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British Airways Visa Signature Card from Chase Review

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If you’ve ever flown British Airways long-haul from the U.S. to London, you’ve probably lingered when walking past those sleeper seats in the “Club World” section. They don’t just recline, they lay fully flat. You won’t run the risk of a small child kicking the back of your chair for hours before you endure the endless escalator rides at Heathrow. Thanks to this spring’s special offer from Chase’s British Airways Visa Signature Card, you can treat yourself to this luxury for about the same price as a standard coach class ticket.

Right now, Chase offers a staggered signup bonus for new British Airways Visa Signature cardholders. British Airways calls their frequent flyer miles “Avios,” and you’ll earn 50,000 of them as soon as you use your new Visa card. Make $10,000 in purchases, and BA credits your Executive Club account with 25,000 more Avios.

Land your final bonus of 25,000 more Avios once you’ve cleared $20,000 in purchases during your first year. After that, you can spend 80,000 Avios and about $1,100 in upgrade fees to book yourself that luxury flight.

Saving Avios and flying on the cheap

You don’t always have to splurge on a sleeper chair, though. Your 100,000 bonus Avios are plenty to cover the cost of two “World Traveller” round trip base fares between London and any of BA’s stateside hubs in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. This isn’t a discount airline you’re flying, either. British Airways’ coach seats on these flights resemble other airlines’ business classes. You get a private entertainment system, hot meals, and impeccable service from a flight crew that only gets testy if you don’t give them the chance to serve you.

The special smart chip you won’t see on other travel credit cards

Only a handful of American credit cards include the embedded smart chip that you’ll need to make routine purchases in Europe. Chase puts that “EMV chip” front and center on the British Airways Visa, and you’ll appreciate it when your travels take you off the beaten track. To combat fraud, many European merchants won’t accept American magnetic stripe credit cards outside of common tourist areas. The EMV chip saves you time and hassle, especially if you want to use any automated parking meters or vending machines during your visit.

No foreign transaction fee

Your $95 annual fee buys you another important perk that you’ll find on few travel rewards cards: no foreign transaction fee. Chase makes the process easy for frequent U.K. visitors: charge your card in pounds sterling at no extra fee, while enjoying Chase’s best currency conversion rate for the day of your purchase.

Rewards and risks of airline credit cards

Of course, British Airways is still a traditional airline, with a typical frequent flyer system. Regular BA travelers say that the 2012 Olympics and London’s business boom have made reward seats scarce, unless you plan your free trip far in advance. You’ll also have to pay redemption fees, airport service fees, and other taxes on each reward ticket.

If you value flexibility in a travel credit card, consider the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card instead. You’ll earn as much as 2 percent back on your everyday purchases, in the form of statement credits that you can redeem against any of your travel expenses. Still, given the high price of transatlantic airfare, the British Airways Visa Signature offers tremendous value, if you’re willing to jump through a few hoops.

To take advantage of the 10,000 Avios offer, apply for the British Airways Visa Signature Card from Chase today. You will need excellent credit in order to be approved, and be aware of the $95 annual fee.

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Citi Platinum Select / AAdvantage Visa Signature Review

This article was written by in Credit, Uncategorized. Add a comment.

If you travel by airplane often, and you find that the best prices for your routes center around one airline, it can often be beneficial to join that airline’s frequent flier loyalty program. In addition, many airlines also partner with credit card companies to offer travel rewards credit cards that help you accrue frequent flier miles faster.

American Airlines is a large airline with a long history, and over that time the company has developed loyal customers. For those who fly this airline often, the Citi® Platinum Select®/AAdvantage® Visa Signature® card offers rewards for credit card users. Right now, signing up for this card means you’re eligible for 30,000 American Airlines AAdvantage bonus miles once you make $1,000 in purchases within the first three months. Here’s a review of the card’s features and how to earn bonus miles.

Citi® Platinum Select®/AAdvantage® Visa Signature® cardAs mentioned above, to start you off, new Citi Platinum Select/AAdvantage Visa Signature cardholders will receive 30,000 AAdvantage bonus miles after spending $1,000 on the card during the first three months of card ownership. That’s less than $350 a month; just putting your monthly groceries on the card and paying them off before the bill is due might put you close to that amount. The 30,000 bonus miles is worth more than a round-trip economy ticket within the continental U.S. (including Alaska) and Canada, if you can book one of the restricted MileSAAver award seats. When you redeeem AAdvantage bonus miles, you also earn 10% of those redeemed miles back as new AAdvantage bonus miles, up to 10,000 bonus miles in a calendar year.

