With the holiday’s coming up quickly, and so many changes in the credit card industry, it is essential to make sure that you are finding and using the best credit card possible. Recent financial reform in Washington has caused a lot of credit cards to change their perks, and so many people who thought they had the best cards several years ago, may be finding their program terms changing or being eliminated all together.
Now is the time to really assess to see if you have the best card. There are many tools out there to help you find the best card. For example, there is Nerd Wallet, which compares many different types of cards, and there is CompareTheMarket, which is an interest free credit card comparison site.
Here are some common comparisons you should check out:
APR
The annual percentage rate is the amount of interest you will pay each year on your outstanding balance. There is usually a different rate for purchases, balance transfers, and cash advances. Many cards offer introductory rates as well. Some things to look for:
- Low APR on Purchases, and sometimes 0% for a certain time, such as 12 months
- You can usually find 0% APR on balance transfers for at least 12 months
Rewards
Many rewards programs have changed over time. It used to be common that you could get 2% cash back, and now that is pretty rare. You will be lucky to find cash rewards over 1% now, and many of those cards charge outrageous annual fees. There are also rewards cards for airline miles, other travel, and of course, points.
Check out my post on How To Maximize Your Credit Card Rewards for more information.
Fees
A lot of cards, in recent years, have increased their fees. There are annual fees, balance transfer fees, over the limit fees, etc. Some you can avoid by being a responsible borrower, but others you can only avoid by avoiding the card.
Watch out for annual fees – you can still find great rewards cards that don’t have annual fees. Also, 0% balance transfers may have hidden fees, so make sure that you read the fine print.
Readers, what card do you have, and where did you find it?
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This post was written by...
Robert – who has written 317 posts on The College Investor.
Robert is the founder and editor of The College Investor, a personal finance site dedicated to young adult and college student finances. You can learn more about him here and connect with him on Twitter or Facebook.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
AMEX Gold, Chase freedom and Citi platinum, all great for discounts
What kind of discounts do they offer?
Cashbacks, miles and membership reward. In general using credit card saves you 1% and wise use of it can maximize the return. Example. Starting January my CHASE card would give me 5% on Gas.
I have a rewards points credit card that I use to get cash back and retail gift cards. I used to have an airline miles card but I didn’t spend or fly enough to justify the annual fee so I cancelled that one. -Sydney
I don’t have a reward c/c. I barely paid off my old c/c that doesn’t have rewards but a decent APR. So I will stick to it for now. I am just afraid to change to a reward c/c because it will give me another excuse to spend: more I spend more I earn type of excuse.
The only thing i look for in a credit card is their rewards program and sign up bonus and any annual fees. Everything else is just fluff.