Credit

Chase Credit Cards promotions and reviews; Freedom, Slate, and Sapphire Cards

The below reviews will look at three of Chase’s top credit cards; The Freedom, Slate, and Sapphire Cards. In addition, there will be links to the most recent promotions in the near future or when available.

Chase has just relaunched their brand portfolio of credit cards with eye-catching designs and three new lifestyle versions and names. They are the Sapphire, the Freedom and the Chase Slate Card. They are distinguishing themselves from their traditional Platinum Visa or MasterCard on their website. The Slate is their new basic standard credit card. Just because it is the vanilla flavor of the range though, does not mean it hasn’t got any attractive features.

The Chase Slate Card Review

Apply Now for Slate(SM) from Chase

The excellent differentiating factor with the Chase Slate credit card is the new built in program called ‘BluePrint’ aimed at helping cardholders to better manage their credit card balances thereby making life a little easier. Take a look at the BluePrint page on the Chase website and you will find a number of tools that help the account holder to see into the future. They can see at a glance how long it would take them to pay up the outstanding balance at their current repayment rate. It also allows them to see a number of ‘what if’ scenarios so they can tailor a repayment plan to their individual circumstances. It is a good way to answer the criticisms often level at credit companies that they give little support to customers beyond the application and introductory periods.

According to a Chase spokesperson the aim is to go way beyond the minimum standards demanded by the latest CARD Act. The most eye-catching tool in the Slate box is that anyone who carries a balance can elect to repay particular items in full at the head of the queue. Any item that the holder designates as “pay in full” is then free of finance charges. The card user still gets the standard grace period for all purchases and even these ‘pay in full’ ones. This is in spite of carrying a balance.

This is a big enhancement over traditional credit cards where the grace period is removed and where account holders get finance charges on all balances when they do not pay their balance in full. Chase is offering another tool to allow cardholders to pay down the balance faster. This is a great encouragement to the 50% or so of credit card users who fail to heed the advice of most experts and not pay their balance in full every month. The Chase Slate actively encourages repayment rather than just spend, spend spend.

Three other helpful features of the Slate card are the patented fraud protection, zero liability on unauthorized purchases and constant communication about your account with E-mail and text alerts. Many people accidentally incur extra costs and blemishes on their repayment records simply because of lax detail handling. So any card that keeps itself to the fore of the cardholder thinking has to be a great help. All in all this makes the Slate card an excellent choice for people who really need help to manage their credit balance.

The whole package makes the Chase Slate Card ideal for customers who carry the occasional balance on their credit cards too. By designating a pay in full timetable for regular items such as groceries, they account holders limit their finance charges on these items, although they may be carrying a balance because of other spending. This is definitely a reason to consider switching to Slate from the traditional credit cards where all spending costs and the grace period is gone as you carry a balance. Only this and the other Chase credit cards with the BluePrint feature have this designate to ‘pay in full’ tool.

This card also has appeal for customers looking for zero % APR introductory deals. This offer is for up to 12 months and there is no annual fee with this card.

Slate^SM from Chase Highlights

• Now with Blueprint^SM
• 0% intro APR
• Patented Fraud Protection
• Zero Liability on Unauthorized Purchases
• E-mail and text alerts
• No Annual Fee

Apply Now for Slate(SM) from Chase
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The Chase Freedom Card Review

Apply Now for the Chase Freedom(SM) credit card

Despite its name the Chase Freedom rewards card is not free but it is very competitively priced and comes with over 15 bonus reward categories and the liberating facility to switch from cash back to reward points and back when you choose. Clearly, the Chase Freedom card is aptly named for its flexibility.

Here at a glance is a list of the all-important specifications and then a review of this card in comparison to the rest of the market. The freedom card comes in Visa Signature or regular Platinum for those fail to qualify for ‘Signature’. There are no annual fees for either version of the Freedom cards. Applicants will need a good to excellent FICO credit score from 680 to 720. Chase will refer to any of the three credit-reporting agencies to get this information. The annual percentage rate for credit is variable but currently at 14.99%. There is a premium here for the rewards facility but it compares well with other reward cards. The card offers 3% bonus cash back on such things as gas, home improvement and department stores with a full 1% cash back on every purchase. There are no spending limits or caps on how much you can earn. Finally there is an additional 20% cash back at select merchants when you buy online through Chase

With the Chase Freedom card the company is taking aim at those cardholders who use credit regularly and have an unblemished track record. If you already have a Chase credit card it can be converted to the Freedom card without problems. In this way you, can enjoy cash back with just one phone call to customer service.

