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RECENT ARTICLES
Choose a Credit Card That Will Reduce Your Rental Car Bill
Wherever your travels take you this summer, having a credit card will make it easier to rent a car. Many companies won't accept cash, and those that do require preapproval and a deposit. Click and Call to Get the Best Deal. When you make your travel plans, look for specials on travel sites, such as Travelocity and Expedia, as well as on car rental companies' sites.
(5/11/07)
Getting a 'Hold' Placed on Your Credit/Debit Card
When a bank places a "hold" on your funds when you use a debit card or credit card (a credit card -- Visa in this case), what is the minimum period of time they will hold the funds?
My particular institution has the annoying habit of releasing these funds after three days. Then the firm where I charged a purchase comes back 10 to 12 days later and sucks the funds from the account, playing havoc on daily balances --I account for the outflow, then it's back, then it's gone again.
I'm wondering if Visa (merchant services) or banking laws have any requirements in this space.
(5/7/07)
Shedding the World's Worst Credit Card
In an effort to improve my credit I pretty much accepted a very bad credit card offer. My FICO is around 500. The card has a credit limit of $300 with a $6.50 monthly fee and $150 yearly fee and rate of 25 percent, so even if I pay the card off each year $150 is added on. I keep reading that if I cancel cards it will impact my score negatively. This card is horrible. My question is: Should I cancel the card immediately or wait until I pay it off and cancel it?
(5/4/07)
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FEATURED NEWS STORIES
Getting Dinged with a $250 Credit Card Credit Limit Increase Fee!
Not too long ago, one of my CardRatings.com colleagues came home to find an offer from Best Buy in her mailbox. It was for a MasterCard that came with some nice perks: an introductory APR of 0% - good for a year, four percent back on Best Buy purchases, a minimum of 1% back elsewhere, two percent back during special promotions (e.g., for travel and dining).
Read more >>
Credit Cards, Frequent Flyer Miles, and "Priceless" Gifts
More and more of us are accumulating frequent flyer miles - not because we're flying all over the place, but because we get them as built-in perks when we use our credit cards. Of course, there are plenty of people who actually are frequent flyers, who rack up their piles of miles thanks to all the traveling they do. But these days, over half the miles we earn do not come from traveling. Instead, whether we'll use them or not, we get some every time we say, "Charge it."
Read more >>
Prestige Credit Cards: Not Just for the Rich and Famous Anymore
The first and considered by many to be the most exclusive prestige credit card is the American Express Centurion, reportedly for people who charge at least $250,000 a year. Available by invitation only, the card is so exclusive, it's hard to get reliable information about it!
Read more >>
HOT TOPICS...BOFA Messed Up Again, and Again......
I requested my Platnium Plus Visa to be upgraded to a Visa Signature On May 15. I never heard anything after that. I called on May 26th and they had no record of me asking for an upgrade.
humble2k,
I just recently applied for a CC with my bank, Wachovia. I got approved for 0% BT rate for 6 months with a $8,000 CL.
When I called to activate, the CSR explained that the 3 BT checks could be used for anything. I could write myself a check.
She said that this was unlike most other BT offers in that they usually will not let you write yourself a check. Most banks would consider it to be a cash advance with the usual cash advance rates.
My question is: are there any other banks, at this time, that will allow you to 'write yourself a check' with an introductory 0% BT offer?
Ira,
Virtually every bank will issue balance transfer checks. Unless the offer says something specifically to the contrary, these checks are what they say they are: balance transfer checks. Yes you can write yourself a check and deposit it into a personal account. Many of us on this board do just that with 0% offers.
To do what follows you must have a $0.00 balance on the card to begin with. You write a balance transfer check to yourself for just under your credit limit. You deposit this check into an interest bearing account. Pay the minimum on the card every month. When the offer is about to expire you withdraw the remaining principal from your interest bearing account and pay the balance. You keep the interest.
Personally I have made about $1,300.00 a year for the past three years doing this, and I daresay there are folks here who have made more. I make all my bill payments online through my checking account. The minute I get my first statement on a long term 0% balance transfer I set up an automatic payment schedule for 11 months for just over the minimum. When the last scheduled payment is made the bank notifies me. This is an alert to pay off the balance the following month.
It might sound complicated if you've never done it before, but I've done it so many times it has become a routine and I've never been burned.
shan7,
Hi guys...to make a long story short, Budget rent - a car company has charged me over $180 which I think they should not do. I have spoken with them and they will not refund this. The charges are on my Amex Delta Skymiles card.
Can I dispute this charge with Amex? What happens in the process? Does Amex call Budget and sort this out? Or does Amex have a "fund" for this type disputes and refund the money to me first and then try to get this back from Budget. Will this affect my future relationship with Budget?
I appreciate your help as I have never done a dispute. Thanks!
