Shopping for credit cards

Many cardholders have known since last October that Citicards was reducing its rebates program for subscribers of its Dividend Preferred Mastercard from 5% to 2% for purchases at gasoline stations and supermarkets. This week I officially received their notice and have been perusing a couple of sites determining if I could find a better rebate program.

Creditcardtuneup.com has an interesting fill-in spreadsheet that pretty much determines in a numerical fashion which cards would generate the best overall reward based on twelve consecutive month's of average charge purchases. Simply type-in what you spend on each category in an average month and click the refresh button. Interesting enough, the spreadsheet recommended the one offered by Fidelity.

While credit-land.com list some good comparisons of rebate cards, I've found that there is no substitute for perusing the company's website and tediously going through page after page of a card's terms and conditions. Credit card companies can change policies at will, so having the most current information available makes your decision much more relevant.