united or lufthansa?
 

i want a star alliance card. i am a student with little credit history... any suggestions? (2 bucks for 1 mile thats united) sounds bad...

The FREE UA card gets a mile for every two dollars. The card with a fee gets a mile per dollar and has a 20,000 mile signup bonus.

There a fee free Lufthansa Visa with a 6,000 mile signup bonus.

Consider where you want to travel and compare the UA and LH *A award charts.

The United chart can be found here:
http://www.ual.com/ual/asset/MP_Star_Awards.pdf

Depending on the destination(s) and class of service you're looking for, one program may be superior to the other (I often find the UA award chart superior).

I don't know how tough it is (credit-wise) to get either of these cards.

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View from the Wing: A blog about Free Miles and Free Markets

Thanks alot for the reply. as im a student with very little credit, united mileage plus has turned me down many times. (I tried to get the regular card, not the student, and i knew my chances would be low) 2 bucks for 1 mile seems rotten and no signup bonus... the lufthansa card seems better as i get a bonus, and they seem to be accepting of students... 1 mile for 1 dollar and a signup bonus.... i like that... any other opinions?

i signed up for lufthansa.. i could only find the card with a 60 dollar fee, but thanks to your link...

If you have very little credit history and are a student, it will be hard for you to get approved. And, the more times you apply and are rejected your credit score falls even lower. Get the student card, suck up the low mileage earning rate for 6 months while you build a credit history - use your card every month and always pay on time. Then, after about 6 months of good behaviour, you can call and ask to be switched to the standard card.

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http://www.benjaminwagner.com
Great music!

Although there is no sign-up bonus for the United College Plus card, you do get a 10,000 mile bonus upon graduation. Perhaps you can consider it as a "post-sign up" bonus. Also there is a 2500 mile bonus for your first and third paid United round trips flown by July 2003, though I suspect the deadline will be extended (it was last year and the year before).

I've been very happy with the UA College Plus card, and I got all the bonuses including the graduation one without any problems.

Alex

I signed up for the Lufthansa card because i get a better earning rate for miles. They had a separate student section, so I'm thinking that getting the card shouldn't be a big deal. I've been using my AMEX blue for students since october and I haven't missed a payment yet. (knock on wood). If i dont get this card though, I'll be sure to sign up for United's student card. Thanks for the advice!

The LH card is from MBNA, which is quite friendly to students. FirstUSA is quite a bit tighter on credit.