A telamarkter called me today about this card. Believe it or not I didn't hang up on her.

I never heard of it before but from the way it was explained it's designed to compete directly with the Aerogold, meaning same $1=1 mile, same 15k for short-haul etc. Apparently it works with whatever airline they can get you on, no blackout dates, $80 fee and so on.

I'm not too keen on MBNA as they don't have on-line access to their cards yet (they say 6 months) but it does seem to be a pretty solid card.

Anyone else heard of this? Does anyone know any more details? Pros, cons?
There is no info about it on their site, they're sending me some literature by mail.

so what's the difference between that and ever other travel rewards card that every bank offers? TD, RBC, Scotia... they all offer essentially the same card with the same "benefits". BMO is slightly different b/c of their Airmiles affiliation.

the biggest negative with these independantly branded cards is that you can't pool points from different earning streams that you might be able to under one program (i.e. only credit purchases count towards flights... you can't earn "additional" points thru air, hotel stays, rental cars etc.) Since I earn nearly 60% of my points thru travel, i'd end up with two smaller account totals.

That being said, Aeroplan redemption ain't worth $hit these days anyways.

Yes, they asked me to sign up for it about two weeks ago or so - I was asking about the new LH card.

It's a MasterCard product if I recall, and it's not on the mbnacanada.com web site.

Fermat,

I guess for some it's just not woth it. But as I earn most of my miles through CC and never seem to have enough space on the card I figure another card would be great.

From what I've seen no card comes close to Aerogold. BOM MC requires weekend stays, 14 day advance booking, rediculous tax charges etc. If this card is similar to Aerogold with the advantage of not being restricted to AC it can be quite intruiging for heavy CC users.

TD and RBC both offer online access to their travel cards - there have been threads comparing the relative merits of each. The great value of all these cards is the guarenteed seat availaibility - many (including myself) who agree with Fermat's comments re Aeroplan availability have thus switched away from Aerogold.

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Saturday nights should be spent with family.

Three words: DON'T DO IT!!!!!!

Those kind of "air miles points" are just this side of useless, and stunningly bad value.

See these threads to get started:

rookie mistake with Avion Visa award miles?
RBC Avion card vs. others
RBC Avion card vs. TD Travel Gold

Youponder, although MBNA doesn't currently have an online login feature, they do have an excellent telephone system (1-888 number)which let you check your current balance and review all transactions in the past month. I use this feature very often and it's really convenient!

Ken,

Thanks for the links. As everyone seems to say it depends on how you use the cards.
I guess people do have problems redeeming on AC, I'm sure that is the case but I pretty much get a seat whenever and wherever I need. There are tiems it takes a little bit of effort but overall its great.

Both RBCs and TDs cost more then 15k for a short-haul to the US, both require advance bookings and weekend stays which is why I can never use them.

Supposedly, this MBNA one has none of these restrictions so it'll be interesting to see if anything is hidden.


If its the same as Aergold without the problem of availability I'd suspect there would be lots of converts.

I'll post here when I receive more info in the mail

They arent totaly useless, yes the value if you add it up, you get 1mile for every 20 dollars you spend(for certain stores more or less), a ticket YYZ-YUL-YYZ will cost (if you spend your money just to get enough points) $19,000(It didnt spend 19,000 just to get enough, I have had since 1992). I have about 7,780airmiles and I dont buy products with them(except flights ) but still collect in case I need to go somewhere for a family event or something else(I am going YYZ-YUL-YYZ for a family wedding) its about 2600 airmiles for 3 people(YYZ-YUL) and i can get my rental car with airmiles too. Its not food big time travelers its for people who shop at stores that give airmiles and use them for occasional flights. Its still good to have. Flights always include Return also. The only drawback besides the bad value is they only can give you tickets for Air Canada,WestJet,KLM,United,Northwest and maybe American.



[This message has been edited by fromYYZ_flyer (edited 02-20-2003).]

That's only the case if you use them in their raw "air mile points" like form.

You are vastly better off to transfer them to British Airways or American Airlines, where you can get a true award ticket, with minimal taxes and restrictions.

We're talking two different products here.

One is Air Miles, a fee-free program that will let you get miles for things you wouldn't otherwise, including items you'd have to purchase no matter what (like groceries.)

The other is a credit card, that has lots of alternatives. As a rewards program credit card, the MNBA program is a week and distant cousin compared to Amex, Diner's Club, AeroGold and RBC Avion.

Ken,

Even if transferred to BA or AA netier offer short-haul. Both start at 25k and require advance booking (BA does, not sure about AA).

This certainly ISN'T true with the TD card. In essence you build up travel dollars that you can spend on absolutely anything, anytime - buy first class tickets for tomorrow if you like. Its this flexibility which is the best part of the TD card.



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Saturday nights should be spent with family.

Tractor,

You're right about TD.

MBNA in the US has online access, can see up to the minute balances,payments and pending charges, also can see up to nine month of past statements.