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Holland America Line Credit Card Review

By: Mr Credit Card
05/05/2010

The Holland America Line Credit Card allows folks who use their cruises to earn faster rewards points which they can redeem for a variety of cruise rewards. Let’s look at this card in greater detail.

Rewards – This Holland America Line Visa Rewards Card allows you to earn double points for cruise and onboard purchases. For all other regular purchases, you earn one point for every dollar that you spend on the card. New cardholders will earn 5,000 bonus points after their first purchase.

Below is a screenshot of their rewards.

Fees – There is no annual fee for this card.

Opinion – For folks who love to travel by cruise and always go with Holland America Line, this will be a great card to get. However, you have to bear in mind that there are a couple of other cards out there that will allow you to get discounts and other perks when you use them to Holland America Cruise tickets.

Discover -Discover has partnerships with most cruises on their online shopping portal and you can get 5% rebates when you your Holland America Line Cruise tickets and items through your Discover account. They also are partners with other cruises as well.

Discover also allows you to redeem any cash rebates you have earned for Holland Line America gift cards and you can redeem for double the value of your cash rebates on the gift card, and gift cards of other cruises as well.

The advantage of the Discover Card is that you can get rebates with other cruises as well and redeem it for gift cards that are double the value from the rebates you have earned.

American Express Platinum Cruise Privileges – The Platinum Card(R) from American Express also has “cruise privileges” that will appeal to folks who travel via “staterooms”. When you book your cruise through American Express travel website (which is powered by expedia), you could earn double points and also get up to $400 in benefits when you book “stateroom”. This alone will cover their annual fee.

Ending Thoughts – The Holland America Line Credit Card will appeal to those who just pick Holland America as their choice for their cruise vacation. For those who use different cruises, the Discover® More® Card – $50 Cashback Bonus® (you can get a $50 if you spend $599 within the first 3 months) is a great alternative.

For those of you who travel in staterooms, the Platinum Card(R) from American Express is a card you want to consider because they have partnerships with all major cruises including Holland America.

RBS Platinum Credit Card

By: Mr Credit Card

Summary: The RBS Platinum credit card is available to existing RBS current account customers with a several benefits for its cardholders as well as an introductory offer on interest rates that is not found with many credit cards.

Criteria: The RBS Platinum card is subject to approval and only available to existing RBS account holders. You will also need to be 18 years of age or over and have an income of at least £10,000 per year.

Introductory Offers: New cardholders will receive an introductory APR of 0% on balance transfers for 15 months from opening the account in addition to 0% on purchases for three months. There is a 2.9% balance transfer fee with a minimum of £5. New cardholders also have three months to decide on the balances that you would choose to transfer to the new card. There is also no annual fee for the RBS Platinum credit card.

Features and Benefits: Royalties Gold customers and Royalties current account customers receive 1% off the APR for at least 12 months. The monthly fee for membership in Royalties Gold is £12.95

Conclusion: Although you need to be a current customer of RBS to qualify for the RBS Platinum credit card, it is definitely worth being a cardholder especially for anyone shopping 0% introductory APR offer on balance transfers for 15 months and 0% on purchases for 3 months, potentially saving a large amount of money that would be paid in interest with other credit cards.

Visa Takes Action On Credit Card Scams

By: Jason Steele
05/04/2010

Earlier this year, I tried my hand at a little investigative journalism after being solicited for a scam that would have fraudulently utilized my credit card information from a past transaction.    You can read my expose on the Budget Trilegiant scam, which begins here.

Visa Takes Action

Recently, I read this encouraging article about actions that Visa is taking regarding the online version of this scam.   According to the article; “Retailers will no longer be able to allow third parties to charge a customer’s card without the card owner re-entering credit card information, Visa said Tuesday. This is Visa’s response to one of the biggest scandals to rock online retailing in years.”

You can read Visa’s press release here.

Visa suggests that cardholders do the following:

Visa’s announcement seems directed at the online version of this scam, which is a combination of pre-acquired account marketing and negative option billing.    Briefly, pre-acquired account marketing is the practice of charging consumers account information that they had given out for a previous transaction.   Negative option billing is the practice of charging an account when a consumer fails to take an action to prevent it.   Such actions can include un-checking a box online that is checked by default, or calling a company to cancel a “membership” program.    The combination of pre-acquired account marketing and negative option billing is especially effective at charging unknowing customers for unwanted services.

