Some of the worst credit card 'benefits' you could possibly hope for..
Credit cards are often billed as a great tool to help people with their personal finance. While credit cards can work for you, most people do not take advantage of credit cards for their positive benefits. They make stupid mistakes that end up costing them time and money with the 'benefits' that are supposed to help them.
#1 0% interest
Pay your 0% interest charges off while you are still within the 0% period. Paying any interest on these charges is a terrible idea. Why pay interest when you don't have to? You shouldn't have to!
#2 Rewards
Rewards are great as long as you do not charge items for rewards that you cannot pay off before you start having to pay interest. This basically means that you should never pay interest if you can avoid it. Best of all, you can get rewards that cancel out because you have to pay $50 in interest but only got $5 in rewards!
#3 Rental car insurance
Many people put faith into rental car insurance with their credit card companies. Always purchase the additional rider policy if at all possible. While your credit card company may not give you a hassle, they may be one of the biggest problems to deal with. This is simply not woth it for something that costs you a few dollars extra per day.
#4 Chargebacks
Many chargebacks are legitimate and this is not meant to discredit the use of a chargeback. However, consumers who overuse the chargeback 'benefit' of their card are abusing the system and should be punished. There is no reason to file a chargeback over every single little thing. File a chargeback only is necessary and if the situation warrants it. Otherwise, you are wasting money and time by the credit card company.
#5 Balance transfers
Do not transfer your balance to another card unless you have to. Often, there are problems with the process and consumers must wait weeks with additional fees charged in order for the process to complete. You do not want to have to deal with the problem!
#6 Cash advances
Taking money at out at an ATM with your credit card is a terrible idea. Not only are you charged a fee by the ATM in most cases but you are also going to be charged an outrageous fee by your credit card. This means that you could be paying a higher interest rate plus a huge set fee by the credit card itself. Avoid doing a cash advance if at all possible! They are just a terrible way to have to spend your money.
There are many credit card benefits that seem good at the time. However, many of the benefits that you see are not actually benefits but are hidden costs that make having a credit card not worth the hassle that it can be. Do not think that credit cards are great. Sometimes they are necessary but sometimes they can simply not be worth the hassle.
With many struggling with debts at the moment there is really no better time to ditch your expensive credit cards, but if the debts are becoming too much then some credit card debt consolidation may one of the solutions to your problem.