This epinion is *not* for the Aria card, but for the Providian Platinum visa (this seemed like the best place for it, since we're talking about the same bank).

Once in a while I get a credit card offer so insulting to my intelligence that I have to laugh, and this is one of them. So, even though I do not have this card, I think it's important to review the "offer" here to stress once again a crucial point about credit card offers: READ THE FINE PRINT!

So, what makes this one so bad? If all I did was read the big print "Dear Person We'd Like to Rip Off" letter, I might be impressed. They are offering a decent line of credit, "Platinum benefits" (the usual: car rental insurance, accident insurance, extended warranty, etc), and something called "exclusive rewards"!

The rewards are the interesting part, of course. Funny how they don't really tell you anything about them. You get two points for every dollar spent *in the first year* (translation: you get fewer points after that). You get 5000 bonus points for becoming a member. You can trade these in, beginning at 7500 points, for great things that for some reason Providian doesn't want to go into detail about. What we do know, however, is that you'll need to charge over $1000 in the first year to get anything with those mysterious points.

Ah, but the most fun comes when we flip over to the small print "account information." Here we find the real joys in store for us if we sign up:
--19.99% variable APR for purchases--by variable, they mean "will not go below 19.99%". So add that to the $1000 you'd have to spend to get your reward points.
--21.99 APR on cash advances, plus a 5.00 *minimum* fee.
--a hefty $29.00 late payment and over-limit fee.
--a fee "may be charged" if you accept a credit line increase. WHAT? I will pay a fee, for the privelege of increasing my credit line. thus giving my friends at Providian the fee AND the 19.99% APR.
--no grace period (no surprise)
--and my FAVORITE: there is no annual fee, but there is an "other" fee of $7.95 billed monthly, or $96 per year.

19.99% or 21.99 APR. . . plus $96 a year . . . fees here, there, and everywhere . . .

Folks, the only people who are getting "exclusive rewards" from this deal are the ones who work for Providian!

There are good credit cards out there, cards with low APRs, grace periods, and reasonable fee structures; check out www.bankrate.com to find them. Don't get taken in by bogus "rewards" or other incentives--read the fine print and you might find that you are paying a high price for those perks. Do you need them? And is Providian the only or best way to get them? I can get extra cash from writing Epinions and running my alladvantage.com viewbar; I get gift certificates from clicking on ads at freeride.com; and there are many, many web sites that publish coupon codes for online merchants, so I don't need Providian to find shopping discounts.

Most people will be better off if they get their goodies for free, save their credit cards for emergencies and get rid of credit card debt as fast as possible. Independence from credit card debt is one of the best "rewards" you'll ever get!





Recommended: No