MilesBuzz! - Best frequent flyer card and credit card

I have a delta skymiles card, a continental one pass, and a northwest world perks card... Since all three cards are partners of one another... Is there one card that is better than any of the other ones that I should concentrate my use on... The only one i have any miles on is the delta skymiles card... I inaddition have an advantage card...

What about a credit card to earn mileage... I plan on using those airlines above as well as American primarily.. any one that is better than the others.. I do not carry a balance from month to month ... I just want to get mileage added on as conveniently as I can .. which would be the best one... would the amex skymiles card be the best or would any of the other ones be better?

Seth

I think the amex skymiles is the best because you get an additional 10000 miles(actually mqm's which are even better) if you spend $25000 in a year. Plus they have double miles bonuses quite frequently.

so go with the skymiles card.. ok and the delta frequent flyers card?

I use my DL AMEX Platinum for ALL credit card retailers that accept AMEX. However, there are quite a few that don't take AMEX so my back-up is my Alaska Airlines Visa which has pretty good redemption (20K miles instead of 25K) as long as they fly in/out of your home city. They do carry an annual fee but I find it's worth it b'c I get a companion tix every year. They also have No preset spending limit, Complimentary concierge service, Visa Dining Privileges. You can compare cards @ http://moneycentral.msn.com/banking/services/CreditCard.asp?iSearchId=5&Go=Go
or perhaps go to http://www.bankrate.com/brm/rate/cc_ratehome.asp?prodtype=cc&card_type=Rebate&R1=1&card_class=All&max_recs=25&cc_freq=1&airmile=A&rebate=1

I'd check the credit card forums for more info. Personally, I think the Citi PremierPass elite is an incredible card. You can read more about it in the other credit card programs forum.

I am moving this topic over to MilesBuzz which is a more appropriate home for it.

Rssrsvp - Moderator

I live in Tulsa OK by the way if this helps... I do not need compaion tickets since I travel alone...

Help us out...where do you fly most often (when you buy the tickets), and what kind of rewards are you looking for?

Depending on your answers, I'm thinking maybe AA and the Starwood Amex. But Tulsa is a market where Southwest could actually make the most sense - it really depends a lot on where you need to go. (Specifically, does international travel play a big role?)

Right now Delta Continental and American and Northwest are the biggies in Tulsa as well as Southwest but mostly using the first four airlines.. .Mostly its domestic and Canada destinations that I am flying to and the coastal cities of Portland and New York with the shorter trips in between...

Seth

Mostly im looking for the occaisionlal free flight... and to get miles as quick as possible towards it

Hmmmm. If your goal is to actually be able to redeem the miles, I'd probably pick AA and focus there after the new year. You didn't mention UA, but you might want to check them out too: they will likely have a fairly good, quick connection through DEN to PDX, plus I think all of the Canada coverage you could want. (AA has this too.) There's a lengthy MilesBuzz thread right now about whether UA or AA is better for redemption, but honestly I find both of them pretty good if you know how to look for the right fare buckets.

UA has one other advantage: if you pick up the MP Platinum Visa and then actually fly UA about 18,000 or 19,000 miles next year, you will reachable Premier status and have access to Economy Plus - extra legroom.

I think that covers my take on airlines. With each one, pick up the associated credit card product(s) - researching here to find the best available sign-up bonuses. Also research the forum for the airline you choose and see how other people are earning partner miles - there are always AA and UA promos for banks, business credit cards, one-off things like Ameniti (a UA travel program), etc.

As for what credit card to use as your primary spending card, that somewhat depends on your need for hotel points. Many people here use the SPG Amex. Some others use HH Amex. I'm starting to see more people playing the home-grown points cards (CapitalOne, Citibank Thank You Points, etc.) but I personally don't know much about them. I'm an SPG Amex guy becuase we redeem those points frequently for free hotel stays. I have my UA Visa that I use to buy UA tickets with (for the elite-qualifying mile bonus) and my Marriott Visa I use for Marriott stays (5 pts/$).

For others on the board, don't forget about the Citibank AA mastercard. One of the really nice perks is the miles count towards your lifetime MM status. Has anybody had any experience with the new Citibank Premier Pass cards?

I plan on using those airlines above as well as American primarily.. any one that is better than the others.. I do not carry a balance from month to month ... I just want to get mileage added on as conveniently as I can .. which would be the best one... would the amex skymiles card be the best or would any of the other ones be better?