According to the article, Visa will require that online merchants have customers re-enter their account information in order to be charged for the “post transaction” services.    It is unclear if these new requirements will affect the tradition offline “offers”, like the Budget/Trilegiant scam that I was solicited for.

Requiring that merchants obtain cardholder information specifically for each third party transaction is common sense rule that should be applied by all the major card processors for both online and offline transactions.    If a customer truly wishes to purchase a product from a third party, they should be required re-enter their account information.    Cardholders have a reasonable expectation that their account information is not being shared with unscrupulous third parties, but at present, that is not the case.

I will be looking to see if MasterCard and American Express will follow Visa’s example and prohibit these scams.

RBS Classic Credit Card

By: Mr Credit Card

Summary: The RBS Classic Credit Card offers customers of RBS a low interest rate on purchases for 9 months as well as additional benefits and features.

Criteria: The RBS Classic card is subject to approval and only available to current customers of RBS with an income of at least £10,000 and over 18 years of age.

Fees: No annual fee and an introductory APR of 4.9% on purchases for nine months from opening the account and then a typical 19.9% APR (variable).

Features and Benefits: Cardholders will receive the following features and benefits with the card:

Conclusion: The RBS Classic credit card allows customers of RBS to carry a credit card that includes exclusive benefits and features. It is also ideal for those that are looking for a no annual fee and low interest card to transfer balances to.

Guess How Much Airline Made In Baggage Fees and Reservation Cancellation Fees in 2009?

By: Mr Credit Card
05/03/2010

According to the Department of Transport latest report, BTS, a part of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration, reported that the airline industry collected at least $1.9 billion through ancillary fees in the fourth quarter of 2009, up 18.3 percent from the fourth quarter of 2008. These fees make up 6.5 percent of the total revenue of the 32 carriers that reported receiving ancillary fees. For the year, the carriers collected $7.8 billion in ancillary fee revenue, compared to $5.5 billion in 2008.

So rather than repeating what the mainstream press is saying, which is simply copying from a press release from Associated Press!, I’ve decided to show you the table from the BTS and let you see for yourself. Turns out that baggage fees, and even cancellation fees, is quite a chunk of change.

It kind of sucks that American Airlines are resorting to such fees whereas the rest of the airline world hasn’t really caught on (guess they are more profitable). But to be honest, I’m all for a healthy airline and profitable airline industry. With the upcoming merger of Continental and United, perhaps capacity will be reduced and airlines will have more pricing power. I have no problems paying for these fees if

  • Airline make an effort to upgrade their airlines
  • Use their profitability to train their staff to be “polite”
  • Have tv and on-demand at the back of every seat (like some international airlines have)

    • So here’s the message to airlines : Charge us all you want, but give us a better product and service.

    NatWest Black Credit Card

    By: Mr Credit Card

    Summary: The NatWest Black Credit Card is an exclusive credit card with benefits and upgrades as well as a rewards program for receiving points through the NatWest YourPoints rewards program.

    Criteria: The NatWest Black card is only available to those with a sole income of at least £75,000 and over the age of 25.

    Features and Benefits: The NatWest Black card includes a minimum credit limit of £15000 and an annual fee of £250. The total package of benefits are worth over £1,300 per year and include the following benefits and features:

    YourPoints Rewards Program: Cardholders receive 1.25 YourPoints for each qualiftying £1 that is spent. Points can be redeemed for flights through Virgin Atlantic, easyJet and American Airlines plus a range of merchandise through partner offers including ebookers.com.

    Cardholders also receive through YourPoints, exclusive bargains, no black out dates for traveling whenever you choose to, special offers to collect points, a choice of destinations through regional airports and upgrades on flights which include car hire and accommodation.

    Conclusion: The NatWest Black credit card is ideal for those that are looking for a rewards program for exclusive offers and access to extras that include exclusive opportunities and prestigious events. Cardholders are also able to take advantage of travel related perks and benefits and the package of benefits that NatWest offers its cardholders.

    Royal Caribbean Credit Card Review

    By: Mr Credit Card
    05/02/2010

    The Royal Caribbean Credit Card is targeted at those who take cruises (and in particular Royal Caribbean Cruises) as it helps you earn more “Royal Points”. Let’s look at this card in greater detail.

    Rewards – The Royal Caribbean Cruise credit card allows you to earn double points for every dollar that you spend with Royal Caribbean International. For other regular purchases, you earn the standard one point for every dollar that you spend on the card. You can earn up to 250,000 points a year and points are good for 5 years. Hence you can redeem up to a maximum of 1,250,000 points over 5 years (250,000 multiplied by 5).

