Recommendation

It’s impossible for me to make a specific recommendation.

Do You Need A Reward Program
Is a Reward Program really what you need

You will need to consider each of the 5 key decision points I have described in the previous chapter and come to your own conclusion.

Some final points to consider:

• Card issuers are continually changing their products and often follow their competitors. Reacting to each change (such as a fee increase) puts you in a never-ending spiral of chopping and changing cards for very little real benefit. Rather, make an informed decision once and then monitor the situation. Make another move only when there is a major structural change in the market.
   
• In terms of reward programs, there is very little difference between credit and charge cards. In fact, with Amex you can link any of its popular reward programs to either the charge card or credit card and get identical frequent flyer benefits.
    
• Don’t be swayed by promotional gimmicks such as discounted initial rates that offer no long-term benefit.
   
• As you can see, deciding between basic, cash-back and frequent flyer (open or dedicated) credit cards is not a 10-second decision. You have to do your homework and work through your spending and travel habits to see what works best for you.

If you do decide to go with a frequent flyer credit card, the Special Feature on the next page will be of particular interest to you for those times when you’re just a couple of hundred miles short of your next reward flight.