On an ongoing basis, the rewards program for the Citi Platinum Select/AAdvantage Visa Signature is fairly straightforward. Spenders earn two AAdvantage miles for every dollar spent on eligible American Airlines purchases and one AAdvantage mile for every dollar spent on other purchases. Miles earned by this card will never expire as long as one of the three following criteria are met every 18 months:

  1. You redeem American Airlines AAdvantage® miles,
  2. You earn miles on an American Airlines, American Eagle or AmericanConnection carrier, or
  3. You earn miles through an approved American Airlines AAdvantage participant

Every card membership year in which you make at least $30,000 in purchases, you also receive a $100 flight discount redeemable towards an American Airlines, American Eagle, or AmericanConnection carrier ticket originating in the U.S., or towards a ticket booked with a oneworld partner or on an American Airlines codeshare flight.

Frequent American Airlines fliers will appreciate that this card lets you check one standard eligible bag for free (normally $25 for a domestic flight). Also free are the first checked bags of up to four traveling companions, as long as they’re traveling on the same reservation as the primary cardholder — a nice benefit for family travel. Cardholders and up to four companions on the same reservation also get priority boarding for flights.

The interest rate for the Citi Platinum Select/AAdvantage Visa Signature — currently a variable APR of 15.24% for purchases — is above the average for rewards cards. The cash advance APR is 25.24%, but for most responsible cardholders, cash advances will not be a consideration.

Unfortunately, there is a $95 annual fee associated with this card, but the fee is waived during the first year. Plus, if you usually check a bag on your American Airlines flights, the first-checked-bag-free benefit would more than cover that annual fee within one round-trip itinerary for two people.

When you look at the Citi Platinum Select/AAdvantage Visa Signature from top to bottom, the card appears to come off as average or perhaps below average. This card is best for people who can pay their balance in full each month and who are American Airlines frequent flyers, both because the bonus miles you earn for initial spending adds up to a free flight and because of the travel perks that can make each American Airlines flight a little more pleasant. Only frequent flyers of American Airlines should consider owning this card. To apply, visit the Citi Platinum Select/AAdvantage Visa Signature application.

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How to Handle a Credit Card Data Breach

This article was written by in Credit. 8 comments.

Last week, Global Payments confirmed a massive security breach involving credit and debit card numbers and information. Global Payments operates a gateway; when you use your credit or debit card to purchase an item — and this could be online or in a brick-and-mortar store — your card information is sent through Global Payments or one of many similar companies to the issuer to determine whether the transaction can be approved.

The breach affects all major issuers, so if you have used a Visa, MasterCard, American Express or Discover card, whether a credit, debit, or charge card, you might be one of the estimated 10 million consumers affected. Update: Global Payments is now confirming that 1.5 million card numbers were included in the breach. Issuers — either the banks that offer the cards to their customers or the credit card companies themselves — have already begun notifying customers whose information might have been compromised.

You can expect issuers to offer free credit monitoring and identity protection services to help customers feel secure about their information in the future. The services differ depending on the provider, but most focus on the same core set of benefits.

  • You can receive alerts — by phone, email, or even text message — when your card is used for suspicious activity. Suspicious activity could be anything from a transaction at a store or in a location you haven’t previously.
  • You can receive updated credit reports. While the government requires the credit reporting agencies to offer one free credit report per customer each year, identity protection services typically provide access to more frequent credit reports — perhaps monthly or unlimited, on demand.
  • If your identity information has been compromise, you should lock down your credit file. By contacting each of the three bureaus, Experian, Equifax, and Transunion, you can inform these companies not to allow any new credit to be issued in your name. This is not going to be an issue with most incidences of credit card information compromises, if your identity is stolen, you are at a higher risk.
  • Change your credit card numbers. If you were affected by this security breach, you may have received a new credit card with a new number without so much of an explanation from your issuer. Changing the number helps protect customers who have had their data stolen. Some card issuers offer options where you can receive a new number for every online transaction; this may be a worthwhile service if you have reason to believe your credit card number has been compromised.
  • Don’t forget to use your credit card online only over secure connections. Different browsers have different methods of indicating a secure connection. Using a credit card over a secure internet connection is safer than handing your credit card to a waiter or gas attendant. Over a secure connection, your credit card number is encrypted while in transit, but when you hand your credit card to someone and they step out of view, there is no limit to what they can do with your card in 30 seconds.

