I recently went through the fun of applying for a credit card. Yes – I did say fun and without a single note of sarcasm. I have pretty good credit, not excellent, but pretty decent. Up until now, I`ve only carried one credit card, which I more often than not paid off at month`s end. That card has a sufficient credit limit of $10,000 which has always worked for me. I only decided to get another credit card so that I could monitor my spending better, you know, keeping different cards for different bills. I was surprised to see how many options were really available these days in terms of rewards and other perks. They weren’t available years ago when I applied for my first card; I guess the struggling economy really has banks on the run, competing for our money. It`s about time!
So here are some offers that I came across that you might want to consider if you also are looking for a new card, or a first card, for that matter. Now we all know about the frequent flyer programs: what I found surprising was how many miles many credit cards were now offering in sign up bonuses. Really I don’t travel that much to make miles a top priority, though. I do like theme parks and found both a Citicard and a Discover Card, which offer bargains on the Six Flag brand of theme parks. The offers varied, and I am sure they change frequently, but you can be offered discounts on not only admission, but also on parking, food and merchandise. Some offers will even include purchase made online. I like Six Flags but the same holds true for most amusement parks.
American Express seems to offer a lot of perks that have to do with entertainment, specifically concerts. Although you can expect to pay surcharges and fees, they often offer pre-sale tickets and preferred seating to concerts.Sometimesthey can offer tickets to a show that’s been sold out. Speaking of culture, a lot of these credit cards come with discounted tickets to museums across the country. Museums are not my thing, perhaps if I were on vacation, it might be worth it as part of the overall sightseeing experience.Even locally, if it were a rainy day with nothing else planned.
It seems that a lot of credit cards have joined in a partnership with major retailers that will offer you free shipping and other discounts for purchases made on a particular card. This convenience saves you from having to carry around a whole slew of individual credit cards. There are also a lot of purchase protections, extended warranties, cooking classes, food tours,wine-tasting events, a whole lot of things never offered on my first time around credit card. So do your homework, don’t just go by the APR%, which I guess is really the most important consideration, but do consider the fun considerations too!
