1. BMI does not fly to South Africa. South African Airways does, but they are not full Star Alliance partners and you cannot do 'cash and miles' with them. You will probably end up going on Lufthansa, changing in Frankfurt or Munich.

Tickets to SA are hard to get, so book as far in advance as you can. Be prepared to book to Johannesburg if necessary and pay for your own flight to Cape Town.

2. You WILL get the 20k miles for the card. Sometimes they are very slow to post them, but you will get them - although you may need to hassle!

3. Your parents CAN apply for a card but the miles will go into a DC account in their name. HOWEVER .... there is nothing to stop your parents from each redeeming 18,750 miles for a one-way ticket for you and your girlfried from London to Cape Town, and then you using your own miles to redeem for a one-way from Cape Town to London!!


Back to the OP: Welcome to FT! As far as having two cards goes: I got the free card and was then turned down for the premium '£60 fee' card. Others on FT have successfully rung MBNA and had this decision reversed by offering to split the credit limit from the first card across both cards. I took the other route, which was to cancel my free card, wait a few months and then reapply for the £60 card.