Introduction

This is one in a series of money-saving tips. For more information, please visit my home page.

Credit Cards

I have two Visa cards. Both have no annual fee and both give me one point for each $1 spent. One card gives me points for InterContinental Hotels Group (which includes Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Candlewood Suites, and a few others) and the other at Harrahs hotels and casinos because my wife and I like to visit Las Vegas a couple of times a year.


In Las Vegas I can use my points to pay for a room, eat at one of their restaurants, or go to one of their shows. Plus I earn more points by using my Total Rewards players card when I gamble. Harrahs hotels/casinos include Harrah's, Caesar's Palace, Bally's, Rio, Paris, Flamingo and a few more.


The key to making credit cards work is, of course, to avoid ever carrying a balance. I do not charge more than I have readily available to pay the bill when it comes. But I do try to get as many points as I can.


One of the ways I maximize my points is that I have some of my monthly bills set up to automatically be charged to one of my credit cards. I do this with my AT&T home phone service, T-Mobile cell phone service, DirecTV satellite service and my Internet service provider.


These are bills that I have to pay each month anyway so I might as well get something for them. I only earn a little over 200 points per month doing this but a couple hundred points here and a couple hundred points there and before you know it it adds up to some real points.


Here's a money-saving tip from Mary Beth, one of my friends. If you do any international travel, most credit cards will stick you with a currency conversion fee of 3% or more, just because they can. But, not Capital One; there is no conversion fee at all. Also, there's no annual fee and they give you a 1% rebate on all your purchases.