New Delta Credit Card Promos and Partner Promo

By: Jason Steele

04/24/2009

Delta is getting really big on promos. They have just release two new ones that my fellow reward aficianados might be interested in.

Pay With Miles Refill For Delta’s American Express

For new members of Delta’s SkyMiles American Express card they are offering an additional bonus beyond the 25,000 sign up mileage. For new members only, they will also reimburse you for “pay with miles” tickets up to 25,000 miles. Delta’s pay with miles option gives you a measly one cent per mile, which sadly is better than many of their rewards outside of the “low” category. This means that if you purchase a $300 ticket with 30,000 miles, you will get a refund of 25,000 miles. All of that is in addition to your bonus miles on sign up.

Partner Promo

Another big Delta promo has also been released. Like previous promos, you have to register here.

In this promo, you have to generate as many unique partner activities as you can before June 22. Some are very easy, like charging something to your Delta SkyMiles credit card, purchasing a song from iTunes, or ing something from the SkyMall. Others are fairly easy to check off, if you are travelling during this time. These include numerous hotel and rental car partners. From there you will want to get creative by doing things such as redeeming a token amount of ponts from your Starwood and Membership rewards accounts, getting an insurance quote, or ordering Netflix.

If you can do 25 unique partner activities, you can earn the maximum 25,000 SkyMiles bonus. Note that Northwest (soon to be part of Delta) 0is also offering a similar promotion with it’s own partners, and that Delta and Northwest miles can be transferred between the two airlines for no cost.

I kind of like this promo as it forces you to be creative, yet gives you a decent reward. As we speak, Delta and Northwest gurus are calculating how they can get the maximum reward with the minimum spend.

May the best man win!

Obama Puts Weight Behind Credit Card Bill Of Rights

By: Jason Steele

04/23/2009

It is a rare day when credit card industry practices are the front page story of the day. As a consumer finance blogger, I have to say that I am immensely proud of President Obama for meeting with the credit card industry in an attempt to curb their abuses. It is truly unimaginable that our previous administration would have done that. With the President publicly backing the new bill of rights legislation, I now think it has a great chance of passing into law soon.

Should Rates Be Frozen?

On the other hand, I believe that the proposal to force credit card companies to freeze rates is a bit of an overreach. I think that the most important provision of the bill will prevent companies from raising rates on existing purchases. I would also have no problem with legislation capping rates to prevent some of the most abusive lending. I just don’t think congress should go so far as to freeze rates arbitrarily where they are, as Senators Dodd and Schumer have suggested. I would like to believe these are two Senators who are just grandstanding and showing the industry that if they don’t accept the reasonable regulations proposed by the President, then they are willing to enact some unreasonable ones.

Parallels Between The Mortgage Crisis and The Credit Card Crunch

This comparison has been made many times, but I really like this analysis by Robert Reich. Reich’s idea is that this credit card bill is both great politics for Obama, and great for the economy. Right now, people are upset that the government is giving so much money to the banks, yet they are getting hit by the well documented abuses of these same banks in every credit card statement they receive. Reich counter’s the industry suggestion that when fewer abusive practices are allowed then they will be able to offer less credit. He concludes:

“The bankers will tell Obama today that any new contraints on credit card lending will cause the banks to reduce the amount of credit card lending they do, which will hurt the economy. But it’s a weak argument because it presupposes that any lending is good for the economy — even lending to people who don’t know what they’re getting into and can’t repay the loans. It’s the same argument banks used two years ago, when precient observers warned that constraints had to be placed on mortgage lending practices. What may hurt the economy in the short term, we now know, may save it from even larger pitfalls to come.”

I love Reich, but he is an economist who speaks in paragraphs. I could easily condese that into one sentence; Any loan that requires abusive practices to make a profit is a bad loan, an bad loans are not good for the economy.

Speaking Of Abusive Practices…
While not being able to use your frequent flier miles is hardly another crisis likely take down our economy, it is another example of scam, albeit on a different scale than subprime loans, credit default swaps, or Bernard Madoff. Tim Winship over at Smarter Travel has written an interesting piece titled 5 Ways Mileage Programs Are Like Ponzi Schemes. Ultimately he concludes that frequent flier programs are not true Ponzi schemes, however mileage collectors would do well to read this article.

