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Mileage-award credit cards: Our
top picks
Credit Cards: Everyone has them and needs them, but maybe it's time to learn
how to keep from being taken advantage of by them. Read
this article on how to deal with high interest rates, late fees, &
reduced grace periods.
See the 10 Most Consumer-Friendly Credit Cards
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AMERICAN
POWER CONVERSION
apc
bk350 350 va / 210 watt ups (surge/ups)
The
Back-UPS CS provides professional-grade power
protection for office and home office systems.
Battery powered & surge protected power
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Bookkeeping
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Illustration by Jim Frazier |
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Credit cards
They really are
out to get you
Ruth Owens’ troubles began when she stopped
using her Discover card. The Cleveland woman, who
was on Social Security disability, had just passed
her $1,900 balance limit.
Over the next six years, she made $3,492 in
payments but never reduced her debt. Discover
charged fees and finance charges that used up all
her payments and ballooned her balance to $5,564.
In 2003, the card company sued Owens, asserting
that she breached the card contract by failing to
make minimum monthly payments. “After paying my
monthly utilities there is no money left,” Owens
pleaded in court papers. “If my situation was
different, I would pay." Cleveland municipal
court judge Robert Triozzi ruled that Owens had
paid enough, declaring that she had been prey to
“the plaintiff’s unreasonable, unconscionable,
and unjust business practices.”
Getting trapped in the jaws of credit-card debt
has become alarmingly easy. Thanks to cozy
relationships that have developed over the years
among lawmakers, federal regulators, and
credit-card issuers, few consumer protections are
left. There have been no limits on interest rates
for years, so a temptingly low 1.9 percent APR can
morph into double-digit territory at the whim of
the credit-card company. Or it can climb beyond 30
percent when a consumer does nothing worse than
sign up for a new card, inquire about a car loan,
or make a single late payment to any
creditor.
As for fees, anything goes. You can receive a $39
spanking for going over the limit, paying late, or
paying less than the minimum, for balance
transfers and cash advances, and foreign currency
transactions. Credit cards have turned into
“nothing less than wallet-sized predatory
loans,” observed Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn.,
during a congressional hearing earlier this year.
The effects on Americans’ finances are showing.
Average card debt per household with at least one
credit card topped $9,300 in 2004. That’s more
than triple the average in 1990. Consumer
bankruptcies have skyrocketed from 287,463 in
1980, the dawn of card-industry deregulation, to
just over 1.5 million in 2004. Credit-card fees
and finance charges are much more difficult to
repay for families with other money problems, say
medical bills or a job loss. “It is the rising
cost of the plastic itself that is tipping
hundreds of thousands of families over the
edge,” says Elizabeth Warren, a Harvard law
professor and bankruptcy expert.
Nessa Feddis, senior federal counsel at the
American Bankers Association, is not totally
sympathetic. “It isn’t just medical expenses
that can cause the trouble,” she says. “It’s
that nice handbag they charged, that kind of
spending.” Penalty fees are needed, she adds, as
“deterrents to bad behavior.”
In 2003 those deterrents, along with fees for cash
advances, exceeded the after-tax profits of the
entire credit-card industry just two years
earlier. Card issuers have been experiencing
record profits since 2000 and saw them top $30
billion in 2004. A wave of mergers has ensued,
consolidating power in the hands of a few players
who set take-it or leave-it terms for consumers.
Prior to 1978 the top 50 issuers represented 50
percent of the credit-card market, but by mid-2005
only five companies, American Express, Bank of
America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and MBNA,
controlled 65 percent of the market. “The
impending marriage of MBNA and Bank of America
will further narrow the circle of big players;
consumers can expect to be squeezed even harder by
rising rates and fees,” warns Robert D. Manning,
professor of finance at Rochester Institute of
Technology and author of “Credit Card Nation.”
Don’t think you are off the hook if you are
among the 45 percent of cardholders who pay
balances in full each month. As interest rates
rise, card issuers are seeking ways to eke out
income from you as well. “You may have to pay
fees to receive what used to be free year-end
summary statements,” Manning says. “You may be
switched to penalty interest rates on cards if you
don’t use them frequently, and in general
you’re likely to see a steady decline in the
value of reward programs, such as cards that offer
frequent-flyer miles or cash rebates as perks.”
(See our November 2005 report Mileage-award
credit cards.)
Warren adds, “This is not a case of a few
piranhas swimming amidst a sea of big benign fish.
The deregulation of this industry has made the
waters treacherous for all consumers.” This
report details the most significant dangers, along
with advice on how to minimize them.
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This article was also
published in Consumer
Reports magazine.
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Mileage-award
credit cards: Our
top picks
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Some
cards offer sign-up bonuses that are
almost enough for a free ticket.
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| Illustration
by Bob Eckstein |
Some credit cards promise free tickets on any
airline without blackout dates or mileage-award
seat limitations. Others hook you with thousands
of sign-up bonus miles or double or triple miles
for charging routine purchases such as
groceries.
All those juicy deals sound good, but what you
really ought to know is which mileage-award card
is the fastest route to a free ticket. To find
that ideal card, we researched the field and
found that three major types of cards grant
award travel, and the best one for you depends
on your buying and flying habits. Here is a list
of the card types, their pros and cons, and the
top choices in each category.
Airline cards
Pros: These co-branded cards can be the
fastest track to a free ticket if you fly
several times a year on the same airline and
charge everything that you can on the card. Many
of these cards grant double miles for charging
routine purchases from, say, pharmacies or
hardware stores. And some, such as the United
Mileage Plus Gold Class card, offer tempting
sign-up bonuses that are nearly enough for a
free ticket. Although there are usually caps on
the miles you can earn annually (typically
50,000 to 100,000), bonus miles aren’t counted
in that total.
Cons: If you carry a balance, the costs
of these cards can erase the value of their
rewards. Annual fees can top $100, and interest
rates--typically the prime rate plus 9.99
percentage points--may be double those of other
cards, according to CardWeb.com, a card research
and information service. What’s more, airlines
typically limit award seats and impose blackout
dates.
Top pick: The American Express Delta
SkyPoints card program has no seat limits or
blackout dates and lets you trade in points for
discounts against the first $500 of a ticket’s
price. That’s a big plus if you don’t have
enough points for a free trip. Discounts range
from 10 percent for 3,000 points to 75 percent
for 20,000, getting you a $500 ticket for only
$125. The $49 fee is waived the first year, and
you get 2,500 sign-up points.
Bank cards
Pros: These cards are a good choice if
you buy more than you fly and don’t pay your
balance in full each month. Interest rates are
reasonable: typically the prime rate plus about
6 percentage points. And they have no annual
fees, blackout dates, or seat limits.
Cons: They may require 21-day advance
reservations and charge processing fees of
around $15. Also, they may only pay up to $500
per ticket. And you typically can’t combine
miles earned on the card with miles in airline
frequent-flyer programs.
Top pick: Citi PremierPass allows you to
earn points for card purchases and miles flown.
The standard version carries no annual fee and
offers 5,000 bonus points after your first
purchase.
Multiple-airline cards
Pros: These cards are best if you’re a
frequent flyer but use several different
airlines. Like airline-branded cards,
multiple-airline-program cards such as American
Express Membership Rewards and Diners Club let
you earn points that can be combined with
airline-program miles, but you can distribute
miles among a range of carriers. And they impose
no cap on the value of award tickets.
Cons: You may face blackout dates and
seat restrictions. And annual fees are
steep--$95 for Diners and $110 for Amex. “If
you’re more of a frequent spender than a
frequent flyer, you’re probably better off
with a lower-cost bank card that offers travel
awards you can use with any airline,” says Tim
Winship, publisher of FrequentFlier.com.
Top pick: Diners Club, which you can now
use anywhere MasterCard is accepted and allows
you to convert points to miles in 25 airline
programs. And you get 12,000 sign-up bonus
points, a plus that helps counter its downside:
a fee of 95 cents per 1,000 points when you
transfer points to an airline program.
Whichever card you choose, check the rules on
when points expire. Bank-card points generally
expire within three to five years. Miles on most
major airline cards expire if you don’t use
your card or redeem miles at least once every
three years.
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This article was also
published in Consumer
Reports magazine. |
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Check out our Bookkeeping
section online or give us a call to schedule an appointment. mail@tempoent.com
or 415-979-4200.
Merchant
Accounts
& Tempo Enterprises
Promotions currently running through
12/31/05:
 | Discounted rates for Swiped & Keyed transactions |
| FREE Gift Card Programs for all new retail clients* |
| FREE Dual Board - setup a merchant account for your Internet
site along with your Brick and Mortar location. (No Gateway Setup Fee,
No Customer Service Fee, & Reduced Monthly Minimums of $10 - in
other words a low cost Internet account to complement your retail
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Special industry pricing for:
| Spa/Salon (Spalon) (Beauty & Barbor Shops, Massage Parlors,
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| General Contractors (General, Heating, Ventilation, Air
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| Quick Service Restaurants (Fast Food Restaurants, Pay at the
Counter Restaurants) |
| Restaurants (Eating Places and Restaurants - usually defined by
sit down eating and pay at the table) |
| Supermarket (Grocery Stores & Supermarkets) |
| Media (Books, Periodicals, Newspapers, Music Stores, Record
Stores, Book Stores, Video Tape Rental Stores) |
| Clothing & Dry Cleaners (Uniform & Commercial clothing,
Footwear, Accessory & Specialty Shops, Infant wear, Sports Apparel
Stores, Furriers, Laundries, Dry Cleansers, Rental Clothing) |
For more information about
establishing a merchant account for an Internet, mobile or a traditional
business, please e-mail us at Creditcards@tempoent.com
Web Hosting
Training
Here's a listing of our August online Instructor-led Courses.
| ASP.NET: Using VisualBasic.NET, ADO.NET, and XML 8/4/2003 - 10/20/2003 |
| Build a Solid Foundation With VBA Using Microsoft Office 8/4/2003 -
8/25/2003 |
| ColdFusion MX: Level 1 8/4/2003 - 9/8/2003 |
| Flash MX: ActionScript 8/4/2003 - 9/8/2003 |
| Troubleshooting and Maintaining Your PC (Rev. 1) 8/4/2003 - 10/6/2003 |
| Windows 2000 Professional: Install, Configure, and Admin. Pt. 2 8/4/2003 -
10/6/2003 |
| XML: An Introduction (Rev. 2) 8/4/2003 - 9/8/2003 |
| Excel 2002 (Office XP): Level 1 8/11/2003 - 9/15/2003 |
| Flash 5, Level 1 8/11/2003 - 9/15/2003 |
| Fundamentals of Computer Programming 8/11/2003 - 9/29/2003 |
| Produce Letters, Lists, and Catalogs Using Access and Word 8/11/2003 -
9/1/2003 |
| Visual Basic 6.0: Distributed Applications, Part 1 8/11/2003 - 10/13/2003 |
| Visual C#.NET: Introduction for Developers 8/11/2003- 10/27/2003 |
| Access 2000, Level 3 8/18/2003 - 9/22/2003 |
| Dreamweaver 4: Level 2 8/18/2003 - 9/22/2003 |
| Fundamentals of UNIX Administration 8/18/2003 - 11/3/2003 |
| Microsoft Publisher 2000: Create a Newsletter 8/18/2003 - 9/22/2003 |
| Visual Basic 6.0: Database Programming (Rev. 1) 8/18/2003 - 11/3/2003 |
| Visual Basic 6.0: Desktop Applications, Part 3 8/18/2003 - 10/20/2003 |
| A+ Certification: Core Hardware, Part 2 8/25/2003 - 10/13/2003 |
| GoLive 5: Level 1 8/25/2003 - 9/29/2003 |
| Java 2: Advanced Programming 8/25/2003 - 10/27/2003 |
| Keep Visitors Interested - Add Animation to Your Web Site Using Flash 4
8/25/2003 - 9/15/2003 |
| PageMaker 7.0: Level 1 8/25/2003 - 9/29/2003 |
| Photoshop 6.0: Tips & Tricks 8/25/2003 - 9/29/2003 |
| SQL Server 2000: System Administration 8/25/2003 - 11/10/2003 |
To register for an online Training Course or obtain more information about
the hundreds of courses we have available, please contact us: Training@Tempoent.com
Technology
News
MICROSOFT OFFICE UPDATES
The Microsoft
Office Product Updates site hosts free* updates that you can download to
increase the security, stability, and performance of your Office products. The
following new update is now available:
Using the Office Product Updates site's automatic detection tool, you can find
out if these updates are suitable for your Office products. Go
to the Product Updates site and click Go to get the latest Office
updates for your computer. If these new updates do not appear in the
list of updates returned by the automatic detection tool, then your
computer does not need them.
Templates & Clipart
Check out all the new Holiday Templates & Clip Art on our Template
page
Other News
Delta Has Success In RFID Baggage Tag Test
In an extensive test of RFID tags, Delta Air Lines said it tracked 40,000
passenger bags from check-in to loading last month in a test with
an accuracy level ranging from 96.7% to 99.8%. http://www.computerworld.com/newsletter/0,4902,88390,00.html?nlid=MW
Smart Antennas To Expand Wi-Fi Range
Several vendors hope to reduce the number of access points needed for a
wireless office by expanding the range of corporate wireless LANs
and improving the signal quality with smart antennas. http://www.computerworld.com/newsletter/0,4902,88487,00.html?nlid=MW
Report: Online Holiday Sales Up 46% Over Last Year
The reason: Consumers are deciding that shopping online is the way to go,
according to the report released by Goldman Sachs & Co., Harris Interactive
Inc. and Nielsen//NetRatings. http://www.computerworld.com/newsletter/0,4902,88546,00.html?nlid=PM
Death Of The Microprocessor, And Other '04 Predictions
Expect to see full 'microsystems' stamped on a single chip and more
micropayments on the Internet, says Sun CTO Greg Papadopoulos. http://www.computerworld.com/newsletter/0,4902,87556,00.html?nlid=HW
Microsoft Plans Windows 2000 Server Retirement
The retirement announcement comes eight months after the introduction of
Windows Server 2003, the successor to Windows 2000 Server. http://www.computerworld.com/newsletter/0,4902,88372,00.html?nlid=OS
The
Tempo Store - Whether you are looking for Hardware, Networking,
Software, Supplies, or Training, you will find everything you need at The
Tempo Store.
Training
- Computer skills not quite where you'd like them to be? Check out the training
options we have available for you. We have classes available starting at
less than $50 and make great practical Holiday gifts for that special someone in
your life.
Tips & Tricks - Check
out the new Software Tips & Tricks we've added for November..
Feedback - We love
hearing from you! Have a topic you'd like us to talk about? Let us
know!
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