Do not be fooled by Worldpoints

Worldpoints from MBNA offers unlimited cash rewards, tickets on major US Airlines with no black out dates, car rentals and hotel stays with no annual fee.  The WorldPoints value are 1 point for every $1 in purchases but why all the hassle of having to redeem for rewards when there are so many rewards cards that pay this basic $1/1 point and give you the amount on your statement or write you a check to cash without having to deal with silly points for their rewards.  If you choose to play the rewards redemption game then why not with a card that pays back 5% or 3%, not a measly 1%.  If I am going to get back 1%, it better be in cash or a rebate to my card account instead of Worldpoints. 

Another issue I had with the MBNA Worldpoints card from Motley Fool is that the APR listed on the advertisement I received in the mail said I get 0% APR until 2007.  I thought I could just use this Motley Fool Worldpoints card to transfer balances and then come back and cancel the card in 2007 and live interest free for a year.  When I called into MBNA to find out if they had a balance transfer fee they said it would be 3% or so. I would not recommend this card for Worldpoints or for balance transfers because there are many cards with better rewards with no balance transfers.  Citibank offers credit cards that have no balance transfer fees and you get better points on those cards.

Netbank and Ebay also have Worldpoints cards they offer to their customers. I noticed the same problems with all the branded Worldpoints cards and feel you will be better off with a Citibank Diamond Preferred that has a 5% points per dollar on certain purchases and 0% APR offers with NO balance transfer fees. Hopefully MBNA will come out with a good credit card to compete with all the great points cards on the market but until then they are not our top pick.

Read more about the MBNA Credit Card Website Review | MBNA Credit Cards | Banks that give Worldpoints