Seth


The Amex SPG would give you miles on almost any airlines of your choice on a 1:1 basis, plus you get bonus 5,000 for every 20,000 you transfer to an airlines. Plus you have the choice to transfer to hotels as well.

For others on the board, don't forget about the Citibank AA mastercard. One of the really nice perks is the miles count towards your lifetime MM status. Has anybody had any experience with the new Citibank Premier Pass cards?

AA also gives lifetime mile credit to mile transfers so I don't see any advantage to using the AA card over the Amex SPG (where you earn a 25% when transferring 20K points), except to use at places that don't accept Amex.

There are quite a few threads discussing Premier Pass. I have had one for a couple of years (and a Chairman card too) and couldn't be happier.

If you rarely credit miles to the other programs, just buying something once every 6 months should keep your account active in all those programs. An easy way to not have miles expire, providing there are no annual fees with those cards.

I think the amex skymiles is the best because you get an additional 10000 miles(actually mqm's which are even better) if you spend $25000 in a year. Plus they have double miles bonuses quite frequently.

my best friend has this deal (two cards, in fact -- one for business and one for personal). i think it is the best deal around.

i am a northwest flier, and their deals are very poor in comparison. my main card is an amex gold, which generates a lot of points redeemable for paid tickets (so they earned points and qualitifying miles). i also have two capital one cards for purchases from folks who do not take amex. i don't like nwa's card because it does not generate qualifying miles on purchases or on redeemed tickets.

To add to this, it's actually now possible to get 30k Delta MQMs from the Amex next year, and 20k each year after that.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=638903

I had an AMEX Delta card for years and recently changed to the AMEX Starwoods Card. I did some research and the Starwoods card allows you to transfer the miles, at no charge, to virtually any frequent flyer program you want. I am in the NY area and it is getting to be virtually impossible to use the Delta miles without using double miles to get a seat. By using the Starwoods card I "bank" the miles in the Starwoods account and can then move them to any program when and if I need them. Opening the account, i think, had a 20K point (one point = 1 mile) bonus and the first year was free. The Delta Platimum card I had was costing me $125 per year.

OK, I realize Seth's original question focused on frequent flyer miles from credit cards but having just gone through the ordeal of trying to book, almost a year in advance, first and business class flights for a family of eight into Florence and out from Venice I have contrary approach for those who use their cards extensively racking up lots of reward eligible volume.

I found business and first class award availability to be very limited for the above destinations even though the family lives in several departure cities, and though was willing to fly on slightly different dates, etc. Most of my miles reside with AA and UA and FLR and VCE are not major air destinations for their partners.

I eventually succeed in getting awards, but they came with inconvenient scheduling – overnights enroute and/or long layovers in airports, etc. The silent message from the frequent flyer awards departments seemed to be, “we'll get you there within a day or two but the flights will be via our most inconvenient schedules.” Remember I was planning this travel approximately a year in advance (just two-three days later than the 330 days book ahead limit for AA and 331 days for UA). Conversely, I found that upgradeable flights to both business and first both were easily available for the travel I was planning if I merely purchased a ticket for one class lower.

Since I currently have a fairly large amount of miles for upgrades, I decided to explore a cash back card. Since it seems easier to get your desired flights, if you buy coach or business and then upgrade one class with miles. Exploring around I came across the Amex Blue Cash, no fee, credit card that Amex states gives:

Your Rebate is awarded annually for each Rebate Year (12 consecutive billing periods). Rebate percentages for each Rebate Year are as follows:

Year to Date Purch. CashBack Everyday Purch.* CashBack All Other Purch.
$0 - $6,500 1.0% 0.5%
$6,500.01 or more 5.0% 1.5%



Purch. above means Purchases, of course.

Since we use our credit cards quite extensively we'll qualify for the $6,500.01 + amount, with 1.5% cash back, on essentially all of our annual purchases which that should yield more than enough cash to purchase tickets then upgrade, or for other uses if we do not travel.

I realize some awards are valued much more the $00.15 (one and one-half cents) per mile or dollar spent via a credit card, but I still will have my current miles if I that valuation proves to be the case. For now at least, I plan to retain both the AA and UA but use them a little less, so some miles will keep rolling in.

You might feel that this merely boils down to the old question of what is a mile worth. Yes sometimes a mile is worth much, much more the $00.15, but one must add award availability to the equation. A theoretical but unavailable award is worthless. If you stray from the major destinations, you may sometimes find it easier to pay cash rather than miles then upgrade. In fact, sometimes the awards are all gone in a flash - almost a year ahead - so buying a ticket may be the only alternative to calling back every few days hoping that an award becomes available.

