Signs Indicating It’s Time To Apply For A New Credit Card!

If you are incurring high-interest rate charges and paying big annual charges and still not able to fetch the benefits from your credit card, it’s time to get a new card. Credit cards are meant to provide benefits and rewards whenever they are used for a transaction. If you are not earning enough rewards with your credit card, then it means that your spending behavior has changed and it is better to get a new credit card. Also, there can be any other reason that makes it necessary to get a new credit card, for example, if your credit card charges a heavy membership fee then it might be outweighing the card’s benefits. Therefore, there can be plenty of signs that indicate the time to get a new credit card.

In this article, we are going to talk about some of the most common signs that indicate that it is the right time to apply for a new credit card. Therefore, if you have been using your old credit card for years, you must consider going through the following points and checking whether you are facing the same problems or not, if yes, you know what to do. Keep reading to know more.

How To Know It’s The Right Time To Get A New Credit Card?

There are many individuals who maintain a good credit score and have a good income but still do not upgrade to a new and better credit card variant. Moreover, many people own credit cards with heavy interest rates and very few benefits. Despite a change in their spending habits, they still use one credit card that offers lesser returns than their spending. Therefore, we have covered some of the most common signs that indicate that there is a need to get a new credit card. Following are such signs that must be considered by a cardholder:

Stuck with Big Annual Charges

If your credit card charges you very high renewal fees every year and is eating your rewards earnings then it is better to look for a new credit card. Calculate your spends in a year and the total value of rewards you earn. If it is lower than your credit card’s annual charges, then it means that you are just incurring losses and no gains with your credit card. The best way out is to look for a new credit card that offers more and better reward rate at a lower annual fee.

Also, if you use your credit card once in a while but still pay the annual fee on time, though your credit score will go up still, you will not receive any gain from your credit card. If so, then go with a card that carries a lower annual charge or the best case is to go with a lifetime free card.

Not Earning Enough Reward Rate

This is much related to what we discussed above. There are a few credit cards that offer a very low reward rate or offer reward points on only certain spends. For example, if you spend a lot on fuel but your credit card offer only 1% reward points on fuel and 5% on other spends, it is better to go with a fuel credit card. Select a card that offers more rewards on those transactions where you spend the most. This brings us to our next reason to switch to a new credit card which is spending habits.

Match your Spending Habits

If you were using your old card for years, it is certain that your spending habits must have changed. For example, earlier you used to spend a lot at shopping online or offline but now you spend a lot on travel like hotel and flight expenses. Therefore, rather than using the same card and still not gaining any return from it, it is better to switch to a new credit card that provides benefits where you spend the most.

High-Interest Rates

If you carry forward your outstanding credit card balance to the next few months, you must bear those hefty finance charges. Therefore, in this case, also, it is better you switch to a new credit card. Though it is advisable not to carry forward your balance to next month, but still if you do so then look for credit with low-interest rates.

If you do not wish to change or close your current credit card, then you can also save yourself from high-interest rates with the Balance transfer facility. With this, you can transfer your credit card balance to another credit card. You can check out some of the best credit cards that offer a balance transfer facility here.

Few Accessible Airport Lounges

If you are a traveler and love to travel by air, then you must be having the airport lounge access feature on your credit card. However, if your credit card is accepted at very few airport lounges then it is a problem. There are a few credit cards that do provide the lounge access facility but are not accepted at every other lounge. This becomes a big hurdle in your travels and is troublesome for you. The best solution here is to switch to a credit card that is accepted at most of the airport lounges.

Also, some credit cards that are issued with Visa or Mastercard variants tend to have a separate lounge list. Therefore, you can try to get your credit card on any of these variants and access any lounge at airports across the country.

Limit Enhancement

If you have been using a credit card for a long time and still not getting any Credit Limit enhancement then it is better to look for a new credit card with a higher credit limit. Using a credit card with a low credit limit can impact your credit score because you would be utilizing the whole limit of the card. Your credit score is affected if you more than 30% of your credit limit frequently. Therefore, the best way is to get a new credit card with an enhanced credit limit and spend below 30% of it in a month.

Read More: Features To Look While Applying For A New Credit Card

Bottom Line

These were some of the signs that a cardholder is required to see when using a credit card. There can be many other signs that indicate the right time to get a new credit card. Whenever your card is not generating enough value for which it was expected to, it is better to switch to a new credit card in no time. Let us know your experiences with a bad credit card and if you want to ask anything related to the usage of credit cards, let us know in the comments below.