My philosophy regarding mileage is no different that it would be if I had inherited money that was invested with Madoff. Get it out as quickly as possible. I am loath to hold onto any significant miles for more than a few months. If I do, it is only in a flexible system like Starpoints or Membership rewards, where I can chose from many programs when it comes time to redeem miles. Even then, I don’t hold onto miles for years and years. I usually have a goal in mind when I set out to accumulate miles. As soon as I am within reach of the goal, I cash them in as soon as possible.

Keep this in mind when choosing between a mileage card and a cash back card. The cash will earn you interest, but the mileage will always depreciate.

Chase Continental Presidential Plus World Credit Card Review

By: Jason Steele

04/22/2009

Summary – This is the top of the line credit card for Continental Airlines frequent fliers. It offers all sorts of benefits not seen in Continental and Chase’s other offerings. While it’s target market is Continental’s best customers, this card may be of significant value to frequent travelers of other airlines who will soon count Continental as part of the Star Alliance.

Reward Formula – Like almost all travel cards, you will receive one point per dollar spent, and two points per dollar spent with Continental. Unlike most other co-branded airline cards, Continental will also offer you double miles for charges at hotels and rental cars. Furthermore, holders of this card will also receive a 25% mileage bonus on all Continental flights. This multiplier effect will allow you to quickly earn a lot of miles if you travel regularly.

Elite Qualifying Miles – Continental is offering 2,000 Flex Elite Qualification Miles (Flex EQMs) for every $15,000 in purchases. Interestingly, Continental says that “These miles do not expire, so you can redeem them toward Elite status at any time in future years.” Presumably this would alleviate the concern that many have with other cards that offer a one time elite bonus, the concern that they would rather save that bonus for a year when they will not otherwise reach their desired elite status.

Non-Mileage Benefits – While the mileage benefits for this card are good, there are some very important non-mileage benefits that make this card a good deal. Essentially, they are offering cardholders all of the benefits of elite status while at the airport. These benefits include waived luggage fees, priority check in and security, as well as priorty boarding and baggage delivery. The biggest benefit is the access to Continental’s President’s Club business lounge. While they are currently advertising access to Delta and Northwest’s clubs, this benefit will almost certainly be disappearing, and should be replaced by access to clubs at United and US Airways as soon as their move to the Star Alliance is complete. This benefit alone is worth the $375 annual fee. You also will hold Hyatt hotels platinum level status as well.

Business First International Companion Ticket – Your annual fee also covers free business first companion ticket. The significant restriction is that the ticket must be a full fare purchase in order to be elligible. This can still be a significant savings over two discounted business class tickets. It is of unquestionable value if your company is willing to reimburse you for a business ticket, and you would like to take a companion for free.

Fees and Rates – There is a $375 annual fee and the card currently offers a 13.24% variable APR

Verdict – This card is a clear choice for anyone who travels frequently on Continental, especially those near its hubs in Newark, Cleveland, and Houston. Beware of the shifting landscape of airline alliances. This card’s primary benefit is the access to the business lounges for Continental, Northwest and Delta. That alliance will be disolved later this year, and Continental will then become a member of the Star Alliance which includes United and US Airways.

That said, it offers excellent mileage accruing opportunities, and good possibilities for obtaining elite status. In many ways, holding this card is equivalent to having elite status already. The only thing really missing from this being the same as elite status, is the in flight upgrades. On the ground, you will otherwise be treated as one of Continental’s elite. So generous is this benefit, that some amongst Continental’s elite travelers oppose it out of a jealousy for those who have attained elite status without “earning” it in the air.

Between the mileage earning opportunities and the numerous non-mileage benefits I highly recommend this card.

University of Alabama Credit Card

By: Mr Credit Card

alabamacreditcard Summary – The University of Alabama Credit Card is a card for students from Alabama University and its Alumni members. The card allows you to earn reward points and also donates a portion of the amount of money you have spent to the University. Let’s find out more about this card.

Rewards and Donation – With this card, you can earn one reward point for every dollar that you spend on the card. The reward program is based on Bank of America’s WorldPoints program. The reward points are good for five years. Also, a portion of every dollar that you spend on the card goes to the University of Alabama. BOA will not disclose the exact amount claiming it is an agreement between BOA and the University. Now, let us look at the WorldPoints Reward Program.

