Reaping the benefits of credit cards and their rewards

PHOENIX (3TV / CBS5) — If you’re paying for everything with a credit card these days, why not get a reward out of it? On Your Side’s Gary Harper has tips from an expert about some of the unexpected and little-known rewards your credit card may offer.

We’ve said this for years now, the key to a credit card that offers rewards is to take advantage of the rewards without overspending or losing the benefits. That means you need to be a responsible credit card user, who pays off the card in full each month, so you’re not wasting any rewards on interest payments.

Nathan Grant, a senior finance industry analyst with MoneyTips.com says if you travel a lot, make sure you have a credit card with travel rewards. If you shop at a certain store all the time, like Target or Amazon, use a card that helps you get benefits there. He says to get a rewards card that directly fits into your lifestyle. “It doesn’t matter what type of card,” Grant says. “If it’s a rewards card or travel card, credit cards, in terms of building your credit, they’re all based on the same principles of, you know, being a responsible card holder, paying on time, paying in full when you can or at least keeping your balances as low as possible.”

Grant says to keep in mind that some reward cards have an annual fee. So, you need to weigh whether you will earn more in rewards than you pay in the fee to make it worth it.

Also, he says to look at your cardholder agreement. It may offer rewards and benefits you didn’t know about. For instance, maybe you can avoid using your own insurance when renting a car because the credit card offers rental insurance. “So that could be things like travel upgrades, like priority boarding and free lounge access, things that you’d have to pay extra for might be included by using that certain form of payment,” he says. “There’s sometimes a free subscription service for like streaming services by using that card. So, you might be paying for a streaming service already, but there might be a credit card out there that you have in your wallet right now you didn’t realize you could get Disney plus for free by using this card.”

Some credit cards offer a free concierge service, helping you find affordable hotels when traveling or even looking up events and concerts in the city you are visiting.

Sometimes the benefits don’t save you money, but they are convenient because they save you time.

Copyright 2023 KTVK/KPHO via Consumer Reports. All rights reserved.