Credit Cards

Citibank Credit Card Rewards Thank You Network Update

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According to an email received this week, the fixed flight option will no longer be available as of March 1st. Quick Summary Before 3/1/09 – Great deal for flights between $200 and $400 (the closer to $400 the better the deal).  Still a good deal for flights over $400. After 3/1/09 – Deal Gone.  You pay 100 points per dollar.  Average travel reward at best. Check here for updated information about 2011 Citibank rewards credit card programs. Look here for an updated review of the Citibank rewards catalog 2011. Fixed Point Travel Flight Option What does that mean for Citibank credit card holders?  A worse deal. Until 3/1/09 you can get a domestic flight reward on “virtually any airline” for 20,000 ThankYou Points, up to $400.  If the ticket is more than $400 then it is 5,000 points for every $50. That works out to 50 points per dollar for a $400 flight and then 100 points per dollar after.  That, of course, only works at exactly $400, but any flight over $200 costs you less than 100 points per dollar. Even if you go over $400, you are still getting a good deal because that first $400 comes at …

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Find The Capital One No Hassle Rewards Site

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It seems that several visitors are finding their way to the Finance Gourmet because they are trying to figure out how to access the Captial One No Hassle Rewards information on the Captial One website. Some people just wanted a mailed printed Capital One Rewards catalog, but they aren’t very common. It isn’t exactly hidden, but if you are one of those people who wants your webpages to be pretty clear, you might be a little frustrated.  There are two ways to get there that I know of: If you login to your Capital One credit card account online, you will see a screen like this one.  You’ll notice that there is a “Rewards Summary” link in two spots on the main card management screen.  Click it and you’ll get information on how many points you have earned.  On that screen is a button that says “View and Redeem Rewards.”  Click that, and you are in business. If you would rather just go there directly, the address is https://nohasslerewards.capitalone.com From there, you can look at what rewards are available and order your rewards directly from the site.  Keep in mind that you’ll need to have cookies enabled (especially if you …

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Credit Counseling Scams

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Not too long ago, I wrote about monitoring your credit report on the non-blog Finance Gourmet site.  In it I included a warning about the various services offering to “fix” your credit and lower you monthly payment.  Now a much bigger site has an “insider” confession from just such an outfit.  A little independent confirmation always is good.

Free Credit Score at My Credit Union

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Several years ago when I was a wild-eyed, fresh out of college, computer guy, I got my first “real” job with a local company. The company had around a 100 employees or so which meant that the HR person was the Office Manager. On my first day, the Office Manager went through all the basics with me: payday, W-4 forms, copies of my Social Security Card (or passport), and so on. We also went over my “Benefits.” Now, at the time, I didn’t much understand what benefits were or why I cared (other than insurance and vacation time) but, I understood what the word benefit meant, so I nodded along and paid close attention. One of my benefits was the right to join a credit union. Back in those days credit unions were a little bit tighter in their membership requirements, still it wasn’t too hard to join one. But, since it was one of my benefits, I marched down right away and opened an account. It wouldn’t be until years later that I would understand that the reason my company offered me this benefit was because the credit union offered me another benefit which was the ability to have …

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Credit Card Rewards Catalog

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One of the toughest things about comparing all the different rewards credit cards out there is that the credit card companies aren’t very good about showing you what your points can buy until AFTER you sign up. Go ahead, try and find the rewards catalog for a reward credit card without logging into the site. Most reward programs sound the same. Earn 1 point for every $1 you spend with some specials here and there thrown in to maybe give you more points at grocery stores, gas stations or elsewhere. The catch though is that it doesn’t matter how many points you earn, what matters is what you can get with those points. Remember Chuck e Cheese and Showbiz Pizza? 10,000 tickets gets you an 8″ stuffed animal. What do 10,000 points get you from your credit card? Less than two years ago I used 40,000 points on my Capital One Miles Reward card to get $400 worth of gift certificates to Baby’s R Us. I pretty much furnished the nursery for free. It was a great deal. I logged in at Christmas time this year (2007) looking to do the same for a pregnant friend. Imagine my shock when …

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