Aside from trusting technology and employees who handle your card information, it helps to always be aware of your surroundings. While in an airport waiting at the gate to board a flight, I called a hotel to inquire about a reservation. The hotel customer service representative was happy to take my reservation, but required me to announce my credit card number. Although I had no reason not to trust the individuals who were sitting near me, I opted not to provide my credit card number to all within earshot. As a result, and with the understanding that there would most likely be rooms available when I arrived later that night, I didn’t make the reservation.

I did lose the best rate offered on the room, though. When I arrived, the rate I had been quoted earlier was no longer available. I consider it a small loss in exchange for the comfort of not sharing my credit card number publicly.

When the cause of the breach of your information is a payment processor, as in this particular announcement from Global Payments, the issuers do all that they can to protect their customers, even if communication is slow or incomplete. When fraud happens on an individual level, and you are the only customer affected, it’s more difficult to get support from the companies you deal with, without insistence.

If you are the victim of fraud or identity theft, and it is not part of a large-scale technology hack, there are extra steps you must take.

  • Start keeping a log of everyone you talk to about the fraud, including credit issuers, banks, and the police.
  • File a police report describing the fraud or the incident.
  • Contact the credit bureaus to inquire about identity protection services and possibly credit freezing.
  • Contact your issuers and explain your situation, seeking any tools they have available to protect you going forward including assigning new card numbers.

Different banks and card issuers have different policies regarding your liability in the event of fraud. For the most part, if you follow the appropriate procedures including reporting suspected fraud in a timely manner, you will have no liability. With debit cards, however, even in the case of fraud, your balance could be lower than it should be. That could lead to missed payments or overdraft fees. That’s one benefit of using credit cards rather than debit cards — your bank account won’t be affected in the event of fraud, even for a day.

Of course, if you choose a cash-only existence, you may be able to completely avoid the hassles involved with credit card fraud and identity theft.

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The Best Travel Rewards Credit Cards, May 2012

This article was written by in Credit, Featured. 16 comments.

It’s time to plan your holiday travel. That may mean cashing in the travel rewards you’ve accumulated on credit cards — or it may mean starting to use a travel rewards credit card. Chances are you spend money on some necessities, and when you do, tailoring the rewards you receive to your travel needs could end up financially benefiting you and your family even more than a cash back credit card might. Keep in mind, of course, that increasing your spending just to earn rewards doesn’t make sense, and it would be worse if you had to pay interest on your balances.

When you have controlled spending that you can afford, and you pay your credit card bill in full and on time every month, you can offset your costs of travel by earning rewards. Using the travel rewards credit card that best matches your travel needs for the spending you would be doing anyway could save you hundreds or thousands of dollars over the course of a lifetime. For example, some cards offer free flights and hotels while others can soften the blow of foreign transaction fees.

Listed below are the best travel rewards credit cards available today. If you’ve got a card you think deserves to be on this list, let us know and we’ll add it.

Editor’s choice

Chase Sapphire Preferred CardChase Sapphire℠ Preferred Card. The Chase Sapphire℠ Preferred Card offers a bonus if you spend at least $3,000 on the card in the first three months. That reward comes in the form of 40,000 bonus points, which can be redeemed for $500 in travel booked through Ultimate Rewards. When you book through Ultimate Rewards you can get 20% off airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises. Additionally, you can earn double rewards on travel and dining purchases. The Chase Sapphire℠ Preferred Card carries no annual fee for the first year, $95 thereafter. There are no blackout dates or restrictions of any kind when using your rewards points.

For more about the Chase Sapphire℠ Preferred Card 40,000 bonus points introductory offer, visit my Chase Sapphire℠ Preferred Card Earn 40,000 bonus points review.

