Credit Cards to Save on Holiday Shopping 2018

November and December are the busiest months as gift shopping reaches its peak. People rush around looking for the best gifts and the best deals leaving a lot of money in the shops. Holiday season may force you to go over the household budget. However, it is possible to be on budget even if you need to buy gifts for whole your big family, friends, and pets. There are different tricks and ways to save on holiday shopping, and a credit card is one of them. Read below what are the key holiday shopping dates and how to save money with credit cards during holiday shopping season.

Putting all your gift purchases on a cash rewards credit card is one of the best ways to maximize your savings during holiday shopping season and maintain your budget. A common cash back credit card will bring 1% or 2% cash back on all your purchases. But if you choose a credit card with rotating shopping categories, your savings can be up to 5%. For example, the Discover it® Cash Back card gives 5% cashback bonus in shopping categories that change every quarter (up to the quarterly maximum, enrollment is required). The Discover's holiday season shopping category is active from October through December. Once you sign up, all purchases made in this category will earn 5% cashback bonus on up to $1,500 in purchases. When you reach the spending limit, you will continue earning 1% cash back. Don't miss the opportunity to earn more on Black Friday Deals!

Amazon has partnered with major banks to allow its customers to pay with points when they shop online at Amazon.com. The partners of the Shop with Points program are Amazon.com Rewards Visa, Membership Rewards Program from American Express, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou Rewards, Cashback Bonus from Discover, and Miles by Discover. If you are a member of one of those credit card programs, you can easily use points to pay for an order at Amazon.com checkout the same way you would with any other payment method. You can choose to pay for all or part of your purchase with points when you are at checkout.

Another good way to maximize your savings is to use shopping portals that are run by major banks and credit card issuers. Citi, Barclaycard, Chase and American Express, they all have such portals to offer their members more ways to save on their online shopping. Often, members are able to double or even triple their savings by simply buying things through shopping portals.

Cash back and points rewards are on the top of credit cards perks, but if you dig into the subject, you will see that your card can offer you much more than that. Today almost any credit card comes with such standard benefits like zero fraud liability and purchase protection. Here we outline some more benefits credit cards may have.

Purchase Protection

The issuer of the card can cover your purchase up to a specific amount if it is damaged or stolen. As a rule, the annual coverage is up to $500 of the eligible purchases.

Extended Product Warranty

Your credit card issuer can extend the terms of an existing warranty. This benefit is usually offered as an exclusive feature on prime credit cards.

Return Policy

Many issuers refund the purchase price if the original store will not accept the return. This benefit is absolutely free but you need to claim it within the allotted time period.

Fraud protection

Banks are always on their guard. They secure credit card accounts in any possible way. Discover, for instance, monitors every Discover card purchase, guarantees $0 fraud liability and send alerts if something looks unusual.