Archive for 'Travel' Category

By Tim Sullivan

I remember anxiously waiting in line at a rural African bank, hoping they'd exchange the travelers checks I had purchased before leaving the U.S. This was almost a decade ago on my first trip overseas, and it was an uncomfortable introduction to the art of managing money abroad.

Thankfully, my days of travelers checks and dishonest conversion rates have mostly come to an end for one reason: I travel with plastic. Compared to many payment methods, traveling with credit cards is safe, secure and inexpensive. That said, some precautions must be taken. Here's a list of four tips you'll need when heading abroad with your credit card:

1. Get a card with no foreign transaction fees

Using my rewards card while abroad to pay for hotels, car rentals, train fare, eating out and museum tickets is a great way to boost the travel points that may help fund future trips. However, you can easily cancel out those rewards by paying a 3 percent foreign transaction fee on every purchase. There are many cards with no such fees on the market, so make sure you have one in your wallet before you depart.

By Marc Pearlman

Traveling to another country can be a really unique experience. The opportunity to see other cultures can really round out a person's perspective. Yes, while people are universally the same, cultures and customs can be dramatically different.

As varied as foreign customs, cultures and languages can be, traveling to a foreign country can be made easier...

By Justin Boyle

When I first heard about credit cards with miles promotions, I figured they were a passing fad. Airlines had long offered programs for frequent fliers, allowing them to amass hundreds or thousands of miles per trip taken, and the card companies didn't seem to need the extra incentive to get people to spend on credit.

As it turns out, plans that offer travel points and air miles have grown into some of the best credit card reward programs available today. With some prudent credit management and a little attention to detail, credit cards with miles promotions can help you travel almost anywhere for pennies on the dollar...

By Jim Sloan

Editor's Note: Thank you for your interest, this offer expired and is no longer available.

For those just out of college or starting fresh, a break in the form of traveling to another state or country is usually near the top of wish lists. Finding ways to fund traveling however, can be a significant barrier to actually realizing this. If you're good with credit cards, though, a new promotion from Capitol One may be able to help you with your travel ticket.

Traveling in reach?

Capital One has rolled out a new Venture Rewards credit card promotion with a "Match My Miles" promotion that will match the number of miles you have accumulated on another airline credit card up to 100,000 miles.

You earn the additional 100,000 miles--the equivalent of $1,000--if you put at least $1,000 on the card in the first three months.

The offer is good for new Venture and Venture for Business primary account holders. Current Capital One cardholders who want to upgrade to the Venture Rewards card or swap their existing Capital One card will get the mile match if they get approved, said Sukhi Sahni, a senior communications manager with Capital One.

The company will continue the offer this until they've given away a billion miles or until May 13, 2011, whichever comes first--it's a first-come, first-served proposition.

Miles on top of miles: How does it work?

If you have airline miles on one of 13 airline credit cards currently on the market, Capital One will match

By Ann Cameron

Today, it's often difficult for anyone to get a credit card - whether it's a zero percent balance transfer card or a best cash back credit card. And if you're just starting out -or starting over - getting an approval based on your credit score can be even more of a hassle. This is what makes pre-paid cards so attractive if you want to use them for online shopping, travel or even just everyday expenses.

As more and more of us are embracing the "card-only" lifestyle, a pre-paid card can be a great alternative to using a debit card or zero interest credit card.

If you need any more reassurance, take a friend's recent example. She attended an industry conference for a few days and needed to secure her room with a card - standard operating procedure for any hotel. She'd used her debit card to cover incidentals that she incurred, such as meals, Internet connection and minibar snacks. No problem.

But later that night at dinner, her debit card was rejected for being over her bank account limit. Apparently, the hotel was holding $150 on her debit card for those "incidentals" for each of the three nights she planned to spend there. Although the $450 was credited at the end of her

By MoneyBlueBook

Update: Check Out The New For The Uber-Rich

Editor's Note: These offers expired and are no longer available.

What's the deal with status symbols these days? While I'd like to think that I'm perfectly immune from the need to walk around and carry lofty symbols of wealth, power, and status on my shoulders, sheepishly, I must admit that I'm not. I don't occasionally wear designer clothes or don expensive apparel brands solely for the quality threads, or dream of buying a BMW or Mercedes sports sedan for crash test safety reasons alone. After all, there's something about rarity, uniqueness, and exclusiveness that beckons each of us at some point in our lives. Whether it's the elite acknowledgment that one gets from being an alumni of a top tier Ivy League university, or whether it's membership into an ultra exclusive golf club usually reserved only for top celebrities and the rich and famous, I'm sure many of us secretly envy at times, those who are in this special inner circle.

Actually, the notion itself is quite silly really - the idea that simply because you possess something unique that very few other people have, or have VIP membership into some special organization, that you are somehow better off than others or worthy of admiration. But it's simply human nature I suppose. We all innately appreciate the attention and envy of others, whether we truly want to admit it or not. Don't believe it? All you have to do is observe the rise and popularity of television shows like MTV's Super Sweet 16 to see how the