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After 50 years as the most well-known charge-card on the planet, the iconic American Express Green Card is getting a makeover … and it’s a makeover that makes the card much more useful for travel-minded consumers.

Southwest Airlines is continuing an ill trend in which airlines are making it increasingly difficult to remain loyal to a single air carrier.
Recently, United Airlines did away with mileage being the basis of its frequent flyer program, replacing miles flown with dollars spent and number of flights taken.

Objectively speaking, few credit-card companies have built a stable of high-quality credit cards as deep as Chase.
More important to credit-card consumers, few credit-card companies have built a rewards point ecosystem as beneficial as Chase’s Ultimate Rewards.

Certain facts are given – death and taxes being the two most-obvious. To that we can add a third: Now that Capital One and Walmart have teamed up to revamp Walmart’s credit card offerings, the new Capital One Walmart Rewards credit card program will be a huge success.

Citicard’s popular Citi Double Cash^® Card has made a significant change that will allow cardholders to convert cash back into Citi ThankYou points that you can redeem for travel.
Suddenly, what was a top-notch cash-back card has become quite a good travel-rewards card.

I was in Louisiana last year visiting family. As I was driving out of New Orleans on Interstate 10, an 18-wheeler kicked up a rock that size of a small football stadium, which then slammed the windshield of my rental car with an explosion that sounded like a small bomb going off.
What I’m trying to say is: Thank you, American Express Platinum Card.
Because I’d booked and paid for the rental car with my Platinum Amex, I didn’t have to worry about the cost of replacing a windshield that, when I returned to the airport, looked like abstract art.

The Peebles credit card is another in a long list of what I consider to be subpar, limited-use store credit cards offered by Comenity Bank.
That said, if you are a devoted shopper at Stage, Bealls, Palais Royal, Peebles, Goody’s or Gordmans, then you might have some use for this card, if only because of the outside rewards you earn on your spending.

By which I mean that no matter how the Woman Within credit card dresses itself up, it’s still just a lackluster piece of plastic that offers tepid benefits at best.
Do yourself a favor and apply for a better card that gives you much better financial benefits.

I wanted to like the Pier One credit card – if only because of fond memories shopping there when I was nearly married many years ago. Alas, unless you are devoted Pier One shopper, there’s not a lot to like about this store-only credit card.
Though the 5% reward seems generous, the limits you face make them less-valuable than they seem. You can find better credit cards that offer the same or similar benefits and give you greater financial freedom.

About the only reason you’d apply for an Avenue credit card is that you can probably obtain it if you have poor credit. But even that’s not a reason to make space in your wallet for this card.
Much better credit-card options exist if you have poor credit. And if you have good credit, then you should be looking for credit cards with better benefits than you’ll receive with an Avenue credit card.

Sometimes you just have to be blunt: The Boscov’s credit card is quite possibly the single worst credit card I’ve come across yet. 
Unless you are an absolute heavy spender at Boscov stores or at Boscov’s online outlet – and by “heavy,” I mean more than $3,750 a year – then this card should never find a home in your wallet. There are far – far! – better credit cards you should apply for instead.

Pottery Barn brings an interesting twist to the loyalty credit card: cash back or, if your purchase is big enough, special financing.
But as interesting as it is, this card is still a hard pass unless you’re such a Pottery Barn fan that you’re decking out your whole house in the retailer’s goods. There are much better credit cards on offer, particularly when it comes the “special financing.”

I mean, really: Why would you pay special financing when you can pay no financing with something like the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards card? But we will come back to that in a moment.

With an effective cash-back rate of 10%, the Bealls credit card (and the Bealls Florida credit card) seems like a winner. But before you click “apply,” there are some caveats you need to understand about a Bealls credit card.
In short: If you’re looking for an all-purpose, all-around credit card to collect cash back, then steer clear of a Bealls credit card and, instead, look for a more well-rounded cards such as the Citi Double Cash^® Card or a Capital One Venture card.

Given the quantity these days of exceptional credit cards that offer broad-based travel rewards and cash-back benefits, I almost always find it difficult to recommend that anyone apply for a store-branded credit card … and that’s no different when it comes to the Forever 21 Visa credit card.

Sometimes, credit-card signup bonuses and benefits are worth the effort, and the Total Rewards Visa – tied to Caesars Entertainment hotels and resorts – is one of those. But unless you’re a regular gambler or you regularly stay in Caesars hotels and resorts, then there are better credit card options.

I am not a consumer of cosmetics. As such, maybe everything I say about the Ulta Ultamate Rewards Mastercard is wrong.  Nevertheless, after reviewing what the Ulta Mastercard offers, I will say this is a card that is largely useless unless you are totally into Ulta as your go-to-shop for cosmetics and other beauty-related purchases.

Credit-reporting agency Equifax has been ordered to pay consumers hundreds of millions of dollars as part of a settlement for a 2017 data breach. At minimum, impacted consumers are eligible for a $125 payment, and some can claim as much as $20,000.
Here’s all you need to know to determine if you’re eligible to claim a piece of that gargantuan pie.

Let’s be blunt about this: the BJ’s Wholesale Club credit cards look like they’d be a pretty good option, particularly if you’re a regular shopper at one of the company’s warehouse stores. 
But the reality is that BJ’s two credit cards aren’t really worth the application effort. So, right here we can answer the primary question: Is a BJ’s credit card good for me?
The short answer is no.
The longer answer is maybe, but leaning heavily towards no.
Here’s why…

A news story recently made the rounds based on an annual Federal Reserve survey. Four in 10 Americans – 40% of us – would struggle to pay for an unexpected, $400 expense.
For some, that’s likely a truly legitimate fact precipitated by events beyond their control. For others, it’s all the choices they’ve made to this point, whether that’s an educational opportunity spurned, spending and savings decisions that undermine their financial strength, rash decisions tied to a job, a relationship, an investment, whatever.

Building credit anew or rebuilding credit after some sort of financial disaster can be a struggle. It’s often a chicken-and-an-egg situation in which you can’t get a good credit card because your credit is so bad – on non-existent – and you can’t build or rebuild your credit because you can’t get a good credit card.
Several credit-card providers have stepped into that void with cards that help you establish credit when you’ve never had it, or which will help you rebuild credit after you’ve destroyed yours originally.