I'm new to all this, and am looking for some friendly advice from mileage uers.

I'm thinking of replacing my primary credit card with one that offers free miles.

My wife and I don't travel a ton, but we would like to start going on a couple of domestic and international trips a year.

Is my thinking correct in that getting a credit card that earns miles, we will be able to do this??? Is it as legit as it sounds?

United offers 20,000 miles just to sign up. The only down side to this that I can see is the high rate (14.94%) and annual fee ($60). Am I missing something???

Also, could any of you tell me what the true downside is to using free miles earned on your credit card to travel? Is it more difficult to get tickets?

For example:

My wife and I want to revist Scotland, but we don't want to pay the $1700 for airfare that we did the first time around. Denver to Scotland is about 5,000 miles. So my wife and I would use 10,000 of our miles to get their and pay nothing? or just taxes? Is this a viable way of going about this???

Please help. I'm new to this idea and it all just sounds too good to be true.

Welcome to Flyertalk.

This thread probably belongs in TravelBuzz, but one of the mods will have to move it.

You're not missing anything regarding the United MIleage Plus Visa card.

The miles you earn from the credit card are no different than the ones you earn when you fly when it comes to redeeming awards. However, only flight miles count towards elite status each year.

In regards to getting free tickets, it all depends on supply and demand. The route you want and whether you're traveling during peak season will also make a difference.

By using FF miles you will earn no miles in return. Some on Flyertalk prefer to pay for a ticket and then use the miles to upgrade or certificates. However depending on the route some would rather burn the miles to fly in first class if you're on a 3 class airplane going somewhere far (i.e. SFO-SYD).

Unfortunatey awards aren't booked on a 1:1 ratio. You need to check with the carrier's award chart to see how many miles it will cost you for a ticket. If you're planning on going to Europe from the US, Awards on United start at 50k for coach and go up to 100k for first.

If awards were redeemable on a 1:1 mile rato, given some of the mileage balances I've seen on some people's accounts, they'd be traveling for free for the rest of their lives.



[This message has been edited by kluau88 (edited 06-03-2003).]

Thanks for the input.

So you are saying that although the deal says 20,000 free miles, the airline could say that 4 of my free miles actually equals 1 real mile. In that sense, I would have only 5,000 actual miles. Am I understanding correctly.

Thanks again for helping me out.

Calzone,

I responded to you in MileBuzz before I saw this post.

Just so you know, it is frowned upon to post the same request/information in two different forums.

The community forum is for "get togethers" and other general community gatherings.

Again, welcome to FT.

William

Sorry, didn't know where to put my inquiry.

Once again, thanks for the help.

calzone, welcome to FT and thanks for your understanding in helping our many forums to stay on the appropriate topic. Thanks to the experienced posters for offering advice and help. I'll close this now and it can be continued in the other, more appropriate area.
Ocn Vw 1K - Moderator, Community