There's a lot easier way to get miles to keep everything active then applying for a CC, especially if you don't actively want miles to use immediately. There used to be a thread somewhere with the cheapest or easiest ways to get them, for example. Even earning or using 1 mile will keep all of those 20,000 active for another 18 months. a few ideas:
- Log into the MP shopping portal and buy something: if you want cheap, a $1.29 iTunes song will earn you a mile or two (can't remember exactly); if you want something you are buying anyway, there are tons of stores in there and surely one you use for stuff you need - for example, if you have an HP printer, the HP store earns miles for cartridges, GroupOn is in there if you buy vouchers, etc. from them, and drugstore.com has stuff everyone uses, etc. You can look up stores by name/category, so see where you normally shop and see if those places are there
- Donate some miles to an org in need that MP partners with, or have a family member transfer a minimum amount of miles to you (or vice-versa)
- You can use miles for a newspaper/mag subscription - perhaps not the best value of miles, but it will work
- Sign up for MP Dining, add your CC, and look up restuarants near you that participate - if you dine out even semi-frequently in even a mid-size city, there's bound to be a couple that participate that you go to at least once in a while.