A mileage card can be both a bane and a boon. If you are someone who pays off the balance well in time, then a mileage card can well be your friend, but if you are not a big spender and do not have the resources to keep up with the cycle of card balance payments in time, a mileage card can be your biggest foe. The article below elaborates more on this phenomenon, so do not throw caution to the wind while utilizing your mileage card.

A mileage credit card is an asset to any dedicated flyer if used correctly, no doubt. But the catch remains in the phrase if used correctly. Just because you are earning extra miles for charges on your mileage cards does not necessarily mean you have the upper hand in this game. When you look closely, there just might be some loss of money involved (and then some), so be sure to review how you are using the mileage card because you might just discover that all those miles are not worth it!

What Is So Different About A Mileage Card?

A mileage card is one amongst the bewildering array of ways to earn credit cardrewards that savvy consumers are being offered these days. A mileage card will convert miles earned for purchases into hotel stays or restaurant meals, typically enabling you to use these miles for a variety of different reward options.

Pros of Mileage Cards

What is a bigger plus to the spender than earning a travel dividend for money that has to be spent on additional card purchases anyway? Did you know that business travelers get double miles with certain card offers if they charge their tickets with mileage cards? It sounds too good to overlook!

Especially when you have acknowledged the priciest part of any major trip is airfare, you simply cannot ignore the thought of your routine grocery store purchases bringing you closer to that Caribbean cruise that you have always dreamt of going on. Your mileage cards might just bring you a little closer to that dream.

Is It All Good?

If you cannot afford to pay off your card balances consistently, then a mileage credit card is definitely not the best choice for you, because the exorbitant rates of interest that are typically found with this type of card would do nothing less than shock you. Of all the major mileage cards, the lowest ongoing APR carries an interest rate of 17 percent. Ouch!

Heard of blackout dates yet? If not, then you definitely are not the informed mileage credit card owner that you thought you were. Blackout dates (which can happen frequently with certain rewards programs) are the ones, which fall on major holidays, making your accumulated mileage and off-limits for redemption.

Forget about using the card for those large purchase items (for example, electronics, appliances, cars) with your mileage credit cards to earn those big points. Typically, there will be a yearly limit or cap on how many miles you can accumulate with these cards, limiting your ability to accumulate large point totals in a given period of time.

Also, since there is a time limit attached, make sure that you shop the expiration times for accumulated mileage on your mileage cards. The rewards offer would really be futile if the miles expire just as you draw near to a free ticket.

The biggest drawback for these card offers tends to be the membership fees. If those membership fees that you have paid up all this while are more than your points earned benefit, then it is obviously not worth the effort.

And finally, even though we want to ensure that you enter into this subject with the knowledge of what to watch out for, this should not deter you from benefiting from mileage cards. As we have previously outlined, there are definitely numerous benefits associated with this type of card offer so, understanding full well what the pitfalls are and what to be wary of with mileage credit cards, we should give them the benefit of the doubt!