Credit Cards to Save on Holiday Shopping 2020

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 your whole 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 about the key holiday shopping dates and how to save money with credit cards during the 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 up to 5% cash back in categories that change every quarter (up to the quarterly maximum, enrollment is required). The Discover's holiday season shopping categories are Best Buy (Nov 25 - Dec 31), and Amazon.com, Target.com, and Walmart.com (they will be active from October through December 2020). Once you sign up, all purchases made in these categories 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, Discover, Capital One, and Hilton Honors.

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 the checkout.

Chances are you will be using a credit card to pay for holiday gifts. While it is a convenient way to pay, it may increase the cost of your gifts because of charged interest. However, you can avoid interest payments by getting a 0% intro APR credit card. The zero introductory period gives you time to comfortably pay off the credit card purchases. You can make only minimum payments or do your math to make sure your monthly payments are big enough to pay off the card balance in full by the end of the introductory period.

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 no foreign transaction fees. Here we outline some more benefits for you.

Extended 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

Some 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.

No Foreign Transaction Fees

Many cards charge an average 3% foreign transaction fee. Now imagine the costs you'd incur on purchases made while traveling abroad or on purchases made in a currency other than the U.S. dollar. With no foreign transaction fee benefit you can avoid this fee.