Credit card travel tips

Know the rules of the road before you hit the road

By David Munns

You want to get away, but soaring gas prices and new airline rules make travel more expensive this year. That's where a credit card can help -- or hurt, if you don't pick the right card and know how it works.  So before waving goodbye as you head to vacation-ville, take a spin through this advice on credit cards and travel:

1. Booking travel with a credit card
2. Frequent flier, airline rewards
3. Foreign travel transaction fees
4. Renting, gassing up a car

Booking travel with a credit card

Using a debit card for travel: problems and risks -- Debit cards are popular, but are not always the best choice for travel ... (more)

Vacation, travel plans: Charge to credit card, easier to recoup losses -- Recouping your money if your trip is canceled is much easier with credit cards than if you paid with cash or by check ... (more)

Reward options for business credit cards: miles, rewards, cash back -- Business credit cards used to be plain-vanilla, no-frills cards that served only as a way to separate business spending from personal spending. Look how they've grown ... (more)  

Frequent flier programs, airline rewards

Airlines increase frequent flier sign-up bonus rewards for credit cards -- As lenders and airlines compete for the prized frequent flier demographic, credit cards are offering bigger and better airline mileage extras to woo new customers ... (more)

Despite 'no-blackout' promises, frequent fliers' freebies limited -- While most card issuers assure their rewards-seekers that there are no blackout dates, that's not the same as a guarantee of getting a desirable holiday flight, no matter how many points you have in your rewards account … (more)

A CreditCards.com survey of airline blackout dates -- A CreditCards.com survey finds few formal blackout dates, but some restrictions still apply ... (more)

Foreign travel transaction fees

Foreign transaction fees and rules for the top credit card issuers -- Here are the foreign transaction fees, also known as currency conversion fees, charged by top American credit card issuers to consumers who travel abroad ... (more)

Taking a credit card on a foreign vacation: 10 tips -- Bringing your credit card on vacation is a smart decision, but expect extra fees and take precautions. ... (more)

Foreign travel, your credit card and currency conversion -- If you're headed abroad, you need to be aware of a new payment process called dynamic currency conversion, which may pad your purchase amount ... (more)

Renting, gassing up a car

Compare credit cards' rental car insurance policies -- Credit card companies' policies vary sharply, so don't always be quick to turn down rental car agencies' optional insurance coverage ... (more)

Compare gas credit cards -- CreditCards.com reviewed terms and conditions for the top 29 gas cards ... (more)

Renting a car with cash or debit card? Expect to try harder -- Thought you couldn't get a rental car if you didn't have a credit card? Think again ... (more)

12 tips for renting a car with a debit card -- A CreditCards.com survey of the major rental car companies found it's difficult but not impossible to rent a car without plastic ... (more)

Updated: June 3, 2008

	Three most recent Frequent flier programs, airline rewards stories: When bankruptcy freezes an airline credit card, what happens to the miles? – If a rewards card is frozen during bankruptcy, you may still have access to most of the points you've earned. It depends on whether the card is co-branded with a travel partner ... American, US Airways merger could launch credit card battle – While American Airlines and US Airways struck notes of love and harmony when announcing their merger, the union could set up a battle between two major banks over who can offer credit cards to customers of the world’s largest airline ... Watch out for fuel surcharges on reward flights – Beware those hefty fuel surcharges, added by nearly all European and Asian airlines. You can't pay for them with points, which devalues bonus point offers ...

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