Cards to build up miles for future use
May 17, 2012 | 11:21 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 8
Cards to build up miles for future use
Hi, I am a new member and this is my first post. I would like to get a couple of credit cards to build up some miles to use in the future for travel to Europe, Mexico and S. Pacific out of PDX. We plan to retire in 6-7 years and want to stack up some miles to have on hand. My hubby currently has only a B of A Alaska card, and I have no cards in my name. We both have excellent credit scores. He travels quite a bit for his job and has a monthly spend amount of about $4-5K. Where to start? There is so much info out there and it is very confusing to me 
Thanks a bunch!
Thanks a bunch!
May 17, 2012 | 11:54 am
#3
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Las Vegas since 11/2023
Programs: No status anywhere anymore, it was fun while it lasted
Posts: 4,648
I would suggest the following:
a) For your primary spending card, use a Chase or Amex card. These will accrue miles that can later be transferred to a variety of partners.
b) In addition, rotate through and get the bonuses on cards from all the other partners. A couple of USAir cards here, a couple of United cards there.
Keep in mind that many airlines require some activity to keep the account open. It's not that hard. For example, USAir requires one activity every 18 months, so you can do an exchange on points.com (terrible conversion ratios, but so what if you're converting 6 miles from another program to 1 USAir mile, just to keep it active). You just have to keep in mind to do it.
Given your time frame, and the fact that you don't sound like you plan to use many of the miles before retirement, you probably have time to cycle through the partners more than once.
Also do remember that the awards can be and are devaluted. As an example, Air Canada had some very favorable rules on international travel, but then started charging "fuel surcharges" on almost all their partners.
Personally I'd suggest the Amex Preferred Rewards Gold as your primary card. $175 fee (waived first year), 25K signup bonus (not that great), but 3x on airfare, 2x on gas/groceries, and 15K bonus when you spend $30K in a year. You might also get a Chase Freedom (which does not allow travel partner transfers) and use their rotating bonus categories, then later on get a Sapphire Preferred and now you can transfer the points to travel partners.
a) For your primary spending card, use a Chase or Amex card. These will accrue miles that can later be transferred to a variety of partners.
b) In addition, rotate through and get the bonuses on cards from all the other partners. A couple of USAir cards here, a couple of United cards there.
Keep in mind that many airlines require some activity to keep the account open. It's not that hard. For example, USAir requires one activity every 18 months, so you can do an exchange on points.com (terrible conversion ratios, but so what if you're converting 6 miles from another program to 1 USAir mile, just to keep it active). You just have to keep in mind to do it.
Given your time frame, and the fact that you don't sound like you plan to use many of the miles before retirement, you probably have time to cycle through the partners more than once.
Also do remember that the awards can be and are devaluted. As an example, Air Canada had some very favorable rules on international travel, but then started charging "fuel surcharges" on almost all their partners.
Personally I'd suggest the Amex Preferred Rewards Gold as your primary card. $175 fee (waived first year), 25K signup bonus (not that great), but 3x on airfare, 2x on gas/groceries, and 15K bonus when you spend $30K in a year. You might also get a Chase Freedom (which does not allow travel partner transfers) and use their rotating bonus categories, then later on get a Sapphire Preferred and now you can transfer the points to travel partners.
May 17, 2012 | 12:01 pm
#4
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: ORF
Programs: Amex Plat, AA, BA Silver, Marriott Plat, Choice Gold, HHonors Gold, IHG Diamond
Posts: 3,860
Welcome to FT! Just a quick point: although you can stack a lot of miles over the next 6-7 years, keep in mind that airlines tend to readjust their programs every so often, and generally more frequently than every 7 years. As a result, goals you might think you've reached may suddenly become out of reach again because of a devaluation of a FF program.
In regards to cards, you're probably in good shape since you haven't touched the big three of Citi, Chase, and Amex. You can get AA cards through Citi, UA and BA cards through Chase, and Delta cards through Amex. A credit card for US is available through Barclay's. Look to the MilesBuzz and Credit Card forums here at FT for more information on these cards.
