TD First Class Visa Infinite Offers $200 Worth Travel Reward Points

TD First Class Visa Infinite $200 Promotion Offer Expires On Sep 14

Published Date: September 9, 2012

Annual fee based credit card TD First Class Visa Infinite currently is offering extra points if you sign up by September 14, 2012. These 40,000 TD Points translate into $200 worth in dollar value. Some of the advantages of TD Points are that they never expire, there are no blackout or seat restrictions, and can be redeemed not only for travel expenditures but also for merchandise or towards grocery or gift cards.

TD First Class Visa Infinite card offers most of the benefits like other high-end cards such as Aspire Travel World MasterCard. Some of the features TD First Class Visa Infinite offers are:

– Trip interruption and cancellation coverage

– Delayed and lost baggage coverage

– Travel medical insurance

– Purchase protection and extended warranty

– Preferred rates for Avis and Budget car rentals

– Various VISA Infinite benefits (complimentary concierge services is my favourite one) 

However, one of the major benefits TD First Class Visa Infinite does not offer is the Flight Delay coverage. But if you are already a TD bank client and want to deal with TD for everything without minding Travel Delay insurance, TD First Class Visa Infinite is worth considering. Visit TD Bank for more info

5 Moves That Affect Your Credit Score

What Lowers Your Credit Score?

First Published Date: October 27, 2011 ADawnJournal.com

Credit scores are very important if you are applying for a mortgage, a loan, credit card, and so on. A lower credit score will make your interest and payments higher, thus costing you more money. There are certain things you can do to avoid factors that lower your credit score. Let’s discuss them.

Making Late Payments or Missing Payments – This factor affects your credit score the most because 35 percent of your score is based on payment history. Paying on time can make the difference between an average and an excellent credit score.

Borrowing Too Much – This is the second biggest factor that lowers your credit score. Your outstanding debt counts for 30 percent of your credit score. If you have a high ratio of credit used in relation to your available limits (credit utilization ratio), it will lower your credit score. Don’t borrow up to your limits. Keep it 25 percent or less of your available limits.

Closing Too Old Credit Card Accounts – The length of your credit history counts for 15 percent of your credit score. To keep your credit score higher, do not close accounts that are too old. It is a good idea to keep a variety of credit card accounts active, especially those which are old.

Applying Frequently – If you apply too often for credit cards or other loan accounts, it will lower your credit score. Applying too many times for credit implies that you are desperate for credit and it affects your credit score. This accounts for 10 percent of your credit score.

Not Keeping A Variety of Credit Accounts – Your credit score will be higher if you have a variety of credit accounts. Having only one type of credit account will lower your score, as keeping a variety of credit accounts for 10 percent of your credit score. Keep multiple types of credit accounts active, even if you don’t use them. For example, an investment loan account, mortgage, store credit card account, regular credit card account, and so on. Sometimes a credit issuer will close your accounts if you don’t use it for a while. To keep them active, keep a very small balance and pay the minimum every month. Or, you can charge a very small amount once in a while and pay off the balance

How to Fix Errors on Your U.S. Credit Report

Errors on your Credit Report

First Published Date : June 4, 2011

It is estimated that about 75 per cent of all credit reports have errors on them. It happens and when it does, it is a big annoyance for many people. Often, errors can be something that you never had or bought, or it could be an account you paid off but which is not shown as paid off.

Thankfully, when there is an error on your credit report, you can fix it easily and all you need to do is follow these steps.

First of all, get your credit report. Without your credit report, how will you know whether or not you have an error on your credit report? If you live in the United States, then you are entitled to one free credit report a year. You can get a free credit report, every 12 months, from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. You can also get your free credit report from www.annualcreditreport.com or by calling 1.877.322.8228.

If you find an error on the credit report, do the following:

1.    In writing, send a letter to the credit report agency detailing what information you believe is incorrect. When you do this, send copies of any documents that will support the position that you have paid off a bill, or that you never had that credit account in the first place. Explain why you dispute the error and that you want the error removed or corrected on your credit report. Make sure you send your letter through certified mail with “return receipt requested”. By law, the credit report agency must investigate the error within 30 days and then send you all date related to the error to the organization that provided the information or error to your credit report. Then, they have to report the information to you and tell you in writing whether or not the dispute has been approved or rejected.

2.    When you send the letter to the credit agency, send copies of the same documents and the same letter to the creditor that you believe is responsible for the error on your credit report.

If your error dispute is rejected, then you need to find more information to back up your claim, otherwise there is little you can do but pay whatever you are believed to owe by the creditor. Your other option is to contact the Federal Trade Commission at 1.877.382.4357 to state your dispute and that you want your credit report cleared. A last resort is legal action because often the legal action will cost you more than it will to just pay off the debt.

Credit errors are terrible things but often they can be removed very easily as long as you have the documentation proving that the item on your credit report is in fact an error. This is why it is so important to hold onto your receipts and any items relating to your credit so when an error does happen, you can clear it up very easily.

