Do travel rewards cards cost more?

Travel reward cards and extra fees

The idea of an air miles credit card may appeal to you. After all, it certainly sounds like a good idea: Spend money on your credit card, earn points toward airline travel, and then eventually cash in the points for a free (or discounted) airline ticket. However, there are a few things you need to be careful about when using an air miles credit card.

• Travel reward cards generally come with a higher interest rate than credit cards that do not offer any type of rewards program.
• Look carefully to see if your travel reward card has an annual fee. You may wind up paying an annual fee for the privilege of having a travel reward card.
• You should not allow the appeal of accumulating travel points to force you into the habit of justifying more spending on your credit card. Consciously or subconsciously, some reward cardholders begin a pattern of using their credit card more and more because they know that every purchase results in more rewards.

There are indeed some travel reward cards out there that don’t have high interest rates and don’t charge annual fees. Find one of these cards and keep your spending habits in check, and you can reap the benefits of earning travel rewards from a credit card.