How To Decide Between a Travel And Cash Back Credit Card (For Free Airline Tickets)?

How To Decide Between a Travel And Cash Back Credit Card (For Free Airline Tickets)? by: Nick Lian

Travel or Cash Back Credit Cards?

If you want to use a reward credit card for getting free airline tickets, you have a choice of choosing a dedicated airline credit card, a travel reward credit card or a cash back credit card. A dedicated airline credit credit card has hefty annual fees and may not be worth it if you are not a very frequent traveller or do not spend enough on your credit card. But assuming that you do take a couple of vacations here and there, is it better to choose a no annual fee travel credit card or a cash back credit card? This article examines the factors to consider if you decide not to get a dedicated airline credit card, but instead to choose between either a no annual fee reward or cash back credit card.

Let is assume we now have one reward credit card and one cash back credit card to choose from. The reward credit card pays one point for every dollar you spend on purchases. The cash back credit card pays a 1% rebate. Essentially, they both have identical payout formula of 1%. Let us assume both have no annual fee (very realistic) and both have identical apr. Would there be any difference between the two credit cards? Should we be indifferent? How do we decide which is better?

How much does your typical vacation airline ticket cost?

The most important factor that in this decision is actually the average cost of your airline ticket when you take your vacation. Why? Because most travel reward program (in fact, most frequent flyer program) require that you earn 25,000 miles or points to redeem a roundtrip restricted economy ticket within continental US. You are required to purchase the ticket either through the specific airline directly (in the case of a specific frequent flyer program) or through the reward program's agent. If you have a cash back credit card, 25,000 points will get you a $250 cash rebate (assuming a 1% formula).

But we all know that a domestic economy ticket cost can vary anywhere from about $99.00 to $350.00. If you are flying short haul, you can get a $99.00 ticket from a low cost discount carrier. If you fly from coast to coast, you are likely to have to folk out over $300 for a ticket. If you use get a special deal from expedia or priceline, you may get it cheaper.

Choose a cash back credit card if you airline ticket cost less than $250

Hence, it is very important to know your vacation habits. Where do you tend to go for your vacations? How much does your average airline ticket cost you? If you tend to fly short haul to a nearby place for your vacation and your airline ticket cost about less than $250 (say for example $150), you are better off using cash rebates from a cash back credit card. This is because you only need to spend $15,000 on your credit card to get a $150 cash rebate. Spending $15,000 on a reward credit card only earns you 15,000 points, not enough on most reward program to earn a free domestic economy flight.

Choose a travel credit card if your airline ticket cost more than $250

However, if you fly long distance (New York to LA for example) and your airline ticket tends to cost over $300, then using a reward credit card makes more sense. This is because if you use a cash rebate credit card, you need to earn over $300 in cash rebates (ie spend over $30,000). However, with a regular reward program credit card, you only need to spend $25,000 to earn your 25,000 points.

So if you tend to take vacations that require long haul flights that cost more than $250, use a travel reward card. If your vacation flights cost less than $250, use a cash rebate credit instead. Some reward program only require 22,000 points to redeem a domestic roundtrip flight. In that case, use $220 or 22,000 points as your guide when you are choosing between a travel or cash back credit card.

Click on the links to see a list of cash back and reward credit cards http://www.compare-apply-credit-card-online.com/CashRebateCreditCards.html http://www.compare-apply-credit-card-online.com/RewardProgramCreditCards.html"

About The Author
Nick Lian http://www.compare-apply-credit-card-online.com Credit Card Tips, News and Reviews for those looking for a credit card.

Keep Your Investment Profits

Keep Your Investment Profits by: Al Thomas

Have you had one of those huge investment winners – a stock that went from $2.00 to $80.00? Or any other numbers you want that gave you a gigantic percent profit?

Did you take the profit or did you watch the equity drop back down to what you paid for it? I hope you sold and kept the money. That’s what it is all about. So many times when I was a broker I have seen customers make large profits and then think they were omniscient about trading and within a short period give back what they had made.

As a brokerage company owner I had seasoned brokers do the sane thing. One of my men made $150,000 in a short time. I called to congratulate his performance and suggested he take a vacation from trading for a while. He said, “No, Al, I know what I am doing”. The very next month he lost $155,000. What happened?

Listen carefully as I am going to tell you one of the great truisms not found in the trading training manuals. If you are doing any trading whether in stocks, mutual funds, real estate, currencies, whatever, this applies. Print this out, frame it and put it up on your office wall.

“Making a lot of money is just as upsetting to your mind as losing a lot of money”.

A big score destabilizes thinking. Many people want to do it again and again so they immediately plunge back into their investments with their winning cash and make bigger bets. It is almost without exception that they become losers and give back their winnings.

