and using all of your available credit. This makes your credit utilization amount to 100%, which causes your credit score drop.

But here is the way out offered by credit card companies. Most of them allow the credit bureaus to take the highest balance for a credit limit in order to calculate the credit utilization ratio. This is really a good idea. Besides, you can improve your credit score this way. You need to pay off your monthly balance in full. This will reduce your credit utilization ratio and make your credit score go up.

But if only everything was so simple! Alas! Unfortunately, not all credit card companies report the highest balance. In this case not only your credit limit is reported as 0, but your highest balance is also reported as if it does not exist (as $0). This situation is much more complicated. In this case you have 2 options. You can either contact your creditor and ask them to report your balance, or just close the account. But in practice, even if your credit company agrees to report your balance, you do not get a guarantee that they will do it accurately month to month.

The bad thing is that many card holders don’t even notice how their good credit score that allowed them to qualify for most enticing reward credit cards, plastics that offer generous cash rebates and other deals with very beneficial features and perks, drop 50, 60 or more points. So, just remember to check your credit report at all 3 credit bureaus. Besides, at least once a year you can do it for free at every bureau.

So, next time you dream about a no-limit credit card, think about your credit score damage it might cause, and maybe you will decide to leave this “boundless freedom” a no-limit plastic gives to rock stars…

Remember that “Pimp My Ride!” show on MTV with Xzibit, if I didn’t mess up with his name? My son was watching it the other day, I saw it out of the corner of my eye. And what I think of all that is that you can pimp your ride not through replacing your old wheels with 20” cast-steel wheels, painting it in loud colors with fire on the sides, and stuffing it with 12 DVD screens inside. Getting a gasoline credit card will not make your car look “hot”, but it will really save you money.

Living in America and having no car means that whether you are an immigrant recently arrived to the U.S., or you have a private jet. Nearly every household in this country has at least one car. Almost every 16-year-old kid here can drive. No matter if you need to get something for dinner in the nearest grocery store that is 10 minutes’ walk from your house, or you want to visit some of your cousins who live in the neighboring state, - you go there by car. You’d better get a credit card that helps you to save on groceries, rather that walk to the store in order to save on gas.

Oil prices keep rising, and gasoline is a considerable item of expenses in your financial budget. A gasoline credit card will help you to save money on nourishment for your iron horse and get discounts on its maintenance.

Today you can find a great variety of credit cards designed specifically for car drivers on the credit card market. Personally I find gasoline plastics to be the most beneficial among all point rewards credit cards. While most airmiles cards, for instance, offer 1 or 2 rewards points for a dollar spent, with gasoline cards you have a chance to earn 5 points per dollar spent.

I use Citi Diamond Preferred Rewards MasterCard. It has really favorable terms and grants generous rewards. It allows me to earn 5 rewards points for every $1 spent at gas stations, supermarkets, and drugstores during the first year of use. It comes with no annual fee, no setup fee, 0% intro APR on balance transfers, and numerous options when it comes to redeeming points. Another feature that drew my attention and made me stop searching for a gas plastic I need, was the ongoing APR. It is 9.74%. I guess, you won’t argue that such a low interest rate is hard to find when you look for a rewards credit card.

Another good option for car drivers who want to save on gas is getting a gasoline credit card that offers cash rebates for gas purchases. Chase Bank BP Rewards Visa, for instance, gives you 10% in cash rebates during introductory period. After the intro period is over, the company rebates you 5%.

You can choose a gas credit card issued by a gasoline company, or one issued by bank. The advantage of bank-issued cards is that you can accrue rewards points pumping at any gas station, while a credit card issued by a gas company allows you to earn rebates at particular stations belonging to that company. However, gas company-issued cards offer higher rebates.

There is also one trick you can use to save more money on gas with gasoline plastics. You can get a pre-paid gas card or a gift gas card, offered by some gas company, for $48. Such a card enables you to make gasoline purchases of $50 worth. This equals to a 4% discount. If you have a gas credit card of the same company that offers you 10% rebate during promotional period and you use it to buy a pre-paid (or gift) gas card, you get double benefit. This way you can increase your gas rebates to 14%. That is the secret.

Choose the right gas credit card, pump your ride and save money! So, you’ve been officially pimped!

In one of my previous articles titled Transforming Extra Calories into Extra Money on Your Credit Card I apparently paid no due attention to a traditional and perhaps the most effective method of clearing your credit card debt – using a balance transfer credit card. Customers who manage their credit with balance transfer services are called rate tarts and their main object is to find a low interest credit card to move the outstanding balance on.

Irrespective of the credit score, a customer is  eligible for a balance transfer plastic, but mind a certain unfailing regularity – the lower your rating, the more expensive the deal will be for you.However, a balance transfer credit card is always a good tool for you to reduce or even do away the annoying debt as it usually offers a more acceptable interest rate than that on your current plastic.

Let me remind you of some key points involved in doing the balance transfer, that guarantee you a successful cure for the racked up debt. A smart rate tart should by all means know the difference between an Intro rate on balance transfers (usually 0%) and a low ongoing APR on balance transfers that remains valid until you are through. If you mean to repay your debt at one fell swoop and admit paying no interest on it, then a 0% Intro APR card with balance transfers will be your way to go.

However, in practice, not many cardholders can afford the funds necessary to eliminate debt in a year or even half a year. This category of debtors should try luck with a low ongoing APR on balance transfers which is usually about 5% until you repay in full. If you have drawn nothing really new to you yet, then it is almost a must to go on reading!A rate tart differs from a regular debtor, who industriously, slowly but surely pays back the debt to a bank, in his/her bent to keep debt at a steady 0% by constantly moving it from one card to another.Until recently it was quite ok and credit companies readily and warmly welcomed new customers.