    As a sign up incentive, new card holders will receive 10,000 bonus points if they make a purchase, transfer a balance or make a cash advance within 2 billing cycles after you have gotten the card (we advice though that you never use your credit card for cash advances!).

    What can You Use “Royal Points” For? – Rather than describing in length what you can redeem the points for, I’ve decided to just paste a copy of their rewards page here.

    Verdict – The Royal Caribbean credit card is typical of all other cruise credit cards in that you can earn double points when you make any purchases on Royal Caribbean. For folks who take Royal Caribbean cruise every year and spend quite a bit on their card, this is probably a card to consider. Royal Caribbean offers MANY different excursions at their ports. The number of stores and other entertainment they offer, you can definitely earn quite a few points on the boat alone.

    There are other cards which you should also consider that can get you discounts on Royal Caribbean and other perks as well. Let’s take a look at these other cards.

    Discover – I’ve mentioned this many times in previous reviews of other Cruise Credit Cards. But Discover has partnerships with most cruises on their online shopping portal and you can get 5% rebates when you your Royal Caribbean Cruise tickets and items through your Discover account. They also are partners with other cruises as well.

    Discover also allows you to redeem any cash rebates you have earned for Royal Caribbean gift cards and you can redeem for double the value of your cash rebates on the gift card, and gift cards of other cruises as well.

    The advantage of the Discover Card is that you can get rebates with other cruises as well and redeem it for gift cards that are double the value from the rebates you have earned.

    American Express Platinum Cruise Privileges – The Platinum Card(R) from American Express also has “cruise privileges” that will appeal to folks who travel via “staterooms”. When you book your cruise through American Express, you could earn double points and also get up to $400 in benefits when you book “stateroom”. This alone will cover their annual fee.

    Ending Thoughts – The Royal Caribbean Credit Card will appeal to folks who simply travel just on Royal Caribbean. For those who use different cruises, the Discover® More® Card – $50 Cashback Bonus® (you can get a $50 if you spend $599 within the first 3 months) is a great alternative. For those of you who travel in staterooms, the Platinum Card(R) from American Express is a card you want to consider because they have partnerships with all major cruises including Royal Caribbean.

    Princess Cruise Credit Card Review

    By: Mr Credit Card
    05/01/2010

    The Princess Cruise Credit Card is obviously targeted at folks who take Princess Cruise often. Let’s look at the details of this card.

    Rewards – This card allows you to earn 2 points for every dollar you spend on Princess Cruise tickets. You will receive one point for every dollar that you spend on other regular purchases. As an incentive, new card holders will receive a 5,000 bonus points after their first purchase or balance transfer. In fact, they will pay one point for every $1 of balance that is transferred over!

    Below is the redemption of princess awards.

    Fees – There is no annual fee for this card.

    Verdict – The Princess Cruise Credit Card will appeal and suit those who take a Princess Cruise ever year. If you are such a person, this card will fit like a glove. But if you travel with other cruises or book staterooms, then there are two other cards to consider.

    Discover – The first card to consider is Discover. That is because Princess Cruise is a partner of their online shopping portal shopdiscover.com and you can get 5% rebates when you your Princess Cruise tickets and items through your Discover account. They also are partners with other cruises as well.

    Discover also allows you to redeem any cash rebates you have earned for Princess Cruise gift cards and you can redeem for double the value of your cash rebates on the gift card, and gift cards of other cruises as well.

    The advantage of the Discover Card is that you can get rebates with other cruises as well and redeem it for gift cards that are double the value from the rebates you have earned.

    American Express Platinum Cruise Privileges – The Platinum Card(R) from American Express also has “cruise privileges” that will appeal to folks who travel via “staterooms”. When you book your cruise through American Express, you could earn double points and also get up to $400 in benefits when you book “stateroom”. This alone will cover their annual fee.

    Ending Thoughts – The Princess Cruise Credit Card will appeal to folks who travel just on Princess Cruise. For those who use different cruises, the Discover® More® Card – $50 Cashback Bonus® (you can get a $50 if you spend $599 within the first 3 months) is a great alternative. For those who travel in staterooms, the Platinum Card(R) from American Express is definitely a card to consider because they have partnerships with all major cruises including Princess Cruise.