For many years I have advocated taking time off after a big profit. It takes time to get your head on straight again. As a former floor trader I would have about 6 or 8 times during the year when I made a good “hit”. Then I would immediately call my travel agent to ask where I could go for a week. I knew I must get away because my investment strategy would be clouded by success.

Too many of the big winners seem to alter their basic trading plan because they now had a large amount with which to trade causing them to deviate from their successful pattern. They then became losers. Because of their success their thinking changed and they were not aware of what had happened. The trader must get away and let his emotions down.

A disturbing event, even a positive one, can alter up your thinking. If you want to keep your investment profits you must keep your emotions under control.

Copyright 2005

About The Author
Al Thomas' best selling book, "If It Doesn't Go Up, Don't Buy It!" has helped thousands of people make money and keep their profits with his simple 2-step method. Read the first chapter at www.mutualfundmagic.com and discover why he's the man that Wall Street does not want you to know.

al@mutualfundmagic.com

Make A Deal With Your Creditors

Make A Deal With Your Creditors by: Fredric Johnson

Are you unable to pay your bills? Pick up your phone and call your creditors; you will be surprised at the goodwill most creditors and collectors give the persons who bothers to pick up the phone and make an agreement.

You should not loose your night sleep or turn into a nervous wreck because of your inability to pay some bills. In most cases you do not even need help from others to solve the problems, a phone call to the bill collectors is usually enough. Yes, you will feel embarrassed when you call some stranger and tell them that you are unable to pay your debt and you will most likely feel like a beggar. The short moment of embarrassment is however, a low price to get your financial issues straightened.

Here it was you should do. Find your invoice that you are unable to pay, if you have more than one invoice and are unable to pay all of them, choose the invoice with the lowest amount. Find the phone number to the invoice issuer, you will most likely find the phone number at the invoice, and call it. One important notice: you will most likely be transferred between two or more people before you reach someone who can help you. Be prepared to explain your situation more than one time and be prepared to be waiting on hold for a long time. Surprisingly many people give up because of these small, maybe irritating, details. Do not give up; explain, wait, repeat, wait, etc. Accept that this is how it works and don not get frustrated, your mission is too important.

When you finally reach someone who has the authorities to help you, be humble. Explain the person that you have some economical difficulties this month and that you are unable to pay your debt. Note that you will have a much stronger case if you are able to pay some of your invoiced amount immediate. Here are some of the possible outcomes of your conversation:

1. You will not reach any agreement. You most probably fear this outcome. You should not; nothing has changed. Your situation has not been worsening, but you have eliminated one solution.

2. You will make an agreement to pay your invoice later. Most probably, you will have to pay a fee due to the delay.

3. You will make be able to split the invoices into several smaller invoices.

You should know what kind of deal you want before you make your call. However, be prepared to accept a deal that is poorer than your suggestion. Most important do not accept a deal that you are unable to fulfill.

Why does this usually work? There are many reasons, but I will give you three:

1. Your creditors want the money, and they see that they will get the money faster if they cooperate with you.

2. The creditors are humans too, and they have no intentions to make your living hard. Most people do not realize this…

3. You are practicing engagement. You are telling your creditors “I have difficulties now, but I do not ignore you”. Nobody want to be ignored, especially not when it comes to money.

There are still a lot of possible solutions if you do not succeed to make an agreement, but you should always try the simple solutions first. I wish you good luck.

About The Author
Fredric Johnson is a contribution writer for Pluto Loans (http://www.pluto-loans.com), an information site on loans and credits.

How Can I Become Debt Free?

How Can I Become Debt Free? by: Stuart Simpson

1. You must change. You have to change your spending habits and spend less than you make no matter what. Its good for everyone. Especially if you are in debt. I know it’s hard to do with our current lifestyle of keeping up, but when you are debt free, it’ll be much easier.

2. Cash only. You have to go to a full time cash only basis. What cash you have to spend is all the cash you have. Once its gone, it’s gone. You have to spend correctly. Don’t spend it all before your next payday.

3. Document. You have to document your spending to see what you are buying. This will help you see if you still have a problem and where the money is going. This will allow you to control your spending if you see all of your monthly spending in one place.

4. Attack Debt. Pay off credit card debt first. The highest interest rate must go! Pay them off and then work towards assets that appreciate in value – like your house. Pay it off last.

5. Lower your interest rate. I called the credit card company to tell them I was going to cancel their card as I consolidated and paid off my other cards. To my surprise, they offered to drop the interest lower than all my other cards so I put all those higher rate cards on this lower rate card. They did that just for the asking and now I’m paying less interest and more towards the principal! Go team!

6. Plan. You have to have a plan and may need to create a payment plan. There are tons of software out there to look at and use, but don’t hide behind the software on trying to find a debt free solution. Plan on paper if you have to. Just do it.

7. Stay the course. Don’t waiver. Spending less and paying off bills is a drag, but it will get better soon and you have to stay strong to make your life even better. Keep your goals. Write it down. Check your progress. You can become debt free!