It is with the cash back rewards that the Freedom card really lives up to its name. It is only with cash back that you can buy the things you really need rather than being restricted to the options in the Chase rewards catalog. Points for dollars are generally in the ratio of one to one but you can earn an 2 points on purchases made in the top three bonus categories where you spend the most.

Then there is an added bonus when you save $200 in cash back rewards as you can claim a $250 check. This actually makes the Freedom card into a 3.75% / 1.25% cash back reward card. The big bonus merchants are grocery stores (not warehouse clubs discount stores, or superstores etc.) Gas and convenience stores, fast food restaurants, telecommunications, cable and satellite service providers, video rentals, department stores, dry cleaners, drugstores, movie theaters, pet supply stores and vets, beauty salons, spars, or gym membership. Finally there are rewards for local and suburban transportation such as ferries, bridges, tolls and parking etc.

It is up to the cardholder to make the most of the Freedom card rewards. Remember that the cash backs and reward points on the Freedom card expire in 36 months or 60 months, respectively. Managing your Freedom card is made easy thanks to Chase’s new online account website. Here you can easily see your monthly cash back earnings once you’ve registered with this online account service. The service is very user-friendly as they say.

Cash backs can be had from your online account page whenever you accumulate $50 in cash back points. You can have a check at the $100 or $150 levels also but the best bargains are to be had at the $200 level when you get the big bonus cash back of $250.

There are two other great Freedom card benefits too: The ‘purchase security’ feature, within the first 90 days of date of purchase, can reimburse holders up to a maximum of $500 per claim when their cards are stolen or damaged by fire, vandalism, etc. Likewise the warranty manager service lets the cardholder register an item and extend a manufacturer’s warranty for an extra year, where the manufacturer’s warranty is less than three years.

Chase Freedom^SM Credit Card Highlights

• 3% bonus cash back offers in categories like gas, home improvement and department stores
• Full 1% Cash Back on every purchase – no spending tiers or caps on how much you can earn
• Up to an additional 20% cash back at select merchants when you shop online through Chase
• 0% Intro APR and No Annual Fee*

Apply Now for the Chase Freedom(SM) credit card
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The Chase Sapphire Card Review

Apply Now for the Chase Sapphire(SM) Card

The Chase Sapphire is one of the top rated credit cards around and it is easy to see why. This card is all about choice. With most credit cards the usual thing is to have one or two at most ways to redeem the rewards but with the Sapphire ultimate rewards program the cardholder can choose the option that best suits them at the time when they redeem their rewards against anything on offer. And they mean anything! From air travel, hotel reservations, groceries to straightforward cash back. Add to this the very competitive costs and terms along with the introductory promotions and Chase Sapphire is clearly one of the premier credit cards around.

Because the Chase Sapphire card ‘Ultimate rewards program’ gives the holder choice in how they redeem their rewards it cuts back all those complex limitations that are hidden in the fine print of other ordinary reward programs. What a relief not to have to fly with certain specified airlines on weekdays when there is an ‘r’ in the month.

An extra facet of reward point’s flexibility with Sapphire is the facility to redeem them for gift cards or for desirable goods online. The card works on the standard point system just like other rewards cards. For every dollar spent the cardholder gets one Ultimate Rewards point. Double points are earned when travel is booked through the Chase house travel booking system. While the Chase Ultimate Rewards Mall online has promotional offers to get up to ten points on every card dollar spent at more than 300 partner retailers.

The choice is yours and when you use your Chase Sapphire card it can open up a whole world of bonus points. First time customers to the Sapphire card can get up to 10,000 bonus points for just signing up. Then it is up to them to make the most of the new horizons. With other reward cards a typical round trip flight could take about 25,000 points. That makes the Sapphire signup bonus a great deal. With the Chase Ultimate Rewards program users can redeem flights with a mixture of points and card payment. That’s just another way of saying discount flights.

Users also have the choice, when air travel or hotels are not on the agenda just now, to use the Ultimate Rewards points to get straight cash back. These points do not have a shelf life, nor is there a cap to the amount of points users can save. This give the choice to redeem rewards whenever you are ready rather than when it best suits your credit provider.

