Business Travel

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What Charges You'll Make - If you're going to use the credit card mainly for booking airline reservations and hotels, it might be best for you to get a travel credit card that offers sky miles and hotel points or cashback. If this will be an emergency credit card only, then your main concern may be for a low interest rate credit card with low fees.

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What Amount You'll Charge - If you're going to use the credit card for all your monthly expenses, then you need a card that has a high credit limit and a high cashback percentage.

More info about Interest Rates, Credit Limits, Incentives, Fees and Penalties

Interest Rates - The interest rate (Annual Percentage Rate) APR can either be a fixed rate or a variable rate that is tied to another financial indicator, most commonly the prime rate. With a fixed rate credit card you know what the interest rate will be every month, whereas a card with a variable rate can fluctuate. Of course, even the interest of a fixed rate card can change based on certain events, such as paying your credit card bill late, exceeding your limit, or simply because the credit card issuer decides to change it after providing you ample advance notice.

Credit Limit - This is the amount of money the credit card company will let you charge to the card. This amount varies depending upon the card offer and your credit history. Be sure to get a credit card with an ample limit, because getting close to your max can hurt your credit score. Just remember that you don't have to max out your limit just because it's available.

Incentives - To compete for and to gain customers, many credit card companies offer rewards. Even if you normally use cash, why not use your credit card and then use the cash to make the payment during the grace period? You still won't pay interest and meanwhile you'll rack-up rewards. A credit card with 5% cashback will earn you $5 for every $100 charged. If your total bills come to $2,000 per month, you'll earn a free $100 every month. Look for a rewards program that you'll use and which offers flexibility, such as cashback or travel.

Fees and Penalties - Compare common charges such as late fees, overlimit fees, balance transfers, cash advances, and for making payments by telephone. Regarding balance transfers, look for credit card offers with no transaction fees and zero percent interest for at least 12 months.

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Business Travel

By Credit Federal | Published 01/17/2006

Business Travel

AMERICAN EXPRESS BUSINESS TRAVEL LAUNCHES FIRST ELECTRONIC ARENA FOR NEGOTIATING CORPORATE MEETING VENUES

Groundbreaking web-based technology supports bid negotiations and helps to bring meetings procurement into greater alignment with corporate purchasing best practices

American Express Business Travel, the world's largest travel management company, today announced the first electronic solution for negotiating corporate meeting venues. The web-based application was developed exclusively for American Express Business Travel by StarCite, the provider of On Demand Global Meeting Solutions, to complement the services offered by Corporate Meeting Solutions, a meetings procurement practice at American Express.

The new American Express electronic auction (e-auction) solution brings corporations and hoteliers together in a transparent Internet arena, providing greater visibility into the venue bid negotiation process. The tool helps meeting buyers and procurement professionals to quickly identify and source strategic hotel partners for their meetings needs and field competitive package offers consistent with their corporate travel policies and preferred supplier strategies. When used in conjunction with American Express' strategic sourcing practices the new e-auction solution brings greater rigor to meetings procurement, helping corporate buyers gain greater control over and derive more value from their meetings spend.

Additionally, the e-auction technology helps buyers to reduce cycle time and achieve improved sourcing and decision-making efficiency gains. It also helps hoteliers to focus on providing the best, most competitive meetings packages possible.

The e-auction tool will be available in January for American Express' U.S.-based clients, with a global release to follow later in the year.

The new, ground-breaking American Express e-auction technology supports an historically complex event management bidding process, making it easier than ever for corporations to realize greater value from their meetings investment, better leverage preferred supplier relationships, and more closely link meetings purchasing to their overall travel procurement strategy," said Jay Roseman, Vice President of Corporate Meeting Solutions, American Express Business Travel. "When used in conjunction with our strategic purchasing programs, the American Express e-auction tool helps to further streamline deal-making, allowing meeting and procurement buyers and hotel suppliers to more effectively negotiate and together generate the best overall meeting package."

"This tool is just the latest example of StarCite's long and productive partnership with American Express Business Travel. We're pleased to have been asked by American Express to develop such a complementary addition to their Corporate Meeting Solutions practice," said Michael Boult, President and CEO of StarCite. "Meetings management is one of the last great frontiers of unmanaged corporate travel spending. As a leader in strategic meetings management technologies we're excited to provide the tool that will help pave the way for smarter, more efficient and cost-effective bid negotiations for all participants."

