Your Credit Card: Help from an Unlikely Source in the Event of an Airline Bankruptcy

By Curtis Arnold, Founder of CardRatings.com

With the cancellation of numerous American Airline flights and several other airlines filing bankruptcy, you might be feeling a little leery about purchasing airline tickets these days. And if you have already purchased tickets you may be worried about not being able to use the tickets and/or being out the money you paid for them. However, if you purchased those tickets with your credit card you may be in luck!

We contacted public relations representatives from Chase, Citi, Discover, and American Express to find out what assistance, if any, they offer their customers in this type of situation. We found out that airline tickets purchased from airlines that subsequently went bankrupt are eligible to be disputed via their normal dispute resolution process with two notable caveats:

1. You will probably need to try rebooking your ticket through another airline first. Some airlines, as well as credit card issuers, are offering to assist with the rebooking process.

2. Some credit card issuers will want to see the unused ticket.

According to Discover's public relations department:

"We are providing information to facilitate re-booking of their tickets with other airlines. If they are unable to re-book their ticket, we are initiating disputes and issuing credits to the accounts."

Overall it seems like a fairly painless process to get your money refunded. All the issuers we talked to said that they would do everything possible to support their customers. Gotta love the free benefits that cards offer!

This article was originally published on CreditBloggers.com by Curtis Arnold, a nationally recognized consumer educator and advocate. He is the founder of CardRatings.com and the author of How to Profit from Credit Cards: Using Credit to Improve Your Financial Life and Bottom Line (FT Press, 2008). Curtis has been educating consumers about credit cards since 1998. He is regularly interviewed and quoted by respected members of the national press regarding consumer credit issues.

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CardRatings.com is the most comprehensive source for comparing credit card offers. CardRatings.com is pleased to offer consumers free credit card ratings.

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Please Note! You are welcome to republish this article as long as you state that CardRatings.com is the source for the article. You must also include a link to our website if you republish the article online. Click here for more details about using our articles and thank you for your interest!

Getting Dinged with a $250 Credit Card Credit Limit Increase Fee!

By Curtis Arnold, Founder of CardRatings.com


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)


• A point system, where your spending leads to reward certificates good for buying music, movies, electronics, etc. at Best Buy


• Members-only deals, sweepstakes, and sales


• The liability on unauthorized purchases is $0

Unfortunately, there were some not-so-nice features of this offer – for example, a 5% fee for cash advances. That's on top of a 25.99% interest rate for cash advances – no introductory rate here, folks! Getting a cash advance on a credit card is almost always a bad idea, but on this Best Buy card, it'd be incredibly costly and anything but a best buy.

There's a late payment fee of $29 to $35, depending on the balance. On top of that, "If at any time you fail to make at least your Minimum Payment in time to be credited to your Account by the Payment Due Date, or you exceed your credit limit, your entire Account balance will increase to the variable Default APR."

That’s 29.99%. Ouch!

Even worse, there’s a fee for credit limit increases (CLI). Here’s how it’s explained in the terms and conditions that accompanied the card offer:

“If requested and approved a CLI fee of up to 50% of the CLI may be charged to your account depending on your creditworthiness.”

In other words, say you're in Best Buy and come upon a fantastic sale. Rather than risk going over your credit limit, you call to see if you can get a $500 credit line increase. While you may get that increase quickly enough to take advantage of the sale, there may also be a $250 CLI charge on your MasterCard!!! So much for a great bargain.

The notion of a lender charging us for the privilege of making them more money has never sat well with me, even when we're talking about the typical $10 to $25 fee. Fifty percent is different. Waaaaaaaaaaay different.


One of my colleagues made some calls to ask the card issuer for an explanation. Someone in management was supposed to get back to us, but didn't. So we decided to do what anyone should do when they have questions about a card.

We called the toll-free customer service number. The service rep said that while there isn't a credit limit increase fee "at this time," it's a disclosure that there might be one in the future (we were also told that there is more than one variation of this card offer). The bigger issue, though, is the fact that they're even thinking about something like this. Simply put, this is downright scary!