WorldPoints Rewards – Like most credit card reward programs, the World Points program has got the usual rewards.

Travel

Gift Cards

Merchandise

Cash Rewards

We’ll go into a little bit more detail on the program.

Travel Rewards – The World Points Program has a few ways for you to redeem points for travel and airline tickets in particular. Firstly, you can exchange points for airline tickets. The table below shows the points required for certain destinations.

Points	Destination	Max Ticket Value
25,000	Continental US	$400
35,000	Mexico, Canada, Panama	$600
45,000	Alaska, Hawaii, Caribbean, Bermuda, Bahamas	$600
60,000	Europe	$800
85,000	International	$1150
100,000 additional pts	First Class Upgradel	n.a.

WorldPoints also allows you to book your own flight with anyone and use your reward points to offset your travel expenses. This feature is called “Flex Air”. For every $1 that you spend, you can use 100 points.

Gift Cards – You can also decide to exchange points for gift cards. Like most reward programs, WorldPoints has partnered with familiar merchants so you can get their gift cards.

worldpointsgiftcards

Merchandise – You can also exchange points for various merchandise. The picture below (from WorldPoints site) shows a sample of goodies.

worldpointsmerchandise

Cash Rewards – WorldPoints also allow you to exchange points for cash rebates. However, the rebate percentages are not good and you are better off not exchanging your points for rebates.

worldpointscashrewards

Fees and Rates – There is no annual fee for the Alabama Credit Card. New card members get a 0% introductory APR on balance transfers for 12 months. The APR is prime rate plus 4.99% to 14.99%.

Verdict – If you are a University of Alabama student or Alumni, then this will be a card to consider because a portion of every dollar that you spend goes towards your school. You can also earn points which you can exchange for rewards.

Issues With American Express And Bank Of America

By: Mr Credit Card

Several readers have written in with questions they had about their American Express and Bank of America Accounts.

Dr. Brenner sent in the first question:

American Express canceled our card. We had no balance from the month before and a few hundred dollars in charges on a $37,000 limit card. We have one other card and there also do not carry over a balance.

I know that Amex can canel at will, but they did so without notification. When we called to inquire, they said they had notified us by mail, but they mailed us one day before they canceled. Naturally it reached us several days after the event.

Also they said they tried to phone us, but there is no record of any phone call from them. I found out they had canceled when I tried to gas on the road. It was fortunate I had another card with me. Can they cancel without notification?

Dr. Brenner,

Unfortunately, the short answer is yes, they probably can. It’s happening all over – to people with excellent credit histories, who make all of their payments on time. There is nothing you could have done to stop it. It’s happening because the banks have overextended themselves and they are cutting back.

As far as giving you notice, and whether or not that is legal, you will have to check the terms and conditions for your specific credit card. Most likely there is a clause that says they can cancel without notice, or with very little notice. There will probably also be a clause that says they can change the terms and conditions themselves with very little notice. Each card’s terms and conditions can be slightly different, so check the most recent copy of the terms and conditions that you have.

We had another reader, Connie, who wondered what what would happen to her credit score when American Express reduced her credit limit:

I am a AMEX Green Card holder for the past 14 years and have never failed to pay the balance each month. About 16 months ago, I also became an AMEX Blue card holder with a $10,000.00 limit. I did not use this card until this past December and have a balance of about $1000.00.

While I have not paid the balance off each month, the few payments I have had to make have been on time and more than the minimum. I do plan to pay if off over the next couple of months. However, I just received a letter from AMEX advising me that my $10,000.00 limit has been reduced to $1400.00.

My question is this– Since lowering the limit makes it appear that I have almost maxed the card out–how does this affect my credit score (my most recent score was 738),wouldn’t this have a negative affect on my credit?

Connie,

It will have a negative affect on your credit if American Express bothered to report your limits to the credit bureaus to begin with. In some cases, American Express does not report “Preset Limits” to the three credit bureaus, and just reports the amount that you charged on your card that month.

