消费者都迷恋着奖励。我们渴望它们，想要它们，爱它们。我们着迷于如何焚烧、搅动、交易、转化以及优化它们。收集它们时我们会兴奋，兑现它们时我们会感到满足。

　　Banks are competing hard for your wallet, and we have a few tips on how to exploit their appetite for growth so you can fly free, sleep free, float free, drive free, and more.

　　银行之间在为你的钱包竞争着，我们这有一些关于如何利用它们的贪欲来获得更多奖励的建议，这样你就可以免费飞行、免费住宿、免费乘船、免费乘车，以及更多。

　　1.Get A New Card

　　办张新卡

　　Loyalty doesn’t pay in credit cards. Just like wireless and cable, you’ll get the most value from your credit card when you switch providers and get a new card.

　　忠诚不会为你的信用卡付费。就像无线和有线一样，当你换个供应商，办张新卡时你会从信用卡中得到最大价值。

　　Want proof? With your current card, it might take you 2 years and $25,000 of spending to earn 25,000 miles. Get a new credit card and you could get a 25,000- to 60,000-mile sign-up bonus in as little as 3 months, requiring only $500 to meet the minimum spending requirement.

　　想要证据？用你现在的信用卡，可能需要2年时间，花费25，000美元才能得到25,000点数。办张新卡，可以让你最少3个月，最低花费500美元就能得到25,000到60,000点数。

　　2.Try Before You Buy

　　买前先试

　　Before you buy a new car, you take it for a test drive, right? Same with a pair of shoes? Of course. That’s why you should only get a new rewards credit card with an issuer that doesn’t charge an annual fee in the first year. This will give you the chance to try out their product and make sure you’re happy with things like their customer service, ease of rewards redemption, online billing and payments, credit line, etc. It makes trying risk-free, and puts the onus of performance on the issuer, not you.

　　在买新车之前，你会先试驾吧？买新鞋时也是如此吧？当然啦。这就是你应该办张第一年不收任何年费、有奖励的新卡。你可以因此试用他们的产品，确保自己能满意于他们的顾客服务、奖励兑现便捷性、在线计费支付以及信用额度等。它能让你的试用无风险，并把产品性能责任推给发行者而不是你。

　　3.Wait For The Big Promotion

　　等待大促销

　　Issuers have special welcome bonus promotions all the time. Quite often, they don’t make them available on their website or to the general public. Search through credit card comparison sites, travel reward blogs, and Google search to see if they’re advertising any limited-time offer welcome bonuses, the wait will be worth it.

　　发行者一直都有特别的欢迎点数促销活动。他们经常不在自己网站或公共地方发布。搜找信用卡比较网站、旅游奖励博客以及谷歌，看看他们是否有做任何限时提供的欢迎点数活动，等待是值得的。

　　4.Know Your Categories

　　了解类别

　　Many rewards credit cards offer bonus points when you use your card at the gas pump or grocery store. There’s a way for you to hack bonus points in even more merchant categories. Simply use your credit card at the grocery store to buy a gift card to your favourite merchant (Wal-Mart, Amazon, Apple, Home Depot, etc.). You’ll get your bonus rewards or cash back because you made your purchase at the grocery store, and then you’ll be able to use your gift card at your favorite store.

　　许多有奖励的信用卡会在你在加油站或杂货店使用时获得点数。有种方法能让你在更多的商店类别中得到点数。就是用你的信用卡在杂货店买张你最喜欢的商店礼物卡（沃尔玛，亚马逊，苹果，家庭仓库等）。由于你在杂货店支付，所以你会得到点数或返现，然后你就能够在你最喜欢的商店里使用礼物卡。

　　5.Stack Your Credit Cards

　　使用多张信用卡

　　Maximize your rewards by using multiple credit cards with different bonus categories, so that you get a bonus on all your spending.

　　通过使用多种有着不同奖励的信用卡来让你的奖励最大化，这样你可以在每次花销时都获得点数。

　　For example, you can use one card to get 5% cash back on gas and groceries, another to get 3% back at restaurants, another to get 3% at the pharmacy, and yet another card to get 2% cash back everywhere else.

　　例如，你可以在加油站和杂货店使用一张信用卡得到5%的返现奖励，在餐馆用另一张卡得到3%返现，在药房用另一张卡得到3%，而在别处用另一张卡得到2%返现。

　　6.Know The Rules Of The Game

　　了解游戏规则

　　Credit card companies are a little like casinos. They offer you all the promise in the world, but they lay a few land mines in the way to stack the deck in their favour. Here are a few things to watch out for:

　　信用卡公司有点像赌场。他们提供给你世界上所有的承诺，但也会设一些陷阱以最大化他们的利益。这有些需要留意的事情：

　　Rotating Categories: Some cards change their categories month to month or quarter to quarter. To get any real value from the card, you have to be willing to stay on top of the rotations and re-select your categories frequently.

　　轮换分类：一些信用卡会逐月或逐季度改变规则。要想真正得到奖励，你得愿意随时关注其轮换并频繁地重新选择分类。

　　Earning Caps: Make sure you know if there are any caps on rewards earnings. If there are, it makes no sense to spend beyond the cap, because you’ll either earn less or no rewards from the additional spending.

　　奖励上限：确保你自己了解是否有奖励上限。如果有的话，那超出上限的花费毫无意义，因为你要么从额外花费上得到更少的奖励，要么得不到奖励。

　　Rule Changes: Credit card terms and conditions change all the time — most cards have an obligation to notify you of any changes. Read your mail, or you might miss the memo.’

　　规则变化：信用卡条例和条件一直变化—大多数信用卡商会通知你其任何变化。要阅读邮件，以免错过。

　　Penalties: Know where the land mines are laid. Do you you lose your points if you cancel your card or miss any payments?

　　惩罚：了解是否有埋地雷的地方。假如注销信用卡或错过支付任何款项，你会失去点数吗？

　　Expiration: This can be a killer. Know if your points have an expiry date or if they expire upon cancellation of your card.

　　过期：这很致命。要了解你的点数是否有截止期限或注销卡时是否会过期。

　　Carrying a Balance: If you carry a balance, your interest payments will wipe out any value you get from your rewards.

　　透支：如果你透支的话，你需要支付的利息会抹去你得到的奖励。

　　You’re late: Being late wipes out any value created from your rewards. You’ll be charged a late fee, your interest rate will skyrocket, and you’ll lose the privilege of your grace period.

　　未及时还款：不及时还款会抹去你获得的所有奖励。你会因此需要支付延期费用，利率也会飞涨，你也会失去所有宽限期内的特权。