Steven Dashiell is an editor for Bankrate.com with expertise in rewards credit cards, financial literacy, and helping consumers build and maintain their credit. He has more than 5 years of experience in personal finance with an affinity for rewards, credit card perks and helping consumers make the most of their card choices.
Steve’s writing and expertise has appeared in outlets, such as U.S. News & World Report, CBS, Fox Business, Time, Forbes and NASDAQ. When not writing about credit cards, Steve nerds out on birds, paints landscapes and life scenes, fiddles around on bass guitar and takes names in Street Fighter.
Steve made the common mistake of accepting a credit card offer he received in the mail right after graduating high school. He promptly maxed it out on a vacation and made only minimum payments on the balance, which is a textbook example of what you shouldn’t do. This, predictably, tanked his credit score. Years later, and after much work, Steve’s credit score now rests squarely in the “excellent” tier.
“I started writing about credit cards, largely due to my horrible experience fresh out of high school. I had no clue what I was doing with my credit card and they don’t exactly come with a best practices guide. I hope to educate people in a similar position to make better decisions about their credit card use and help protect their financial health for the future.”
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I started writing about credit cards largely due to my horrible experience fresh out of high school. I had no clue what I was doing with my credit card and they don’t exactly come with a best practices guide. I aim to educate people in a similar position to make better decisions about their credit card use and help protect their financial health for the future.
— Steve Dashiell
A decent flat-rate card that allows students to begin building their credit files, but other student cards, even Capital One cards, are more rewarding options.
With the Alaska Airlines Visa Business Card, earn 3 miles per dollar spent on eligible Alaska Airlines purchases and 1 mile on other purchases.
It’s a solid no-annual-fee hotel card, but doesn’t provide enough value for regular travelers.
A Barclays credit card that earns rewards for the Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles loyalty program.
This brass-tacks card offers some of the lowest rates and fees available for PenFed members—accessible by both military members and civilians.
The Sony Card has lost much of its power and may not appeal even to dedicated gamers. Here's our full review.
USAA members hoping to build credit could be in luck with this card.
Secured cards rarely have a balance transfer offer, but this one does.