How It Works

Using the American Express e-auction solution for meetings management is simple and straightforward. First, corporate buyers identify a threshold volume for meetings and events that must be competitively bid via the e-auction tool. For each unique event, American Express Business Travel procurement specialists then initiate a site search based on the client's stated meeting requirements, preferred supplier strategy and travel policy. Based on the tailored availability report generated, the buyer narrows its venue options down to a short list of suppliers and properties that appear best prepared to provide the value clients require. Finally, American Express hosts the actual e-auction via a secure extranet-site allowing the buyer to customize the bid process and receive a formal offer within minutes. The auction thereby gives buyers significant flexibility during the bidding process, allowing buyers to tailor their requests.

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Business Travel - by <a href=http://creditfederal.com>CreditFederal.com</a> Business Travel <a href="http://creditfederal.com/americanexpress-credit-card.html">AMERICAN EXPRESS</a> BUSINESS TRAVEL LAUNCHES FIRST ELECTRONIC ARENA FOR NEGOTIATING CORPORATE MEETING VENUES Groundbreaking web-based technology supports bid negotiations and helps to bring meetings procurement into greater alignment with corporate purchasing best practices American Express Business <a href="http://creditfederal.com/travel-credit-card.html">Travel</a>, the world's largest travel management company, today announced the first electronic solution for negotiating corporate meeting venues. The web-based application was developed exclusively for American Express Business Travel by StarCite, the provider of On Demand Global Meeting Solutions, to complement the services offered by Corporate Meeting Solutions, a meetings procurement practice at American Express. The new American Express electronic auction (e-auction) solution brings corporations and hoteliers together in a transparent Internet arena, providing greater visibility into the venue bid negotiation process. The tool helps meeting buyers and procurement professionals to quickly identify and source strategic hotel partners for their meetings needs and field competitive package offers consistent with their corporate travel policies and preferred supplier strategies. When used in conjunction with American Express' strategic sourcing practices the new e-auction solution brings greater rigor to meetings procurement, helping corporate buyers gain greater control over and derive more value from their meetings spend. Additionally, the e-auction technology helps buyers to reduce cycle time and achieve improved sourcing and decision-making efficiency gains. It also helps hoteliers to focus on providing the best, most competitive meetings packages possible. The e-auction tool will be available in January for American Express' U.S.-based clients, with a global release to follow later in the year. The new, ground-breaking American Express e-auction technology supports an historically complex event management bidding process, making it easier than ever for corporations to realize greater value from their meetings investment, better leverage preferred supplier relationships, and more closely link meetings purchasing to their overall travel procurement strategy," said Jay Roseman, Vice President of Corporate Meeting Solutions, American Express Business Travel. "When used in conjunction with our strategic purchasing programs, the American Express e-auction tool helps to further streamline deal-making, allowing meeting and procurement buyers and hotel suppliers to more effectively negotiate and together generate the best overall meeting package." "This tool is just the latest example of StarCite's long and productive partnership with American Express Business Travel. We're pleased to have been asked by American Express to develop such a complementary addition to their Corporate Meeting Solutions practice," said Michael Boult, President and CEO of StarCite. "Meetings management is one of the last great frontiers of unmanaged corporate travel spending. As a leader in strategic meetings management technologies we're excited to provide the tool that will help pave the way for smarter, more efficient and cost-effective bid negotiations for all participants." How It Works Using the American Express e-auction solution for meetings management is simple and straightforward. First, corporate buyers identify a threshold volume for meetings and events that must be competitively bid via the e-auction tool. For each unique event, American Express Business Travel procurement specialists then initiate a site search based on the client's stated meeting requirements, preferred supplier strategy and travel policy. Based on the tailored availability report generated, the buyer narrows its venue options down to a short list of suppliers and properties that appear best prepared to provide the value clients require. Finally, American Express hosts the actual e-auction via a secure extranet-site allowing the buyer to customize the bid process and receive a formal offer within minutes. The auction thereby gives buyers significant flexibility during the bidding process, allowing buyers to tailor their requests. This article provided courtesy of <a href=http://creditfederal.com target=_new>www.CreditFederal.com</a>, a personal credit resource of good or bad credit credit cards and loans.

Credit Tip: Need a high limit for Christmas credit card charges? If you have bad credit, consider a personal loan by refinancing your mortgage. Even if you have cash to buy Christmas presents, we recommend using a prepaid card to make purchases because it's safer than carrying cash.