Surprisingly, it appeared that rate tarts do not generate much revenue to creditors because they close the line as soon as the 0% intro period is over. The natural response of the card providers is the transfer fee cap increase.Being previously 2% to 3% (which is, however, still valid with a number of issuers), the transfer fee may hike to as much as $75, spoiling the customer’s interest in the deal.

Eliminating the caps on balance transfer fees is equally bad news for both, good and bad credit customers, but it is expected to bring additional profit to banks.If you have been planning to kill the debt long bothering you, it’s time to decide which way to go – a balance transfer, fast and effective but now costly, or reducing your spending and improving payment habits

Credit issuers and credit consumers are supposed to make win-win deals and live in peace and harmony. However, lenders and borrowers’ confrontation seem to never stop. And their coexistence can be called love-hate relationship.

Both fight for their rights and want to get maximum profit from deals. But in this eternal battle credit card issuers manage to gain the upper hand more often than credit card holders. But borrowers cry for justice and their appeals are not overlooked by the government.

Credit card owners are complaining that they cannot feel confident about tomorrow. They have to rely on the Divine Providence of credit card industry’s changes. So, the government has made a decision to make credit card companies give up some of their controversial practices. The three main issues under review are: too-short card holders notice of changes in terms and conditions of their card offers, universal default, unreasonable changes in interest rates.

Lenders claim that they are also going through hard times after all those credit card defaults, delinquencies, mortgage crisis. But consumers and their advocates, supported by financial analysts’ opinion, declare that credit companies earn billions of dollars and can treat their clients better.

Universal default is when a credit card company raises customer’s interest rates due to lowering of his or her credit score. This seems to be a reasonable penalty for credit score damage. But the problem is that the rules and regulations of this practice are vague and ambiguous. For instance, you are late with your car loan payment and your credit card interest rate can be increased. Your interest rate goes up, your credit card payments grow larger, and your chances to default on several (not just one) creditors also increase. Even your low interest credit card won’t save you.

As for notices, currently credit card issuers are obliged to send a two-week notice by mail before they change customer’s credit card terms and conditions. This time period is dramatically short. By the time a card holder receives the notice (if they do receive them), they have just a few days before the day new terms are applied. And, as you guess, 2-3 days are not enough to figure out how to deal with those new requirements.

If credit consumers mange to assert their rights and the bill is passed, the notice period will be extended to almost a month. Credit companies will be required as well to send card holders their credit card monthly bills 25 days before the due date. This is supposed to change the currently existing two-week billing cycle.

The penalty interest rates that some credit card companies apply now to the overall balance on a customer’s credit card are questioned as well. Say you’ve been accurately paying off your debt for months or even years and after you are just a couple days late just once, you get accrued punitive interest rates to the debt as well. Credit card issuers are being required to attach the penalty rate to only that part of the balance which caused the rise.

The bill was proposed about a month ago by the House Financial Services Committee. There is no guarantee that it will pass, but if you remember like it goes in that Beastie Boys’ song, “You gotta fight for your right…” to claim a better and fair attitude from your lender.

Do you know what an interest rate or an APR is? Of course, you do. But can you enumerate all types of APR? And tell what is the best rate for you? The lowest one, you say? Absolutely agree. But let’s get more precise about interest rates types. If you ask why I need it, I know that there are low interest credit cards with favorable rates, and those for bad credit with sky-high interest, and I am after low APR plastics, I will tell you the reason. There is much more to the interest rate than just low and high APR.

The Types of Interest Rate

I’ll remind you once again that the APR (annual percentage rate) is just the same thing as the interest rate. Some people think that the APR is one of the interest rate types. In fact, this is just another term for the interest rate. Now let’s move on to the types.

The Prime Rate

The prime rate is a kind of interest rate benchmark used by banks to set the rates for their loans. This is the rate at which banks lend money to their favored clients, as a rule. The latest reported rate is 5.25%. This is considered to be the average prime rate currently. This figure is something like a starting point for all US banks and credit card companies. If you see a credit card offer with an interest of Prime + 6%, for instance, it means that you will get a credit card at 11.25% rate.

A Fixed Rate (Fixed APR)

If your card comes with a fixed rate, it means that the rate remains unchangeable. Until your creditor decides to change it. Even if your credit card terms promise you a fixed APR for life, your credit card issuer is eligible to change your rate. But your interest will not change under the trend of overall interests rise. So, in a situation of increasing APRs on the credit card market, a plastic with a fixed rate is what you are to look for.

A Variable Rate

A variable rate is subjected to change together with the fluctuations of certain indexes it is tied to (the prime rate, LIBOR, T-Bills, and others). When does it make sense to apply for a credit card with a variable APR? When interest rates go down (like in the situation with the recent Fed Rate Cut). You can come across an offer with a “variable rate for life”, or the one with “prime rate for life”. This gives you a guarantee that your interest rate will not go above the prime rate.

A Teaser Rate

A teaser rate (also introductory rate, promotional rate, limited-time-only rate, etc.) is a special rate that a lender offers you for a limited period of time. This feature can be attached to any type of the card (with variable or fixed APR, to business, student, rewards, bad, good credit cards, etc.) As a rule, this rate is very favorable, it can be whether 0% on purchases, or balance transfers, or even both, or a very low one. It usually lasts no longer than 18 months on the most beneficial offers. After your promotional period is over, your card is attached an ongoing APR. So, keep in mind your teaser rate expiration date.

A Penalty Rate or Default Rate

You can trigger a penalty or a default rate by breaking some of the credit card terms. If you are late or miss your credit card monthly payments, carry a great balance on other credit cards, default on other credit cards, you get accrued an enormous interest rate. So, be careful with credit card rules and regulations.
And choose the right interest rate!