Sometimes debt can become overwhelming and even scary at times. If you spend too much, you must make changes before it gets out of hand. You can get out of this pit of debt and become debt free and have even more buying power.

About The Author
Stuart Simpson is consolidating information to help people become debt free. http://www.debt-consolidation-review.com/articles/

All Inclusive Vacations

All Inclusive Vacations by: Sandy Baker

Most of the time, when an individual is planning a vacation, they have to consider all aspects of the time they will spend away from home. The lodging, the transportation, the meals and so on are all things that have to be thought of. One way to limit the expense that all of this creates, is to book an all inclusive vacation. While this will not alleviate all of the things an individual has to think about, it will help to reduce the amount of planning that is needed.

All inclusive vacations usually include accommodations, meals, tips, and taxes are included in the package. Sometimes, they can also include attractions, airfare, and transportation as well. To find an all inclusive vacation that fits the needs of an individual, several things should be taken into consideration. All inclusive vacations wrap the cost of all these expenses into one. That is not to say that an individual can not find great deals on these items individually. But, often an all inclusive vacation includes all of this at a discounted rate.

If considering an all inclusive vacation, one should check out the deals that are available. Individuals who are really looking for the best deal should take the time to find out if all inclusive vacations they have found are a better deal. But, in the end, they can find all this information and do so from their home. The Internet is a great tool in planning a vacation, including an all inclusive vacation. Most big attractions have all inclusive vacations planned for them. To find the options available to anyone, it is as simple as finding the right Internet sites. An all inclusive vacation may be just the thing to help make planning a vacation less of a struggle and more of an enjoyment. And, it may just save some money!

So before you make your next travel reservations, visit www.e-travelpromos.com and check out the all inclusive vacation deals from our partners.

About The Author
Sandy Baker is staff writer at http://www.e-travelpromos.com sbaker@e-travelpromos.com.

Steps You Can Take To Protect Your Financial Information And Personal Identity From Fraud

Steps You Can Take To Protect Your Financial Information And Personal Identity From Fraud by: Jay Fran

Financial fraud and identity fraud are one of the fasted growing forms of fraud. The first line of defense to protecting yourself begins with you. Here are some steps you can take to help you protect and fight against financial and identity fraud.

Review and Protect Your Information - The first line of defense in financial fraud is to periodically check your credit report to ensure all your information is accurate. Remember there are three credit agencies (Equifax, TransUnion, Experian) which all operate independently. Make sure you check your credit report from all three because they may each have different information.

Destroy Credit Card Mail Offers and Old Financial Documents - If you receive direct or pre-approved solicitations in the mail for new credit cards and do not use them make sure you shred or tear them up before throwing them away. In addition, shred all financial papers including cancelled checks, old bank account statements, or any document with your identity.

Watch Out For E-mail or Telephone Fraudsters - Never give your personal or financial information out on the internet or phone unless you initiated the contact. This is especially true with giving out your social security or credit card number. Watch out for e-mails from fraudsters that state they need your account information or credit card number to update your account with your bank or an online company like e-bay. Never give out personal information over e-mail! Many times these e-mails will have links for you to click on that take you to a website that looks authentic. However more times than not, it is a scam to get your personal and financial information.

Social Security Number – Keep your social security number in a safe place with other financial documents. DO NOT carry your social security card in your wallet and remember to shred your old social security statements. It is also recommended to not store your social security number on your computer as hackers may have access to it. Never print your social security number on your checks, credit card or drivers licenses.
Incoming / Outgoing Mail - Pick up incoming mail promptly and do not send outgoing mail in your residential mail box. Make every effort to keep your mail as securely as possible when it leaves your house.

Monthly Bills – If your monthly bills stop arriving, take action quickly. Notify the company right away. Also, review your monthly statements promptly and if you see charges or items on your bills that you do not recognize get them resolved immediately.

Credit Cards / ATMs - Report lost or stolen credit cards and ATM cards immediately. Be sure to carry the 1-800 numbers of your bank and credit card company in your wallet.

Age Matters - If you are over the age of 50 you are more likely to be targeted for financial fraud. Therefore, keep this in the back of your mind as you handle your daily tasks and personal information.

Most analysts forecast financial fraud and identity thief to cause financial loss to hundreds of thousands people in the next five years and beyond. While fraudsters are very slick and you can never be 100% safe the steps above can assist in you significantly deterring yourself and family from being a victim.

