This was a great year for customers looking to get great value from credit cards without racking up debt. Since many consumers continued to live lean in the wake of the recession, credit card companies were obligated to provide more tantalizing deals. With this competition among issuers, we saw the...

It's still not as easy to get a new credit card as it was before the recession, but Americans have shown a willingness to use credit cards more responsibly over the past few years. As credit card delinquencies have declined and household balances have dropped, lenders have stepped up competition...

It seems like big box stores start leaking their Black Friday sale flyers around the same time they discount leftover Halloween candy. That gives you a few weeks to work out a strategy for financing your holiday purchases. These four rewards credit cards offer special deals and promotions that can...

With holiday shopping on the horizon again, many banks have shifted their marketing toward interest-free purchases and away from fee-free balance transfers. The CardRatings.com team revisited 15 credit cards from our February balance transfer survey and added eight more accounts to our watch list. Our September review of...

If you're a casual traveler, signing up for a hotel credit card can qualify you for upgrades and special perks usually reserved for touring rock stars. Frequent guests can cover the costs of personal trips to the kinds of resorts not usually covered under corporate travel policies. Our...

Once marketed as havens for jet-setting executives, airport lounges now serve anyone who is willing to invest in a less stressful airport experience. If flight delays, crowded departure gates, and challenging travelers make you want to tear your hair out, a handful of travel credit cards can help...

Pay for your everyday purchases with a plain vanilla debit or credit card, and you could be leaving as much as 6 percent of your household budget in the cashier's till each month. Our survey of the market's best cash-back credit cards reminds us that you can earn some significant...

Sign-up bonuses and rewards points aren't the only ways today's best credit cards pay for themselves. Customers who qualify for "elite," "platinum," and "signature" credit cards often earn extra perks that can save time while eliminating common expenses.

Repaid baggage fees

American travelers have grudgingly grown accustomed to...

Choose a credit card issuer that you think you'll want to do business with for years. Most lenders offer versions of their most popular credit cards with relaxed underwriting guidelines (and smaller credit limits) just for students and recent graduates. Your student credit card won't expire once you hang...

Back when international credit card transactions traveled along undersea phone lines, banks started charging fees for the convenience of switching francs, pounds or yen over to dollars. Today, with instant Internet authorizations and real-time currency conversion, it hardly seems fair to charge a foreign transaction fee....

More than one in eight American consumers now carry reloadable prepaid debit cards, according to a new report from Javelin Strategy & Research. Stronger rewards, cheaper fees, and changing attitudes about traditional banks all contributed to the growth of prepaid debit, even during a period that saw...

When Wisconsin Sen. Gaylord Nelson envisioned the first Earth Day in 1970, environmental activists achieved more than they could have imagined. The years that followed saw the launch of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act. Since then, companies have worked harder to balance...

If you can see yourself hanging out with the well-heeled couple in those Chase Sapphire commercials, you probably made it through the recession relatively unscathed. Not everyone's feeling so fortunate, though.

According to a joint poll run by MSN Money and

The CARD act went into effect two years ago tomorrow. What's changed since then? We asked Richard Barrington over at MoneyRates.com to crunch some CardRatings.com data and tell us whether consumers came out ahead.

Back in 2009, the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure (CARD) Act...

Whether you're celebrating spring break as an actual student, or you're young in spirit, we can suggest six of the best credit cards to help keep you from losing your shirt. At least, a shirt you don't want to lose...

Best credit card for spreading out spring break travel...

Editor's Note: The CardRatings team of credit card experts picked the best credit cards of 2011 based on their features, perks and overall value to consumers.

Our evolving economy has forced many of us to rethink our relationship with credit. Former road warriors have traded their airline credit...