While the Ultimate reward program is the gem at center of the Sapphire card offering the interest charges, fees and card costs are also key the customer take-up decision. Chase Sapphire comes with very reasonable interest rates such as a low 10.24% standard APR. Normal credit cards without a rewards program charge very similarly while other reward cards can get as high as 14%. Given that competing rewards cards charge APRs as high as 14%. The APR on cash advances with Sapphire are at 19.24%. These costs exclude the fees for cash but even with them added in Chase’s fees for cash advances still compare very favorably with the competition.

Chase, like all creditors, punish late payers with an ‘over the top’ default APR of 29.99% APR if users allow their accounts to default. As with all credit cards it is important to manage them effectively and make sure you get your payments in on time. In the event of difficulties Chase provide a round the clock dedicated adviser just a phone call away so once again the choice is yours.

Chase Sapphire^SM Card Highlights

• 10,000 Bonus Points after first purchase
  
• 2X on all airfare booked through Ultimate Rewards
  
• No earning caps, point expiration, or blackout dates
  
• Earn 10x for every dollar when shopping at select merchants through Ultimate Rewards Mall
  
• 1 point for every dollar on all other purchases
  
• 24/7 Dedicated service advisor (No voice recording)
  
• Premier travel protection benefits
  
• No Annual Fee

Apply Now for the Chase Sapphire(SM) Card

Not approved for that credit card or looking to get your APR lowered? Talk to the decision makers.

I ran across an interesting thread last night over at myfico.com in which people were discussing how they were able to get approvals for cards they were originally declined for as well as getting their interest rates dropped on their credit cards immediately by going around the customer service reps and speaking directly with the decision makers. They referred to the list of phone numbers as “backdoor numbers,” the numbers of the credit analysts and or other key decision makers within the major credit and banking organizations. By calling these people directly you can potentially avoid the sometimes long waits associated with working with customer service departments and or awaiting a response back by mail. Below is a list of “backdoor” phone numbers by company, if you have any more to add please do so in the comments below, and please let me know if a number is no longer in service so I can remove it.

AmEx Oasis Program: 888-232-3261

American Express Credit Bureau Unit: 800-874-2717. (Must have a current credit report before calling. They will ask for the account number from the credit report, which is different than your card number.)

