7 ways to spot unrewarding rewards cards
Tuesday, July 1st, 2008Annual fees
Some rewards programs impose annual fees that could eat into the benefits of using the cards. For instance, airline cards branded with a particular carrier can have steep annual fees in the $80 or more range, says Curtis Arnold, founder of CardRatings.com. Typically, he says, you have to earn 25,000 miles to get a free ticket. Assuming you spend $8,000 a year on the card, and get a point for every dollar spent, it would take you more than three years to earn the free flight, and by then you’d have spent $240 in annual fees. You can get a round-trip ticket with a discount carrier for $250, Arnold says. (more…)