banktime.com

In this day and age, there are relatively few perks associated with holding a credit card. You pay a high rate of interest, potentially a spate of fees, and face strict restrictions on the usage of the plastic that are associated with expensive penalties. You also run up debt, and run the risk of impacting your precious credit score if anything should happen that keeps you from paying your obligation in full and on time. That’s why it’s nice to know that credit card rewards exist – they really do give you some incentive to use your credit card(s) beyond just an alternative form of payment. (There are indeed some other benefits offered by card issuers, but most American consumers don’t know enough about them: travel insurance, chargeback protection, and extended warranty benefits for example.) It’s only through educating yourself about the perks offered by your card company that you can take full advantage of everything to which you are entitled.

Industry analysts agree that cardholder ignorance is one of the biggest obstacles to Americans really availing themselves fully of the benefits of their plastic. A senior partner with the Aite Group of financial services research analysts in Boston, Ron Shevlin, stated that the vast majority of credit card users “would have a really tough time telling you what even two or three of the additional benefits are.”

This is not to say that you should compile a laundry list of every benefit offered by your credit card company and just go to town all willy-nilly. Experts advise that you carefully read the fine-print details concerning these programs before you utilize them at all. Some of the cards with the best benefits require that users pay a costly annual fee, which is almost never a worthy trade-off. If you have more than one credit card on hand, however, you might want to check out the comparative benefits offered by both before you use either. See which is more generous, and use that knowledge to your advantage.