Articles by Uma A Ilango

Most travel agents will try to persuade us into buying travel health insurance as part of our tour package. Often this helps bolster their profits and increase our cost of the holiday. Are travel health insurances really necessary? Are they truly beneficial to us?

Yes, Travel Insurance Can Be Helpful

It is known facts that falling ill or meeting with minor / major accidents are common during holidays. Spending on medical bills will probably eat into your spending money during your vacation. The worst scenario will entail you coming back home for treatment if the medical facilities at your holiday destination is not of good standard. All these cost money – extra cost added onto your holiday costs. A travel health insurance can protect you against such costs. Travelling overseas can be expensive and travelling without a travel health insurance can just make it worse.

However...

Do not buy a travel health insurance on impulse or just because everyone tells you to. Do your own research. Find out about the medical facilities and medical / health policies of your holiday destinations. Depending on the destination, you may not need any travel health insurance or you may need comprehensive travel health insurance.

If you are planning a holiday to Europe, you may not require any travel health insurance. This is because most of Europe offers affordable or sometimes, even free medical treatment. The medical facilities are also often of high quality and therefore, you do not have to fear having to fly back home for treatment.

However, if you travelling to the not-so-developed countries or even popular tourist destinations like Jakarta, the medical treatment you receive may leave a lot to be desired. Therefore, you may consider buying travel health insurance just to keep yourself protected.

Buy Only If...

Travel health insurance providers offer a network of reliable and quality medical facilities and doctors you can go to when in need. This offer of network can save you from receiving inept medical treatment. Nevertheless, do your own work and learn about the place you are going to.

Most of these providers may try and sell travel insurance to you no matter where you are travelling to. Buy a travel health insurance only if you require it due to the conditions of the healthcare available at your destination.

One out of every four Americans has bad credit history. Any payment that you may have missed on your credit cards, mortgage or any other loans in your lifetime would have been recorded in your credit history and you’d be deemed as a risky business deal by anyone in the money-lending business.

In order to be eligible for a mortgage loan or a car loan which is required to live your daily life, a good credit history is almost necessary. If you are one of the four Americans with a bad credit history, you do not have to despair. Bad credit credit card could just be your solution.

Bad credit credit cards may also be referred to as Guaranteed Approval credit cards. Credit card companies issuing these type credit cards are not stringent about the credit history of applicants. This is because bad credit credit cards are usually secured credit cards. This means that the cardholder must deposit a sum of money as collateral with the bank issuing the bad credit credit card card to be approved for a card. The credit limit of the credit card is equal to, a percentage lower or higher than the money deposited. If you run into any problems with making your payments, the credit card issuer will take the payment from your deposit.

Now that you have an idea of how bad credit credit card works, let us look into answering the million dollar question – should you get one?

One good thing about bad credit credit cards is that you can avoid getting yourself into deep debts with them. This is because having a credit limit close to the sum of money deposited ensures that you only spend what you can afford. Now, isn’t that a great piece of news?

Besides being debt-free with a bad credit credit card, you can also repair a defective credit history. All you need to do is to make prompt payments and never go over the credit limit on the card for at least a year. Take this opportunity seriously and establish your reliability.

Although, these reasons may tempt you to sign up for one as soon as possible, there are a few more issues we need to deal with. Bad credit credit cards come with higher Annual Percentage Rate (APR) and costs compared to general credit cards. Hence ensure that you do the following:

Compare the bad credit credit cards in the market carefully. Choose one that offers you the lowest APR and costs. Read the terms and be aware of any hidden costs or unfavourable policies practised by the credit card issuer.
Read up on reviews about the bad credit credit card and the issuing company that you are interested in.

Pay off your card balance in full every month. Do not be contented paying the minimum payment. Never put yourself in a situation where you end up paying the exorbitant interests charged on your balance. If you do, the fine opportunity to stay debt-free will end up dragging you deeper into debt than ever before.

Do not wait till the last day to make your payment. Pay well in advance to avoid the interest charges and late fees at all costs.
Check that your credit card issuer reports to relevant credit bureaus. Not all of them do so. If your regular payments are not known to authorities, your hard work to re-establish your credit history will go unrecognized. Selecting a credit card issuer who reports to major credit bureaus is essential.

You should get a bad credit credit card only if you are 100% committed to the above mentioned approaches. You should be prepared to use the bad credit credit card responsibly to stay debt-free and rebuild your credit history. However, do not use a bad credit credit card for a period longer than necessary as it may adversely affect your credit history. Once you have practised discipline in using your credit card, built your confidence and proven yourself to be credit-worthy, move on to a general credit card. A bad credit credit card is often only a stepping stone.

When you hear your best friend or sibling tell you that he or she has landed on the best credit card deal, do not be tempted to run out there to apply for the same credit card for yourself. What may be best for another may not be for you.

The reason for the above is simple – your spending tendency, needs and wants are not the same as another´s. You might be wondering what your needs and wants have to do with a credit card but it is important to emphasize here that a credit card is all about your expenditure patterns, needs and desires.

Considering the following before searching for a credit card will help you identify the best credit card deal:

Credit history
No credit history

Your concern is to build good credit history.
If you think you may not use the credit card responsibly and get yourself into financial trouble, you may want to consider getting either a secured credit card or a charge card. Use them for about a year to build a good credit history and then proceed to obtain a general credit card when you are more confident.
Bad credit history

You should look into getting a secured credit card for about a year to rebuild a credit history.
Good credit history

You have the luxury to get any credit card you want.
Payment patterns

Pay credit card balance fully every month

Since you don’t carry balances on your credit card, you may choose not to worry too much about APR or late charges but focus on other benefits such as rewards program.
Carry balances on credit card regularly

You need to ensure that the credit card you select charges low APR, late fees and over-the-limit fees.
Check that the credit card company does not practice the policy of universal default.
Only for emergencies

Rewards program does not really benefit you.
You may want to focus on no or little annual fees, interest charges and other rates.
Use regularly to make purchases or pay bills

Besides low APR, you may want to focus on selecting a card that has a good rewards program suitable for you. You may even earn enough points to earn cahback which can be used to pay your credit card bills.
Wants to be satisfied by credit card

Credit cards come with rewards program and other perks. Suppose you are a frequent flyer, you may want to consider getting an affinity card which is co-issued by an airline that you like. If you like shopping at a particular store, you may want to get a store credit card that provides you with discounts when you shop at that store.

Look at your lifestyle and decide if an affinity or store card would benefit you. The best credit card deal is all about you. You can embark on comparing and narrowing down your choices only when you are sure about what you need and want. However, your final choice also requires you to factor in external issues such as the terms, customer support and other charges.