I always use a credit card, just for the fraud protection...no idea how, but my CC has been used fraudulently 3 times over the years, and each time, with a quick phone call, the charge is gone, basically no questions asked (they assume fraud and go from there)...contrast that with a debit card where the money is actually being taken out of your account.
My wife recently used her debit card at a restaurant and they accidentally double-charged her. The restaurant recognized their mistake, but were being pains getting us refunded, requiring bank statements and such, so instead I called the bank (Wells Fargo), and it was 2 weeks before they said "Sorry, nothing we can do, take it up with the restaurant." We ended up getting the money back, but it was a real pain.
Thanks for the explanation. Thankfully, I've never been a victim of financial fraud. I also do my banking with a local bank, so I have a great relationship with them. If something bad happened, I feel confident that they would take care of it quickly.
1) Establish and grow credit rating
2) An extra layer of defense against bad merchants (the CC companies will be your goon squad)
3) Bonus miles/points/etc
My wife recently used her debit card at a restaurant and they accidentally double-charged her. The restaurant recognized their mistake, but were being pains getting us refunded, requiring bank statements and such, so instead I called the bank (Wells Fargo), and it was 2 weeks before they said "Sorry, nothing we can do, take it up with the restaurant." We ended up getting the money back, but it was a real pain.