Barclays/Juniper: 866-750-6031 (Corp. Offices)
Best Buy: 888-237-8289 (customer care)
Best Buy: 800-365-0292 (CSR)
Best Buy App Status: 800-811-7276
Best Buy Store Card: 800-305-0533
BofA Acquisition Dept.: 888-645-6733 (new app recon)
BofA: 800-732-9194
BofA: 800-421-2110 (product change, poss. for cli)
BofA: 888-260-4696 (secured accts.)
BofA: 800.824.5895 (secured & partially secured accts.)
BofA: 800-718-6072 (Credit analyst)
BofA: 800-881-4730 (Loan Dept.?)
BofA: 866-226-8225 (Recon)
BofA Credit Dept. Fax: 888-500-6270
BofA/FIA: 888-831-4181; 866-421-8071 (Credit analyst)
FIA: 866-421-8153 (credit analyst)
BP/Amoco App Status: 800-365-6204
Cap1: 800-625-7866 (Account Specialist)
Cap1: 800-951-6951 (cust. relations)
Cap1: 800-548-4593 (application department; status)
Cap1: 800-889-9939 or 800-625-7866.(Account Specialist)
Cap1: 877-513-9959 (Account Retention?)
Cap1: 800-427-9458 (Fraud department. They take ALL calls seriously!)
Cap1: 800-258-9319 (Debt Recovery)
Chase: 800-432-3117 (App status)
Chase: 888-270-2127 (App recon)
Chase: 877-781-3109 (combining & product change)
Chase: 888-245-0625 (Credit Analyst – Recons)
Chase: 800-945-2004 (WaMu CC Prod. Change) <— (as of 09/02/09, some have posted that PCing former WaMu cards is no longer possible, so YMMV)
Chase: 888-622-7547 (Chase Executive Ofc. in IL)
Chevron/Texaco Biz Card App Status: 888-243-8358
Citi: 888-201-4523 (New App Approval Status)
Citi AA: 888-662-7759
Citi App Status: 800-645-7240, 800-288-4653, 800-750-7453
Citi: 800-444-2568 (Retention Dept.)
Citi: 866-927-7841
Citi: 800-763-9795 (Credit Dept.)
Citi Credit Bureau Dispute Fax: 866-713-5028
Discover: 888-676-3695 (Recon)
Discover: 800-347-2911 (Retention Dept.)
ExxonMobil Biz Card: 800-903-9966
FIA: 866-421-8153 (credit analyst)
GEMB: 877-294-7541 (escalated help desk)
Home Depot MC (Commercial): 800-720-0649
Hooters: 801-545-6705, 800-850-4668
HSBC: 866-574-4421 (App Status)
HSBC: 866-719-3897 (Credit Analyst?)
JC Penney: 800-542-0800
Juniper: 866-408-4064 (Credit Analyst)
Juniper/Barclays: 866-750-6031 (Corp. Offices)
Key Bank: 888-201-4523 (App status)
Key Bank: 800-254-2737
Key Bank MC: 800-288-4653
Keybank Credit Research Fax: 216-357-6404
Lowes: 800-445-6937 (App Status)
Lowes: 866-232-7443 (Biz Acct. Underwriting)
Lowes Fraud/UW: 800-444-1408
Macy’s: 800-627-2909 (Credit Dept. – new credit, inquiries on upgrade to Visa, credit reporting issues)
Macy’s: 800-543-9617 (Recovery Services)
Meijers MC: 801-517-5560
National City: 800-762-0974 (Credit Dept.)
Orchard: 800-395-6090 (May get answered in Spanish by bilingual CSR’s. If this happens and you don’t speak Spanish, either try again later or try saying “Habla ingles?” or “Ingles, por favor” to let them know you’re an English-speaker).
Philips 66: 866-289-5630, 800-610-1961
Sam’s Club: 800-301-5546, 866-246-4282 (Underwriting)
Sears: 800-599-9710 (App status)
Shell Fleet Card: 800-223-3296 (App status)
Shell: 800-223-3296, 866-438-7435
Shell: 800-377-5150
Staples: 800-767-1291, 800-282-5316
Sunoco Corp. Card: 800-935-3387, 800-278-6626
Sunoco: 800-310-4773
Target Biz Card: 800-440-5317
Tiffany: 800-770-0800
US Bank: 800-947-1444, 800-685-7680 (Underwriting)
Valero: 877-882-5376
Wal-Mart: 800-301-5546
Wal-Mart Underwriting: 877-294-7548
Wal-Mart Underwriting (GE Moneybank): 1-866-419-4096
WaMu CSR: 800-356-0011, or 800-280-9441
WaMu: 888-687-2273 (Apps/New Accts)
WFNNB: 614-729-5000
Wright Express: 888-743-3893

Going to get a Discover credit card? Find out the best card with these 8 Discover cards reviews.

There are various credit cards to choose from in the market today. For now, I will focus on reviewing several credit cards offered at Discover. Whether you’re looking for cash back rewards, or rewards for doing the things you do most like travel, Discover probably has a card for you.

Discover The ‘Discover More’ Credit Card To Save Money.

Get $50 Cash Back Bonus with the Discover® More Card!

During the easy credit, before the 2008 credit crunch, there was a good selection of credit cards offering 5% cash back on lots of purchases. In the last year or two most of these 5% lifestyle cash back credit cards have disappeared, but not the Discover More’Card. When managed properly this card can be the most rewarding one available and save the holder lots of money.

It is not just the size of the cash back that is impressive with the Discover More Card but it also gives 5% cash back on more types of purchases. The default cash back rate on all purchases is 1%. The key to making the most of cash deals is to track them and plan carefully all of the purchases that you would be doing anyway.

The 5% cash back specials are not constant throughout the year. For example, from January until March you get the best cash back on such things as airlines, hotels, car rentals, cruises, grocery stores and drugstores. These are all the big seasonal spending items for a winter vacation. So you would be spending this in all likelihood at this time anyway.

In the spring, the following buys get you the most rewards: Clothing stores, department Stores and home improvement Stores.

Further savings can be had when you double your cash back by redeeming the money not as cash but in the form of gift cards from a large range of participating Discover partners. Again, the key is to track the availability of deals and defer your purchases for the most beneficial time and place to scoop up that great discount or reward.

On the cost side there are no annual fees and no redemption fees.

This Discover card is also one of the few cards left doing a balance transfer deal. Most other lenders have stopped this kind of attraction offer, but Discover currently gives 0% for 6 months on balance transfers and 0% for 6 months on purchases. The standard APR is also very competitive after the introductory phase. For all the terms and conditions visit the website.

