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Credit Card Benefits – Tips from Top Sites

Credit Card Benefits – Tips From Top Sites

by / 1 Comment / Sep 04, 2015

The internet is filled with information describing just about everything. With so much data, it’s hard to determine where to go, how to search and who to trust. At Credit Card Ideas, we’ve put together a series of guides to help you separate the wheat from the chaff. “Tips and Info from the Experts” identifies reliable sources, with essential, valuable, helpful information about credit cards and their place in the financial market. And for additional value, don’t miss our Credit Card Ideas Highlight sections with additional article resources by our resident experts. Let’s get started with ten respected financial sites and the trustworthy information they offer about credit card benefits.

  1. 360 degrees of Financial Literacy offers advice from certified public accountants to help consumers with their finances. Advantages and Disadvantages of Credit Cards details some helpful tips about credit card benefits and perks.
    • Credit cards are a convenient time-saver, offering purchase accessibility.
    • These are great tools for expense tracking and record-keeping.
    • Short term loans allow you to take advantage of sales when you don’t have cash available at the time
    • Cash advances provide easy cash accessibility.
    • Credit card incentive programs offer numerous perks.
    • Credit cards are a means to build or rebuild your credit.
    • Many credit card companies will advocate for you when you have a purchase dispute over a faulty product.
    • Surfing your balance to a lower interest card or one with a low intro rate saves money.
  2. Information on Moneycrashers runs the gamut for all money matters, from personal money management and small business finances to the economy and economic policy.14 Best Credit Card Perks & Benefits You Never Knew You Had is a comprehensive list that covers a wide array of first-rate benefits and advantages you can enjoy with various credit cards.
    • Entertainment incentives are wide-ranging, from presale promos to elusive event tickets. Citi Private Pass offers perks in live music, family entertainment, sporting events, dining and more.
    • Purchase presale event tickets with your credit card and enjoy preferred seating at the show/game/concert. Gold Card Events is key to some exclusive offers for American Express Gold and Platinum card holders.
    • Following in the entertainment vein, you can enjoy great discounts on popular attractions, such as theme and amusement parks, museums, aquariums and zoos through your credit card programs. Bank of America is a good example of this with its Museums on Us
    • Enjoy exclusive retail store discounts made possible through the relationship your card issuer has established with some popular retailers.
    • Additional shopping benefits: price, return and fraud protection, and dispute resolution.
    • Travel benefits: car rental insurance; baggage protection; roadside assistance; trip cancellation insurance; hotel room burglary insurance; and reasonable exchange rates with set foreign transaction fees.
  3. Investopedia is full of valuable information on money matters. Surprising Credit Card Benefitsby Amy Fontinellefurther enlightens credit card users to beneficial ways to use their cards, highlighting some features specific to different card providers.
    • Get protection for orders that aren’t fulfilled through chargebacks. Your credit card company will reimburse you and go after the company that failed to deliver.
    • Get more time to obtain a refund with extended return policies.
    • Visa and MasterCard double the manufacturer warranty (up to a year) on products you purchase with your card.
    • Save time and effort with price protection. This feature gives you the benefit of comparison shopping without the added hassle. Visa and MasterCard give you 60 days to find the same product at a substantially lower price.
    • There are no cash advance fees with Discover through their Cash Over program – up to $120 cash back per day.
    • More price protection with the ever fluctuating airline ticket prices can make a big difference for your wallet.
    • AmEx, Visa, M/C and Discover all have various damage and theft protection coverage options in place.
  4. Creditcards.com offers an astounding amount of useful information to the consumer about most credit cards offerings. Benefits of using a credit cardby Jeremy Simon gives users more insight on this topic.
    • Credit cards offer convenience over cash or checks.
    • Unlike debit cards, you won’t be hindered by a daily “charging” limit.
    • They’re an excellent budgeting tool.
    • Credit cards are good for credit building.
    • Grace periods give you additional time to pay off your debt.
    • Purchase protection and extended warranties give added protection.
    • Theft protection against charges made on your card if it’s stolen is a valuable feature.
  5. Money Supermarket, a UK website, is a great resource for finance and savings in a wide range of spending areas, from travel to shopping, insurance and financial instruments. Clare Francis is the Editor-in-chief and her article, The advantages and disadvantages of credit cards gives you some concise and helpful information.
    • Credit cards allow you to pay for large purchases over time, a method of quickly borrowing so that you can acquire something you need right away. For example, if a large appliance stops working, you may not have the funds to replace this vital item, but a credit card can save the day.
    • Many new offers support free borrowing for a limited time. Credit cards often offer no interest charges on your purchases over an introductory time period.
