Use your credit card this holiday, considering certain criteria and these three tips to take advantage of this summer. MasterCard experts recommend, “This time is the perfect opportunity to travel, meet places, try new flavors, learn more about the traditions and culture of those destinations, but it also means increasing expenses.”
Having credit cards helps to keep better control of your expenses, since some of them, such as airline tickets, can be paid months without interest, earn points in the reward programs, and know the best offers of the destination.
Three reasons to use your card when traveling is:
- Avoid withdrawing cash. Withdrawing money from an ATM is an operation that generates commission charges and, on certain occasions, can mean a security hazard. On the other hand, if you make payments by credit card, the charge will be charged according to the exchange rate at the time of purchase.
- Get points by buying with a credit card. You will get benefits and facilities. To find out what your card offers you, visit your bank’s website or call customer service. Also, you will know what are the special rates you have when you buy a plane, bus, or cruise ticket.
- Protection included Credit cards that have various insurances that keep you protected. Depending on the type of card, the coverage they provide is different. Some have insurance for theft or loss, protection against fraud, accident, or illness insurance during travel, and insurance for protected purchases.
Do not hesitate to use your credit cards if you travel this holiday, since 00 as safe, fast and reliable payment methods, which will give you extra advantages and facilities to make your vacation something simple to plan and without mishaps.
Dos and don’ts of using a credit card on holidays
Things that you should do:
- Set a budget – You can keep a check on your expenses by setting a proper budget. It also helps you to save money for the holidays. You will be a regular and punctual bill payment candidate. Only you will need to pay your next billing payment. If it becomes difficult, you can make it easy by limiting and planning the strategy to pay off your charges.
- Use credit card holiday as expense rewards – Such gifts increase at the end of the year, such as rewards on groceries and travel. Thanks to credit cards like CASHBACK, DISCOVER IT, and CHASE FREEDOM provide bonus rewards on categories, and this facility rotates every year. Such rewards often relate to the holiday season. It would be best to avail of such offers as they will help you pay all your balances. Also, you can apply for cashback rewards directly to your account. You can also decide to open a new credit card to use an upcoming offer.
- Check fraudulent transactions – We see various credit card frauds during the season of the holiday. Keep an eye on your credit card statements.
You will know the rate of your expenses, and you can track all unauthorized charges. In 2019, with a 13% increase, fraudsters stole credit card information while shopping online and picked up credit card owners’ purchases in the store. These statistics are according to the report of ACI Worldwide company of payment systems. That’s why every credit card company must have fraud monitoring tools. To check the charge’s legality, you have to check all the receipts for confirmation. For fair credit card transactions, use credit card issuer’s tools.
Things that you don’t need to do:
- Your spending guideline should be your credit limit – There are many reasons for max out the credit card. Credit restriction doesn’t give a guarantee of on-time bill payment. Also, a maxed-out credit card affects the score of the credit card. In the FICO credit score, how much amount you can repay is the second most influential aspect. You will divide the owed amount by your total credit limit and express it as a percentage.
- Use store credit cards by chasing discounts – You can save on current purchases when you apply for the registration of the credit card of the store. Traditional credit cards tend to charge lesser interest rates than store credit, for starters. Store credit cards give discounts that lead to over-expenses. Don’t activate such cards if you think you will get into trouble.
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