The credit bureaus then use the amount you charged as your reported limit since American Express did not specify the limit on the credit card. When this happens, it actually makes it look like you are maxing out your cards every month. If that is what’s going on, then no, it will not hurt your credit any more than it has previously.

However, if American express does report the limit on your particular credit card, then yes, this limit decrease will hurt your credit score and it should be paid down as quickly as possible to avoid dropping your credit score.

The only way to tell whether American Express is reporting a limit on your particular credit card is to check your credit reports.

Last we had a reader, David, ask this question about his Bank of America Credit Account:

My attorney has filed my petition for bankruptcy and my hearing is scheduled for May 14, 2009. When looking on line at my credit card accounts, I notice that they have almost all disappeared except for one. Suddenly, Bank of America has come up with a whole new account number and is claiming an amount due of approximately $5,000. I claimed the two accounts I had with them in my petition for bankruptcy and this new account number is NOT one of the two I claimed. They have gone ahead and MADE UP an entirely NEW account number. It appears that I am now responsible for paying that new account. Is that possible? Please advise.

David,

Well, anything is possible, but that seems extremely shady to me. I would give Bank of America a call and ask them what happened. If they have done the gypsy switch with your accounts, make sure that your attorney includes the new account in your bankruptcy proceedings.

A word of caution though, if you have no knowledge of the account at all, then it could be a case of identity theft. If Bank of America doesn’t know what happened, and you don’t know what happened, then it really could be that someone used your information to open up a new account. If that is the case, you can still include the account in the bankruptcy, but it would be better to treat it as identity theft and take extra precautions (like monitoring your credit reports, or placing a fraud alert on your credit reports.)

Thanks for your questions!

Have a question for us? Leave a comment below!

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University of Florida Credit Card

By: Mr Credit Card

Summary – The University of Florida Credit Card obviously targeted at students who study there and alumni members. The Card is issued by Chase and comes with their Flexible Rewards Program. Let’s take a closer look at this card.

Reward Formula – With this card, you will earn one reward point for every dollar that you spend on the card. You can earn up to 60,000 points in one calendar year. Reward points do not expire for 5 years.

Flexible Rewards – Flexible Rewards is Chase Reward Program. The reward program has got the usual type of rewards found in most reward programs including :

Travel Rewards

Merchandise Rewards

Gift Cards

Cash Rebates

Here are some in depth look details of the program.

Travel – The Flexible Rewards has several ways for you to redeem points for travel. You can use 25,000 points and redeem it for a round trip domestic coach class ticket around the US for a ticket value no greater than $350. You can also transfer points into air miles of Continental Airlines, United Airlines and British Airways. For example, you need 6,000 points to for a transfer and you will get 5,000 miles in return (For British Airways, you need to transfer 60,000 points in return for 50,000 BA miles). Chase also allows you to book any travel item on your credit card (with any agent, online or offline). You can then use your points to redeem (at a rate of 15,000 for $150 worth in travel items like hotels, airlines etc).

flexiblerewardstravel

flexiblerewardssampletravel

flexiblerewardsairline

flexiblerewardstravelcredits

Gift Cards – Like most other reward programs, the Flexible Rewards also allows you to exchange points for gift cards. As you can see from the picture below, you need 1,000 points to get a $5 gift card. But as you go higher up, 5,000 points gets you a $50 gift card. So do not exchange points for gift cards unless you intend to use 5,000 points and you get better value for your money at that level.

flexiblerewardsgiftcards1

flexiblerewardsgiftcards2

Merchandise – Like other reward programs, you can exchange points for a wide variety of merchandise like electronics, home improvement stuff etc. When I first got my Chase card about 3 years ago, there was hardly any merchandise rewards. It has steadily improved over the last few years.

Cash Rewards – You can also exchange points for cash rebates (though I would not suggest that you do that). Points can also be exchanged for a lower interest payment if you have a Chase mortgage for example.

flexiblerewardscashrewards

Rates and Fees – The University of Florida Credit Card has no annual fee. New card holders get an introductory 0% APR offer on both purchases and balance transfers for up to six months. The APR is either prime rate plus 5.99% or 9.99%.

Verdict – Once again, as with all student and alumni credit cards, this card will appeal to present or former students of the University of Florida. Aside from simply getting a card with your University Logo on it, you can also earn reward points. The Flexible is a decent program (though not the best).

