October 28, 2008 By Justin McHenry

Continental Airlines announced today that fliers who use their Continental credit cards or debit cards to purchase tickets will get a break on the first-checked-bag charge of $15 that Continental recently implemented. Continental Presidential Plus cardholders will have the fee waived for their first two checked bags — a savings of $40 per trip.

The fee waiver also extends to those traveling with the cardholder, provided they are part of the same reservation and check in with the Continental credit card holder.

Continental said that over 1 million people hold a Continental credit or debit card. The airline added the $15 first-bag fee last month.

For more information on the Continental credit card and other travel-related credit cards, see our page on travel credit cards.

Using government debt data and census data, IndexCreditCards.com has determined that the average American adult is carrying $4,208 in revolving debt (mainly credit card debt) and the average American household is carrying $8,188 in such debt.

Data released earlier this month from the Federal Reserve Board estimates that revolving consumer debt in the United States totals $969 billion. Using census data from 2006 to the present, IndexCreditCards.com estimates the adult (18 and over) population of the U.S. at 230,286,530 and the total number of households at 118,344,141. Dividing the total revolving debt by the population/household figures gives the resulting debt averages.

(Federal Reserve surveys suggest that about 75% of households have at least one credit card, and 25% have none. If we count only those households that report actually having one or more credit cards, the average household credit card debt would be $10,917.)

Revolving debt is mainly debt from credit cards, although related revolving consumer debt such as home equity lines of credit are included as well.

A caveat: Not all revolving debt is long-term debt accruing interest — some of this debt is paid off each month. (Although pinpointing how much debt gets paid off every month is difficult, various surveys have reported that 40% to 55% of card holders say they pay off their full balances every month.)

October 17, 2008 By Justin McHenry

The Toyota credit card announced earlier this year is now available to interested cardholders. The Toyota Rewards Visa offers points good toward the purchase or lease of a Toyota vehicle, or toward Toyota parts, service and accessories.

The rewards point formula is as follows: Cardholders earn 5 points per dollar charged to the card on purchases at Toyota dealerships, and 1 point per dollar on all other purchases. You’ll also get a bonus of 2,500 points after you actually use the card for the first time.  Points convert to cash that can be used toward future Toyota purchases at a rate of 100 points equaling one dollar.

If you are interested, click for the Toyota Rewards Visa. Alternately compare the Toyota Visa to cards from other auto makers in our Automotive Credit Cards section.

October 9, 2008 By Justin McHenry

Virgin America, the U.S.-based airline partially owned by Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, is set to launch a Visa Signature credit card that will give cardholders the ability to earn the airline’s Elevate frequent flyer points for card purchases.

The Virgin America Visa will offer triple Elevate points on Virgin America purchases, and 1 point per dollar on all other purchases. Those who sign up by November 30 and use the card by January 31, 2009 will also get a bonus of a free one-way ticket on Virgin America.

Virgin America is a newer airline, launched in August of 2007 and based out of San Francisco. While it is partially owned by Branson’s Virgin Group, it is not connected with the larger Virgin Atlantic that calls London home.