Rewards credit card?

[spideyscout]

I'm 19 years old and am in the process of saving for a car. I live with my patents so I don't have rent to pay and saving is fairly easy. I work two jobs, one where I earn about 300 dollars a month, and one where I earn about 800 dollars a month. The 300 I use for all my expenses (gas, food, pretty much everything I buy), and the 800 I put in a savings account. I'm thinking about finding a rewards credit card I can use in place of my debit card. I would never use this card for any more than 300 dollars a month. The reason I'd like to do this I'd so I can stay for free (or at least get a discount) at hotels. I go to a concert every few months and prefer to spend the night instead of driving two hours back home. Would it be worth it to get the credit card for this purpose or should I just wait until I buy my car and move out? About how many points would I rack up spending around $250 a month? What do these points translate to in dollars as far as hotels go? Do you have any suggestions as to which rewards program is the best?

Thanks to anyone who answers!

[bjl584]

Not a bad plan so long as you always pay the bill in full every month and never carry a balance. It seems to be money that you would be spending anyway, so you might as well earn some rewards for it.

As far as how many points you will earn, I have no idea. It depends on the card and the hotel chain that it's affiliated with. You will have to do some research to find out.

[adpiterp]

If you are using the money anyway, might as well get points on it. Like bjl584 said, always always pay the bill in FULL every month and never ever carry a balance - once you get hit with interest, all those rewards basically go out the window (meaning your rewards will not cover the interest in most cases).

As for hotels, they always say to use a credit card so they don't put a hold on your actual funds on your debit card. Sometimes the hold can be up to 5 business days and that's a long time to not be able to access your cash.

[disneysteve]

About how many points would I rack up spending around $250 a month? What do these points translate to in dollars as far as hotels go?

Setting aside the question of whether or not you should get a credit card, let me address this part of your question.

I have a Marriott Rewards credit card. Each major hotel chain has their own card and the deal varies somewhat from company to company but here is how Marriott works.

You get 1 point per dollar spent on the card.
You get 3 points per dollar spent at Marriott properties.

The best part is that you get 30,000 points when you first use the card and 2 free nights when your account is approved.

You also get 10 points per dollar spent when you stay at a Marriott regardless of how you pay. So if you use a Marriott Visa, you get a total of 13 points per dollar spent.

For reference, free nights start at 7,500 points.

So getting the card gets you 30,000 points, good for as much as 4 free nights. You also get 2 free nights given to you so that's up to 6 free nights just for getting the card and using it once. Then you accumulate points based on your spending from that point on. There is a $45 annual fee but they waive it the first year.

[JoeP]

I think you have to look at the rewards versus the risk.

If you are a few points shy of some reward milestone (like a free room), some might be compelled to charge some unbudgeted expense to the card just to reach the goal in time for some trip.

It is also very easy for some to spend a little more, and more frequently, if they anticipate some sort of reward. So you might normally take out $80 cash for a night out, but instead end up using your card for $90 because of the rewards.

If neither apply for your situation, then rewards might make sense. Personally, we found less hassle using hotwire in conjunction with our AAA discount.

[disneysteve]

If you are a few points shy of some reward milestone (like a free room), some might be compelled to charge some unbudgeted expense to the card just to reach the goal in time for some trip.

You say that as if it is a bad thing.

If spending an extra $20 would get me enough points to get a free $89 hotel room, I'd call that a good deal.

[JoshuaHeckathorn]

I'm 19 years old and am in the process of saving for a car. I live with my patents so I don't have rent to pay and saving is fairly easy. I work two jobs, one where I earn about 300 dollars a month, and one where I earn about 800 dollars a month. The 300 I use for all my expenses (gas, food, pretty much everything I buy), and the 800 I put in a savings account. I'm thinking about finding a rewards credit card I can use in place of my debit card. I would never use this card for any more than 300 dollars a month. The reason I'd like to do this I'd so I can stay for free (or at least get a discount) at hotels. I go to a concert every few months and prefer to spend the night instead of driving two hours back home. Would it be worth it to get the credit card for this purpose or should I just wait until I buy my car and move out? About how many points would I rack up spending around $250 a month? What do these points translate to in dollars as far as hotels go? Do you have any suggestions as to which rewards program is the best?

Thanks to anyone who answers!

What are your FICO scores? If you have no credit history yet or low FICO scores, you'll find it difficult to get approved for any rewards credit card as these cards are targeted towards consumers with good-excellent credit scores.