Another set of cards are good because of the flexibiity they offer. The Amex Premier Rewards Gold Card and the Chase Sapphire Preferred earn points in their own proprietary programs that can then be transferred to a number of airline and hotel partners (UA/BA/Hyatt, amongst others, with the Chase card; BA/Delta/Choice, amongst others, with the Amex cards that participate in their Membership Rewards program). One more card in this genre is the Amex Starwood card which primarily earns points with the Starwood hotel group (Sheraton, Westin, W Hotels, and others) but also has a very favorable 1:1 transfer ratio to a number of airlines--with a bonus of 25% for transfers made in blocks of 20K SPG points. MilesBuzz and the Credit Card forums can keep you up to date with the best offers for these cards as well.
In addition to the SPG Amex, there are many credit cards that offer hotel loyalty points that can be worthwhile, especially if you and your husband can open individual accounts to double up on your earnings (of course, the same principle applies to airline FF programs). After all, once you've flown somewhere, you'll need to stay somewhere. It's worth some time to review the individual hotel forums here at FT for the programs you're interested in to learn about their strengths and weaknesses.
As I mentioned, time can work against you to some extent given the changes that any of these programs may make over the time frame you're looking at. On the other hand, you have plenty of time to prepare and gather miles/points. I'd use the time to get acquainted with the various programs and credit card options (you'll be amazed how many credit card offers discussed on FT are much better than the offers you'll receive in the mail or see on TV ads). You'll get a better feel for which airline programs will work for you best out of PDX as well. No reason to jump into applying for cards when you can take a little time to do research to find the mix of airlines/credit cards that will help you get where you want to go.
If you get really serious about collecting miles/points, reading FT will become a regular hobby, but I guarantee you, it's well worth it. I started here just a little less than two years ago with the goal of lining up enough miles to do an airline trip to Scotland in first class in 2014. I blew past that goal over a year ago, and now find many different ways to earn miles/points that I wouldn't have considered several years ago.
In regards to cards, you're probably in good shape since you haven't touched the big three of Citi, Chase, and Amex. You can get AA cards through Citi, UA and BA cards through Chase, and Delta cards through Amex. A credit card for US is available through Barclay's. Look to the MilesBuzz and Credit Card forums here at FT for more information on these cards.
Another set of cards are good because of the flexibiity they offer. The Amex Premier Rewards Gold Card and the Chase Sapphire Preferred earn points in their own proprietary programs that can then be transferred to a number of airline and hotel partners (UA/BA/Hyatt, amongst others, with the Chase card; BA/Delta/Choice, amongst others, with the Amex cards that participate in their Membership Rewards program). One more card in this genre is the Amex Starwood card which primarily earns points with the Starwood hotel group (Sheraton, Westin, W Hotels, and others) but also has a very favorable 1:1 transfer ratio to a number of airlines--with a bonus of 25% for transfers made in blocks of 20K SPG points. MilesBuzz and the Credit Card forums can keep you up to date with the best offers for these cards as well.
In addition to the SPG Amex, there are many credit cards that offer hotel loyalty points that can be worthwhile, especially if you and your husband can open individual accounts to double up on your earnings (of course, the same principle applies to airline FF programs). After all, once you've flown somewhere, you'll need to stay somewhere. It's worth some time to review the individual hotel forums here at FT for the programs you're interested in to learn about their strengths and weaknesses.
As I mentioned, time can work against you to some extent given the changes that any of these programs may make over the time frame you're looking at. On the other hand, you have plenty of time to prepare and gather miles/points. I'd use the time to get acquainted with the various programs and credit card options (you'll be amazed how many credit card offers discussed on FT are much better than the offers you'll receive in the mail or see on TV ads). You'll get a better feel for which airline programs will work for you best out of PDX as well. No reason to jump into applying for cards when you can take a little time to do research to find the mix of airlines/credit cards that will help you get where you want to go.
If you get really serious about collecting miles/points, reading FT will become a regular hobby, but I guarantee you, it's well worth it. I started here just a little less than two years ago with the goal of lining up enough miles to do an airline trip to Scotland in first class in 2014. I blew past that goal over a year ago, and now find many different ways to earn miles/points that I wouldn't have considered several years ago.
May 18, 2012 | 12:30 pm
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 8
Thanks for the responses!
Thank you for all the valuable information to everyone who posted a reply. I will do some more research on this site because there is a whole lot of great stuff here! I will probably start with just a couple of cards that would be valuable in the short term and not worry about accumlating FF miles in great numbers at this time. A few trips a year is about all we can manage right now with work schedules anyway. cheers!