I wouldn't get a miles card, because they usually have annual fees and because it doesn't really seem worth it to do frequent flier miles. You've got to accumulate a lot of them to get somewhere, and in the meantime you're always picking a particular airline for all of your trips, and it's not likely to be the best fare to where you're going. It's probably worthwhile if you charge a lot of stuff though - maybe look into what the fee is, how many miles you would get in an average month of spending, and how many miles that airline requires for a trip.
so yeah, aside from getting some card that doesn't have fees, i'd say:
the thing with miles cards is: if it takes 25,000 miles to do anything useful that's $25000 of spending for a free trip (less if you get double and triple miles, though) so you're probably getting a 1-2% return rate
hoever, with some cash back (or gift certificate back) card, you can do stuff like save money on christmas and birthday presents and get a quicker return. you can then save that saved money and give it to charity or a travel fund.
and i went with B just because i hate working assets i like the concept i hate getting more stuff in my mail from them than junk mail sometimes. and since i quit with them, the "come back" mail has been even worse
I chose d. because I'm a fan of fence-sitting... and credit cards, though neither of these things is inherently healthy. Option b. shatters the illusion of it being "not your money," which isn't really true.
Let me know if you find a good miles card; I think fanlain should get one since she charges everything anyway.
Kiplinger's (John went for their "free trial subscription" and they haven't yet realized we aren't going to pay) recently had a thing on good credit cards. Here's what they say:
low-interest premium cards: name/rate/fee/number Wells Fargo Prime Rate/4.25/79 Pulaski Bank and Trust/5.5/50/800-980-2265 Amalgated Bank of Chicago/7/25/45/800-723-0303
I wouldn't take those recomendations vary seriously though. I don't trust Kiplingers to acutally look for good deals. Some of those seem like good deals, other seem really terrible.
Let me know if you find a good miles card; I think [info]fanlain should get one since she charges everything anyway.
the only credit card i have has a balance of 0. we (not just me) use it for buying flight tickets and paying it off. if you think i should drop the card i have to get a miles card instead, ok.
if you mean the credit union atm/debit card that's not "charging everything" b/c it comes out of my actual checking account, not a credit card debt.
Sorry, I meant that you pay for everything by card, rather than cash, so if you were to earn miles / cashback on card purchases, that would work well for you. I didn't mean that you run up/carry a balance.
k - i'm just making that pretty damn clear b/c your statement seemed to imply that i was financially irresponsible by just charging everything so i felt, in my defense, i should object. i did get that you probably didn't mean what it sounded like or i would have called you up immediately :OP
to clarify, i was nearly mugged in philly just trying to get cash out of an atm. it was all the money i had to get home b/c i was a broke college student. it freaked me out so i stopped carrying cash and started using the debit card - also b/c it shows up on my statement and gives me some ability to backtrack for expenditures b/c i hate actually balancing my checkbook or keeping track of every nickel and dime. i have my own vague system for keeping track of dough which works well for me. however, i have adopted a habit of using the debit card wherever i go which is rather annoying in places that only take cash or worse, checks. who the heck carries around their checkbook these days?! it's too big to fit in a back pocket or tiny purse?
we can look into finding a card that gives us miles - i do have a lot of miles as it is tho?
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chiming
no subject
Date: 2004-09-27 02:19 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2004-09-27 03:03 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2004-09-27 03:20 pm (UTC)From:the thing with miles cards is:
if it takes 25,000 miles to do anything useful
that's $25000 of spending for a free trip
(less if you get double and triple miles, though)
so you're probably getting a 1-2% return rate
hoever, with some cash back (or gift certificate back) card, you can do stuff like save money on christmas and birthday presents and get a quicker return. you can then save that saved money and give it to charity or a travel fund.
and i went with B just because i hate working assets
i like the concept
i hate getting more stuff in my mail from them than junk mail sometimes. and since i quit with them, the "come back" mail has been even worse
no subject
Date: 2004-09-27 03:30 pm (UTC)From:Let me know if you find a good miles card; I think
no subject
Date: 2004-09-27 04:20 pm (UTC)From:low-interest premium cards:
name/rate/fee/number
Wells Fargo Prime Rate/4.25/79
Pulaski Bank and Trust/5.5/50/800-980-2265
Amalgated Bank of Chicago/7/25/45/800-723-0303
No-fee premium:
Chase Manhattan Bank/5.9
BB&T/8/15
Citibank/8.24
Rebate (for travel on all major airlines)
Wells Fargo Travel Rewards/varies/19/800-642-4720
USAA Eagle points/10/49/800-793-8990
MBNA worldpoints/11.99/none/800-932-2775
no subject
Date: 2004-09-27 04:21 pm (UTC)From:?!
Date: 2004-09-27 07:09 pm (UTC)From:the only credit card i have has a balance of 0. we (not just me) use it for buying flight tickets and paying it off. if you think i should drop the card i have to get a miles card instead, ok.
if you mean the credit union atm/debit card that's not "charging everything" b/c it comes out of my actual checking account, not a credit card debt.
Re: ?!
Date: 2004-09-27 07:30 pm (UTC)From:Re: ?!
Date: 2004-09-27 09:23 pm (UTC)From:to clarify, i was nearly mugged in philly just trying to get cash out of an atm. it was all the money i had to get home b/c i was a broke college student. it freaked me out so i stopped carrying cash and started using the debit card - also b/c it shows up on my statement and gives me some ability to backtrack for expenditures b/c i hate actually balancing my checkbook or keeping track of every nickel and dime. i have my own vague system for keeping track of dough which works well for me. however, i have adopted a habit of using the debit card wherever i go which is rather annoying in places that only take cash or worse, checks. who the heck carries around their checkbook these days?! it's too big to fit in a back pocket or tiny purse?
we can look into finding a card that gives us miles - i do have a lot of miles as it is tho?
no subject
Date: 2004-09-28 12:21 am (UTC)From: