There are no “rewards” for going into debt — if you get a new card, make sure you don’t carry a balance.
Being smart with your new rewards card — or any credit card — is essential. Nearly 40%percent of rewards cards users carry a balance, according to a study by CompareCards.com (the average was around $2,500). And one in five people report tracking their miles more often than they track their checkbooks — a very dangerous habit.
Rewards cards carry higher interest rates, so if you know you aren’t going to pay off your balance in full, they aren’t the best option.
Rewards cards carry higher interest rates, so if you know you aren’t going to pay off your balance in full, they aren’t the best option.
“Rewards cards carry higher interest rates, and have higher annual fees, so if you know you aren’t going to pay off your balance in full, rewards cards are not the best option,” CompareCards’ Donaldson explains. Planning to use your rewards card to retire debt — which about ⅓ of people surveyed cop to doing — is also a bad move. “If you’re earning 2 percent cash back, that’s irrelevant if you’re paying 17 percent APR,” he says.
To show how quickly carrying a balance can wipe out rewards, take the Capital One Venture card, which comes with a 50,000 mile bonus after spending $3,000. That bonus is worth $500 in travel rewards. But if you don’t pay off that $3,000, and the card’s interest of 19 percent a year kicks in, it’s going to cost you $570 — which is more than you got in rewards. “Rewards are absolutely meaningless when you pay more money in interest than the rewards are worth,” Epperson says.
Curious about your next card?
As you survey the landscape for your next card, here are a few things you may want to consider. Just remember, a “sign up” bonus is actually a “sign up and spend several thousand dollars” bonus, Schulz says. “You have to decide if you’re comfortable spending enough to get that bonus, and if you can pay it all off quickly.”
- Capital One Venture gives a 50,000 point bonus after you spend $3,000 in three months.
- Chase Sapphire gives a 50,000 point bonus after you spend $4,000 in three months.
- The Gold Delta Skymiles Business Card from American Express gives 50,000 point bonus after you spend $2,000 in three months
- The Wells Fargo Cash Wise Visa offers a $200 reward after spending $1,000 in the first three months
With Kathryn Tuggle
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