MilesBuzz! - Best Credit Card for miles

What credit card is best for getting miles on several airlines? (especially United and Delta) and how do I find information on them?

The Starwood American Express (http://www66.americanexpress.com/cards/Fmacfservlet?csi=6/11247/b/52/0/190114829854/0/n):
up to 10k bonus points in the first year, including 4k with first use
earn Starwood hotel points (W/St Regis/Sheraton/Westin) which can be used for hotel stays or converted 1:1 into miles with most airline programs
convert 20,000 points and get 5,000 bonus points -- which mean you actually earn 1.25 miles per dollar on all purchases instead of 1 mile per dollar
free the first year, $30 thereafter
converts 1:2 into qantas and air new zealand!

You can also see my blog post (http://neat.blogspot.com/2002_07_01_neat_archive.html#78550535) on credit card miles.

Agree that SPG AMEX is the best in the long run. Also consider UAL VISA, which currently has a 15,000-mile enrollment bonus and a double mile promo running.

Unfortunately you just missed the double points with AMEX/DL, ended today. There might still be a 15k bonus for getting the Platinum AMEX/DL which gives you 10k base points each year if you charge $25k+/yr. There are several threads that have discussed this topic. Some folks like DC. At this time there's a double UA points promo going that ends 10/31.

As stated above, the SPG Amex is one of the best overall cards. However, since Amex is not accepted everywhere you will need a Visa. If your main airlines are Delta and United, I would look at United's Visa (http://www.firstusa.com/cgi-bin/webcgi/webserve.cgi?partner_dir_name=united_signature_emp loyee&page=cont&mkid=6P66) because Delta is associated with Amex.

I have most (perhaps all) of the free cards listed on my site below. Amtrak gives United miles. The hotel cards, expecially Hilton, give miles to many accounts, but not very generously. I think you are best off getting a card that gives miles to one specific airline, getting the miles you need for it, then moving to another card for another airline. The Delta Amex card can be had for free for one year and gives 10000 up front miles, for example.

------------------
The Personal Travel Experience of Gary Steiger - including how to get free frequent flyer miles on the web.
http://home.earthlink.net/~pgary/TravelFrame.html

Is it worth it to keep a card longer than a year given that there are so many cards out there with enrollment bonuses and more seeming to come along frequently?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by bsartist:
Is it worth it to keep a card longer than a year given that there are so many cards out there with enrollment bonuses and more seeming to come along frequently? </font>


Yes, for several reasons.
1) If you charge a lot to your card, you may be able to convince the CS people that you deserve an "anniversary" or non-cancellation bonus. Alaska Air's card offers everyone a small anniversary bonus.

2) Your credit score can be negatively affected by two factors related to opening and closing credit:
a) The length of time your accounts have been established. Average consumer's oldest account is 14-15 years. Average consumer's most recent account is 20 months. Longer is better.
b) The number of requests for credit in the last 12 months. Fewer is better.

ALthough lenders will look first at factors such as bankruptcy or delinquincy, these numbers could still have an impact.

I've been playing the rotating credit game the past 18 months. I thought it wouldn't matter, as I found it highly unlikely we'd be able to take advantage of a home refinance. Then, rates dropped low enough that we are currently going through the process.

I won't play the rotating credit card game again. Although my credit scores are still very solid, they very nearly affected our loan rate and/or points paid. A couple of hundred dollars worth of miles isn't worth 30 years of extra payments.

[Edited for grammatical and typographical errors]

[This message has been edited by CutStyle (edited 08-16-2002).]

I like the Delta AmEx a lot for my purposes. I charge ~$1000/month on the card and get anywhere from 1.1 to 1.5 as many miles. Delta offers permanent double miles on a lot of purchases. Off the top of my head:

groceries
gasoline
mobile phone bill
home improvement stores

Unfortunately, it is an AmEx card, so you ocassionally come across a merchant that doesn't accept it. (notably, www.savingsbonds.gov) (http://www.savingsbonds.gov)) But for me and my single guy buying habits, that's rare. They also give a 10K bonus with first purchase and they may still give a benchmark bonus in the first year like charge $15K, get a 10K bonus.

As others before me have stated, the *wood AmEx is a good deal as well. I don't have one but for $30/year it's one of the cheaper affinity cards. I don't have one because I don't want to have to deal with the potential credit implications of cancelling my Delta AmEx (I don't think it's advantageous for me to have more than one annual fee affinity card.)

If you want a card that doesn't charge an annual fee, then go for the Hilton HHonors Signature Visa. There is some sort of bonus, plus there's no interest on purchases for the first six months. You don't get a great earning rate at 2 points per dollar, but hey, it's free! plus it can fill the gaps where an AmEx affinity card isn't accepted.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by yorock:
Unfortunately, it is an AmEx card, so you ocassionally come across a merchant that doesn't accept it. (notably, www.savingsbonds.gov) (http://www.savingsbonds.gov)) </font>

That info is incorrect.

