When most people are surprised by their credit reports, it usually an unpleasant surprise.  I once found that one of my credit scores was 50 points lower than my other two.  The reason:  an insurance billing error I disputed five times was never removed from one credit report.

 We get emails all the time from people who can’t understand why they weren’t approved for a credit card.  The problem is often a credit report error.  One recent visitor who was denied for a credit card who insisted he had excellent credit wrote us back to say that one of his credit reports was filled with incorrect information.  At first he thought he had been a victim of identity fraud.  After a few calls to the credit bureau, he found out they had mixed information from someone with the same name with his information. 

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 This is not an uncommon situation.  So, today’s poll is in two parts.  After you vote, please feel free to post a comment.  Any information you can share can prove helpful to other readers.

Over the past few years, credit card companies have changed their rewards programs a good deal.  Two years ago, it was possible to get a credit card that offered 5% cashback on gas, groceries, and drugstore purchases.  Turns out, we credit card users were smarter than the credit card companies gave us credit for being.  People would use their 5% cards everywhere they could get the most rewards, then pay their bills in full each month, denying the credit card companies much coveted interest income.

Consequently, many credit companies reduced credit card cash back programs substantially.  The same is not true for other types of rewards programs.  Airline rewards cards are still offering large bonus miles (and charging hefty fees).  And point programs, which can be used for all types of rewards, are still pretty much unchanged. 

Our question is simple:  What type of rewards program is the best?  Below you can vote for the best type of rewards and leave comments and tips on how to maximize rewards. 

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We frequently receive inquiries from visitors along these lines:

“I currently have a Visa card, but I want to apply for one with a 0% interest rate.  Can I apply for another Visa offer?”

The answer is yes.  Visa and MasterCard are credit card networks, not credit card issuers.  Therefore, you could theoretically have 10 or more Visa cards from different issuers.

Plus, with many issuers, you can have multiple cards.  I personally carry three American Express cards and know many others who do the same.

Now, when you are applying for a credit card with a 0% interest rate to do a balance transfer, you should apply for a credit card issued by a different company than the one(s) you carry a balance with.  For example, if you carry a balance on a Bank of America credit card, you could do a 0% balance transfer with a Chase or Discover credit card.  However, you can’t transfer a balance from one Bank of America credit card to another and still get a 0% APR.

Below is a list of the major companies that offer Visa and MasterCard credit cards with links to their respective offers on SmartCreditChoices.com:

Bank of America

Capital One

Chase

CitiBank

 At Smart Credit Choices, we maintain an active database of over 100 current credit card offers.  Our goal is to help people like you find the best credit card deal.  Unfortunately, organizing 100 credit cards isn’t very easy.  Currently, we rank credit cards based on a number of factors, including visitor feedback, the quality of the offer, interest rates, rewards programs…the list is quite long.  In an effort to help get the best information to our visitors, we’ll be running polls to determine what matters most to you. 

 Please help us out by voting.  We also look forward to your feedback.

Thanks

The SmartCreditChoices Team

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Over the next few weeks, Smart Credit Choices will be rolling out all new information on our new blog.  Stay tuned for more info.