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Choosing A Credit Card

How are you going to use the credit card?

Do you plan to pay your balance in full each month? If so, a charge card might be the best option. That's if you have the excellent credit required to qualify for a charge card. Will you be using your card for balance transfers? You should look for a card with a low interest rate on balance transfers.Do you plan to carry a balance from one month to the next? A credit card with a low interest rate is ideal.

What’s the annual percentage rate?

The annual percentage rate, or APR, is the percentage applied to balances that you carry beyond the grace period. The higher the APR, the higher your finance charge will be when you have a revolving balance and the more you'll pay for using your the credit card. Most credit cards have a different APR for purchases, balance transfers, and cash advances. Make sure you know the APR for each.

How long is the grace period?

The grace period is the amount of time you have to pay your balance in full before a finance charge is added. The period is usually expressed in days from the billing date, i.e. “28 days from the billing date.” Longer grace periods are better because they give you more time to pay your bill without incurring a cost for the convenience of using credit. If you already have a balance on the credit card, new purchases may not have a grace period.

What are the fees?

You should know the amount of any fees and the circumstances under which the fees are applied. The most common types of fees include: annual fee, late fee, and over-the-limit fee. You may also be assessed fees for paying your account over the phone on the due date, requesting additional copies of your statement, or for having your check returned.

• Common Credit Card Fees

How is the finance charge calculated?

The credit card company’s method of calculating the finance charge has an impact on the amount of the charge. Some methods consider only the current month’s balance while others consider the current and previous months’ balances. New purchases may or may not be included in the calculation.

• Six Ways Finance Charges Are Calculated
• How to Avoid Finance Charges

What is the credit limit?

The credit limit influences your purchasing power. If you’re new to credit, it’s wise to start out with a low credit limit to become familiar with responsible credit card habits. Some financial situations allow a higher credit limit. Be wary of no-limit credit cards because they can sometimes look maxed out on your credit report. This can have a negative effect on your credit score.

• 5 Ways to Avoid Over-the-Limit Fees

What are the rewards?

Some credit cards offer rewards for using your credit card. Make sure you fully understand the reward structure and the amount of purchases you have to make to receive the reward.

American Express BlueCash , Bank of America, Capital One and Citigroup credit cards discussed

A card’s interest rate won’t matter to you, since you won’t incur interest. So get a cash-back or rewards card that lowers the cost of your everyday purchases or travel. Rates on these types of cards are often on the high side, but that’s irrelevant if you religiously pay off your cards. Cash-back cards refund a portion of what you spend on certain items in certain stores or, sometimes, on every purchase. Some cards provide a flat 1 percent refund; others boost the rebate for products in certain categories, such as 5 percent on grocery or drugstore purchases, or for products bought during certain times of the year, such as a rebate on home improvement products purchased in the spring. Here are the eight best cards with no annual fee; the last four are affinity cards that require you to be a customer of the cosponsor:

American Express BlueCash

• American Express BlueCash (17.25 percent variable; 800-528-4800). Blue Cash pays back 0.5 to 1.25 percent on everyday purchases and 1 to 5 percent on select items, including groceries and gasoline. Reward rates are based on your annual spending, with the highest cash-back rates for customers spending more than $6,500 per year.
• Chase Sapphire Visa and MasterCard (12.24 percent variable; 800-432-3117). This card earns 1 point for every dollar spent; 2 points for every dollar spent on airfare booked through its affiliated travel agency; and 10 points for every dollar spent through its online “mall,” whose offerings range from electronics to sporting goods. There’s no limit on the number of points you can earn.
• Discover More (11.99 percent variable; 800-347-2683). You earn up to 1 percent back on many everyday purchases and up to 5 percent on categories such as travel, gasoline, department stores, groceries, and restaurants. The categories change seasonally.
• Pentagon Federal Credit Union Visa Platinum (13.99 percent fixed; 800-247-5626). Although there is no annual fee, you’ll pay a one-time $20 fee to join the credit union. The card pays back 5 percent on gas, 2 percent on groceries, and 1.25 percent on all other purchases.
Bank of America/Merrill Lynch Total Merrill Cash Back
• Bank of America/Merrill Lynch Total Merrill Cash Back (9.99 percent variable; for Merrill Lynch customers only; 800-637-7455). This card pays back 1.25 percent on all purchases, depositing the cash in your Merrill Lynch account.
• Costco/American Express TrueEarnings (15.24 percent variable; no annual fee for Costco members; 800-223-2670). Pays 3 percent back on the first $3,000 in gasoline purchases and 1 percent back on all subsequent gasoline purchases. The card also refunds 3 percent for purchases in restaurants, 2 percent for travel, and 1 percent everywhere else.
• FidelityInvestment Rewards American Express (13.99 percent variable; for Fidelity customers only; 866-598-4971). This card pays back 2 percent on all annual purchases, deposited in your Fidelity account. Fidelity also has a Visa Investment Rewards card that pays back 1.5 percent on annual purchases up to $15,000 and 2 percent on purchases above $15,000.
• Schwab Bank Invest First Visa (13.24 percent variable; for Schwab customers only; 866-724-9223). This card pays back 2 percent on all purchases, depositing the cash in your Schwab account.

Travel cards, the original rewards cards, allow you to earn points you can use to buy airline tickets and hotel stays. But for flexibility and maximum value, Curtis Arnold, founder of CardRatings.com and author of How You Can Profit From Credit Cards, offers this advice: Steer clear of a card from a particular airline unless you fly that carrier often. Instead, use a card such as the two below that offer points on any airline and no redemption fees. Then you can use your points to cut the cost of the ticket and won’t have to worry about blackout dates. Understand, however, that the value of those miles is going down. “In the past, 25,000 miles would get you a coast-to-coast airline ticket on the Capital One No Hassle Miles card,” Arnold says. “Today, that buys you a $250 ticket with most rewards programs.”

Capital One No Hassle Miles Reward

• Capital One No Hassle Miles Rewards (13.9 percent variable; 800-410-0020). Despite the change in how it doles out rewards, Arnold still says Capital One’s card is worth considering, because it has fewer restrictions than an airline card. The card earns 1 mile per dollar on the first $1,000 spent in a billing period and 2 miles per dollar after that. Miles can be redeemed for air travel, hotel rooms, and other travel purchases at the rate of 100 miles per dollar. So to get a $300 ticket, you’d need 30,000 miles. That’s the equivalent of charging $15,500 in one billing period or, since the mileage rate starts anew each cycle, a higher amount over a longer period.
Citigroup Citi PremierPass
• Citigroup Citi PremierPass (12.99 percent variable; 800-967-9800). This card is more generous than Capital One’s, because you get bonus points for using the card to book flights. The card earns 1 point for every dollar spent normally, plus 1 point for every 3 miles flown on any airline. Pay $500 for a round-trip ticket from New York to Los Angeles and you'll earn 2,500 points – 500 points for the ticket purchase and 2,000 points for the flight (6,000 miles divided by 3). The catch: You can’t rack up more than 100,000 points in a year, including 50,000 points for air miles. As with the Capital One card, 25,000 points buys a $250 ticket