Originally Posted by ivysun99
Hello! I fly back and forward from Tampa to Seattle a lot, and was wondering which airline credit card I should get. I would like one that gives me free upgrade, Companion Travel Certificates, and etc. Could anyone please let me know?
Don't confuse the credit card with the airline FFP program.
No credit card that I've heard of gives you free upgrades.
It's only (certain) airline FFP programs that do.
But it so happens, some of the ones that do (like Northwest) are among the most uncomfortable in coach (at least for taller people), which may be where you have to sit until you fly 25k miles, which is the minimum (in a year) before you start qualifying for those free upgrades.
On AA, the upgrades aren't free, but exit row seats are. (But again, you've got to be elite to qualify. But at least at AA you can become elite through a Challenge -- lower number of miles in a shorter period -- which isn't available at Northwest.)
Meanwhile, whichever airline you choose, you have your choice of three to four credit cards: (1) The airline's own MC or Visa (or in the case of Delta AMEX). (2) Diners Club (a special type of MC). (3) Starwood AMEX. (4) With a few airlines (but neither AA nor NWA) generic AMEX.
The fact that Diners Club and Starwood AMEX appear for every airline (except Southwest, where only Diners Club applies, but since you can't EVER upgrade on Southwest I presume you're not considering them) is an important point: If you're not ALWAYS going to fly one airline, or if you're not able to decide upfront which one to commit to, with both these cards you can start earning now and choose which airline FF programs to transfer to later. (Same applies to generic AMEX, but only to a small subset of airlines in that case.)