I’ve had a Citi AAdvantage card for years that gives me American Airlines AAdvantage miles when I use my card. Effectively I get 1 mile for every $1 I spend. It sounds like a great deal, and it would be, if using miles for travel weren’t subject to blackout dates and other restrictions.

I’ve accumulated enough miles to take a nice vacation somewhere, but the restrictions on when I can go make it impractical to use the miles.

So I’m in the market for a new card that will pay me cash back at the end of the year. I’m not too worried …

The options for rewards programs are endless it seems.  Cash back, frequent flyer miles, hotel points… pick your reward.

Some rewards programs are better than others, as I found out on a recent trip to Europe.  I am a member of American Airlines AAdvantage program, which I earn a mile for every dollar I spend on my AAdvantage Citi card.  I also earn up to 10 miles per dollar depending on where I eat under the dinning program.

Sounds pretty nice, right?  Who would turn down a free ticket on your next vacation?

That’s the catch with the AAdvantage program. Chances are, program seats aren’t available on the flight you want to take, or on the day you want to take your trip. In addition, you might end up with a long layover (overnight) at an intermediate location somewhere between your home and destination.

In preparing for our trip to Greece, I inquired about using miles to get from the States to Europe.  We needed to leave on a Wednesday due to vacation days off from work and the time constraints of a wedding we were attending.  Unfortunately, the rewards program could only get one of us there, and we’d have to stop overnight in London.  Then, we’d have to buy another ticket on the same flights, which would cost more than a ticket straight through to Athens…  In addition, if we did buy the individual ticket, there is no guarantee of sitting next to each other.

I just tallied up all my cash withdrawals from our trip to Europe, and compared the transaction and ATM fees to the fees that my local bank was trying to charge me just to convert currency.

The overall fee was 3% of the total currency withdrawn from the ATM, as compared to the 7% that my bank wanted to hit me up for to convert $100 USD to Euros…

So it turns out that using plastic does save you in the long run.  In addition, I found that both Visa and MasterCard have …

It seems that the new TD Ameritrade is very worried about identity.  Not their identity, your identity.  As part of their “Security” services, they are pushing a third party service called Identity Track.

Essentially, Identity Track is an online service that watches your credit file, keeps track of your credit card information, and provides you with instant access to your credit score.  A perfect service for that paranoid individual who loses sleep at night over details in their credit report.

One of the nice features of the service …

Ironically enough, after writing about getting a DUNS number, I received a statement in the mail for my Advanta Platinum Business Card with Cash Back.  I reviewed the statement, and in the fine print at the bottom under the “Additional Information” heading, it outlined how I could stay on top of my business credit with a free report from Dun and Bradstreet.

They listed a web address to get a free credit report:  www.dandb.com/smallbusiness/advantafreereport

I typed in the address, and the page comes up “not found”.  Hummm…

I’ve read a number of blogs from people who are playing the credit card 0% interest game.  For those that are not familiar with the game, you sign up for a credit card with no interest for a number of months.  When you’re approved, you max out the card in cash, and put the money into a safe account earning interest.  At the end of the no-interest grace period, you simply withdraw the cash and your interest, and pay off the card.

It’s essentially a free loan from the credit card for a certain number of months.

It seems like a great deal, but I fear that many people don’t realize the effect this has on your credit rating.  Effectively, for that initial interest free period, you have maxed out your credit card.  Something that will reflect poorly on your credit score.  Additionally, from the credit bureaus point of view, you’ve taken on more credit which seems like a good thing, but there is such a thing as having access to too much credit if your income does not back it up.  They will view this as an increased risk that you could default on payments.

Since I last wrote about the Advanta Platinum Business Credit Card, I came across a site that rates credit cards based on their current offers and rewards.

It turns out that my Advanta Business Rewards Platinum Card is the featured card of the week, and earned a top score at the CardRatings.com website.

After perusing the site, I found that they have reviews and listings on almost every type of card available.  From personal credit cards with (or without) rewards, to student cards, to business cards, to cards for …

Today I received a credit card offer for American Express Platinum Business.  Usually, when you read the fine print, American Express has some stiff annual fees, so it’s usually a fairly quick read.

Glancing over it though, I noticed that there are no annual fees associated with the platinum business card.  In addition, they are offering 5% cash back on all my business purchases, not just a finite amount.  Also included is a $50 statement credit, and 0% introductory APR on purchases for the first six months.  The APR rises to prime +2.99% after that, which is currently a total of 10.24%.  A bit steep compared to the …

I recently applied for the Advanta Corporate Credit Card for my little oil company. I got the offer in the mail, but unlike most offers, this one didn’t look half bad.

No annual fee.  0% APR for 15 months, and then a fixed 7.99% after that.  5% cash back OR free travel miles.  Free business cards, along with some other perks…

Not bad.  The 0% APR is nice, but I’ll never use it since I always pay off the my credit cards every month.  However a 7.99% fixed rate isn’t bad if I ever get stuck in a jam and can’t pay it off in a …