Miles by Discover® CardMiles by Discover® Card. The Miles by Discover Card offers the opportunity to earn 12,000 bonus miles during the first year you own the card. The card provides 1,000 miles for each month you make at least one purchase. You can earn double miles on your first $3,000 in combined travel and restaurant purchases each year and one mile on all other purchases. Unlike many travel rewards credit cards, the Miles by Discover Card carries no annual fee for the life of the card and has an introductory offer of 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers for up to six months.

Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American ExpressStarwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express. The Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express continues to be one of the best travel rewards credit cards you can find. 25,000 bonus Starpoints can be yours in two easy steps. First, you earn 10,000 bonus points after making your first purchase, then 15,000 more bonus points can be earned if you spend $5,000 on your new card in the first six months, which is enough for a six night stay at a category 1 or 2 hotel.

With this card you can earn up to 5 Starpoints at hotels and resorts participating in the Starwood Preferred Guest program. When redeeming your points you can select from over 1,000 hotels and resorts in nearly 100 countries and for flights on more than 350 airlines, all with no blackout dates*. The Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express carries no annual fee for the first year, $65 thereafter.

Premier Rewards Gold CardAmerican Express® Premier Rewards Gold Card. The American Express® Premier Rewards Gold Card offers 25,000 points when you spend at least $2,000 in the first three months. You can earn membership points three times as fast when you book airfare using this card and twice as fast when you purchase gas or groceries. The American Express® Premier Rewards Gold Card carries no annual fee for the first year, $175 thereafter.

PenFed Premium Travel Rewards American Express® CardPenFed Premium Travel Rewards American Express® Card. The PenFed Travel Rewards American Express Card is like no other in terms of rewards, offering consumers 5 points for every dollar spent on airfare. If you spend at least $650 within the first three months of card ownership, you’ll receive 20,000 points, enough for $250 toward a round-trip ticket. At least one reward point per dollar will be earned on all other purchases. The PenFed Premium Travel Rewards American Express® Card does not have an annual fee. There is an introductory APR of 4.99% on balance transfers made between April 1, 2012 through June 30, 2012, and there is no balance transfer fee on transfers made between April 1, 2012 through June 30, 2012. However transfers made after that time will cost a relatively low 3% balance transfer fee with a minimum of $10 and a maximum of $250. You must be a PenFed member to be approved for this card, but if you are not associated with the military, the American Red Cross, or any number of qualifying organizations, a one-time $15 or $20 membership donation will do the trick.

Capital One® Venture Rewards Credit Card. You earn 10,000 bonus miles on your Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card after you spend $1,000 in the first three months of owning your card. You can earn double miles on every purchase, making this card one of the best travel rewards credit cards available today. The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card carries no annual fee for the first year, $59 thereafter, and Capital One is the only issuer that does not charge foreign transaction fees for any of their cards. This means if you spend money on international purchases, you won’t receive the typical 1% to 3% fee.

Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by American Express. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of American Express, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by American Express. This site may be compensated through American Express Affiliate Program.

Photo: Kossy@FINEDAYS

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Expense Report, February 2012

by Flexo
Expense Report, February 2012

I mentioned a few months ago with my year-end balance sheet that I would soon be changing the way I report my finances publicly. These monthly reports have been a relatively consistent part of Consumerism Commentary since I founded this website in July 2003. One of the original purposes of this website was to help ... Continue reading this article…

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JetBlue Card From American Express Review

by Joe Taylor Jr.

The JetBlue Card from American Express is offering 10,000 points after your first purchase. Each purchase on the card earns one TrueBlue point per dollar, and some purchases can earn up to eight points per dollar. Is the $40 annual fee worth these and the card’s other benefits? JetBlue operates major hubs in New York, ... Continue reading this article…

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New Travel Plans: Tips for Taking a Real Vacation

by Flexo
Continental Airlines Logo

I try to visit my family on the other side of the country a couple times a year. Most of my family has migrated to the west coast from the east. The migration, at least in my immediate family, began over ten years ago, and more of the clan join the California contingent each year. ... Continue reading this article…

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Buy Airfare Six Weeks in Advance

by Flexo
Airplane

Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC), a company that processes airline transactions for travel agents and consumers, has analyzed 144 million transactions for domestic flights in 2011 to better understand airlines’ pricing schemes. The study found the lowest fares were available six weeks in advance of the departure date. I’ve always been under the impression that the ... Continue reading this article…

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