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A12 BUSINESS
Wednesday 3 May 2023

Liz Weston: Audit your credit cards for

greater savings

Credit card rewards help
our family save money on
groceries, gas and other
necessities. We also use
rewards for airline tickets,
hotel rooms and airport
lounge access.
We’re in good company.
Most Americans have at
least one rewards card,
and nearly half of rewards
cardholders are using their
perks to help offset rising
inflation, according to a
2022 Wells Fargo survey.
But a recent review of our
cards revealed that some This Nov. 18, 2009, file photo, shows credit and bank cards with
are no longer worth their electronic chips in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.
annual fees or have been Associated Press
eclipsed by better offer-
ings.
Credit card fees, reward out a lot of hassle. perks may require logging
rates and benefits change Once we had a few cards, into your account with a
all the time. though, I found it helpful to web browser rather than
So do the ways we spend start using a spreadsheet to a mobile app, since ac-
our money, which means keep track of each card’s count information is of-
a card that used to be a annual fee, renewal date, ten more detailed using a
good fit may no longer “earn rate” (such as 6% browser. There’s typically
work as well. Given all that, cash back on groceries, or a tab or link that leads you
it’s not surprising that few- 3 points per dollar spent on to a rewards dashboard
er than one-third of credit flights) and other relevant that summarizes your earn
card users feel that they’re benefits. rate and highlights any ad-
making the most of their Every year or so, I update ditional benefits, such as
rewards cards, according this spreadsheet with the complimentary food deliv-
to J.D. Power’s 2022 U.S. value of rewards we’ve ery subscriptions or credits
Credit Card Satisfaction earned and redeemed as that cover airline fees or
Study. An annual review of well as current information offset the cost of streaming
our credit cards helps en- about annual fees and service s. I add the dollar
sure we’re getting properly benefits. If I’ve used points totals for benefits I’ve used
rewarded. to book a flight or cashed to the spreadsheet and
CREATE A REWARDS TRACK- in a free hotel night cer- make a note on my calen-
ER tificate, for example, I’ll in- dar to use up any remain-
First, a few caveats. Re- clude the value of the trav- ing credits before the perk
wards credit cards make el. With cash back cards, resets. (Many credits must
sense for our family be- I type in the dollar value be used within a calendar
cause we pay balances redeemed during the year. year, but some reset on the
in full every month. If we Some cards provide a card’s anniversary date.)
didn’t, the cost of interest helpful year-end summary; I also note other benefits
would more than offset the otherwise, I can check re- that don’t necessarily have
value of any rewards. Also, wards activity month by a price tag but still have
you don’t need to be as month by logging into the significant value, such as
obsessed with rewards as account online. travel insurance, elite sta-
we are to benefit. A simple INVESTIGATE CARD BEN- tus perks at a hotel chain
cash-back rewards card EFITS or airline, or extended war-
can save you money with-
Investigating all of a card’s ranties on purchases. q