Polonius,
When you dispute a charge, the merchant is sent a copy of your complaint and given a week or ten days to respond, then American Express makes a decision on whether to bounce back the charge, thus permanently wiping it from your AmEx account, or allow it or allow part of it. Usually AmEx sides with the cardholder if his case is a reasonable one. If the merchant doesn't respond in time, the cardholder wins then too.
I have no idea if Budget will treat you any differently in the future if you try to use its services again, but I'd doubt that their policies are set up that way. There are legitimate disputes...and misunderstandings.
My own policy is always to pay the amount showing on the statement. Saves a lot of hassles trying to get late fees or finance charges refunded later on. Naturally, AmEx will put a temporary hold on such things for this charge until the case is resolved, but if the charge was taken off and then put back on and your payment wasn't received for it at the right time, you could have a hassle on your hands. Pay in full and you'll avoid that. If AmEx agrees with you, you'll just wind up with a statement credit that you can apply to your future charges or get refunded by check.
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CARDHOLDER REVIEWS
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Recent Credit Card Reviews by Consumers Like You
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Following is a sampling of the latest
consumer reviews that can be found by clicking the "Cardholder
Reviews" link above. We take pride in the quantity (our site
offers approximately 19,000 reviews of 956 different credit cards) and
quality of the consumer reviews that can be find on our site.
New reviews are added on a daily basis.
The cards are rated on a scale from 1 to 5, with 5 being the
highest recommended.
Credit Card: Capital One® Visa® Platinum Card
Provided by: Capital One
Total Posts: 29
Average Rating: 2.98
Category: Regular
Date posted: 5/16/2007
Review:
I have a Capital One Visa, formerly with a credit line of $3,500. On April 29, 2007 they lowered my credit line to $1,996, claiming they made a mistake when they approved my aplication. My good history was not taken into account. When I called to complain, they didn't care. "Sorry, there is nothing we can do. It was a mistake." (They have horrible customer service.) This put me over my limit by $204, so they could charge me an over limit fee. I will never use it again. I'll pay it off and close it. It is the worst card I have and there is pleanty of hassle, despite what they say.
Best Feature: purchase checks
Worst Feature: sneaky changes
Overall Rating: 1.5
Benefit Rating: 2
Service Rating: 1
Recommend: No
Credit Card: Elan Platinum Visa® Card
Provided by: Firstar Corporation
Total Posts: 16
Average Rating: 2.38
Category: Regular
Date posted: 5/14/2007
Review:
The Platinum card is not a good deal.
I have had this card for over 10 years and it is the only active card I have besides my checking visa. I have never been incorrectly billed or had a single problem with the product or company. I have never been charged a single fee over the normal finance charges. When I contact customer service they answer my questions promply and to my satisfaction. This is my only financial product not with Wells Fargo and the only reason I have not switched over is because I have had such a good experience here. Highly recommend the product.
Best Feature: Have had zero issues with card
Worst Feature: Keep automaticly raising the available credit limit to a very high limit
Overall Rating: 4.5
Benefit Rating: 5
Service Rating: 5
Recommend: Yes
Credit Card: 5Star Bank Platinum Visa® Card
Provided by: 5Star Bank
Total Posts: 3
Average Rating: 5.00
Category: Regular
Date posted: 5/7/2007
Review:
This company has shown me that honest, dependable service is not extinct in the credit card world. I have no complaint other than I would like to have live customer service available at night. I work midnight shift at a hospital and I find it hard to set an alarm to make daytime phone calls to anyone. (Anyone who works nights is entitled to one gripe!)
Best Feature: low interest, very good customer service
Worst Feature: limited customer service hours
Overall Rating: 5
Benefit Rating: 4
Service Rating: 5
Recommend: Yes
Credit Card: Blue from American Express®
Provided by: American Express
Total Posts: 207
Average Rating: 3.72
Category: Regular
Date posted: 5/4/2007
Review:
I came to this site and did my homework when I wanted to move some debt to a good card to pay down bills at a low interest rate. For the most part, Amex is what was promised on this site. However, imagine my shock when I received my first bill April 28th with a due date of the 29th. I called and customer service was good, but the upshot is the due date is 20 days from the billing date and allow 7 to 10 business days for you to get the bill. They do have a very nice online bill payment system with alerts and you can pay by phone for free. I just wanted people to be aware that if they sign up for this, especially in the first month, they should stay on top of the due date. When I received the bill with one day to go, I thought of many of the shady cards I had seen on this site - not what I expected from Amex. They did say I wouldn't have been penalized for not getting the bill, but who knows? Otherwise, the rate is great.
