EhsunYazdani

I posted this on another thread however I think this thread fits the post better:

Hey guys! I recently joined the AA frequent flyer and looked at the credit card options. The only one that works for me is the Starwood Amex. However I want something more prestigious such as the Preferred Rewards Gold Amex or the Platinum Amex. Should I switch to delta to be able to transfer with Membership rewards ? Or should I just stick with SPG and AA? My departing airports are : SAN, LAX, JFK.
Thanks!

guv1976

On what routes, and in what class of service, do you hope to redeem your miles? Amex MR points transfer to BA; BA Avios offer very good value for short- and medium-haul redemptions on AA nonstop flights.

guv1976

For redemptions other than short- and medium-haul nonstops, Amex MR points also transfer to Etihad, which is also an AA partner.

CommentatusMaximus

What do you mean by "prestigious"? IMO, go for the one that earns you the most benefits minus annual fee. Unless you're carrying a Black Card, nobody really cares.

EhsunYazdani

Mostly domestic routes but I want to transfer mainly to AA and redeem off AA for more flights

True, but I want a card that’s metal and nice looking so when I pull it out people notice it.

sdsearch

People notice the AA card because they can't find the account number (it's on back instead of the front).

People noticing a card IME just slows things down. It doesn't get you anything. Most people you hand your card to don't know enough to be impressed, just confused or at best curious.

You want to earn less of what you want just so you can show a metal card???

The SPG card is likely to go "poof" about a year or so from now. In case you haven't heard, Marriott and Starwood are merging, and it's not yet been announced how the merged program will work (in terms of airline transfers or anything else), and who the credit card provider(s) for the new program will be, but Marriott is the far bigger program of the two, and it currently has a close relationship with United, not AA. So I wouldn't count on the SPG card necessarily being good for AA earnings a year or more from now.

If you really want AA earnings long term, your banks are Citi and/or Barclay.

EhsunYazdani

Dosent the PRG Card have better earning rates? And you get $100 airline credit

mia

Why not use one of the AA cards issued by Barclays or Citi?


When you spend $20,000 with the SPG card you receive 20,000 Starpoints which converts to 25,000 AA miles (more if there is a transfer bonus).

When you use the PRG card you earn more than one point per dollar in some categories, but you need to estimate what proportion of your spending would earn those bonuses to see if you would average 1.25 points per dollar or more.

The SPG annual fee is $95.

The PRG annual fee is $195 with a $100 airline credit. Net $95.

EhsunYazdani

I’ve heard the SPG cars might be falling apart soon. Is there any AA card that is metal yet?

mia

The Citi Executive MasterCard has a metal core that gives it a higher weight. See THIS post. Note that the annual fee for this card is $450 because it includes an Admirals Club membership.

guv1976

If you want to redeem for primarily domestic routes on AA, why do you want to redeem only AA miles for those flights? On many such redemptions, BA Avios will yield better value. Plus, with BA Avios redemptions on AA: 1) there is no $75 close-in award-booking fee; and 2) if you need to cancel the award trip and redeposit the Avios, you merely forfeit $5.60, instead of having to pay AA $150 to redeposit AAdvantage miles.

EhsunYazdani

Thats true however I already have some miles with AA and since I don’t live in the UK there may be ways it could get complicated. Also I use AA dining which BA dosent have

guv1976

So what? Lots of us who live in the U.S. and rarely, if ever, fly BA collect BA Avios. There's nothing to prevent you from collecting both AAdvantage miles and BA Avios, and then using whichever "currency" is most useful for a particular redemption.

EhsunYazdani

So based off what you’re saying I should stick with both AA and BA but primarily BA and get AMEX MR card?

sdsearch

Or neither, given this:
If you don't have experience already redeeming for AA domestic flights from where you're based, don't assume it's easy! Perhaps it's easy from some cities to some other cities, but if it's not easy from the city you're based in to where you want to travel, what good is it to you that it's easy for someone else based somewhere else?

At LAX, any flights that are expensive domestically (such as holiday travel) I never find "saver" award availability for any more (I did until a few years ago). Any flights which are cheap, I just pay for the flight with money, it's not worth trying to see if an award is available (which it usually isn't).. I only find availability for AA miles from LAX when I look for partner flights (which after the end of this year, when they sever most of their partnership with Alaska, will mean only international flights).

So take with a grain of salt recommendations for this or that kind of "great value" redemption from someone lives on the other end of the country from you.

Based at LAX, I find Avios useless for me (since they devalued longhaul business class redemptions on partners a couple years ago). This nonstop stuff doesn't work for me because any nonstop flights which aren't super cheap to begin with tend to have no "saver" availability when I want to fly. And you can only use BA Avios when AA has "saver" availability on that route.