evie

(is this a thread somewhere already?)
Hi everyone, I'm new to FlyerTalk and after years of wasting my purchases on non-mileage earning credit cards, I would love to know what people think is the best Airline Credit Card out there.

I'm thinking the United Airlines Card which will get me 15,000 miles upon my first purchase. Anyone know of any better deals?
Thanks!
Best, Evie

dldkjones

there's a 60$ fee for the UAL card. DL skymiles AMEX card can be had fee free for the first yr. (search DL/AMex boards re this) with 10K bonus miles on first use and double miles for a number of daily purchases like gas, groceries, drug stores, etc. Ccancel the card just before the first year ends and you avoid fees.

gleff

Nothing wrong with the First USA United Mileage Plus Visa. 15,000 is a good signup bonus. I have a card myself, and am availing of the double miles offer through the end of the month.

Several months back I nabbed a Northwest Visa when it had a 25,000 mile signup bonus -- the richest signup bonus I've ever seen. Unfortunately, the best offer right now on that card is 10,000 miles.

The card that I personally recommend for most situations is the Starwood American Express (the link is to a 10,000 point signup bonus offer, with 6000 with first transaction and 4000 from hotel stays). The reason is that Starwood points are great for hotel stays at nice properties and can be converted 1:1 into most airline mileage programs with two kickers -- they convert 2:1 into Qantas and Air New Zealand (!) and regardless of program for every 20,000 points you transfer you get 5,000 bonus points (which means you earn 1.25 miles/dollar on all purchases). The card has no fee the first year and $30 thereafter (compared to $65 with the United card).

Then, of course, you'll need a Visa because not everyone takes American Express. Since the Starwood Amex could be your primary card, you'll probably want a fee-free Visa to catch those other purchases such as the Hilton Visa.

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More Room Throughout Coach: the Website of Free Miles and Free Markets

evie

Thanks for the replies- Gary, love your website!

I guess I'll hunt around a little- i didn't know there were fee-free cards with bonus miles!
Anyone else with suggestions- thanks!

dwh

I have this MBNA Elite Rewards Visa card with no annual fee (you may have to cut-and-paste or type this URL into the address line of your browser if it goes longer than one line:
https://www.applyonlinenow.com/USapp..._MC=A0000004TN

It gives you a free ticket within your 'region' after spending $25,000, and a free ticket anywhere in the U.S. for $30,000 (see the terms at the website). I haven't used it for an award yet, but it should be a lot easier than getting a frequent flyer ticket!! I used to have an NEA TravelAwards card that gave free tickets east of the Mississippi for only $10,000 spent (or $15,000 nationwide), and I racked up a stack of tickets with that card, but they were paying the equivalent of 3% cash back and went bust!!!

Rut Dog

Many many threads. I use the Hilton Amex and Visa cards, and I've posted some of the details in the thread below, which is worth reading through.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum.../007259-3.html

sgopal2

gleff,

Thanks for the info on the NW worldperks card. I've read some of the rumblings on the NW board of difficulties in getting Bank USA to honor their bonuses.

Does anyone else have any tips/advice ?

pgary

I think my web site below lists all of the free ones that earn miles (please tell me if I missed any), and from time to time other not free ones, like the United 15000 miles up front one that I like very much. Click on Free Frequent Flyer Miles in the left menu, then on Credit cards in the top menu.

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The Personal Travel Experience of Gary Steiger - including how to get free frequent flyer miles on the web.

gsw

Evie, I guess that this goes without saying, but the best card for you is one that earns miles on your airline of choice. For examlpe, the UA CC bonus is outstanding, but it would not work for me b/c I have never flown on UA. I mostly fly DL, and the SkyMiles card has worked exceptionally well for me. Good luck.

RustyC

My credit union has a ScoreCard-affiliated points-based program ($1=1 point) and no annual fee. 20K points = ticket within 48 U.S. -BUT- value capped at $325 or you pay difference. Anything goes otherwise, though, so I always research sales & give 'em exact flights (that I already priced out) when booking. ScoreCard also has a USAir award for 48 U.S. at 25K with no fare cap.

The great thing about points-based programs is that the tickets they buy count as PAID tickets. So you earn miles and can get upgraded if it's on your main airline. A LAS trip a couple of weeks ago on a 20K award will earn me back about 11K miles, and I got to fly up front.

With awards to some places being hard to get, points prgrams also might actually be a better bet for getting a ticket. The downside is any ticket-value cap. I also don't like ones that have region restrictions like CapitalOne. They do it to try not to disappoint people with mileage caps, but I'd rather be able to pounce on a sale with it.

whlinder

My dad got an offer in the mail for a WorldPerks Visa that said it had no annual fee, ever. Would this be a first for travel reward programs? (I haven't opened it and explored the offer further)

Lindsy

I would also vote for the Starwood Amex, but I still have my BA Visa, which as far as I know is still (for however long) the only airline card that doesn't tack on the extra two per cent charge when you're traveling overseas. If you do a lot of foreign travel, that's definitely a factor.

Family flyer

Regarding the above, the NWA Visa is through US Bank, not Bank USA. I signed up through a promotion and received the miles quickly. I even got an extra 3K for using auto-pay.

As mentioned, the SPG Amex is a great first card because it's associated with many airlines and because of the 1.25 dollars-to-miles ratio.

After getting the SPG Amex, just get the Visa/MC associated with the airline you fly most. Don't bother continually signing up for cards and cancelling them. You've got better things to do with your time.

TTT103

DWH, can you tell me how the hotel portion of the Elite Rewards card works from MBNA. I am only interested in that portion of the card and I know it differs from the other travel rewards programs offered by MBNA. For 5,000 points can you stay at any of their hotels (i.e., Ramada, HoJo, Days, etc.) or are you limited to participating hotels only? I would love to be able to get the Ramada NYC for only 5,000 points.

magic111

My wife and I use airline cards for airlines that we do not normally fly. This way we have more than one option when we need an award. I rarely ever fly DL (except on awards) anymore but I do use the SkyMiles card and it has also worked well for me.
Up until recently I also used a BA visa as I have always used BA in the past to collect miles on those domestic airlines that I rarely fly and are partners with BA but not my airline of choice. I do fly BA occasionally (generally on intra-europe flights) so this card was quite useful on topping off my BA miles. After a dispute with FirstUSA though we changed from the BA visa card to the AA mastercard - once again to top off miles that we have in AAdvantage.
My wife and I are both elites with NW but carry no NW card.