Copyright (c) 2004, by Jay Fran This article may be freely distributed as long as the copyright, author's information and the below active live link is published with the article.
http://www.motorcycle-financing-guide.com/

About The Author
Jay Fran is a successful author and publisher at Motorcycle-Financing-Guide.com, a comprehensive resource on bad credit motorcycle loans, motorcycle financing, military motorcycle loans and online motorcycle loans.

http://www.motorcycle-financing-guide.com/

3 Sure Fire Ways To Beat Financial Stress

3 Sure Fire Ways To Beat Financial Stress by: Robert S. Laura

1) Get CREATIVE

Don’t fall victim to typical or cliché financial goals that you know, from your own experience, you haven’t been able to stay focused on. Switch things up and simply commit to spending 10-15 minutes, one day a week, thinking about ways you can turn regular spending into savings. Choose a specific dollar bill, for example, a five or ten dollar bill, that you will separate and save for a special purpose every time one ends up in your possession. Or if you’re not ready to brown bag it at work, commit to drinking water every day with your lunch. This should save you about $1.50 a day, which, over an entire week should cover the cost of your lunch on Friday.

2) Pinpoint Financial STRESS

Not sure where to focus your financial efforts? Start by finding out where the greatest opportunity is by asking yourself, “What’s the one thing you don’t want anyone to know about your current financial situation?” The answer should concisely pinpoint the financial area of your life that needs your most urgent attention.

3) Sleep on IT!

It’s getting more and more difficult to keep up with Joneses who inevitable continue to raise the perceived standards of a good living. Commit to a dollar amount that you will not spend until you have thought it over for 24 or 48 hours. By avoiding compulsive expenses, you can save hundreds of dollars.

You can learn more about Robert Laura's real life financial solutions and bill organizer at www.financialkarma.com

About The Author

Robert Laura is a money management expert, speaker, author, and creator of the Cash Flow Organizer System R. You can contact him at robertslaura@financialkarma.com or learn more at www.financialkarma.com.

Get Rid Of Debt With Simple Steps

Get Rid Of Debt With Simple Steps by: Jakob Jelling

Someone who is not in debt appreciates a telephone ringing, because a person without excess debt does not fear creditors. A person without excess debt goes to the mailbox with general malaise, and doesn’t feel the stomach clenching fear when a handful of bills appear. Someone without a lot of debt can enjoy shopping, can handle the unexpected, and sleeps better knowing they have their ducks in a row. Life without debt is difficult to conceive or manage for many people, but a few simple steps can get anyone on their way to being debt free.

The first step towards decreasing debt is to stop creating debt. People who amass a lot of debt often get into a mindset of spending tomorrow’s money, but that only leaves today feeling pinched. Examine spending habits and be aware of what items are necessary for today, and which items are not. Getting out of old debt is easier to manage if a person is not actively creating new debt.

The next step to getting out of debt is to organize all bills and outstanding balances owed. When a person organizes their bills and has a firm grasp on what they owe, they can make better decisions about where their money goes. Also, money spent on late fees, overdraft fees, or over the balance fees is money given away in vain. A person actively trying to get out of debt will do so much more effectively if they are paying their bills on time. To aide in the organization process, a person can buy special folders or create a filing system to keep track and organize bills. A desk calendar marked with bill due dates will help ensure a person committed to getting out of debt doesn’t miss a payment and earn additional fees or accumulated interest.

The third step towards getting out of debt is to increase monthly payments. Paying more than the minimum payment applies more money towards the balance and costs an individual less in interest over the long run. Adding even five additional dollars per payment can reduce the number of payments made of a loan or credit card. Reducing the number of payments made decreases the amount a person pays in interest and fees.

Additional debt management strategies include seeking help from a debt consolidation agency, refinancing, or applying for a loan. When a person has several high interest loans, high interest bills, or higher interest credit cards, they pay more money for the things they bought than those things were actually worth. High interest rates slow down the dent made in the principle owed, and can add years to repayment. Sometimes, one loan can be achieved at a reasonable interest rate, and can be applied to the other debts. This reduces the amount of monthly payments made, and decreases the dollars each month spent vainly on interest.

Getting out of debt can be a life goal, or it can be a goal achieved daily through little steps. Debt can be manageable, but a person must be hands-on about their financial health. A hands-on, educated approach decreases confusion and increases the speed at which debt dwindles and savings increase.

About The Author
Jakob Jelling is the founder of http://www.cashbazar.com. Visit his website for the latest on personal finance, debt elimination, budgeting, credit cards and real estate.

ING DIRECT Savings Account Increased Interest Rate

Here is an update on the ING DIRECT Savings account by Patrick Ort

Earlier in the Blog I had an article that explained "Why some internet banks can pay higher interest rates on Savings accounts"

The article went on to provide information on the ING DIRECT Savings Account. This is a quick update to the interest rate that ING is now paying. The new rate is for the Orange Savings account is 2.60%.

Savings accounts are FDIC insured meaning the government guarantees your money up to $100,000.00.

You can open an account online is about 5 minutes.Click the underlined text below if you are interested in learning more about opening an ING DIRECT Savings Account. ING DIRECT makes $aving money simple! Open your account online today