    MBNA UK Stops Issuing Credit Card Cheques

    By: Mr Credit Card

    This is a post from Sandra of Thinkingmoney.org. She thought this update about MBNA’s action in the UK would interest some of you

    One of the biggest credit card cheque issuers in the UK, MBNA stops issuing them

    What are credit card cheques? In their simplest form they are blank cheques issued to you by your credit card provider, normally sent out with your credit card statement. They are a different option to using your card. But what most are unaware is they can have crazy interest rates and begin charging these immediately after they have been used. To stay ahead of the game, and due to high consumer demand, MBNA have decided to stop issuing these credit card cheques. A law is due to be passed later this year, to ban unsolicited credit card cheques, however upon request lenders will still be able to issue them to customers.

    “While credit card cheques are still valued by many of our customers, we acknowledge that, increasingly, the majority of our customers are choosing to access their accounts by other means,” Greg Reed, The chief marketing officer for Bank of America (MBNA) What will be interesting to see is the amount of people that will still request credit card cheques from their banks even though the ridiculous interest you have to pay on them makes these low APR credit cards look like loose change.

    What makes them even more unappealing is that there is also no interest free period; you will get charged the minute the cheque is cashed by the receiver. There is even a handling fee charged by the
    banks for using them and you will not be protected like a credit card if they are misused by someone else. To stop issuing them altogether would ultimately help combat fraud, if someone uses your credit card cheque against your knowledge, you will not find out until you get that bill, which you cannot contest and will be made to pay! Even though the Bank of America have stopped issuing the cheques, if
    you still have some left you can use them up, but be warned no more will be issued.

    Many people like to use these cheques as a means to time until payday. These people are no doubt already deep in bad debt in order for them to have to resort to using them, why they think it is then a good idea to further the debt by suing them is anybody’s guess. Think of it like giving a recovering alcoholic a free drink. There are consequences, but at the time the tempted are not going to think that
    far ahead, but later pay for their moment of weakness!

    Celebrity X Cruises Credit Card

    By: Mr Credit Card
    04/30/2010

    The Celebrity X Cruises Credit Card is obviously a credit card targeted for those who would like to earn reward points on Celebrity X Cruises. We will now take a more detailed look at this card.

    Rewards – With this card, you will double points for every dollar that you spend on all Celebrity Cruise purchases. You will earn one point for every dollar you spend on other regular purchases. Points can be redeemed for the following:

  • Redeem Points for air travel with no blackout dates
  • Redeem Points for unlimited cash certificates for extra spending on your vacation

    • Redeem Points Can Also Be Redeemed For Rewarding Cruise Values*

  • Stateroom upgrades
  • Onboard credits
  • Cruise discounts
  • Free companion fares
  • 7-10 night Caribbean sailing for two

    • The reward program (for non cruise redemption) is actually based on the WorldPoints program.

    Other Benefits – You also get other benefits like :

  • Exclusive memorabilia available only to WorldPoints® customers
  • Access to personal concierge service for hard to find tickets
  • Redeem Points for quality merchandise like Sony®, Coach® and Callaway® – which is essentially WorldPoints reward program

    • Fees – There is no annual fee for this card.

    Verdict – The Celebrity X Cruise Credit Card will suit those who take a cruise with them every year. If you take other cruises as well, perhaps this is not the right card to get. Another card you may want to consider is the Discover More Card. The reason is that they have partnerships with Celebrity X Cruise and when you book at ticket at their website via accessing your Discover Card, you will earn 5% rebates. The screen shots below show you how.

    Discover also allows you to redeem any cash rebates you have earned for Celebrity Cruise X gift cards and you can redeem for double the value of your cash rebates on the gift card, and gift cards of other cruises as well.

    The advantage of the Discover Card is that you can get rebates with other cruises as well and redeem it for gift cards that are double the value from the rebates you have earned.

    American Express Platinum Cruise Privileges – The Platinum Card(R) from American Express also has “cruise privileges” that will appeal to folks who travel via “staterooms”. When you book your cruise through American Express, you could earn double points and also get up to $400 in benefits when you book “stateroom”. This alone will cover their annual fee.

    So to sum up, the Celebrity Cruise X Credit Card will appeal to folks who travel just on Celebrity Cruise. For those who use different cruises, the Discover® More® Card – $50 Cashback Bonus® (you can get a $50 if you spend $599 within the first 3 months) is a great alternative. For those who travel in staterooms, the Platinum Card(R) from American Express is definitely a card to consider because they have partnerships with all major cruises including Celebrity Cruise X.

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