Discover The Freedom Of The Open Road Card.

Discover® Open Road Card

Americans have wised up to money. There’s competition in the credit market and it’s being driven by demands from consumers for better and better deals from their credit cards. Americans are switching credit cards more often and matching those credit cards to their lifestyles to save more money whenever they use them.

The ‘Open Road’ credit card from Discover is a good way for the traveling deal conscious Americans looking for more returns from their credit cards. This card is designed specifically to appeal to the high mileage car owner and comes with lower annual fees than most of its competition.

To see if the Open Road card could be a big money-saver for you, ask yourself these two questions: 1) Do you have a car and spend at least $100 per month to keep your vehicle in top running order and 2. Do you regularly buy stuff online?

If the answer to both of these yes, then the biggest money saving travel credit card for you may be the Discover Open Road card, with a 5% cash back reward on your first $100 of gas and auto maintenance spent each month.

In addition, the Open Road card gives up to 1% cash back on all other spending, again, each month. Of course, just like other cash reward cards, the amount of refunded money that you earn rises in line with the amount that you spend on the card each month.

Think on it! Use your Open Road card for all of your day-to-day spending then repay the balance each month and you will find yourself earning the full 1% cash back on top of that 5% on your car expenses. The Open Road card also offers between 5% and 20% cash back bonuses when you buy specific items from many popular online retailers.

There are no annual fees and the Discover Open Road card does an introductory offer of 0% APR for the first six months, thereafter the standard variable rate applies. But remember, the real money savings are to be had from cash back by paying in full the monthly balance.

Discover has a stable and reliable customer service department with a large and growing customer base. More importantly, from the customer point of view, the Discover card is universally accepted at outlets worldwide and they have a free fraud liability guarantee.

Application is easy and the acceptance is immediate thanks to the excellent Discover customer service department.

Freedom To Save With The Miles Card

The Miles Card from Discover is a credit card yes, but a credit card with a difference. The Miles card is similar to that of their Open road card for the person who loves to travel like me and craves the freedom to choose at every stage of the journey, especially the booking stage. The Miles Card is not restricted to particular agents like many other travel cards. It is a travel credit card that lets you, the traveling cardholder, earn points that are redeemed for travel rewards.

It’s a simple formula too. If you spend a lot of money on traveling, the Miles card by Discover gives you one mile for every dollar you spend on the card. For the first $3,000 you can earn 6000 miles. That’s double rewards for stuff you’re paying for anyway.

These Discover Miles are redeemable with your favorite travel agent (online or offline) to book those all-important tickets. The miles go directly to credit the purchases you’ve made. You’ll really like this promotion if you want to earn reward points, but still retain the flexibility to do your own bookings as opposed to having to use the credit company’s travel agent and face the all to frequent hassles associated with doing so.

With the Miles card, there are no off limit dates or other restrictions. If you prefer, you can always redeem your miles for gift certificates or cash rebates instead.

Another good benefit of the Miles by Discover credit card is that it does not charge an annual fee. With the Miles card you also get a zero percent introductory interest rate for 6 months on all spending. Plus up to 6 months on balance transfers.

A lot of these speciality credit cards give stuff away and then bump up the interest, but not Discover. They are aiming to have a different card for different cardholder lifestyles, so the Annual Percentage Rate (APR) is on the low end of the market and the same for all cards. The average daily balance method is used to calculate monthly balances, which is probably the fairest way to do so.

The Miles by Discover card is the best deal around for the traveler who wants to earn points and keep the flexibility to book their own itinerary.

Money Talks with The ‘Motiva Card’.

Apply for the Discover® Motiva Card today! link goes straight to application page

Do you like to save money? Stupid question right, who doesn’t these days? Paying high interest rates with your credit cards is not a great way to save money. Everybody knows that the smart thing to do is pay your monthly balance and maximize the cash back rewards so your credit card company is paying you. But if you do carry over a balance then you really need to look closely at the offers on your credit card.

Do you always pay your credit balance on time? Then let me tell you about the Motiva Card from Discover that gives cardholders a cash bonus when they pay their minimum bills for six straight months. The bonus is actually equal to the finance charges for the seventh month after those on time monthly payments. This should be enough alone to want this credit card. On time minimum payments for six months in a row and, thank you very much, you get a bonus equal to seven months of finance charges.  You can do this twice a year.

