Over the last couple weeks more and more people have been receiving claims notifications for the CCF class action settlement. Details about the case have been available to the public for over a year now, but the claim forms for the lawsuit changed in September. Changes to the form include a new Easy Refund for people who traveled outside of the U.S. for less than a week or spent less than $2,500 on foreign currency transactions with eligible credit cards.

Though the new forms were meant to make filing a claim easier, many people are uncomfortable sharing credit card details and personal information with the “settlement administrator.” Others are off-put by the whopping 27.5% fee of an estimated $313,000,000 that the law firm will be requesting from the settlement funds. The law firm also asks to be reimbursed for their expenses — which will not exceed $5,000,000. As such, some people are opting out of the settlement. What will you do?

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Hardly a week goes by when I don’t hear another horror story about flying in the US. Long lines, grumpy crews, flight delays, and overbooked flights are just a few of the issues. But that still doesn’t seem to stop people from flying, and it certainly doesn’t stop them from looking for the absolute cheapest flight they can find. When I’m asked who I book with, I give my usual run around — I say it depends on where you want to fly, which airlines serve those areas, and what level of service you’re looking for. But that doesn’t stop me from having a favorite booking service. I can’t guarantee I’m getting the best deals when I use it, but I have an account setup there, and I like the user interface. That’s probably not the best criteria to use for deal-hunting, but it is what keeps me coming back.

In case you’re wondering (and in the interest of not biasing anyone), I’ve made my vote below just like everyone else!

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It’s not uncommon for me to get “best of” questions, such as:

• What is the best travel insurance?
• What is the best debit card?
• What is the best way to exchange currency?
• Where is the best place to get discount airline tickets?

I believe these question do have answers, but I also think that “the best” product or service also varies depending on individual needs. Secondly, while I often have my own opinion regarding what the best product or service is for my own particular situation, I can see other products being better for people in different circumstances. That’s why I’m usually very tentative when answering “best of” questions.

That said, in my experience, the most informative answers to “best of” questions come from communities such as this one. In my view, groups offer the best answers to “best of” questions — the best of the best if you will. That’s why we’re adding a new polling feature to answer frequent “best of” questions. To get things rolling, our first user survey will answer perhaps the most common question I’m asked: “What is the best credit card for international travel?”

A few obvious factors to consider include:

• What kind of travel benefits does the card have?
• Does the card have travel rewards?
• How much does the credit card company charge for foreign currency transactions?
• Can the card holder be charge for dubious DCC transactions?
• How good is the credit card’s customer service — especially when it comes to reporting theft or loss from a foreign country?
• What is the card’s annual fee?

Anyway, you get the idea. Here’s the poll:

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