Credit Cards with Special Features

Many credit card companies offer incentives to use the card and other special features:

• Rebates (money back) on the purchases you make
• Frequent flier miles or phone-call minutes
• Additional warranty coverage for the items you purchase
• Car rental insurance
• Travel accident insurance or travel-related discounts
• Credit card registration, to help if your wallet or purse is lost or stolen and you need to report that all your credit cards are missing

Credit cards may also offer, for a price:

• Insurance to cover the payments on your credit card balance if you become unemployed or disabled, or die. Premiums are usually due monthly, making it easy to cancel if the payments are higher than you want to pay or you decide you don’t need the insurance any longer.
• Insurance to cover the first $50 of charges if your card is lost or stolen. Under federal law, you are not responsible for charges over $50.

Before you sign up to pay for any of these features, think carefully about whether it will be useful for you. Don’t pay for something you don’t want or don’t need.