Southwest Airlines doesn’t initially strike me as a heavy hitter in the frequent flyer rewards world, since those spots are typically reserved for the international airlines. However, a deeper look reveals that Southwest Rapid Rewards has one of the more valuable airline miles credit cards out there (as long as you don’t mind flying Southwest).
How the reward program works
Rather than paying traditional frequent flyer miles, Southwest relies on Rapid Rewards Credits. You earn one credit for every one-way flight on Southwest, and two for every roundtrip. Earning 16 credits in a 24 month period gets you a free roundtrip ticket anywhere Southwest flies (which is only in the US unfortunately). It’s about as simple as they come.
As for using your credit card, you earn one Rapid Reward Credit for every 1,200 rewards points that you accumulate, which means one free flight for every 19,200 points. You get 2 points for every $1 spent on hotels and rental cars, and 1 point for every other dollar spent. Most air
More borrowers across all education sectors are defaulting on their student loans, study shows
Credit card delinquencies and charge-off rates have steadily declined in recent months, but the same cannot be said for student loans. The most recent information reveals the national student loan default rate for fiscal year 2008 rose to 7 percent, up from 6.7 percent in 2007, according to the Department of Education.
The department examined the default rate for borrowers who began their repayment period between October 1, 2007 and September 30, 2008, and defaulted before September 30, 2009. According to the information, roughly 268,000 individuals defaulted on their student loans during this repayment period.
The federal entity released data that analyzed the default rate by sector and showed borrowers had more difficulties meeting their repayment obligations across the board. Read more…
Dear Creditnet: My son has had his own credit card since his 18th birthday. He is a now a 20-year-old college student, has never carried a balance, and uses his credit sparingly. We taught him well.
Under the new credit card laws, will he be required to relinquish his credit card because he will not be 21 until 2011?
Answer: It’s always nice to find a parent that actually understands the value in teaching their children how to responsibly manage credit from a young age. Unfortunately, parents like you are few and far between. Believe me, your son has an enormous head start on most of his college-age peers.
Now, back to your question. Since your son already has the credit card in his name, he will not be required to give it up. While the Credit CARD Act of 2009 does regulate the marketing and issuance of credit cards to consumers under 21, the new rules only apply to new credit offers.
If your son were to apply for a new credit card, even if it were from the same credit issuer, he would need you to cosign unless he could prove he has sufficient income to support the use of the credit card. H
Spokesman Michelle Slade, said “We are seeing a lot of new credit card deals coming out, but while the interest-free periods may be longer, providers are increasing the interest rate borrowers revert to pay for it.”
Credit card rates remained at an average of 16.7pc which is the highest since February 2002. In July, the purchase rate of Barclaycard’s Gold and Platinum cards increased from 15.9pc to 16.9pc and has remained at that level though the Bank of England has announced that interest rates with stay at 0.5pc for the 19th month running.
Datamonitor, the financial information provider, said credit card companies are under pressure to boost margins as consumers use their services less. It suggested the market would fall 2.7pc this year and firms would need to make up losses.
The figures from the Bank of England do not bode well for savers as the return earned from a tax- free ISA dropped to 0.6pc from July’s 0.69pc.
After months of sliding downwards, mortgage rates are finally beginning to climb again.
The average interest rate on 30-year fixed mortgages climbed to 4.35 percent for the week ending September 9, up from the previous week, when it was 4.32 percent, according to the latest figures released by Freddie Mac. For the same week last year, that figure was at 5.07 percent. Similarly, five-year adjustable home loans climbed to 3.56 from 3.54 percent last week, but are still considerably down from the same week last year, when they were at 4.51 percent.
The mortgage giant found that interest rates for 15-year mortgages held steady from last week’s total of 3.83 percent, a record low. This number is considerably below the 4.5 percent rate observed for the same period in 2009.
Meanwhile, those for one-year adjustable-rate mortgages dropped to 3.46 from 3.5 percent the previous week. Read more…
Wouldn’t it be great if we could get awesome freebies with just one click of a button? Like getting served a gourmet meal with one click of a button, or getting a raise at work… or what about winning THE high-tech gadget of the year?
Here’s your chance!
If you click to “Follow” WTDirect bank on Twitter, you are automatically entered to win one of four iPads. That’s it; one click and you’re done. It tops our Bank Deals of the Week because entering to win such an awesome freebie has never been so easy, breezy cool.
Check out more awesome bank deals we couldn’t help but share with you. Make sure to read the fine print and qualifying actions, and you’re just button-clicks away from scoring an awesome bank freebie!
DealHow To Get ItExtra Cool PointsWhen It EndsWin an iPad via Twitter from WT Direct
“Follow” @WTDirect on Twitter.
4 randomly-selected Twitter followers over the next 4 months will score an iPad, and notified via direct message on Twitter. Must respond in 48 ho
— Sharon Williams @ 2:36 pm — 
September 13, 2010
