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Points mania: with just about every retailer and credit-card issuer offering a rewards program, you might wonder which, if any, are worth the bother. The answer: not many.
Our key rings, wallets, and purses are so crammed with rewards cards these days that making even the simplest purchase can involve a frantic shuffle at checkout time. Let's see, is it my Visa that will give me 5 percent back on this purchase or my Discover? Would I do better with this store's card or the one that contributes to a college savings plan?
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To keep you coming back and spending more, supermarkets, drugstores, warehouse clubs, gas stations, book chains, and many other retailers are pushing points programs. Even some casinos have their own cards: Present your Dream Card before you place a bet at any table at the Foxwoods Resort Casino or MGM Grand at Foxwoods in Connecticut and you'll earn 1 point for every dollar you gamble, good toward food, merchandise, and hotel stays.
About 85 percent of U.S. households participate in at least one rewards program. A recent survey by the Consumer Reports Money Adviser found that 41 percent of the newsletter's subscribers carried three to five such cards, 9 percent had six to nine of them, and 3 percent somehow found room for 10 or more.
Along with the dizzying number of programs have come increasingly complex rules, restrictions, and limits on how much you can earn. Some cards do double duty as credit cards, others merely confer rewards for your purchases. Those rewards may come in the form of cash; points that can be traded in for travel, merchandise, or gift cards; or even donations to favorite charities.
Many large retailers have several programs. Department-store giant Macy's, for example, offers four cobranded Visa cards with different tiers of rewards, ranging from 1.5 to 3 percent back.
Carrying the right cards and ignoring the rest can save you a little money on your purchases as well as some time at the checkout. The people behind you in line might be grateful too.
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