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FErleid HOW TO MAXIMIZE
PolWlocekiss YOUR CREDIT CARD
OIsrael. The seminary is not an EEI, REWARDS
nce upon a time, Frank
McNamara finished a business petition among credit cards, the com- Although you are required to spend a
lunch in a New York City restau- panies try to lure customers by offering certain amount within the first few
rant, when he discovered he goodies. These have been nicknamed months in order to get your bonus, it’s
had forgotten his wallet. This “miles.” Miles refers to the programs usually an easy goal to reach.
originally created by airlines to offer
Naturally, people have discovered a
was 1949, you see, when people free flights to their repeat customers. way to take advantage of these sign-up
used paper money. They were paid in Now you earn these points (still called bonuses. They open credit cards just to
cash, and spent cash at groceries, cloth- miles) as you use the credit card, and earn the bonus and then close the
ing and furniture stores, and, of course, they are good for more then just free card. This is called “churn, earn, and
restaurants. (How old-fashioned!) If one flights. burn,” and it can be very lucrative.
could not pay for the meal, according It’s great to get these freebies, but Many people have earned a few thou-
to lore, the restaurant would force him many people are confused by the com- sand dollars on the side doing this.
to wash dishes to pay the tab. In the plicated rules and conditions and do Churning is a bit time consuming,
slapstick version, the waiters would not know how to get the goodies they though. In addition, the credit card
mercilessly pummel the poor deadbeat. prefer. I suspect that some of you get companies are getting wise to the strat-
Frank was very embarrassed but no miles or earn miles that are almost egy. As of last year, Chase has been dis-
managed to work things out. He then worthless. If so, you are losing out. allowing it. They check to see if you
went home and dreamed up a system There are many websites and blogs have opened five or more cards with
where people could pay for their meal dealing with this complicated matter – sign-up bonuses in the past two years,
with a signature and settle their Dansdeals is a frum one with a lot of and will not issue a card to such cus-
account at the end of the month. Thus information and a discussion forum – tomers. Other companies may follow
was born Diners Club, the first credit but here is a brief summary of some of suit.
card. No one at the time could have the main principles. Another caution: Some people won-
imagined that this simple fix would der if this will have an adverse effect on
morph into a vast money industry. How You Earn Points
their credit rating. This is because,
Credit cards have profoundly changed With most credit cards, you earn one when you open a credit card, they pull
our personal financial lives, not to men- point per dollar spent. That means that your credit report, and pulls are said to
tion the global economy. if you charge $358 you will earn 358 affect your rating. The good news is
The credit card companies are points or miles. Sometimes a credit that it seems to have a very small effect.
immensely profitable, achieving their card gives more than one point per dol- Paying your bills on time has a far
profits in two ways: 1) by slicing off an lar. For example, it might offer two greater effect on credit score. Dan of
upfront fee of about 2% from the mer- points per dollar (or more) for purchas- Dansdeals discusses this and assures
chant on retail purchases, and 2) by es at supermarkets, office supply stores, his readers that his own credit rating is
running the largest loan sharking oper- or gasoline. Another incentive the com- over 800, and he has closed hundreds
ation in the history of the world. If you, panies use to get you as a customer is of cards.
the consumer, cannot pay your balance a gift just for signing up. Yes, you may
in full, it is subject to rates of interest as receive as much as 30,000 to 50,000 Benefits Galore
high as 15 to 30%. miles or even more just for opening a Once you accumulate points, they can
The Point Game new credit card. (Over 50,000 miles is be used to book free flights and, often,
considered excellent.) This bonus hotels and car rentals. But what if you
Given these huge profits and the com- alone can be worth well over $1,000. don’t need all your points for free
74 u www.wherewhatwhen.com u
FErleid HOW TO MAXIMIZE
PolWlocekiss YOUR CREDIT CARD
OIsrael. The seminary is not an EEI, REWARDS
nce upon a time, Frank
McNamara finished a business petition among credit cards, the com- Although you are required to spend a
lunch in a New York City restau- panies try to lure customers by offering certain amount within the first few
rant, when he discovered he goodies. These have been nicknamed months in order to get your bonus, it’s
had forgotten his wallet. This “miles.” Miles refers to the programs usually an easy goal to reach.
originally created by airlines to offer
Naturally, people have discovered a
was 1949, you see, when people free flights to their repeat customers. way to take advantage of these sign-up
used paper money. They were paid in Now you earn these points (still called bonuses. They open credit cards just to
cash, and spent cash at groceries, cloth- miles) as you use the credit card, and earn the bonus and then close the
ing and furniture stores, and, of course, they are good for more then just free card. This is called “churn, earn, and
restaurants. (How old-fashioned!) If one flights. burn,” and it can be very lucrative.
could not pay for the meal, according It’s great to get these freebies, but Many people have earned a few thou-
to lore, the restaurant would force him many people are confused by the com- sand dollars on the side doing this.
to wash dishes to pay the tab. In the plicated rules and conditions and do Churning is a bit time consuming,
slapstick version, the waiters would not know how to get the goodies they though. In addition, the credit card
mercilessly pummel the poor deadbeat. prefer. I suspect that some of you get companies are getting wise to the strat-
Frank was very embarrassed but no miles or earn miles that are almost egy. As of last year, Chase has been dis-
managed to work things out. He then worthless. If so, you are losing out. allowing it. They check to see if you
went home and dreamed up a system There are many websites and blogs have opened five or more cards with
where people could pay for their meal dealing with this complicated matter – sign-up bonuses in the past two years,
with a signature and settle their Dansdeals is a frum one with a lot of and will not issue a card to such cus-
account at the end of the month. Thus information and a discussion forum – tomers. Other companies may follow
was born Diners Club, the first credit but here is a brief summary of some of suit.
card. No one at the time could have the main principles. Another caution: Some people won-
imagined that this simple fix would der if this will have an adverse effect on
morph into a vast money industry. How You Earn Points
their credit rating. This is because,
Credit cards have profoundly changed With most credit cards, you earn one when you open a credit card, they pull
our personal financial lives, not to men- point per dollar spent. That means that your credit report, and pulls are said to
tion the global economy. if you charge $358 you will earn 358 affect your rating. The good news is
The credit card companies are points or miles. Sometimes a credit that it seems to have a very small effect.
immensely profitable, achieving their card gives more than one point per dol- Paying your bills on time has a far
profits in two ways: 1) by slicing off an lar. For example, it might offer two greater effect on credit score. Dan of
upfront fee of about 2% from the mer- points per dollar (or more) for purchas- Dansdeals discusses this and assures
chant on retail purchases, and 2) by es at supermarkets, office supply stores, his readers that his own credit rating is
running the largest loan sharking oper- or gasoline. Another incentive the com- over 800, and he has closed hundreds
ation in the history of the world. If you, panies use to get you as a customer is of cards.
the consumer, cannot pay your balance a gift just for signing up. Yes, you may
in full, it is subject to rates of interest as receive as much as 30,000 to 50,000 Benefits Galore
high as 15 to 30%. miles or even more just for opening a Once you accumulate points, they can
The Point Game new credit card. (Over 50,000 miles is be used to book free flights and, often,
considered excellent.) This bonus hotels and car rentals. But what if you
Given these huge profits and the com- alone can be worth well over $1,000. don’t need all your points for free
74 u www.wherewhatwhen.com u