If you are looking for a better reward credit card, then it is best to check out our reward credit cards section.

Costco Amex vs. Blue Sky Amex

By: Jason Steele

04/21/2009

A reader asks:

I have both the Costco TrueEarnings AMEX card as well as the Blue
Sky AMEX card. How do these two cards compare as far as using
them for travel expenses, and for daily use towards travel
benefits?

It seems to me that the Costco card beats the Blue Sky card in every
way. I think you get a $100 travel credit for 7,500 Blue Sky points
(which are accumulated everywhere), but if I spend $7,500 on the Costco
card, I have the potential of getting more than $100 in cash back.

How would you use these two cards? Costco for gas and restaurants
and… everything else too? Blue Sky as a benchwarmer card?

Josh

Great question Josh. For those of you who are’nt familiar with the Blue Sky card, check out our review here. The Blue Sky card is what I would call a value based travel reward card in that the award redemption is specifically based on the reward value. In this case, you earn an award worth $100 for every $7,500 spent, for a 1.33% return. You then spend your reward by calling Amex travel to make a reservation. It’s advantages are it’s simplicity and it’s lack of capacity restrictions and blackouts. If you are not the type of person who wants to go up against a restrictive reward system in hope of finding some high value rewards, this may work for you.

In comparison, the Costco offers cash back that you can use for anything, not just travel. In addition, it offers a higher rate of return for other categories. That includes 3% cash back on gasoline at U.S. stand-alone gas stations, including at Costco, for purchases up to $4,000 per year (1% thereafter), 2% cash back at U.S. restaurants; 2% cash back on eligible travel purchases; 1% cash back on other purchases, including at Costco. All and all, it is a very good cash back card. You would get slightly more for the “everything else” category if you stuck with your Blue Sky, but with gas, travel, and restaurants, Costco will do pretty good.

There are a few things you will want to be careful with. First, Costco only gives you receive your cash back in the form of an annual reward coupon. That means you have to redeem your cash back at Costco or use it to reduce the check out price!

If you are going to take your chances with the Costco card, I would recommend the ultra high cash back earning Schwab Card, which is now offering an industry leading 2% on everything. Save your Costco card for restaurants and gasoline, and get 2% cash back immediately from Schwab. In that way, you should average well over 2% cash back throughout the year, and not be tied to any type of travel agent for your reward.

Medical Bills and Your Credit Score

By: Christina

We have a reader Lorraine, who asked this question:

Is it better to pay off dr bills that are in collections or credit accounts from
my credit report to get my score up?

Thanks so much,
Lorraine

Lorraine,

Both types of accounts are important to pay off, and both types of accounts will affect your credit scores.

I am telling you this from personal experience – My medical bills were the primary cause of my bankruptcy, and they did ruin my credit.

How credit accounts get reported:

Each month, your credit cards report your limit, your current balance, and the amount of your last payment. If you get behind on your payments, then the late notices that show up will lower your credit score.

Medical bills work almost the same way:

Medical bills do not usually get reported to the credit bureaus until they have been sold to a collection company. This means that the hospitals themselves, and the Dr’s offices that you may owe money to, they do not normally report the debt to your credit report.

However, once you completely default with them – meaning that you do not make any sort of payment at all, they cut their loss and sell your debt to a collection agency. It is the collection agency that will normally begin reporting your debt to the three credit bureaus.

I want to make that distinction because, depending on where your bills stand, you may have several different options.

Option #1: Your medical bills have not been turned over to a collection agency. (This explanation is also for other readers who may be in a similar situation, or any accounts that you have which have not been sold into collections.

Call your doctor, call the hospital, speak to someone in the billing department. There are programs that exist to help people with low – mid incomes. You will most likely not be told about these programs unless you ask, but they can reduce your overall medical debt by as much as 50% if you qualify. Definitely start there. For the medical accounts that are already in collections, it may be too late to participate in these programs. If that’s the case, you are stuck with the debt the collection company says you owe.