The Discover Motiva Card is also a tiered cash back credit card. Holders can earn up to a 2% rebate on all their spending. It works like this; for the first $1,500 you get 0.25%. For the next $1,500 spent, you get 0.50% rebate. When you spend more than $3,000, you earn 1% rebate. These rebates are unlimited and are not time restricted.

Go to Discover.com and there is a lot more money to be saved at the company online store. Anything from 5% to 20% discounts can be found. Then you can double the value of those rebates by redeeming them for gift vouchers from over 60 retailing Discover partners. To give you a taste of some of the gift certificate partners there are Bennigan’s Black Angus/Cattle Company Steakhouse,and On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina, to name just two. If you are into DIY then consider another one of their offers in Ace Hardware or Bed Bath & Beyond. There are others too, like AMC Theatres and BLOCKBUSTER Online.

The Discover Motiva Card has no annual fee.You also get a low 3.9% APR on balances transferred from another card for a full year for balance transfers and 6 months for purchases.

The grace period on spending is 25 days rather than the standard 20. While the average daily balance method is used to calculate monthly balances. It all adds up to this; if you carry a credit card balance there is money to be saved by switching to a better deal like the Discover Motiva card.

Escape Card By Discover Is Just The Ticket To Ride.

Escape by Discover®

The Discover card, as the name suggests, is a credit card that is aimed at those who travel and are looking for travel rewards. It is therefore one of the top travel rewards credit cards. Uniquely among credit cards, this one let’s you earn double miles for every dollar spent on it. There is no limit on the number of miles or on the time over which the rewards last.

There are two conditions to keep in order to be sure you getting the rewards and these are; 1) You have to use the card every month for a year and a half and 2) you cannot make two consecutive late payments. Not too onerous for the serious traveler for whom organization and management are essential skills anyway.Properly managing the Discover Escape card and reap its handsome rewards.

Use the card to pay for all your airline tickets, hotel reservations and car rentals etc. Then submit all these expenses to Discover within 90 days. For every 10,000 miles of travel you can be rewarded with $100 and you still have the freedom to choose where you spend your money. Comparing this to the standard frequent flyer programs, the Escape card really is a better deal.

Another impressive feature of the Escape card is in doubling the value of the rewards. Exchange your rewards for gift cards at over 90 partner organizations. Often these gift cards are worth more than face value of the rewards. For example, many sellers take 2,000 miles for a $25 gift card and Celebrity cruise will genuinely double the value of your gift card!

At Shopdiscover.com the Escape card earns added double miles for each dollar spent or a rather than the generous, up to 20%, cash rebate.

The Escape annual fee is $60,but the rewards are outstanding.

Student Card

Discover® Student Card-No Annual Fee

The Discover Student card allows students to earn more cash rebates than any other student credit card on the market. The best way to see this is to check their website which shows a wide range of partner student organizations involved with Discover.com.

There are 5% rebates on airlines, hotels, car rentals and bookstores. There are also attractive 5% discounts on things like home cruises (because students love cruises). Not to mention, there are also between 5% and 20% rebates at more than 100 online retailers such as GAP, OldNavy and Dell.

Students with this card are able to take advantage of the double value rebates that can be earned if they redeem their rewards for specific gift cards. Discover’s student card has nearly a hundred mainstream businesses offering these double rewards. When they shop online, they also have extra security with these unique cards. Shopdiscover.com is Discover’s happy money-saving hunting ground for all of their customers, not just students.

The Discover Student card lets them earn 1% on all of their annual expenditure when card spending exceeds $3,000. The first $1,500 of purchases earns .25% and the second half earns .50%. Spending at affiliated warehouse clubs, discount stores and their subsidiaries earn .25%. What student wouldn’t like to earn $500 in rebates each year?

Personal credit management is a life skill that students must acquire if they want to succeed. With the Discover Student card they can learn these skills.

In the spring students can earn 5% rebates on flights, hotels and car rentals, while in the fall the same can be had on gas, hotels and theme parks. This requires cardholders to monitor the Discover promotions literature and synchronize their planned purchases to save the maximum amount of money possible, given their spending objectives.

Under close examination, the Discover Student card comes out on top of the credit credit card market class.

The Clear Card.

Discover® Student Clear Card

If you keep a running balance between $1000 and $5000, this card is for you. It’s a wise thing to pay up that balance each month, but sometimes that’s not possible. If you don’t don’t pay off your balance each month, this card is likely the right one for you:

What’s attractive about this card is that there is no annual fee and there’s a zero percent introductory APR on purchases and balance transfer. The APR after the introductory offer times out, is competitive too.

