Credit Card Tutorials

Better Economy = Better Credit Card Deals

Remember where our economy was a year ago? During the fall of 2008, the charts of the Dow and Nasdaq looked like some sort of intense rollercoaster ride; slow climbs and steep drops. As the finance sector collapsed, so did credit card deals. Offers for balance transfers and low interest rates quickly disappeared. Even reward cards were having their rebates chopped down. To make matters worse, our spending limits were being slashed “Freddy Krueger” style. Although we’re not out of the woods yet, we are seeing credit card deals make their way back onto the market. Finally, we are seeing banks offer 0% promotions and signup bonuses once again.

Signup Deals
A couple years ago, credit card companies would actually pay us to sign up fro their cards. Many would offer a $50 to $100 bonus simply for applying and being approved. Some cards were even more generous; American Express gave a staggering 25,000 membership reward points to new Gold Card members, plus they waived the annual fee for the first year. Those 25,000 points were enough to get a domestic roundtrip ticket! (more…)