Option #2: Your medical bills have been sent to a collection agency, and they are being reported to the credit bureaus each month. If you are not sure whether or not they are being reported, you can check your credit reports for free by visiting Annual Credit Report.com

At this point, your time and energy are your best friends. You need to call the collection agencies, and negotiate a payment plan. Do not be afraid to ask if they are willing to take a settlement (if you can afford to make a lump sum payment in order to settle.) That will help reduce your total debt as well.

If you cannot make a lump sum payment at this time, simply tell them what you can afford to pay, and set up a payment schedule. Running and hiding from the collections folk puts you into bankruptcy – or at least, it did me! Dealing quickly and efficiently with the problem will save you a TON of money, as well as help to protect your good credit rating.

If you cannot afford the payments that they want you to make, don’t be afraid to tell them what you can afford to pay them. If you can pay $20 every two weeks reliably, then tell them that. If you can make a bigger payment, tell them that too. But make some sort of regular, affordable payment to the medical collection companies each month.

Any accounts that you have left over at the Dr’s office or hospital, treat them the same way. Make very regular small payments until your debt is gone. Ask to have late fees or other fees removed every single time you call. All of these things prevent you from going deeper into debt, and help you get your debt paid down faster.

About Your Credit Cards:

It is equally important to continue making payments on your credit cards as it is to take care of your medical bills. Both accounts can lower your credit score. However, there is one small consideration.

Medical collection accounts will never help your credit score. Timely credit card payments, and low balances on your credit cards will raise your credit score.

If I understand your question, you feel there is not enough money to go around, and you are afraid you will not be able to pay on all of of your different accounts. I promise you, that if you will take the time and effort to call every single person you owe money to, medical or credit, that you can definitely work out a payment arrangement that keeps you afloat, and keeps all of these negatives off of your credit report.

Managing these accounts has a lot more to do with the time and effort you put in, that what you owe. There are always ways to reduce the balance, to negotiate for better terms, etc.

Specific Advice For Credit Card Collections:

If you have credit accounts that are in collections, give them a call, and ask the rep all of the following questions:

Can you remove any of the fees on this account for me?
Can you lower my interest rate?
Do you offer a hardship program for people who are having trouble making payments?
Can you set me up on a regular payment plan, at a reduced amount per month?

Now, one warning: your credit card company may want you to close your credit account in order to participate in a hardship program. If you close your credit account to get rid of your debt, it will lower your credit score. It’s not right, but that’s the way it is.

Once it’s all said and done:

Once you have everything on a regular payment schedule, stick to that schedule whatever you do. As long as you are making the agreed upon payments, nothing negative should be listed on your credit report.

Don’t forget to go back and challenge the negative items on your credit report once you are on a payment schedule. This will help to repair your credit rating if you can get anything at all removed. We have a step-by-step guide to removing the negatives off of your credit report here.

Thanks for your question!
Jenna

Texas Tech Alumni Red Raiders Credit Card Review

By: Mr Credit Card

Summary – The Texas Tech Alumni credit card is a credit card specifically issued for students of Texas Tech. It is an no annual fee credit card that comes with a reward program. Let’s find more about this card.

Reward Features – This card is actually issued by Chase and is actually also a reward. The rewards (according to Chase web site) is based on the Flexible Rewards. The isn’t any detail on their website about the reward program. But fortunately, I have the Chase Flexible Rewards Card and so am able to comment on it. But first, for this card, you earn one reward point for every dollar that you spend on the card. You can earn up to 60,000 points in one calendar year and the points are good for 5 years.

Flexible Rewards – The Flexible Rewards program has the usual range of rewards like

Travel Rewards

Merchandise

Gift Cards

Cash Rewards

Let’s look at the Flexible Rewards in greater detail.

Travel – The Flexible Rewards has several means to redeem your points for travel. You can use 25,000 points and redeem it for a round trip domestic coach class ticket around the US for a ticket value no greater than $350. You can also transfer points into air miles of Continental Airlines, United Airlines and British Airways. For example, you need 6,000 points to for a transfer and you will get 5,000 miles in return. Chase also has a feature where you can book any travel item on your credit card (with any agent, online or offline). You can then use your points to redeem (at a rate of 15,000 for $150 worth in travel items like hotels, airlines etc).

flexiblerewardstravel

flexiblerewardssampletravel

flexiblerewardsairline

flexiblerewardstravelcredits

flexiblerewardsgiftcards1

flexiblerewardsgiftcards2

Merchandise – When I first got my Chase card about 3 years ago, there was hardly any merchandise rewards. It has steadily improved over the last few years.

