Besides simply comparing annual fees & stated finance charge, how else to determine best credit card to get?

Question

Thanks, guys~

Answer 1

The two considerations you give are the most important. After that, I would consider if the company who issues the card gives part of their earnings to a cause you support. My Target VISA card gives a percentage of what I spend to my childrens' school. There are a lot of cards that give a percentage to a charity.

Answer 2

Most credit cards suck and are harmful for your financial health. Go for APRs that are 'fixed' rather than 'variable.' Either way, if you are a first-time cardholder you will probably pay 10-20% APR no matter what. And paying off your bill doesn't help your APR go down, either. They are in the business to make money, and they don't want you to be able to pay off your debt anytime soon.

The advice I always give to first time cardholders is to apply for an AMerican Express card. You have to pay your balance in full at the end of each month, so it keeps you aware of your spending habits. This way you use it if you don't have cash, but you don't buy anything that you know you can't pay off in 30 days. The mistake most young people make is that they think a credit card equals free money. NOT TRUE!!!

If you do get a Visa/Mastercard, just keep this in mind. If you only pay the minimum amount due each month, you wind up paying almost double the amount for everything you bought. Good luck!!

Answer 3

Well one of the things I look at is what am I going to use it for - when I was travelling I got a Citi American Airlines card to rack up even more miles with .. it got me a couple of free vacations. So all things being equal I would look at the rewards the card brings. They now have cashback cards, airline points, hotel points even one for college savings and mortgage payments !! You can find them all here :

http://www.winterinjuly.net

Answer 4

You can always looks the benefits of cards to you If you are using for geeting cash , flying points , gas rebates , or discounts coupons , cah back which ever need fits you best after APR and fees I personnaly like AMEX

Answer 5

Make sure they have a reasonable grace period. For example, that if you pay the balance in full within twenty-five days of receiving the statement, that you don't have to pay interest, etc. Of course you also want to compare interest rates, as well as charges for things like cash advances. It doesn't hurt to try to get one with some kind of cash back program either.

Answer 6

you could look at it in terms of what services your going to use it for, what goods your going to buy, and finally what type of credit card these people and places accept. All this is keeping in mind you have already checked out the card itself.

Answer 7

Interst rates charged

Answer 8

well...consider reputation too....for example.....visa is the most well known and usually holds a less interest rate than mastercard

go by reputation and also, which card most stores accept