What’s extra attractive about this card is the opportunities for you to get a huge 5% cash back bonus all year round on some very essential expenses, such as air travel, gas, and car rental. There is also a good level of general cash back for purchases made at selected warehouse clubs and discount stores.

The way rebates are earned is cumulative. A quarter percent rebate is earned on the first $1500 spent, and that is doubled for the second $1500. Everyday purchases reward the cardholder with a 1% rebate. There is no limit on the amount of rebates that you can earn.

The most attractive feature is double cash rebates at affiliated retailers and merchants through the ‘Cash back Bonus’ award program.

If you keep your account active for three years, the rebates won’t expire and you can advantage of the other, ‘platinum’ style benefits of this card, such as travel accident insurance, auto rental insurance, and fraud protection services as a given.

You will like the way this card is adapted for Internet account management services, and how you can have the card design customized most any way you want.

Current Card

Was it Aristotle who said, “What we have to learn to do, we learn by doing”. Discover has designed their Current card as a prepaid card that allows you to track spending, to teach how to handle credit in the real world. With the Current card, you can put spending limits in place. This card is perfect for teaching your children how to manage credit.

They can have the freedom of using the genuine card to buy their own stuff while giving you control of the spending. Best of all, the peace of mind that comes with knowing that your kids cannot go crazy under peer pressure and give themselves a bad credit score before their real economic life begins.

You and your kids can make direct deposits for free to the card. Once there’s a cash deposit, they can buy their books, clothes and CDs with the card, and even shop online or over the phone as well as at the stores in the local mall.

When the kids need cash they can use their own personal identity number at the ATM to make withdrawals. So you don’t worry about them getting stranded somewhere without money to get home. If they lose the card or it gets stolen, they will learn about the importance of fraud insurance, because it comes free and guaranteed with this excellent training card.

For $50 a year, the Current card is not free, but the learning to be had from it is useful in teaching your kids money management. There are other fees too, similar to most other cards out there, such as $0.50 per ATM transactions after the first four withdrawals. It is $3 to replace a lost or stolen card, and $5 if  they want to get a card statement on paper. However, Current card statements online are always available at no cost and there is no fee if they doesn’t use the card.

For your kids, it is a real card with real money, and real consequences to their every action expect that they won’t hurt their credit profile. Learning to manage credit safely is a great idea!

This article is an advertisement, it does not mean that FinanceDad.com endorses Discover’s products.

Why banks want you to use debit cards and credit cards to pay for everything

Consumers and businesses alike are being fleeced by banks and credit card companies into paying unnecessary fees because of a shift in spending with cash to plastic. Consumers can directly impact their product or service costs by paying with cash rather than credit. Banks and credit card companies lure consumers and businesses into spending and accepting plastic by offering rewards and rebates, but still the rewards don’t compensate for the increased costs. Reward members are only getting ripped off slightly less than other consumers. Below, I will discuss the details of how these fees work their way into the cost of everything you buy. Furthermore, I will discuss the struggle in the business world and why companies trying to gain rebates at the expense of vendors is a poor long term solution. And lastly, why consumers should stop spending on credit as often as possible and why rewards cards are still a rip-off.

Why do banks encourage you and me to spend our money on our debit and credit cards? We’re now a culture of card carriers, plastic for this, plastic for that, hardly anyone carries cash anymore. And the banks are laughing all the way to the, well, the bank. It’s not funny though, because we are essentially paying an additional 1 to 3% on every purchase we make with our plastic payments. That 1-3% is going right into the bank’s shareholder pockets or to help pay someone’s exorbitant bonus, with little value added to our transaction.

Who is paying this premium? Someone has to pay and the merchants aren’t footing the bill forever, after all – you’re making the purchase with a Visa or MasterCard, or Discover or whatever card of your choosing, and those card companies charge the merchant for accepting payment. Instead of making smaller payments via card, consumers must work together and make them with cash and help drop prices for everyone in the long run. Although, some would argue that the businesses compensate in the lost fees by the uptick in credit spending.

In the business world, companies constantly try and take advantage of their vendors over terms and methods of payment, but this is a bad long term decision. Treasuries departments try to become profit centers by engaging with bankers offering a quick buck in the form of rebates for using their company credit cards to pay for everything. In essence,  companies encourage their vendors to accept payment via credit cards (p-cards, T&E cards). These companies think they’re smart in trying to slip a fast one by their vendors.

