Originally Posted by
eugenetooms
Hello...I currently live on the west coast, but we (two adults & two kids) are planning to relocate to the NE coast early next year. I will need to fly back out to the west coast 3-4x per year, to visit aging family members/attend holiday gatherings/etc. We would ideally bring the whole family each trip. I'm really concerned about the cost of all this traveling. Can anyone recommend points programs/credit cards/airline passes, etc. that could make this more affordable? Would need to be with an airline that does coast-to-coast nonstop/1 stop flights (like JetBlue, United, Delta, etc.).
Thanks!
Welcome to FlyerTalk!
Which part of the East Coast, and which part of the West Coast?
There are a variety of credit cards that can be useful for this, and you (and your spouse) might want to get more than one to take advantage of generous sign-up bonuses. Some cards will give you miles; others will give you points that can be used as cash towards travel purchases; yet others will give you points that can be used as cash or converted to miles in some frequent-flyer programs.
If you're willing to take one-stop connections, AA can offer some very attractive mileage redemption rates between the NYC Metro area and SoCal. Here's one example:
Similar options from Boston to SoCal:
But you should not expect low redemption rates like that if you'll be traveling over peak-demand periods (like school holidays).
Here's a great deal for a credit card with a big AA miles sign-up bonus:
https://www.applyaviator.com/
Good luck!