Planning a trip? If you book a trip with your American Express card, you’ll be entitled to additional travel rewards points, as well as savings on travel packages. If you are trading in your travel rewards to book a vacation you have to do so through the American Express travel services center.

Fortunately, American Express provides several easy ways to plan your vacation and book your travel. You can search for and book special offers, flights, cruises, hotel rooms, rental cars and more:

• Online, at AmericanExpress.com
• By phone, through a travel specialist
• In person, at one of the conveniently located American Express travel offices

If you’re familiar with using online travel sites like Expedia to book trips, you’ll have no problem navigating the American Express travel center.

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The Credit CARD Act recently went into full effect, with several regulations designed to protect consumers. Since credit card companies are no longer permitted retroactive interest rate hikes, no additional fees for certain payment methods, and no “double-cycle billing,” they are seeking new ways to make money. For some credit card issuers, this revenue will come in the form of interest rate increases.

If you make a late payment, credit card companies are still permitted to raise your interest rate to the default rate (without 25 days notice). But some credit card companies are raising interest rates for no good reason. Fortunately, thanks to the Credit CARD Act, they are required to give you 25 days notice, which is long enough to take action. Here are some options to consider when facing a credit card rate increase.

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I don’t know anyone — except direct mail copywriters, maybe — who actually like junk mail. Sometimes, you’ll get good credit card offers through the mail but, for the most part, you’re just aiding and abetting in the murder of trees. And don’t get me started on how many hours the average person spends sorting, shredding and disposing of credit card junk mail.

Honestly, if you’re looking for a new credit card — perhaps to transfer balances from higher interest cards — you’re better off reading the reviews here at CreditShout and picking the best one for your needs.

The good news about credit card junk mail? Unsolicited offers for new credit cards do not show up as inquiries on any of your credit reports. That only makes them slightly less of a hassle, though.

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Verdict: Power is a great thing. Many people seek powerful cars, powerful computers, powerful careers… but did you ever think about the power your credit card can give you? Bank of America did, and came up with the BankAmericard Power Rewards Visa Signature Card.

Unfortunately, the power of this credit card dissipates after six-to-ten months, when the 3X rewards points on gas, grocery and drug store purchases and the 0 % APR expires. Even so, the flexibility of being able to redeem your points for travel, merchandise or cash back, along with a host of handy benefits, make this card worthwhile, especially if you’re tying it to a Bank of America checking account for added convenience.

Overview: The BankAmericard Power Rewards Visa Signature card has an amazing introductory offer which then expires to create a solid, versatile, yet somewhat unremarkable rewards credit card that gives you one point for every dollar spent. Bank of America’s online customer service, easy online banking, and the ability to use the credit card for overdraft checking are additional benefits that make this card worth looking at. Visa’s Signature travel and entertainment benefits, which include concierge services and personal shopping, rival those offered with top-of-the-line American Express cards.

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If you’ve purchased something and never received it or were dissatisfied after purchase, one option is to start a credit card chargeback. If you make a credit card chargeback, your money will be refunded by the merchant and the merchant will also receive a chargeback fine. Depending on the credit card you have, a chargeback can be a complicated process, or as simple as making a phone call or filing a claim online.

Recent reports, most notably from the Huffington Post and Walletpop, say that people who make credit card chargebacks, though, are in danger of being “blacklisted” on a website called BadCustomer.com. Debatable chargebacks are considered a form of “friendly fraud.” According to the Walletpop article, friendly fraud is “an intentional action taken by a customer to cheat a retailer out of money and get merchandise for free.” It’s not as serious as regular fraud in which you’re using someone else’s card to make purchases, but it does have legal and financial ramifications — including your card privileges being revoked.

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Are your thoughts on Spring break and vacation travel? Many people are booking their flights and hotels right now to get the best deals for an April getaway. Which credit card should you use when you book your trip?

Many credit cards offer rental car insurance, travel insurance, and other benefits that help you when you’re on the road. But which card offers the best travel benefits? Book your spring vacation with one of these top travel benefit cards and you’ll get something money can’t buy — peace of mind to relax and enjoy your trip.

The American Express Platinum card, with its concierge service and an abundance of travel insurance, worldwide assistance, and more, tops our list. But you can’t go wrong traveling with any one of these four cards.

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Verdict: Many fully secured credit cards, used by people to establish or re-build their credit, hit users with fees that leave little in their account for actual spending. Some cards tie up as much as 50% of your deposit.

The BankAmericard Visa Fully Secured card charges an annual fee of $39 but no other fees. (Of course, penalty fees apply for late payments, etc.)

Additionally, the BankAmericard Visa Fully Secured Card lets you deposit between $300 and $10,000 as a security deposit, giving it a higher credit limit than many secured cards. If you don’t pay your balance in full each month, the interest rate is 18.24% variable — lower than the default penalty rate on most cards today.
After a year the bank automatically reviews your account for an upgrade to an unsecured card.

Overall, if you have $300 to deposit in an account and $39 to cover the annual fee, this is a fantastic credit card for anyone looking to re-build their credit. For students looking to establish credit, I’d recommend a student card like the Discover Student Card.

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Most of us have associated rewards programs with credit cards, until now at least. It’s more then likely that you use a debit card at least a few times a week, if not more – especially if you’re not a frequent credit card user. Although sometimes I feel like we don’t discuss debit as much as we should, one thing that I’ve been fascinated with over the past year or so has been the increase in the number of “Cash Back Debit Card” offers that I’ve seen popping up.

A cash back debit card is very similar to a cash back credit card, offering a certain % cash back on all of the purchases you make. The reason that most debit cards have no rewards program is because they are fundamentally different than credit cards when used. Every time you use a credit card, the merchant has to pay your card company an interchange fee. The card company is then able to give a percentage of this fee back as part of a rewards program.

For debit card translations, merchants don’t pay an interchange fee and so the banks have no practical way to fund a rewards program.

In my quest for finding the best cash back debit card I’ve come across two cards that really stand out.

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Austin teaches English in Japan and writes a personal finance blog for college students and twenty-somethings called Foreigner’s Finances. Learn more about his financial journey and how he ended up in Japan.

I came to Japan in July of 2009 to teach English with the JET Program.

I had spent the previous year and a half reworking my finances to get them optimized and in a comfortable place for my liking.

In Chicago, I had 3 credit cards that I rotated purchases on to keep my credit score growing. I only used a small percentage of my allotted credit amount and paid them off in full every month.

I also used an ING savings account with sub accounts for my savings goals (savings, emergency, house down payment). I loved watching my interest grow from month to month.

Finally, I had my local bank which I used for the free checking and debit card.

All of my accounts had intuitive online interfaces with bill pay. I didn’t receive any paper statements and did all of my correspondence electronically.

Financial life was good.

I used my 3 credit cards or my debit card to make all of my purchases. I got so comfortable with plastic that I even went without money 80% of the time.

Then I moved to Japan.

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When I first checked out Mint.com, I was extremely excited and optimistic by the possibilities. I still am. A service that permits you to track your spending, debt, and income, while offering you ways to save money, is a great benefit.

From a psychological standpoint, Mint strives to motivate individuals to pay off their debt faster and learn to live their best financial life. Unfortunately, email reminders are obvious at best, disheartening at worst. For instance, one notice states: “You paid $8.74 in finance charges this month. You should pay off this balance to avoid finance charges.” If I could pay off my balance, don’t you think I would?

I’d much rather see motivational statements like, “Congratulations! Your overall debt decreased by $300 this month.”  It’s Psych 101 that people respond better to praise than reprimands – even when it comes from computer programs.

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