By Aubrey Clark

Airline miles and frequent flyer credit cards can be a great way to save money on vacations and airline tickets. As with most products, knowing the differences between the products that are available is the key to making sure you get your best deal. The first thing to know is that there are two classifications of Airline credit cards. Most people are unaware of the differences between the two types of cards so I thought I would make things a little clearer.

The first thing you need to know about airline credit cards is that they are horrible credit cards unless you intend to use them specifically for the purpose of airline travel. Most of them have annual fees and higher interest rates than credit cards that are available. If you are the type of person that will even occasionally carry a balance on their card this class of card is not for you. The interest rate that you pay coupled with the annual fee will probably negate your gains in airline miles. This being said, lets look at the first type of airline cards.

Frequent Flyer Credit Cards These cards are sponsored by a specific airline. The credit cards are co-branded with a major bank like American Express or Bank of America. These are the original frequent flyer cards that hit the market. These cards are perfect for those people who are brand loyal or otherwise compelled to use one airline by work or airport location. These cards will allow you to establish frequent flyer accounts that actually have cash values.

The downside is that these cards do not allow you to shop fares because the miles will not accumulate on other airlines. These cards usually have the higher annual fee when compared to airline miles credit cards and has the higher of the interest rates between the two classes. I presume the higher rate is because of the extra expense to the issuer for the co-branding. Of coarse I could be wrong; I am due for my first mistake this year. The next type of airline credit card is airline miles credit cards.

Airline Miles Credit Cards This class of card is usually sponsored by credit card companies or banks dont have an affiliation with a specific airline. This class of airline card has its pros and cons as well. The best feature among airline miles credit cards is the ability to use them on multiple airlines. These cards usually reward the user with points as opposed to miles like frequent flyer credit cards do. These points can then be converted to airline miles or other travel related perks. Unlike frequent flyer cards the card holder has the choice to apply these points to hotels, restaurants, retail stores as well as airline miles.

Savvy shoppers with good credit can also find better rates and no annual fees on some airline miles credit cards. One of the best cards in this class is hands down the Capital One No Hassle Miles(SM) Rewards card. It doesnt have an annual fee and its interest rate is tolerable should you have to carry a balance. The down-side of the airline air miles credit cards are the gotchas.

These are the little things in the fine print that can zap your air miles or cost you money. Read the guidelines carefully. For instance some cards will totally erase your air miles earned in a reporting period is you are more than 3 days late on your payment. Even though this is within the credit card issuers grace period there is a separate rule for the air miles benefit. So, make sure you read the fine print to make sure the card meets your lifestyle and spending habits.

The best way to get the most of the perks on both classes of cards these cards is to charge and pay back around $1000 each month. One example is that my wife and I just found out that our mortgage company allows people to pay with American Express. Just using our air miles card to pay our mortgage each month we will earn one free ticket per year! Just remember what I said at the beginning. Unless you are using air mile credit cards for the specific purpose to earn air miles they are probably not a good idea.

About the Author: Aubrey Clark is an author and editor for Directbanc.com where he writes instructional articles like how to find

credit cards for fair credit

and

airline miles credit cards

.

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By CL Haehl

The definition of a ‘Jumbo Mortgage’ is a mortgage loan whose total amount is higher than the standard conventional limits. Jumbo loans are simply mortgages for higher-than-normal loan amounts. The gold standard of ‘normal’ in the lending industry is what is called a ‘conforming, conventional’ loan; that is, a loan that conforms to the secondary market agencies’ conventional underwriting requirements regarding credit, income/asset verification, property features, etc.

As of February 20th, 2007, the maximum amount for this ‘conforming’ loan is $417,000 for a single unit property, $533,850 for a 2-unit property, $645,300 for a 3-unit property and $801,950 for a 4-unit property. The conventional limit for second loans is $208,500 and all loan limits are 50% higher for properties in Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. These limits change periodically with the real estate market.

Most lenders are willing to lend over and above these conforming amounts, but the larger jumbo loan amount translates into a larger risk for the lender should you default on the loan. Simply stated, the more the bank lends, the more it stands to lose if something goes wrong and they need to foreclose on that property.

Because the lender is taking an increase in risk with the size of the loan, they will typically charge a higher interest rate than they would on a loan that is within the ‘conventional’ loan limits. All lenders vary in the premium they add for jumbo loans, but a good rule of thumb is to expect to pay an interest rate about 0.5% higher than you would for an otherwise identical conforming loan.

With conventional lenders, these jumbo loan amounts are set in stone, particularly if they are backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. In other words, a mortgage for $417,000 from one lender at 6% will almost always be about 6.5% for a loan of $417,001 from the same lender.

About the Author:

More Things You Should Know About Jumbo Mortgage Loans

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By Charles Essmeier

In today’s society, borrowing money seems to be inevitable. No one pays cash for their car or their home any more; no one can afford to do so. As a society, we borrow. We take out loans from banks, credit unions and credit cards. If we don’t have good credit, we take out payday loans – short-term loans that have average interest rates of 400% or more per year. If we can’t manage that, we resort to something even worse – a car title loan.

Payday loans are short-term loans, usually two weeks in duration, that let consumers borrow money in the $100-$500 range. The loan comes with a fee, which is actually disguised interest, that ranges from $10-$30 per $100 borrowed. $15 is average; that amounts to an annual interest rate of 391% per year. If the loan isn’t repaid in two weeks, the borrower can extend the loan for another two weeks by paying the fee a second time. Some states permit consumers to “roll over” their loans a half a dozen times or more. If the borrower cannot repay, there is little recourse on the part of the lender, as the loans are not backed by collateral.

Car title loans are different, and generally a worse choice for consumers. In exchange for a loan of a similar amount, a few hundred to perhaps a thousand dollars, the borrower does put up collateral in the form of their car title. The borrower offers their car to the lender in the event that the loan is not repaid in a timely manner, which for such loans is usually 30 days. If the car is repossessed for failure to pay, the lender may sell the car to recoup the loan amount. Most states require any additional funds from the sale of the car to be returned to the borrower, but some states permit the lender to keep it all.

One might think that offering collateral for a loan would dramatically lower the interest rate. After all, the lender isn’t really risking anything, so the loans should be about the same price as a credit card loan. They are not. In fact, car title loans are almost as expensive as payday loans, and average about 300% per year. Such loans are a great deal for the lender, who sees huge interest rates while taking no risk, and a bad idea for the borrower, who risks losing their car while still paying sky high interest rates.

Most consumers have only one form of transportation – their car. If they lose their car to an unwise loan, they have no way to get to work. Without a way to get to work, they cannot ever hope to repay the loan before the car is sold. Making matters worse is that having no way to get to work makes it difficult to earn money to buy another car. Car title loans are a bad risk, and putting your car up as collateral to borrow $500 is a poor financial choice.

About the Author:

Copyright 2006 by Retro Marketing. Charles Essmeier is the owner of Retro-Marketing.com

, a site devoted to affiliate marketing, and

End-Your-Debt.com

, a site devoted to debt consolidation, credit counseling, payday loans and personal bankruptcy.

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