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.

How to Convince Credit Card Companies to Lower Your Interest Rate

Interest rates are among the many reasons why a credit card can get so expensive. Once you forget to make a payment in a timely manner, your account could get penalized with interest. As a result, you may have to pay more than what you actually borrowed. The only way to escape the high interest rates is through paying all your balances on time – not just the minimum payment but all your balances.

If you cannot pay your balances in full, you can pay only the interest rate that your account has accumulated. Card companies have the right to increase the rates. Though they will inform you of the increase, this could only be burdensome to your financial health. Thankfully, there are ways to lower your APRs.

Below are some ways on how to convince credit card companies to lower your interest rare:

Find out how much you can pay off each month.

There are online and downloadable tools that you can use to determine the exact amount that you can afford to pay every month. The important part here is to make sure that you make more than the minimum payment, even if it is not the full balance.

Gather pertinent files.

Your junk mail can be of great value here. Collect the solicitations from other companies, particularly those that offer lower interest rates. This will serve as your leverage against the card issuer so you can convince them about your case.

Pick up the phone.

The most recommended way to deal with your creditor is through speaking with them over the phone. Get your card statement and find the phone number of your creditor. Instead of speaking with the first person who answers the phone, ask for the supervisor. Once the right person is on the line, request for a name or at least an identification number. Write it down along with the date and time you spoke with him or her.

Ask for a lower rate.

Tell the supervisor that you want to get a rate reduction. This is where the other offers become valuable. Mention them along with the name of the card and the lender. This technique can be effective in convincing the supervisor to keep you as their customer.

Negotiate.

More often than not, you will be given a rate lower than the one you provided. Attempt to negotiate. For instance, if you are offered with a four point decrease, go for a six point reduction. Don’t raise your tone; always be polite. Once the supervisor indicates that he or she can no longer go lower than what has been offered, you may want to take it.

Ask for a confirmation.

A telephone conversation is definitely not enough. Always request to have everything in writing. The letter should contain your new rate and the date when the modification takes effect.

Check your next billing statement. It should have a new interest rate on the paper. If you notice that the change has not been made, you should contact your creditor once again. Ask to talk to the supervisor whom you talked to last time. Remind him about your last conversation regarding the interest rate drop.

It may be quite a challenge to convince credit card companies to lower your interest rates. However, if you are persistent enough and you are able to give them enough reasons to grant your request, you might just be given what you want. 

How to Improve Your Credit Score After Filing for Bankruptcy

Filing for bankruptcy can cause your credit score to go down drastically. Worse, it can affect the overall quality of your life for quite a long time. Once you have filed for bankruptcy, you are no longer considered creditworthy by lenders and you may find it hard to get approved for credit cards, car loans, and house loans.

Fortunately, there are ways by which you can improve your credit score even after filing for bankruptcy. Such means, while simple, may be able to help you raise your credit score back to the way it should be.

Below are some of the tricks on how you can improve your credit score after filing for bankruptcy:  

Check Your Credit Report

Credit reports may contain errors about your credit and payment activities. Such errors can drastically affect your creditworthiness. As such, it is recommended to check your reports regularly and to make sure that everything is being reported there as is.

It is important to note that your credit report does not contain your credit score. However, you can verify its contents to make sure that all items are correct. Each account in your bankruptcy declaration should be identified as “included in bankruptcy” or a similar phrase. You can file a dispute if one or more accounts are still currently being hold as debt.

Have a Budget Plan

Always have a budget plan. Especially that you have declared bankruptcy, it is even more important to keep a budget plan to help you track and budget your finances. A household budget that tells you how much you spend on specific things, such as household expenses, loans, groceries, and the like, is a good start. If you have any credit card open, strive to pay the bills on time. Never delaying payments can help boost your score.

Use a Secured Card

Although it makes sense that you should not open any credit card account for the time being, a secured card is an option, especially if you have closed all your accounts. This is a type of credit card, but does not work the traditional way. Instead of you borrowing money with the potential of getting into debt, a secured card does not pose such risk. You need to provide a security deposit, which will, in turn, limit the amount of money you spend.

Set Up Payment Reminders

You may have student loans, mortgages, credit card bills, and others that need to be paid off on time. You can use a payment reminder tool, which will notify you of pending bills that you have to pay right away. You can also choose to pay for the bills automatically by linking to your savings account.

If you follow the right path after filing for bankruptcy, it is possible that you will be able to regain your good credit rating. Paying credit card balances on time and making sure that you have enough money to fund your daily expenses can make a huge difference.