How To Choose The Right Credit Cards

What To Look For When Choosing Credit Cards

First Published Date : December 23, 2010 ADawnJournal.com

When it comes to picking a credit card, you will be bombarded with a wide array of options and an overload of information. This will make you even more confused, even if you are not confused enough yet. Today, I will discuss some factors you need to consider before making your decision.

Annual Percentage Rate or APR

Annual Percentage Rate or APR is the interest you pay to your credit card company for carrying a balance. In other words, this is your cost of not paying balances in full every month and using the credit card company’s money. If you pay off your balance in full, you don’t need to worry about Annual Percentage Rate or APR that much. This will give you more flexibility to pick credit cards with other features. If you carry a balance, pick a credit card with the lowest APR possible. Make sure the APR is not a promotional one and available only for a limited time. Picking the lowest APR credit card will save you tons of money for the lifetime of the loan.

Annual Fee
In general, try to avoid any annual fee. However, if you carry a balance some credit cards with annual fees offer lower interest rate or APR than those cards with no annual fee. Do the math and if you find out that an annual fee credit card will save you more money in terms of carrying a balance, pick an annual fee card with the least interest possible.

Balance Transfer

Some credit cards will give you a balance transfer option with a low introductory APR. You need to make sure of a few things before you jump into this feature to save some money. I have discussed this in another article and I recommend you read it here: How to Use Your Credit Card Balance Transfer to Your Advantage

Grace Period

Grace period is the time you have to pay off your balance after making a purchase without paying any interest. If your credit card does not have a grace period, you will start paying interest as soon as you make a purchase. In many countries, there are credit cards with no grace period. In Canada starting in 2010, due to the federal government’s new credit card regulations, federally-regulated financial institutions are now required to provide at least a minimum 21-day grace period on new purchases, and this is applicable on new purchases when you carry a balance as well.

Rewards Credit Cards

These days, I see no point in using a credit card without any rewards. A rewards credit card offers you points or rewards just for using it. Rewards can be in the form of cash back, Air miles, Aeroplan miles, merchandise, and so on. I prefer cash back, as it does not restrict you to using your points on anything specific. If you use reward points or miles, make sure they don’t expire and are easy to use without restrictions and hassle.

A Few Other Things to Look For:

I always make sure your credit card provides the following:

– Free Purchase Warranty: This feature protects your purchases against theft, loss, damages, etc. for 90 days or so depending on the credit card company.

– Free Extended Warranty: This feature doubles the manufacturer’s warranty for an additional year.

– Free Price Protection: This feature refunds the difference if you see the same item you bought at a lower price anywhere else.

– Free Collision/Loss Damage Waiver for Rental Cars: This feature insures you for rental cars if it’s lost or damaged. You save money on the rental company’s insurance that otherwise you would have to pay.

-  Free Travel Accident and Baggage Delay Coverage: This feature covers you from travel accident injuries and baggage losses or delays.

It is important to note that you may not be able to get all the free features I mentioned above in one card. What I do is carry two or three credit cards giving these free additional features and whenever I need a feature covered, I use the credit card with that feature. A Dawn Journal has a credit card section with lots of credit card articles. Make sure you read them and don’t for get to recommend A Dawn Journal to your friends and family.

How To Lower Your Credit Card Interest Rate

Lower Credit Card Rates

First Published Date : November 6, 2010 ADawnJournal.com

If you are dealing with debt and you want to try and get your head above water, then one of the best things you can do is to look at lowering your interest rates. Since credit card debt is one of the most common forms of debt, you should look at lowering your interest rate with this. It is quite easy to do, and all you have to do is follow the instructions in this article to lower your credit card interest rate.

Many people do not realize that you can lower your credit card interest rate through something as easy as a phone call. Remember, if you default on your credit card, it costs the credit card company money. The credit card company does not want that, so they will work with you to help you pay off your credit card. Therefore, all you need to do is call the credit card company and call them, asking that they convert your credit card to one with a lower interest rate. One good thing to do is to show them that you have always paid your credit card, and been a credit card customer for a long period of time. This will help them lower the credit card interest rate in your favour.

If they do not, then you can search for a credit card company that provides a better interest rate on their cards. Look for cards through local banks and contact them to get a credit card. Once you have contacted them, you will get a credit card application. Then, fill it out, send it off and when you get your new credit card, you just need to transfer the balance of your current credit card to the new credit card.

It is important to point out that when you do get a credit card and do a transfer, you will be subjected to a transfer fee, but usually it is just a percentage of what you are sending over to the new credit card.

If you think that credit card interest rates are not that big of a deal, then look at it this way. If you have a credit card with $10,000 on it, and your interest rate is 19 per cent, then you will end up paying $1,900 in interest per year. However, if you are able to lower your interest rate down to nine percent, you save $1,000 per year in interest. That little bit of a decline will save you a lot of money and that will help you get out of debt much sooner. Sometimes it is as simple as just asking for a new interest rate, but if that doesn’t work, then you have to do a bit more work and yes, get a new credit card. Although when you get your new credit card and transfer the balance, you can then cancel the old credit card, thereby eliminating that bad interest rate forever.