All Articles Tagged "rewards cards"
6 Ways to Maximize Travel Rewards
(Time) — The only thing better than a relaxing getaway is a relaxing getaway you don’t have to pay for. But sometimes chasing those freebies can cost you more than if you just ponied up in the first place. Recently, we took a look at the best travel reward credit cards on the market. Here’s how to get the most, uh, mileage out of those rewards and avoid some common mistakes that can shrink their value.
Get a card for the life you have, not the life you want. The biggest mistake is picking the wrong card for your needs. Don’t get a travel credit card thinking it’s going to motivate you to take more vacations, says Doug Miller, senior analyst for banking and cards at financial research company Corporate Insight. “One thing people should remember is the real benefit comes from earning points for something you already do. If you don’t fly a lot and you think an airline card will help you fly more, you’re probably not going to get full value out of it. People have a tendency to overestimate how much getting the card will change their previously existing patterns.”
Harlem Business Owners Spearhead New Movement
(Network Journal) — Challenging economic times call for innovative thinking from a society’s citizens; a prime example of which is being currently exhibited in Harlem, New York. Spear-headed by independent Harlem business owners, the Power of One is a movement that seeks to promote and support each other and their community in a unique manner. Utilizing the simple concept of rewards/loyalty programs, the Power of One encourages individuals to purchase a card for $1.00 which then enables the cardholder to receive discounts, VIP access and other perks when one spends or invests within Harlem. Seen as Harlem’s very-own bailout plan, the program was created to incite sustainable change in the economics of this legendary location.
Rewards Cards Lead to More Debt
(Wall Street Journal) — Credit cards that give cash back prompt consumers to spend more and accrue more debt, according to researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. The initiation of a 1% cash rewards program yielded, on average, a $25 reward each month—and an increase in spending by $68 a month and in credit-card debt of $115 a month, the economists say in a paper to be presented at the American Economic Association meetings next week. Credit card companies have long enticed users with an array of rewards programs, from airplane miles to hotel rooms and cash back. In 2005, some six billion reward offers were mailed out by the industry, the Chicago Fed economists say.
