Originally Posted by
Athena53
Yes, that's one way to do it (and it helped push me into Million-Mile status for Lifetime Gold before AA changed it to count only actual miles flown). Now, though, most of my spending goes on a Fidelity Visa- 2% cash back on everything and the cash goes straight into my travel budget, meaning I can choose whatever airline I want. I use dmy AA MC enough to get the sign-on bonus and now I use it only for gas, restaurants and airfares on AA, all of which give you 2 miles per $ spent. I look for the highest return on my credit card spending (I pay in full every month so don't care about finance and other charges) and airline miles generally aren't it.
There is a great value in that, not having to play tiddlywinks with your calendar to get flights. I generally try to look for 3%+ return when cashing in points for flights. I do use bonus offers and such to pad the account, but never buy just to get them. It also helps that my wife and I both have businesses and run a good part of them through credit cards.