Just to clarify Cactuspete's post - savingsbonds.gov will accept Amex, but the rest of statement (that there are places that won't, but will accept Visa/MC) is correct.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by VolleyballFerd:
savingsbonds.gov will accept Amex, but the rest of statement (that there are places that won't, but will accept Visa/MC) is correct.</font>


I stand corrected. I guess I was just mixing it up with that other great mileage laundering website, c2it. They definitely don't take AmEx. Luckily I have a cashback Citi card.

yorock

CutSyle,

You certainly raised a very valid point wrt credit scores. A few thousand miles is certainly not worth even a minor percentage point move upward when looking at buying a house or refinancing one. A related point is the number of cards that you have. Each card represents potential debt and a higher risk for a lender even if one has a history of paying every account in full each month. I wish you the best of luck trudging through the refinancing process.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by bsartist:
A related point is the number of cards that you have. Each card represents potential debt and a higher risk for a lender even if one has a history of paying every account in full each month.</font>

So what looks worse on your credit record, thousands of dollars of unused credit, or a few cancelled cards?

yorock

Relax, unless your credit is otherwise marginal the mileage card game should not impact your approval or rate.

I've done two no-cost refi's in the last year, the first since I discovered FT and the joy of all these credit cards. My score has dropped a bit for (1) average length of credit and (2) high balance relative to total credit (savings bonds on Starwood Amex), but I still got the best possible rate.

Back to the topic, a divergent thought. Diners Club (which you can use on just about all your travel-related expenses, and at many retail places) is affiliated with almost every single hotel and airline program out there. While there are plenty of "issues" with DC (you can check out that forum), and conversion rates vary from DC to the various programs (but for air its primarily $1 = 2 points = 1 mile), it gives you the flexibility to add miles or points, as needed, to whatever program you want, to top off the acct for an award, or transfer enough to another program altogether for a free trip (such as when the BA promo is going on). That, and the primary rental insurance, is why I keep the DC.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by yorock:
So what looks worse on your credit record, thousands of dollars of unused credit, or a few cancelled cards?

yorock</font>

That's a good question. But just to give you a brief history of myself, I used to collect credit cards. I kind of stopped years ago, but not for the having too many inquries on my credit record, but I was sort of opening myself up to credit fraud having too much information on myself out there. That said, I have over 400 credit cards, and close to 1/2 of those show on my credit report (Trans Union), although most obviously are closed because of inactivity. Most are department store cards, but I do have a couple of dozen open MasterCards and Visas. I asked for a credit report via Trans Union a few months ago. My score on it (similar to the Fair Isaac score) was 931 out of 934. That score alone should dispell the myth that having too many unused credit cards will hurt your credit record. With all those credit cards, I was easily approved for a home loan (Wells Fargo Home Mortgage). I was candid with them with what I did, and they didn't care, since my high credit score said more about me than anything else.
But the reason my score is high is I don't apply for many cards at all right now (too many recent inquiries will hurt your record) plus I always pay my bills on time, with most all my credit cards I pay in full.
But what will hurt your score will be having zillions of cards, and running large balances on them. Large balances might indicate you're getting in over your head, even though you're keeping up on payments. Minimum payments on credit cards could take decades to pay-off, if that's all you do.
So my advice is to keep your credit card balances low, never pay a bill late (allow plenty of time for payment checks you send to arrive in the mail) while maintaining good finances overall. I've heard mentioned if you create a large balance on a credit card and pay it off immediately, will create good credit over time. That's hard to say, although doing that with a single credit card issuer may make them inclined to raise your credit limit, since you've shown you could manage large payments.
Anyway, this is my 2 cents worth.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by burgerwars:
I asked for a credit report via Trans Union a few months ago. My score on it (similar to the Fair Isaac score) was 931 out of 934. That score alone should dispell the myth that having too many unused credit cards will hurt your credit record.</font>
You may want to go back and check your info. There are two main scores, Fair Isaac and Beacon. Both scores range from 300 to 850 - not 934. Even if there was a score that went to 934, it would be impossible to get a score within three points of perfect with hundreds of credit cards.

Having said that, it is true that moderate credit card switching will not have a huge impact on your score.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Family flyer:
Originally posted by burgerwars:
I asked for a credit report via Trans Union a few months ago. My score on it (similar to the Fair Isaac score) was 931 out of 934. That score alone should dispell the myth that having too many unused credit cards will hurt your credit record.</font>
You may want to go back and check your info. There are two main scores, Fair Isaac and Beacon. Both scores range from 300 to 850 - not 934. Even if there was a score that went to 934, it would be impossible to get a score within three points of perfect with hundreds of credit cards.

Having said that, it is true that moderate credit card switching will not have a huge impact on your score.



When I applied for a home loan, that was Fair Isaac. I don't remember the score the loan officer there told me, but he did say it was one of the highest scores he has seen.

