Monday, November 19, 2012

Platinum Credit Cards and Their Advantages Over Regular Cards


Luxury car, grand homes, and platinum credit cards all share two common traits: prestige and status. A platinum credit card is considered a top-of-the line plastic that other regular cards simply can’t match. If you are deliberating over a platinum card or a standard card, you may want to know that the premium card has more benefits exclusively offered for the account holders. Among the highly valuable features and benefits of this card are the following:

Higher Credit Limit

There are standard cards that only let you charge up to $1,000. There are some that would give higher, depending on your credit score. A gold card may give you $8,000 limit, but most platinum credit cards today offer a $25,000 limit. When you have high limits, you can use your card whenever you pay at upscale hotels or restaurants.

Excellent Rewards

Rewards are among the reasons why people use a credit card. Most cards today are labeled as rewards cards, but they are nowhere near the rewards system of a platinum card. This has incentives that can never be obtained with an ordinary card or even with a gold card. Platinum cards have higher bonuses and rewards. For instance, you can earn 1 mile for a standard card. Then, with a gold card, you can earn 2 miles, but the platinum card may offer up to 5 miles for every purchase you make. In short, you can expect that the rewards program of a platinum card is far more generous than standard and gold cards.

Lower Interest Rate

There is no denying that having a platinum card is expensive. The annual fee is staggering, but these cards basically have lower interest rates. This is because the cardholders are expected to have good to excellent credit rating. They are considered low-risk consumers and are, therefore, provided with low interest rates. Many platinum cards nowadays have a long interest-free period just like regular credit cards.

Wide Variety of Benefits

With a platinum card, you can get travel insurance that has wider and better coverage. Some regular cards offer this feature as well, but they mostly require a fee to get access to the insurance. In addition, there are many standard cards that provide complimentary insurance for only three months. In contrast, platinum can give you at least six months. This applies not only on domestic flights, but on international travel as well.

Aside from insurance, you get refund and purchase protection for items you have bought with your card. This is also offered on services and air travel and hotel reservations you have made. There are cards that offer more than three months of purchase protection.

Other benefits are also added to platinum cards so that consumers can easily distinguish them from conventional plastics. These include discounts on entertainment and travel tickets, purchasing pre-sale tickets, access to expert advisors, personal concierge service, and passes to airport lounges worldwide. Your card may also provide priority boarding, preferred seating, and VIP treatment.

Since this type of card conveys the status of the cardholder, not everyone can qualify for the card. To get a platinum credit card, you must have an excellent credit score and high yearly income.

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