Perhaps most disturbing about this Best Buy card offer is that all these consumer-unfriendly terms were really buried. They’re not in the fine print of the Schumer Box, where lenders are required to show their basic rates and fees. You’d only find them if you chose to read the teeny-tiny print that follows the Schumer Box.

And the Moral of the Story Is …
No matter how tempting the offer, read the fine print – and the teeny-tiny print before you apply. If it raises as many red flags as this card does, rip or shred it to pieces, whatever your pleasure. There are plenty of great credit card offers out there that do not have such worrisome terms.

Have you seen any egregious … or excellent … credit card terms lately? We welcome your comments in our popular credit forum!

This article was originally published on CreditBloggers.com by Curtis Arnold, a nationally recognized consumer educator and advocate. Curtis has been educating consumers about credit cards since 1998. He is regularly interviewed and quoted by respected members of the national press regarding consumer credit issues. Curtis is currently working on publishing a book about credit card usage with Pearson/Prentice Hall- more details forthcoming!

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CardRatings.com is the most comprehensive source for comparing credit card offers. CardRatings.com is pleased to offer consumers free credit card ratings.

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Please Note! You are welcome to republish this article as long as you state that CardRatings.com is the source for the article. You must also include a link to our website if you republish the article online. Click here for more details about using our articles and thanks for your interest!

Choose a Credit Card That Will Reduce Your Rental Car Bill

By Curtis Arnold, Founder of CardRatings.com


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. Then about a week before your departure, check again. Competition is fierce in this $16 to $20 billion a year industry, so you may just find a better rate.

Also call the companies’ toll-free numbers – as well as the local number – to ask about special offers. You might find the best rate online, via the corporate toll-free number, or at the local franchise. Here’s a list of Web sites and toll-free numbers for car rental companies. (Get the local numbers when you call.)

Since prices change quite quickly, be prepared to whip out your credit card as soon as you get the best deal. Find out what the cancellation policy is, so you’ll know when it doesn’t pay to look for a better deal any longer – and what to do if you find one. The last thing you want is for your credit card to be charged for a reservation you had no intention of keeping.

What to Do about Insuring a Rented Car

Choose a card that will help cover the insurance, which can add an extra $15.99 to $30 per day to the cost of renting a set of wheels. If you can also get some cash back from this credit card … or other rewards … all the better!

Most cards provide secondary coverage, with personal auto insurance policies providing primary coverage in case of an accident. So look through your policy or check with your agent. If it covers only a limited amount, it’s all the more important that you choose carefully among your pile of plastic.

Most credit cards only provide collision and theft coverage, leaving out liability insurance, i.e., damage you do to someone else. The good news is that car rental companies often provide liability coverage at no additional charge. Ask!

Ask card issuers about restrictions involving the type of vehicle covered, the length of time you will have the car, unauthorized drivers, etc. Get the answers to these questions before you decide which card has the best car rental benefits and policies.

More Tips For Getting the Best Rate

• Ask for specials based on what credit card you use, where you work, or which airline you fly.


• Check your bills for coupon inserts from car rental companies.


• Ask about all possible discounts, including those for members of organizations ranging from AAA and AARP to trade associations and frequent flyer programs.


• Need the car for more than a few days? The weekly rate might be cheaper.


• Cars are usually the priciest at airports, so consider renting from locations away from the airport.


• Know when the car is due back and get it there on time. If you’re late, you are going to pay! (There’s usually an hour’s grace period.)


• Fill the gas tank before you return the car and check out CreditBloggers’ tips for saving money on gas.

Safe travels! Do you have other tips for car rentals? Please share them with us!

This article was originally published on CreditBloggers.com by Curtis Arnold, a nationally recognized consumer educator and advocate. Curtis has been educating consumers about credit cards since 1998. He is regularly interviewed and quoted by respected members of the national press regarding consumer credit issues. Curtis is currently working on publishing a book about credit card usage with Pearson/Prentice Hall- more details forthcoming!

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CardRatings.com is the most comprehensive source for comparing credit card offers. CardRatings.com is pleased to offer consumers free credit card ratings.

---

Please Note! You are welcome to republish this article as long as you state that CardRatings.com is the source for the article. You must also include a link to our website if you republish the article online. Click here for more details about using our articles and thank you for your interest!