MilesBuzz! - MasterCard/Visa mile earning options....Newbie seeking advice

Hello All,
Firstly I really want to congratulate all the members for providing and maintaining such a great forum. It has provided me with a large amount of information.

I have been using the AMEX skymiles gold car over the last 9- 10 months and listening to everyones advice ( and not wanting to pay $85) I am swtiching to Starwood AMEX. This is going to be my primary card. With this I can transfer miles to my primary delta skymiles account or my other accounts.
I was wondering though, if there is another Mastercard/Visa card which offers similiar services. I would like to use that as a back up which allows me to transfer miles to different airlines??
any advice on that...I read about the MBNA worldpoint card but am not sure whether it allows transferring points to Frequent flyer accounts.
Any advice / suggestions on that??
Thanks
Sahil

[This message has been edited by Sahil Kamdar (edited 08-14-2003).]

Sahil I have used the Elan Visa card for about 6 years. Great customer service and the BEST part of the program is that YOU make a reservation on ANY airline and THEY buy the tix (as long as it does not exceed the max $$ limit). My wife and I have used them for when only one seat is available with our airline card and Elan buys the other seat. There are also other rewards if you like.

http://www.elancard.com/cgi_w/cfm/Elancard/PersonalCards/VisaPlatinumTravel.cfm

I don't claim any expertise - but I use all the many hints and advice from these boards for accumulating mileage (don't fly enough for many air miles). I would suggest Business Credit Cartds - American, Delta, British Air and United all offer them - no fee for first yeat - good startup bonus - and bonus for additional cards etc. I use them all for "backup to my Starwood - although it's hard to beat the SPG service,the 5,000 bonus miles for 20,000 pts.and the ability to use with all the airline. (I don't know of any other card that will do that for such a small annual fee) I do wish however, that American Express had wider acceptance like VISA or MC.Too bad the Saving Bond perk is ending - that has helped me out a lot in accuulating miles. This year alone, I've been able to accumulate enough miles for Business and/or First Class Awards (for 2) to Tahiti,& Australia,& Thailand and am now in the process of booking to Osaka...IT's a lot of work to keep track of all the cards and bonus promotions - but it does pay off in the end. Good luck and happy spending and here's to more Double and Triple mile promotions!