That said, nothing is impossible. While I post here, I prefer to keep my identity private (my real name isn't burgerwars, as you could have guess). But I'm willing to show you my Trans Union credit report, but you must come meet me in person.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by burgerwars:
I prefer to keep my identity private (my real name isn't burgerwars, as you could have guess</font>

Really?????? Here I was thinking that your parents must have had a very strange sense of humor to actually name you that. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

in the UK, the AMEX British Airways Premium Plus card is the best I reckon.

1.5 miles per £ spend - double that on ££££ spent on British Airways.

Couple that with the free two-for-one flight voucher you get with every £15k spend you can effectively get as many as 6 miles per £ spent.

Anyone have the CO card from Chase? I am wondering what other people think of it? I have two accounts, and they seem to be nothing special.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by cab747:
Anyone have the CO card from Chase? I am wondering what other people think of it? I have two accounts, and they seem to be nothing special.</font>
One benefit of the Chase card (http://creditcardsatchase.com/portal/index.jsp?pageID=standard&key=contaqnotices) is that Signature and Platinum cardholders earn unlimited miles; most Visa cards cap annual mileage for non-elites.

The NWA Visa (http://www.usbank.com/cgi_w/cfm/credit/worldperks/bonus_miles2.cfm?phone=1302&mri=NIA&pac=AG&cat=40) also allows unlimited mileage if you use auto-debit in full.



[This message has been edited by Family flyer (edited 08-21-2002).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by gleff:
The Starwood American Express (http://www66.americanexpress.com/cards/Fmacfservlet?csi=6/11247/b/52/0/190114829854/0/n):
up to 10k bonus points in the first year, including 4k with first use
earn Starwood hotel points (W/St Regis/Sheraton/Westin) which can be used for hotel stays or converted 1:1 into miles with most airline programs
convert 20,000 points and get 5,000 bonus points -- which mean you actually earn 1.25 miles per dollar on all purchases instead of 1 mile per dollar
free the first year, $30 thereafter
converts 1:2 into qantas and air new zealand!

You can also see my blog post (http://neat.blogspot.com/2002_07_01_neat_archive.html#78550535) on credit card miles.</font>

Actually I just signed up for this card. Free the first year, 4k pts, everyone raving about it, I had to try. Based on the above conversions, that means that converting 20k into Qantas would give you either 45k or 50k miles depending on how the math was done (I am sure someone here knows how they do it). This seems to be the best value - and with Qantas being in OneWorld, that means you can get AA or BA flights also. Has anyone had experience with this? I think this was the basis for the IF-Concorde scheme. If you look at the chart here:

http://www.qantas.com.au/fflyer/dyn/program/PartnerAwardTables#qf_ba_aa

... it seems that you can get some good deals mileage-wise. Like 30k QF miles for a roundtrip in the US, which would cost you only 15k Starpoints (even better rate if you convert them in 20k increments) instead of the usual 25k miles on most carriers. Europe for 50k QF miles that only costed you (I guess) 20k starpoints. This seems like a stellar deal, am I missing something, is there a catch, or is it really that good?

I think your scheme

Starwood AMEX ---&gt; Qantas ---&gt; Oneworld

is about as good as one can get barring any short-term or one-time promotion.

In terms of value, I estimate that the scheme works out to be a "rebate" of 2.4% per $ charge based on the way I might claim the award (coach RT air tickets SFO-HNL).

However, HH AMEX maybe a better deal if what you want is free hotel room. (Kind of drifting off the topic...) I can get ~3% "rebate" using that card.

What am I missing? I have a Starwood card - If I transfer 20,000 SPG pts. to Qantas I will get 50,000 Quantas miles. Right?
Do I understand that I can use Qantas miles for an Award Ticket on British Airlines? (or American or other?)
Doesn't Qantas Awards go by the miles to be flown--not just the area ?
ie. British Airways Busniness Class MIA/LHR is 80,000 miles- How many QANTAS miles would I need for a British Airways Business Class award MIA/LHR?
If the Qantas Award costs more miles - where is the savings? Why does everyone seem to say the best use of the Starwood pts. is to transfer to Qantas miles?
Thanks for the enlightenment!

If you click on the link quinella66 posted above, you will find that on Chart 1 (which is applicable for BA) the award MIA-LHR will cost you 50000/100000/125000 miles depending on the class of service. (The direct distance is 2x 4425 miles.)

That means you'll need 100k Qantas miles to get that free biz class ticket. To get 100k Qantas miles, you need 45k starpoints (I am not sure about the exact conversion; but 45k is my interpretation of the rule.) To get 45k starpoints, you need to put 45000 dollars on the Starwood AMEX card.

Alternatively, if you have any other airline credit card that give you 1 mile per dollar charge. It will require 80000 miles in other program. That also means you need to charge 80000 dollars to get the biz class ticket.

Of course, this calculation does not figure in the one time sign up bonus or special double mile promotion etc...