As mentioned, the company sending payment via card receives a rebate from the bank (or card company), because the bank charges the company receiving the payment around a 1-3% fee. The bank or credit card company then cuts the company paying via their credit card a rebate of something less than the 1-3%. Eventually, the company receiving payment raises prices to compensate for the fees and or changes their terms on the paying company to recoup the costs. In the long run, both companies lose while the bank profits. It simply doesn’t make sense to grab short term profits in trade-off for long term losses, but these bankers will continue to flash the cash in front of the company big dogs and wine and dine them as long as they’re silly enough to fall for their crap. Ultimately, the companies harm customer relationships and sacrifice too much for these short term rebates. The company earning the rebate will often tease the vendor owed money telling them they will pay faster, increasing their cash flow while reducing overhead.

Small businesses are fighting back. In New Jersey, gas stations are offering cash discounts to help consumers kick the habit of paying with cards.

Consumers and small businesses must unite and eliminate the card companies from the transactions all together. However, we’ve played right into the card companies’ hand by cashing in on rewards cards, partially passing the cost of the fees to those consumers who don’t use reward cards. This is simply a short term solution to a long term problem. If you keep it simple and keep the banks out of your transactions as often as possible, you limit their ability to take your money, and everyone is going to better in the long run.

Truecostofcredit.com shows how much vendors accepting your cards pay to the card companies. The numbers are similarly disgusting and staggering for debit and credit cards. Below are some examples of fees on common purchases with debit and credit cards, and in most cases these fees are passed on to you.

Many people argue that rewards cards are the way to go, but you can clearly see that the card companies are making off like bandits by offering crappy rewards for a considerable increase in costs to you. Are you willing to do your part and start using cash? Or are you happy with 1% rewards and increased product costs of 2-30% or more? Reward members should really consider stop being greedy and start making a stand to remove the middle men. In the long-run we would all be better off!

Several of the best travel reward credit cards reviewed and compared

Travel Rewards For Credit Card Users are more common than you may think:

If you are a consistent traveler, then you can gain some significant rewards with your choice of the right credit card. It’s probably the second thing you pack after your passport and is something you take the utmost care of. Most credit cards offer travel rewards as standard in their terms and conditions. The promotional offers and details of travel rewards are constantly being updated so it’s smart to make sure you don’t miss out on any good deals. Here is a list of 6 good travel reward offers currently available:

• U.S. Bank Visa Platinum card is offering travel accident insurance and car rental insurance cover so you don’t have to make separate arrangements and expense. Book your rental car with this card and you can turn down the ‘collision damage waiver’ at the rental agency and you are covered for full 24 hour periods.

• U.S. Banks FlexPerks Travel Rewards Visa Signature: You can get award travel rewards through links with over 150 airlines such as NWA, Delta and United. There is increased earning opportunity with more award seat availability and wider reward choices. Card holders can earn FlexPoints for every dollar spent on the card and these can be redeemed for airline tickets, merchandise, gift cards or even an account statement credit. Holders can earn 10,000 bonus FlexPoints above a $500 spending level. Also available are up to a $20 airline allowance with each award ticket to use on travel expenses such as baggage fees, in-flight food etc. Then there are double FlexPoints on gas, grocery or airline purchases. As well as on most cell phone purchases, including monthly bills, accessories and Internet charges. A nice money saver is no annual fee if you spend $24,000 a year on your card.

• AeroMexico Visa Signature gives it’s card holders one mile for every $1 they spend. Bonus miles and companion tickets should always be checked out and there are no preset spending limits

• SKYBlue Visa charge no annual fee whatsoever and give one mile for every $2 you spend with bonus miles after first purchases.

• SKYPass Visa Classic earns you similar with one mile for every $1 you spend and a 1,000 bonus miles at renewal. Upgrades can be had on Korean Air and SkyTeam partners so think ahead to your upcoming travel.

• Distancia Visa rewards it’s travellers with one mile for every $1 spent as well as the ubiquitous bonus miles and no preset spending limits either.

If you travel frequently, and you’re not taking advantage of one of these perks offered by credit card companies, you’re leaving free flights and or money on the table. Be certain to compare the details of the offers though, and understand which card is the best deal based upon finance rates among various other factors.