Are You Using Your Credit Card Reward Points?  Think of your reward points as cash, because that’s just what they are.

 J.D. Power and Associates performed a study and has found that  80 percent of credit card holders receive some type of reward. And that these programs have become key in the way credit card users select the cards they want. Airline miles are the most popular reward, with 40 percent of credit card holders receiving them, a Cash points came in at 22 percent, and hotel rewards came in at 9 percent.

In the survey, many customers believed they weren’t taking full advantage of their rewards and said they needed to know more about the following programs:
• Rewards programs—48%
• Identity theft/account protections—40%
• Buyer protection services—35%
• Traveler protection services—29%
• Insurance policies (e.g., car insurance)—21%

I recently redeemed a great many reward points to get a full set of Cuisinart cookware. This is something I have always wanted, but could not or would not spend the money for these fabulous pots and pans. This weekend, I redeemed reward points to order subscriptions to three business magazines. When I read the fine print I was delighted find that the magazine subscriptions did not automatically renew; this is a fairly new tactic and is something that drives me crazy.