Maybe I’m dead wrong in this, but it is something to consider, Seth.

I used to have the Delta Skymile Platinum AmEx and also switched over to the Starwood AmEx.

I think there's more value for the Starwood card compared to the Delta card. Plus, for 60k points, they'll give you 50k points to transfer into miles for airline tickets and five free nights at one of their Category 3 hotels (most of the hotels except their high end ones like the W or some of their resort hotels).

So the value is better.

Assuming one mile per dollar with Delta AmEx, 60,000 miles would be about a trans-atlantic flight say at roughly $1,000.
Each mile is worth about 1.6¢

Starwood AmEx:
60,000 points would be rougly 2 domestic airline tickets at an average of $300, plus 5 nights of a hotel using an average of $125. That totals up to $1,225 or 2.04¢ per point.

Of course, it depends on where you fly, or where you book a hotel.

Since every time I've redeemed miles on Delta, I almost always have to use double points to get a ticket, the value of the miles has dropped. Starwood has a no blackout policy with their points - so if a room is available, it's yours.

I'd check the credit card forums for more info. Personally, I think the Citi PremierPass elite is an incredible card. You can read more about it in the other credit card programs forum.

Agreed. In my opinion this is by far the best flight card.

Anyone have any suggestions re a VISA card? I have MC's and an Amex for when they are beneficial, but I could use a Visa card as one of my favorite hotels has a special rate for use with a Visa card- and they simply won't give it to me on the MC or Amex.
Thanks,
Maggie

For others on the board, don't forget about the Citibank AA mastercard. One of the really nice perks is the miles count towards your lifetime MM status. Has anybody had any experience with the new Citibank Premier Pass cards?

I have used the AmEx DeltaSky card in the past, but have now just qualified for Gold status on AA. If I get a Citibank AA card, will my purchases generate miles that would count toward earning my status next year? (Or will the miles just be bonus miles?) Thanks.

I love to travel and have tried several mileage cards. I like the big bonus offers just for signing up plus getting additional cards with the same offer.My favorite is from United as they give you a big bunch for getting the card and offer many ways to add to it. I wrote a no cost report that tells how to get more points if anyone is interested at www.aceguru.com/tr/mcc.htm. I have gathered enough for 12 round trips in 16 months.Amex EX is good for gathering miles too. I start scheduling free mileage trips as far in advance as possible for the best easiest seats.

...........having just gone through the ordeal of trying to book, almost a year in advance, first and business class flights for a family of eight into Florence and out from Venice ................

I found business and first class award availability to be very limited for the above destinations ..............

I eventually succeed in getting awards, but they came with inconvenient scheduling .................

Congratulations ... what you did would be considered by many either a miracle or an act of extreme perseverance. The more obstacles you put in the way, the harder it is to redeem miles. Eight tickets is a huge obstacle and flying into Florence and out of Venice is another big obstacle. Most people are happy if the can get 2 tickets into a major European gateway.

DLB, I agree that you pulled off quite a trick in getting eight award seats to and from these two much-desired destinations. I'm impressed. So don't be disheartened by what I imagine was quite an ordeal in arranging these tickets. Going to other destinations, and trying to arrange fewer seats, usually is easier.

Another thing to keep in mind is that it sounds like you only checked out the first window of opportunity for getting award seats in a given 330 period. The first is when the 330-day window first opens. The next is often (though not always) six-nine months from the start of the trip. And the last is a week or less from when the trip starts.

My point here is that in view of your unique situation with eight tickets and your apparently only checking when the window first opens, you might do better in cashing in your miles next time around. Even, then however, it can require rechecking availability for days or weeks.

Oh, and in going OT I forgot the OP: I'd definitely recommend the Starwood Amex.

I am in Europe and I am jealous with you guys - earning miles by using your credit card! We have a couple of cards available here (Lufthansa Visa, KLM Amex) but these have bad exchange rates and/or lousy acceptance (Amex).
Also, there are no 10k miles to be earned by spending $ or € 25k (that is EUR 25K)

I have used the AmEx DeltaSky card in the past, but have now just qualified for Gold status on AA. If I get a Citibank AA card, will my purchases generate miles that would count toward earning my status next year? (Or will the miles just be bonus miles?) Thanks.

no... but it will count for LT status....