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WRONG... there are MANY alternative mileage credit cards that offer Far better terms than airline specific programs, and NO ANNUAL premiumsAirline employees get PERKS to sign U up... thus might not be the BEST path to comprehensive wisdom.
I keep 4 different mileage credit cards (for last 30 yrs) and for very specific purposes.
It can be a disaster / traumatic to put your mileage into one basket. Plans / airlines change like the wind.
We live in Chicago so United would probably be the one I chose.
Both United and American have a big presence there, so either would be a reasonable choice. For United, the best cards for earning points quickly is the combo of Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Freedom, and (if you can qualify for a business card) one of the Chase Ink cards. There are fewer good ways to earn American miles (but as a direct consequence of this, the program hasn't been as devalued as United's has); the American Express Starwood Preferred Guest card is the only one which currently offers points that will transfer to American. Of course, both United and American offer airline cards, but those cards only offer bonuses when purchasing airline tickets (on other purchases you only earn 1 mile per dollar spent - minor exception: American's card now offers 2 miles/dollar when used to buy movie or theater tickets). The other cards I mentioned either offer bonuses points for spending in certain categories like dining or purchases at certain stores (the Chase cards) or a transfer bonus (you get an extra 5,000 points when you transfer 20,000 Starwood Points, which amounts to earning 1.25 points per dollar spent).
Bear in mind, though, that just because you fly a certain airline doesn't mean their frequent flyer program is the one you must join. For instance, you can book flights on American using Alaska's or British Airways frequent flyer programs. (My next flight on American way booked using British Airway's program, because British Airways requires fewer miles to book exactly the same flight than American would have charged.) Likewise, you can use United miles (for example) to book travel on partner airlines such as Lufthansa or Singapore Airlines.
So the question really comes down to whether your travel habits are such that you can actually make good use of frequent flyer programs, or whether you'd be better off to go with a simple 2% cash back card and just look for airfare bargains. Do you travel frequently? Where do you want to go? How flexible can you be in your trip planning? Do you want to fly in business class or first class, or is coach class good enough? How much spend can you put on your credit cards in a year without getting in over your head. And crucially, just how much work are you actually willing to do when it comes to learning how to use the points you accumulate? (The last is the limiting factor for many people!)
As I recommended before, check out the forums at FlyerTalk. I'd also recommend MilePoint (although it's less active, the crowd's a bit friendlier). And there are a ton of blogs discussing pints and miles, of varying quality. So do some reading, then feel free to PM me with more specific questions if you wish.
i have been thinking lately about my best option. i primarily use united airlines for flying. i dont pay for hotel stays often so i can be flexible but its also not very valuable to me. so i think i can use united miles but the problem is the value of the miles is a pain in the butt to maximize. your standard fair should get you about 1 cent per mile and you can double the value (or better) with saver fairs but you need flexibility. i think if you do a lot of international travel you can also do better. for me, it seems like its not worth it. when you google the best card, the sapphire often gets brought up. the rewards points are nice and flexible but with 1 point per dollar on almost every except travel & restaurants, you are basically getting 1 point per dollar. so now i am leaning towards getting a 2% cash back card (either use my fidelity amex or pick up the citi double cash) for my spend and keep my united explorer card for the free baggage perk. if i flew more, maybe id get the club card for club access, free 4 bags and other travel benefits. i have the sapphire and im debating its value.
I had the sapphire. The best part about it was the intro offer. After that, I dropped it. Citi Double cash has been much easier and I don't think I could have gotten a more consistent value for my spending out of an airline card without jumping through a few hoops.
I'm a big fan of intro offers, but when you start attaching restrictions to how I can redeem, the value drops fast.
I had the sapphire. The best part about it was the intro offer. After that, I dropped it. Citi Double cash has been much easier and I don't think I could have gotten a more consistent value for my spending out of an airline card without jumping through a few hoops.
I'm a big fan of intro offers, but when you start attaching restrictions to how I can redeem, the value drops fast.
yeah, its difficult to squeeze out enough value from your daily spend to beat the 2% cash back of citi double cash or fidelity amex. the frequent travelers seem to be the best positioned to benefit because a lot of credit card perks are travel centered. im considering adding the chase ritz carlton card. they have a $300 credit for airline expenses, $100 hotel credit, gold status at marriott, purchase & travel protection benefits & top tier customer service. i can just throw $10k in spend on it to maintain the gold marriott status and put the rest of my spend on the 2% cash back card. i currently have an amex platinum and i have gotten them to waive the annual fee but i only use the card for airline expenses because it gives me $200 in airline expense reimbursed. the card is in my wife's name and last time she called to either get the annual fee waived or cancel the card, the person mentioned that it would help if we actually used it for some spending. im not going to do it because the 1 point per dollar spent is too crappy to use for regular spending. so i may lose the amex platinum next time the year is up.
Given the airlines are greatly reducing the value and utility of mileage points, I would say that mileage credit cards are also reducing in value. Many have large annual fees as well.
Given the airlines are greatly reducing the value and utility of mileage points, I would say that mileage credit cards are also reducing in value. Many have large annual fees as well.
I've had great luck over the past year or so with these.. Have purchased 4 round trip tickets to Europe, 2 to Costa Rica, and still have almost enough to book another Europe RT on American for hardly any outlay.
I've had great luck over the past year or so with these.. Have purchased 4 round trip tickets to Europe, 2 to Costa Rica, and still have almost enough to book another Europe RT on American for hardly any outlay.
I have never had a problem using my miles with USAir / American for trips.
But for me, especially over the past few years, I am finding that for most vacations that we take, the cost of our hotels tends to be significantly more than the cost of the airline tickets (even for overseas trips). As such, my AA mileage card gets very little use these days (except for buying airline tickets) and I use my Marriott Rewards CC much more frequently. For us, the hotel points are saving us the largest chunk of money on our vacations.
Really depends on where you want to go (and where you are from), as each airline mileage program has its pros and cons. For going to Europe, I would say applying for the 50,000 miles American Airlines offer through Citi is your best bet. During "off peak", it costs 20,000 miles each way. If you have that AA credit card, you also get a 10% bonus upon redeeming those miles. So effectively, 36,000 miles round trip if you are going USA-Europe from mid october to mid april time period. A lot of the premium cards do have an annual fee but many of them are waived for the first year. Best strategy is to keep them for 10-11 months then cancel. Some may offer a retention bonus that may make it worthwhile to keep it longer. And hotel points can often be quite valuable as well. IHG, Marriott, and Starwood credit cards are ones you may want to check out on that front, depending on where you are traveling.
I've got one for Delta. I like it because Delta miles never expire, great for someone who isn't a biz traveler but still takes a few trips/vacations a year.
There is an annual fee, but the card gives free checked luggage, so if I check luggage on one roundtrip it pays for itself.
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Airline employees get PERKS to sign U up... thus might not be the BEST path to comprehensive wisdom.
