Hey everyone,

Please, help me! I will keep it short as possible.

Based out of New York City (LGA, JFK). Go to LAX, and international (BOM, IST) few times a year.

Which is the best credit card loyalty program out there?

What I have right now:
United MileagePlus: ~17,000
Mariott Rewards: ~51,000
Emirates: ~12,000

I know this is broad but I am looking for an airline that bumps up, has great service, even if it's a little more expensive? I want to use an airline that is a solid legacy airline - and I can build more points faster with a credit card.

Thank you much for your help..

You have a lot to read and learn but I think a great card and airline to start with is United. There is a 55k United mils offer after only 1k spend available and there are a ton of options from NY. You can also consider American which has a couple good cards too. Review the two threads dedicated to the Chase United explorer card and the Citi 50k American Airlines Card

Thank you! I will brush up more.

Also, what do you think about the Gold Delta SkyMiles by American Express?

You could also look at the Chase Ultimate Rewards (UR) line of cards (there is info in the credit card spending forum). UR points can be transferred to United or Hyatt 1 to 1 based on when/what needed. They can easily supplement your United points.

CSP+SPG

Yea, I have been using the Chase Sapphire, but not SPG. How do both these cards compliment each other?

It's easy to get 135,000 AA miles (AA Visa Plat 50K, M/C Gold 30K, Biz 50K), and 35K future AA miles (USAir card). That's enough miles for a lot of fun, and worth getting even if you don't plan to buy any AA tickets. And since both UA and AA offer award one-ways, you get a lot of flexibility by collecting both.

SPG gives a 5,000 mile bonus when you transfer 20,000 points to airline partners - turning 20,000 points into 25,000 miles.

Hmm whoa! Never thought about it like that!

What is M/C Gold? And Biz? And one more stupid question, after opening all of these cards and funneling the points into our desired account - wouldn't that hurt our credit since we are opening (and consequently closing these cards)?

SPG is overrated. Valuable points, but hard to accumulate, so not the best program to get involved with. CSP is second tier.


I'd get Amex PRG and Chase Ink if I only had two cards and did judicious spend at certain stores. Those two cards alone could get you ~500K very valuable points a year with modest effort.

PRG gets 2x at grocery (very helpful based on recent developments) and 15K MR bonus on $30K spend. So can get 75K MR for $30K = 2.5 per $1 spend. For same $30K spend, best you could do is 1.25 per $1 on SPG (if you transfer). Plus PRG has bigger signup bonus offers.

Ink @ 5x is unmatched and is the creme de la creme in the CC world.

My advice is to prize UR and MRs over all other programs for their flexibility and bonus categories. Plus you won't suffer debilitating devaluations like those who focus on single programs (like Hilton and SPG members just suffered).

Thread transferred to Credit Card Programs, the best place to seek credit card "advice".

Lots of info and good reading over in milesbuzz, there's no reason to cancel until the annual fee comes due, and then they will often give you another year.
Links to applications for AA cards referred to are in this thread http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...nks-first.html. AA Platinum Visa and Visa Biz (business) in post #1, AA Gold Mastercard link is in post # 6064, PLEASE read at least the last 10 pages of comments. General consensus is to apply for Plat Visa, wait at least a couple days (or as long as you like) and apply for Gold MC, wait at least 65 more days and apply for Biz
You can search around here and credit card sites, as well as hundreds of blogs, for info on the effect to your credit score. Mine was ~830, and after 12 cards since January, it's around 750. So I'm going to take it easy for a while until it recovers.

Did you cancel them right away or waited a few months? Also, I'm just concerned waiting for the year to end and me forgetting and consequently being charged the annual fee.

Also, once you cancel can they revoke your points? (Do you need to call and find out or is there a page?)

Thank you so much, I'll read the reads and keep reading. What cards do you have?

This is a hobby that will take some time; I put a reminder in my calendar to cancel the card 11 months after application. When you call to cancel, they often offer you another year free, bonus points or statement credits to offset the fee. You can take their offer or go ahead and cancel. Note all the Citi AA cards are churnable every 18-24 months: you can get another card and bonus, even if the old one is open.

No, you won't lose airline miles. Credit Card CSRs sometimes say you can lose your points - which you can if you don't earn or use a mile for 18 months. Some cards keep your points from expiring, but you can pick up a few points from their dining, shopping programs, etc. and keep them alive. I would never let them get close to the 18 months. Bank reward points should be transferred or used before closing the card.

You may find some of the blogs listed here helpful in getting started : http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...lyer-blog.html. Most of the writers earn money if you use their links, so you can decide if you want to support them or use public links.

I am traveling with the wife and 2 boys, and find the best international availability on AA and UA, currently have a long weekend booked for August using Southwest points and companion pass (all earned without flying), and a 10 days in France, Italy and Switzerland in November. Now saving for Alaska Aug 2014 and New Zealand/Aus November 2014. So we have, between the 2 of us, 6 AA cards, 1 United, 2 Chase UR, 2 SW, 1 Frontier, 2 USAir, 1 AMEX MR, 1 SPG. All since December.

Yeah, I like this hobby! I'm starting to really get into it.

WAIT! you're saying I can apply for the Citi AA card every 18 months, and get another X miles and close the older card? Are there any other cards out there that are churnable like that?

So you're saying if there is any activity on the account the miles don't expire (buy some miles, redeem a gift card, etc)?