True Earnings® Card from Costco and American Express
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Earn cash back on gas and a $25 statement credit with your first purchase made with the Card.
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Earn cash back virtually everywhere you go - 3% for annual gasoline purchases of up to $3,000 (1% thereafter), 3% for restaurants, 2% for travel, 1% everywhere else, including Costco.
Earn 10,000 Membership Rewards® bonus points when you spend $500 in 3 months - redeemable for a $100 gift card!
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The Membership Rewards® program - Earn 1 Membership Rewards® point for virtually every dollar you spend and redeem for your choice of travel, shopping, and entertainment rewards.
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Gold Card Events - exclusive access to tickets for select concerts, shows, major sporting events, and more in cities nationwide.
Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express
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Earn up to 25,000 Starpoints® - enough for up to 6 free nights at a category 1 or 2 hotel.
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Use Starpoints® for free nights and upgrades at participating Starwood hotels and resorts in 95 countries including Sheraton, W Hotels, Westin and more with no blackout dates.
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No annual fee for the first year and $45 thereafter.
Platinum Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express
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Earn 20,000 bonus SkyMiles® (including 5,000 Medallion Qualification Miles) after first purchase and another 2,500 for adding an Additional Cardmember.
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Earn one companion Coach Class ticket each year upon renewal.
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Earn at least 1 mile for every eligible dollar spent.
Remember the times in your childhood when asking your parents for forgiveness calmed their anger and compelled them not to punish you. If it worked, it just might work once again, only this time with your credit card issuer. Being late on a credit card payment is now a ?“punishable offence,?” that will cost you at least $15. However, if you?’ve been ?“good?” on your previous payments, you will most likely get a break from your credit card company. Usually, if you call and ask for ?“forgiveness,?” your card issuer will oblige. If your only excuse for being late on your payments is that you?’ve never been late before, this will probably work as well, as most banks usually forgive first-time offenders.?’
What is "Grace Period"?
A free period -- also called a "grace period" -- allows you to avoid the finance charge by paying your current balance in full before the "due date" shown on your statement. Knowing whether a credit card plan gives you a free period is especially important if you plan to pay your account in full each month. If there is no free period, the card issuer will impose a finance charge from the date you use your credit card or from the date each credit card transaction is posted to your account. If your credit card plan allows a free period, the card issuer must mail your bill at least 14 days before your payment is due. This is to ensure that you have enough time to make your payment by the due date.
My Credit Score is 602 which I guess is not very good. Is their a card that I might get with a lower interest rate?
The higher your credit score, the better credit card offers you will be eligible for and receive. This includes the credit cards with the lowest interest rates. In other words, the interest rate you receive is directly related to your credit score. The credit score scale ranges from 300 to 850. Most people have scores between 600 and 800. A score of 720 or higher gets you the most favorable interest rates. According to Myfico.com, someone with a credit score of 720 to 850 will have an Annual Percentage Rate (APR) on their mortgage of 5.649 percent, while someone with a credit score of 675 to 699 will have an APR of 6.311 percent. This small difference can cost you much more than you think. Fortunately, there are many ways to raise your credit score. First, check your credit report at least once a year and correct any incorrect information you find on your credit report as quickly as possible. Second, have as few open credit card accounts as possible. For accounts you do have open, keep the balances as low as possible. And of course, make all of your payments on time. By following these guidelines, your credit score should rise each month and make you eligible for lower interest rate credit cards.
What can you afford using your credit card
However, there are times when it might be wiser to use a credit card. For example, any time you make a purchase online, you should try to use a credit card. Why? If there ever is a case of someone stealing your credit card number and charging on it, you will usually only have to pay up to $50 of the stolen amount. If someone steals your debit card number and uses it, you will rarely get any of that money back. Some banks do offer theft protection on debit cards as a courtesy, but they are not legally obligated to refund the money stolen. It is up to the customer to close their account in order to stop withdrawals. Check with your bank to find out what their liability policy is on debit card theft. If you do use a credit card, you can always pay off your balance immediately and avoid ever paying any interest.
Be wary of credit card application
A credit card works differently. With a credit card, someone has given you a fixed line of credit. Say, $1000. Anytime you use your credit card, the amount is deducted from your credit line. Then each month you will get a bill. You can either pay all that you owe or only pay a required minimum of the balance due. What you don?’t pay will stay on your account and collect interest each month until it is paid off. This might sound like a great thing: buy now, pay later. However, the interest can quickly multiply and cost you much more than you ever spent to start with.
What is APR?
Annual Percentage Rate. The "annual percentage rate," or APR, is disclosed to you when you apply for a card, again when you open the account, and it is also noted on each bill you receive. It is a measure of the cost of credit, expressed as a yearly rate. The card issuer also must disclose the "periodic rate" -- that is, the rate the card issuer applies to your outstanding account balance to figure the finance charge for each billing period
Cash Advance
Many credit cards allow cash advances When you get a cash advance off your credit card, you either use your card to get cash from your bank teller or ATM machine, or you use one of the paper checks that came with your credit card. A cash advance can help you when you are short on cash and desperately need it, but it can also cost you much more than a regular charge on your credit card. There is usually an initial fee just for getting a cash advance and a higher interest rate on the cash amount borrowed. These fees add to your balance owed and can make your balance grow more each month than you anticipate. For these reasons, you should limit cash advances to emergency situations.
Valuable Rewards
Discover Student Card offers cash back bonuses that give you a certain percentage of all you charge back to you. Both these offers, like many others out there, benefit you much more than the credit card that gives you a free hat or keychain just for filling out an application. (Well, you cannot really compare apples and oranges. Keychains and free hats are given out by every card issuers advertising right outside of schools. These are not Rewards; these are free incentives just for filling an application. That same Chase Student card will also give out useless rewards, but it also gives Valuable Rewards like OnePass Miles).
Debit or Credit?
Once you become a student, you?’ll hear this question almost every time you go to pay for something. If you don?’t know the difference between debit and credit, learn fast. A debit card (sometimes also called a check card) is basically cash, not credit. Any time you use a debit card money is withdrawn right out of your checking out. When you pay for an item, your checking account balance goes down. Be sure to keep track of what you spend. Even though you might have $100 in the account today, you might have written a check for $50 yesterday that hasn?’t posted yet. If you spend $60 with your debit card, your check will bounce when it makes it back to the bank. This can lead to all kinds of fees and penalties.
Precautions for Overseas Trip
Before you go overseas, make a list of your credit cards and the international phone numbers to call in case they are lost or stolen. U.S. toll-free numbers cannot be reached directly from overseas, so make sure you have a number that can be reached from abroad. At the end of this brochure is a place for you to write down the phone numbers of your credit card issuers. Leave one copy of the list you make with a trusted friend or relative and keep the other copy with you, in a safe place separate from your cards. That way youll be able to quickly contact your credit card companies for replacement cards if you lose yours. If your cards have credit limits, check how much credit you have available and pay down balances or request higher credit limits if you need more.
