I have been hearing stories about problem redeeming credit card reward points. It seems like banks are making it harder for people to redeem their points as the economy keeps faltering. In fact, they are pushing debit cards to get more business. But debit card rewards programs aren’t as good as those for credit cards. Beside, our focus should be on paying down debt, and not ratcheting up rewards points by using credit cards and debit cards anyway.
Here are some points to consider:
- Reward cards generally charge higher interest rate than non-reward cards. As such, the reward should be secondary if you’re carrying a monthly balance and incurring interest.
- Use the card companies’ online tool. This makes it easier for you to make payment, track and use your reward, and stay up to date about your card.
- Redeem your reward if you plan to close your account. Otherwise, it may simply disappear. This also applies when you switch to different type of cards with the same issuer.
- Instead of trying to juggle different cards to get the best reward, you might be better off sticking to one multi-purpose reward card.
Anyway, I am rambling. I guess the best thing I can say is ignore these rewards and focus on spending less and pay down debt (if you have any).
