My job requires me to travel, a lot. I work for a very stable institution, (state-government), who reimburses me within 1-2 weeks of submission. I’ve funneled over $30,000 through my “debit card” account in the last year, and life has gone on. I don’t really plan on making my millions via “rewards”.

HOWEVER…
When I use my debit card for hotels and car rentals and have been getting killed by “holding” cost. They charge up to $250 holds on my account and can take weeks to release them. Rental car companies treat me like a 3rd class citizen, making me show flight times, and hotel reservations, or submit to a credit check, each time I rent! The final straw came last week when I had nearly $1500 in holds on my account at one time!

My brother has been a PenFed holder for about 2 years. So I took his advice and applied today. In my follow up research I found this site. Nice to know someone as sharp as Erica did her homework found it to be a good option! Thanks for the recommendation!

FYI… PenFed is giving 5% back on air travel, up to the first $4000 each month, for a limited time.

It’s the same way with inflation (banks again with government bailouts and handouts) which is really just taxes in disguise. If they tried to tax us directly what they take in inflation there would be more people realize it and more TEA parties.

People spend 15% or more with credit than cash – more debts. And according to consumer groups who track these things, over 80% of these rewards go unused.

Here’s a better idea: don’t use debt. Save and use cash.

WOW! How can I say that? Am I unAmerican? But I want it NOW!

No. American does not mean racking up large debts buying stuff with debt, to keep the credit card companies in business with their shady practices, high interest rates, and surprise fees.

How do I know? They screwed me. I have a Citicard that was at 12.9% and have made all my payments on time for several years. Last month, it jumped at their discretion and not at anything I did, to 19.99%. I have paid it off and am on my way to being completely debt free very soon.

That means: NO PAYMENTS! I will have cash.

Americans have GOT to stop playing these games with their money – the stupid rewards – aren’t. For every one of you who can “handle” paying off your debts, there are 99 who don’t – haven’t you read the news talking about the consumer credit crisis and negative saving rates?

Or is it the “not me” syndrome at work?

re: borrowing money on a car — I have the money in a savings account. Since I’m moving soon, I want to keep a lot of liquid cash on hand. Hence, have not paid off my car loan.

Agreed on hefty merchant fees. AmEx is the worst when it comes to merchant fees. Highway robbery. I have horror stories about their merchant side. I understand why so few places take AmEx.

-Erica

I have a negative opinion overall of this segment of the banking industry. Cards charge hefty merchant fees, and then card users must shop around to find a card that gives them most of the merchant fee back. The very product of a credit card has no advantage over a debit card and a traditional bank loan except that credit cards let people get into debt by accident.

I also wonder about the 3.99% auto loan. Since you can’t get 3.99% after-tax guaranteed return on cash these days, what good is it to borrow money on a car? It just makes life complicated and takes time away from doing real business.

My opinion of thinking about how your actions affect your credit score is about the same. The important thing is to earn money. Who cares what banks’ opinion of you is?

Many financial products work that way. If you heard about first as an adult after doing business without them, they’d just sound like a pain and a distraction from business.

@Winston: Totally agree, but surprisingly, the cards with annual fees aren’t any better.

For business (which is probably worth another writeup since that was another two hours of research), I will probably go with Southwest’s card, which has a small annual fee. I even calculated the exact dollar amount your free ticket would have to be worth to make it worth it to use the card (it’s about $225 assuming you earn one a year.)

@Creditnet: I like the Costco card too, and should I wish to have an American Express card, it would probably be my first pick. You can find it at http://erica.biz/go/creditcards under Reward Credit Cards — and there’s a deal where you may be able to earn $40 just for applying.

Thanks!
-Erica