Best Feature: Great rate for life of loan
Worst Feature: Billing turn around
Overall Rating: 4
Benefit Rating: 5
Service Rating: 5
Recommend: Yes
Credit Card: Chase Freedom Card
Provided by: Chase
Total Posts: 16
Average Rating: 2.41
Category: Reward - Gas
Date posted: 5/3/2007
Review:
I just got this card about a month ago. I signed up because Chase offered me a 250 dollar check to do so. I made one purchase on the card and payed it off that night (online payment). The next day my credit line had doubled. This seems like a great card: 3 percent cash back on gas and groceries and 1 percent on everything else. The interest rate is a killer though - 23.99%. That is actually more than 3x more than the other cards I have. If you got this card I wouldn't reccomend leaving a balance or you are not really getting rewarded. I am going to call and see if they can lower the APR, if not I am going to cancel the card, at least I get the 250 dollars out of it.
Best Feature: Free 250 dollars upon sign up
Worst Feature: the apr
Overall Rating: 3.5
Benefit Rating: 5
Service Rating: 3.5
Recommend: Yes
Credit Card: Direct Merchants Bank Platinum MasterCard®
Provided by: Direct Merchants Bank
Total Posts: 52
Average Rating: 2.63
Category: Reward - Airline
Date posted: 5/3/2007
Review:
I have had this card for a year and a half now. I was started out with a 1,500 dollar credit limit and a 13.5% APR. At the time I was just establishing credit. Most of the time I pay in full, but have left a balance on the card sometimes. Unfortunately this card does not offer any type of rewards and Direct Merchants Bank is not able (so they tell me) to switch this to a rewards account. Also since getting this card card I have built up my credit and have several other credit cards with higher limits and lower APR's (check out the BOFA Amex, they gave me a 7.9% fixed APR). Direct Merchants bank will not raise my credit limit which is a bummer but I dont really need it anyway. I called to cancel the card the other day and they gave me a promotional 3.9% APR for 6 months and then lowered the regular to 11.34%. Not great, but at least they are willing to do something. I will probably cancel the card anyway, but in my time of having the card I have never had a problem with them not recieving payments or not getting bills like everyone else. Direct Merchants Bank offers online account access which is really easy to use; I make my payments that way. I did have one problem with the card. when I got married I went to buy my wifes wedding ring and the card was declined. I called and was told that since I had not used the card in such a long period of time it went on security hold, but a quick call cleared everything up. I can live with that. This card is not as bad as people make it out to be.
Best Feature: Never had any problems with customer service, payments or any other feature of the card
Worst Feature: No rewards, does not accept credit increase requests
Overall Rating: 3
Benefit Rating: 2
Service Rating: 4.5
Recommend: Yes
Credit Card: Diners Club® Card
Provided by: Citibank
Total Posts: 32
Average Rating: 3.94
Category: Charge
Date posted: 4/27/2007
Review:
For the first time in ten years Diners Club did not win the coveted Freddie Award. That honor went to American Express. That's what happens when you dilute a formerly good card with MasterCard. Since they merged with Master Card the thrill is gone!
Best Feature: Primary rental car coverage.
Worst Feature: High annual fee.
Overall Rating: 3
Benefit Rating: 3
Service Rating: 3
Recommend: No
Credit Card: British Airways Visa® Signature Card
Provided by: Chase
Total Posts: 5
Average Rating: 1.94
Category: Reward - Airline
Date posted: 4/26/2007
Review:
I travel a lot. Despite my advising the bank of my plans in advance of travel, I find that my account for cash advances is blocked repeatedly. I have to call some one after each withdrawal to get services re-instated despite my explanations that a lot of countries function on a cash basis. This bank is operated solely for the purpose of milking money from customers; not to offer service. Useless!
Best Feature: No service at all. Poor communication. Stay away.
Worst Feature: Will not deliver cash advances abroad when needed
Overall Rating: 1.5
Benefit Rating: 2.5
Service Rating: 1
Recommend: No
Credit Card: Pulaski Bank Gold MasterCard®
Provided by: Pulaski Bank
Total Posts: 8
Average Rating: 2.81
Category: Regular
Date posted: 4/20/2007
Review: Yes, yes, yes to this card. It was recommended by consumer reports as a top 6 customer friendly, low rate, no annual fee card on the market.
Best Feature: customier friendly, low rate, no annual fee
Worst Feature: none
Overall Rating: 4
Benefit Rating: 4
Service Rating: 5
Recommend: Yes
The Cardholder Review section is a unique feature of our site and, to the best of our knowledge,
there is no other organization or company that offers more consumer reviews of credit cards. It's all about consumers
helping other consumers. As your might expect, this section of our site has been one of the most popular sections of our
site since it was introduced in the summer of 2000. New reviews are posted on a daily basis. We hope that you will find this
section of our site useful and that you will visit it on a regular basis.
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Got Card Debt? Reporter from a Major Newspaper Wants to Talk!
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