When your credit rating is good, credit card companies stuff your mailbox with credit card applications. Consumers with especially good credit can get several offers a day, every day. With so many offers to choose from, how do you decide which offer is right for you?
Start by ignoring most of the promotional offers. Those low, low interest rates are only introductory rates. After about six months, the honeymoon period ends and the interest rate shoots up to the real, double digit interest rate. Check the small print or the deliberately boring chart on the back of your credit card applications for the real interest rate. Use the real interest rate to sort your offers, and throw away the offers at the high end. Give your attention only to the offers with the lowest regular interest rates.
The one exception is promotional offers in which you are invited to roll over debt from another credit card, and the low interest rate will apply to the transferred amount for as long as it takes you to pay the loan off. If you are already trying to pay off a large sum on another credit card at regular interest rates, and you do not plan to use the new credit card for any other purchases after you have rolled over the balance, then this type of credit card promotion can be an inexpensive and uncomplicated way to pay off a large debt at a low interest rate. However, if you do charge anything to the card after the introductory period, the charges are added to the card at the much higher regular interest rate, and your payments are applied to the charges made at a lower interest rate first. Before you can start to pay off the charges you made at a higher interest rate, you must completely pay off the original sum you transferred onto the card. During the months or years it takes you to pay off the original sum, the new charges will accrue hefty interest, all of it money in the credit card companys pocket. Consider this kind of promotion only if you need to roll a large balance onto a card with a lower interest rate, not if you are looking for a credit card to use on a regular basis.
When you have a selection of credit card applications with attractively low rates, consider their default rate. This is the interest rate you will be charged if you are late with a payment, exceed your credit limit, go into default, or commit a host of other credit sins. These mistakes can be ridiculously easy to make, so even if you are scrupulous about paying your bills, give serious thought to the default rate. Select the lowest default rate you can find.
When you have a selection of credit card applications with excellent regular and default rates, now is the time to consider all the promotional offers and extra goodies the companies are offering. This is the fun part, so enjoy! Then fill out the credit card application for the best card, drop it in the mail, and use your new credit card with confidence.

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by: barrywaters
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