5 Best Ways To Use Your Credit Card Rewards

Nowadays, you can get a rewards card for just about every type of industry, from travel, to cashback, to retail, to more niche industries.

The problem isn’t getting a rewards card but instead finding the best type for you to utilize the rewards cards fully. Here are the best ways to use your reward points wisely.

Pay Attention To The Conversion Ratio.

Often, your rewards can be converted into dollars, and you need to ensure you are paying close attention to that conversion rate. Many rewards credit cards will allow you to cash in your points for store gift cards. However, not all the rewards points are the same.

For example, it might cost you 3,000 points to redeem for a $25 from Amazon.com AMZN, but just 2,000 points to get a $25 gift card from Target TGT.

By choosing the gift card for a store you are still likely to use, but requires fewer points, you can get more use out of your travel credit card.

Avoid Redeeming Points For Merchandise

To get the most value out of your travel credit cards, it will often make more sense for you to redeem your points for cash, airline tickets, or gift cards.

On the other hand, spending your points on merchandise is usually not a good utilization of our points, because the points you are redeeming will likely end up costing you more than the actual monetary value of the good.

See Also: How To Use A Credit Card: Best Practices

Take Advantage Of the Sign-up Bonus

When you sign up, some reward credit cards will give you a one-time bonus of 20,000-30,000 points, as long as you spend a certain amount within a few months of joining. Utilize the sign-up bonus as one of the best ways to stock up tons of points.

Make Your Payments On Time

Even if you have an occasional late balance, you could be harming the accumulation of your reward. Many credit cards will not give you any points for any month you are late with your payments.

If you are carrying a balance from month to month, it also eliminates the benefits of the rewards, because your fees and interest you are paying will likely be more than the reward point value.

Understand How The Points Work

When you first sign up for a rewards credit card, it can be intimidating and confusing. Unfortunately, many users give up and don’t even try to redeem points. You might have accumulated hundreds of dollars without even realizing it.

Instead, you can often set rewards to be redeemed when you reach a certain amount. This way, it makes it simple, and you don’t have to remember to cash in your points.