After taking a few int'l flights without FF miles or even a program, I finally wised up and started.

Currently, I am with United and the *A and have about 35K miles. I am also a HHonors member with about 35K points as well. This is my CC situation right now:

1. Miles Plus w/ United
2. HHonors visa (just arrived) 40K miles after $1K
3. Am Ex SPG (didnt come yet)

My strategy is to put one item on #3 and then convert it to my United miles with the 1:2 ratio. Question: the ratio would be 1:1 if I was to xfter the miles to say US Airways. Could I open up a FF US Airways acct and then afterwards xter the miles 1:1 to my already existing United acct, or can I not do that. I will get 10K points w/o any real spend on this card. Can miles from US AIrways get transfered to United?

I havent charged anything to #2. Is this card a good idea to have...what about the 40K points? Is that offer a pretty good offer? Is it ever a good idea to xfer the points with a 10:1 ratio to my United account?


Finally, I want to open up some other credit cards, but not sure when...how much of a hit will it give me if I open one or two more in the next month? I am thinking about the Sapphire Plus, but I will wait at least 1-2 wks for the spend to get down to 2K. Is this a good card to have...I then want to xfer to my United acct.

So basically, should I work on the HHonors card now to get the 40K miles or simply jump right into the Sapphire Plus card? Currently, all expenses (except gas which is on my 5% discover cash back card) is on the United Explorer card.

What about the HH card that gives you gold status, but no miles? It also gives you 2 wknd stays. I dont really know how much the gold status would help me since I prefer Hampton Inns (already has free BF and Internet) but I like the idea of the two free nights on weekends. Do you think this card is worth it w/o the miles?

Finally, what about other offers from say American Airlines? Should I only concentrate on one airline? I chose United since I booked my overseas trip a few months ago with a friend's FF miles, and it worked out very well for me, as I was able to travel for free, and the website is easy to use, and the dates for the trip seemed very wide open, so it sounds like a good program.

thanks!