    • Pay down balances. Transfer a balance from your high interest credit card to a new card with a 0% introductory interest rate and use the intro period to pay down your balance without incurring interest.
    • Purchases you make with your card typically come with additional consumer protections.
  6. Practical Money Skills seeks to help students and consumers understand personal finance, through information, articles, games and teaching tools. Credit Pros and Cons is a brief look at a few benefits and detriments of credit card use.
    • Get immediate access to necessities you might not otherwise be able to purchase.
    • Credit card security features far outweigh carrying and using cash.
    • Checks are less acceptable and more time consuming.
    • Paying with a credit card lets you consolidate your bills.
    • Loyalty and rewards programs offer additional benefits, such as free travel.
  7. Go Banking Rates focuses on financial services interest rates, personal finance news, tools and other useful content. This national site for financial news spotlights a small sampling of popular credit card advantages with 3 Credit Card Benefits You’re Paying For But Not Using by Luke Landes.
    • Some credit cards help ensure you never pay too much for an item through purchase price protection. Get a refund if you find the item for a lower price later, typically within about one or two months.
    • Many American Express cards will cover a product purchased with their card for 90 days against theft and accidental damage. Check with your card provider to find out if any of your card purchases come with automatic purchase protection.
    • Manufacture warranties are fairly limited, but several card providers will extend or even double these when the product is purchased with your credit card. Moreover, it’s often easier to submit a warranty repair through your card provider than through the product manufacturer.
  8. Free FromBroke is the brainchild of Glen Craig, who once struggled every paycheck. Craig turned around his financial situation and now helps others do the same.Credit Card Benefits joins our list with some tried and true benefits, as well as some additional helpful hidden nuggets.
    • As noted on other sites, popular credit card benefits include convenience, a means to help build your credit score, good tool for tracking your spending, and they often come with consumer tools like price protection, car rental insurance and extended warranties.
    • Paying for your purchases is a breeze when you set up a dedicated bank account for this purpose. This also helps with budgeting.
    • Earn money with zero interest rate credit card offers. Use what you save on your no-interest payments to open a high yield savings account and deposit these savings every month while the 0% rate applies.
    • Rewards points and cash back can be transferred to savings and additional purchasing power with gift certificates and travel rewards.
    • Travelers can reap additional rewards with airline miles.
    • Many card providers work harder to stand out by offering exclusive programs for their cardholders. Examples include steep discounts on things like products, highly sought after concert tickets and free magazine offers.
    • Concierge service is a nice perk for some of the higher fee, high-status credit cards.
  9. RamitSethi is a leading author in the field of personal finance. He describes Credit Card Perks and Benefits that consumers should be aware of. He explains that credit cards should offer benefits worth about $1,000. These include the following:
    • Extended warranties at no cost,
    • Car Rental and Collision insurance, and
    • Trip cancellation insurance.
  10. Wisebread targets wise spending, good financial decisions and living on a budget, while still enjoying life. A community of writers contribute a number of helpful blogs on several money topics like life hacks and best deals. 5 Credit Card Benefits Every College Student Must Have by Christa Avampado offers some good credit card information targeted at students.
    • A card with a small credit line that allows for future increases is a good start for the novice credit card user.
    • A card offering fraud protection that is step above the typical coverage is a valuable tool for students. Some cards offer programs that monitor your card activity to identify suspicious and fraudulent purchases in real time.
    • Get text or email alerts regarding your balance limit and due date.
    • Roadside assistance is a great advantage when you’re far from home or your vehicle is a later model.
    • Flexible cash back rewards allow you to access money more easily when you really need it.

 

Great Credit Card Benefits CREDIT CARD HIGHLIGHT!In The Best Benefits of Credit Cards That You Are Not Using!resident expert Erica Sandberg provides some helpful information on various consumer protections and perks that your credit card may offer, but you aren’t using.

  • Extra consumer safeguards adds the power of your credit card provider fighting for you.
  • Supplemental insurance plans provide valuable coverage at no cost to you.
  • Get the best deals with price matching.
  • Enjoy your own personal assistant with concierge services.
  • Roadside protection offers safety and the peace of mind that comes with it.

Now that you know all the great reasons why you should be using a credit card and taking advantage of these numerous benefits, learn who you can rely on to help you research credit cards and choose the one best suited for your needs. Visit Sites for Researching and Comparing Credit Cards

About the Author

Elizabeth Boyd is a financial writer and paralegal. She has written extensively for the financial and credit card market for several years and feels strongly about making consumers aware of their choices and rights.

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