Donation to Texas Tech – Usually for an Alumini Credit Card, a portion of every dollar that you spend (maybe a couple of cents) will be donated to your alumni. However, no where on Chases website can we find this information.

Rates and Fees – There is no annual fee for this card. New card members will get an introductory APR of 0% on both purchases and balances for up to six months depending on your credit. The APR is calculated by adding either 5.99% or 9.99% to the prime rate.

Verdict – This card is clearly targeted at Texas Alumni. In the old days, getting an alumni credit card meant getting a plain vanilla credit card. But these days, most of them come with reward programs. For this card, the program is the Flexible Rewards program. As I have a card with the program, I would say that it is alright (not great) and certainly improved over the last couple of years.

If you are just looking for a reward card, you will find better reward credit cards out there. But if you are a Texas Tech Alumni and want to show that on your credit card, then this will be the card to get.

This Week In Credit Card News

By: Jason Steele

04/20/2009

Obama Reafirms Support For Credit Card Bill Of Rights

Yesterday,the director of the White House National Economic Council, Lawrence Summers, went on the NBC Sunday morning talk show Meet The Press and confirmed the administration’s support of the proposed Credit Card Holder’s Bill Of Rights. Here is a Reuters article with all of the details. This should come as no surprise to anyone following this issue as Obama stated his support during the campaign. In fact, his campaign web site, which is still up says so here.

It is very easy for a president to say that they are in favor of something, but it is only important that they actually take steps to support it. George Bush, for example, expressed his support for regualating carbon dioxide emmisions and even claimed to support an extension the assault weapons ban, but famously did nothing to support either. What was news in Mr. Summers interview was his statement in support of accomplishing this soon.

Summers said Obama would be “very focused in the very near term on a whole set of issues having to do with credit card abuses,” adding “We need to do things to stop the marketing of credit in ways that addict people to it,”

This is certainly a good thing to hear for all of those in support of this worthy legislation.

Bankruptcy On Talk Of The Nation

It is a sure sign of my advancing age that I listen to National Public Radio while in the car. So today, I could not help but overhear an interesting discussion on credit and bankruptcy on the Talk Of The Nation show. The featured guest was Time Magazine’s Jane Bryant Quinn, who has written an article exploring the merits of declaring bankruptcy. I am not familiar with the ins and outs of our bankruptcy code, so it was interesting to read the main benefits, which are preserving your retirement accounts, your children’s college savings plans, and possibly your home. She argues persuasively that using up these savings to pay the minimum on your credit card debt just isn’t worth it. The article is a good, short read, and the discussion on NPR is almost a half an hour. I would recommend either if you are considering bankruptcy, know someone who is, or are just curious about what it is.

Super Duper American Airlines Sign Up Bonus, Great For Churners

American Airlines actually invented the frequent flier program, an they still have a reputation for having one of the better airline loyalty operations in the business. Even better, they have a reputation among hard core frequent flier and reward card aficionados for allow their Citibank affiliated reward cards to be “churned”. This is the process of signing up for a card multiple in order to receive a sign up bonus. Most cards do not allow this, and their user agreements explicitly exclude sign up bonuses to any who have received one in the past. In reality, most banks tend to only be able to enforce this for people who have held a card in the last few years.

I have recieved sign up bonus on Delta and United cards multiple times, but it was at least five years since cancelling the first time until I attempted it again. With the American Airlines cards from Citibank, supposedly you can get several different cards at once, with a sign up bonus for each. Over at the One Mile At A Time blog, they are covering the fact that American Airlines has upped the ante to 30,000 bonus miles per card. The Frugal Travel Guy has listed churning these cards as his Number One Travel Deal for some time now. He claims that you can re-apply every six months for the cards which are fee free for the first year. In theory, that is 240,000 a year. We are talking four cards they offer, with bonuses of 30,000 miles a card, twice a year. Amazingly, the bonuses also count toward your “Million Mile” status on American Airlines.

I haven’t done this yet, but I am starting to wonder if it may be a good idea at some point.