PleasurePoints

I was just curious if there were any credit cards being offered at the moment that rewards flyer miles without charging you an annual fee. I've been using cash back rewards without an annual fee now for years, but i would like to also take advantage of flyer mile rewards. On nerd wallet i was only able to find free cards that rewarded you with welcome bonuses in flyer miles, then gave you cash back which i don't need.

Thanks

84fiero

Welcome to FT.

There aren't too many that are permanently no annual fee, but there are a few - typically they have a very small or no welcome bonus though. A lot more can often be found with no annual fee during the first year only, which (with some caveats) you can cancel or sometimes product change to a lower- or no- annual fee card before the first instance of an AF being charged. Not that paying an AF is necessarily bad - you have to consider the value gained from the card (welcome bonus, ongoing mileage earning, other card benefits such as free checked bags, etc) in light of the AF. If you could provide some more detail as to desired airline(s) and travel patterns (domestic, international, etc.) we could have more specific suggestions.

SanDiego1K

Take a look at Chase Freedom and Chase Freedom Unlimited with which you earn Ultimate Reward points. I've copied the following information from Frequent Miler's blog.

guv1976

I was under the impression that UR points earned on Chase Freedom cards cannot be transferred to FFPs unless one also holds cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Sapphire Reserve -- both of which have annual fees.

bosman

Duke787

That is correct.

Must have CSP or CSR otherwise the UR is not transferrable to FFP.

sdsearch

There's a also a Delta Blue card that has no AF.

There's also two Amex cards that allow transfers to certain airlines that have no AF: The Amex Everyday cards and the Amex Blue for Business card.

But the signups for these cards give much fewer miles than signups for cards that have annual fees. So you have to do the math, because getting many more signup miles with an annual fee card may more than pay for the annual fee for a year or two. (And some, though not all, annual fee cards don't bill the first annual fee until one year out.)

PleasurePoints

Yeah i did the math on the mile up card and it would take you tens of thousands of dollars worth of spending to cover flights to countries that aren't terribly far away, and the technicalities concerning transferability make me dis-interested. If I can't put money towards hostels, which cost a fraction of the hotel rooms that are elgable for the points, then that limits where i can travel. The sapphire blue card was appealing to me because there are no foreign transaction fees. I haven't studied all the details but it appears that you only benefit from travel rewards points if you absolutely love luxury, which is cool and all but I'm comfortable with traveling to third-worldy countries and being cheap. Of course, there are all sorts of considerations to take in when leaving home, which is why I'm cool with credit card companies paying me to spend money with cash back rewards. The citi double cash is the best one I've found so far, you end up getting 2% once you pay your bill, which is a higher return than some investments. I like traveling so i will definetly look at all recommendations.

84fiero

No, not at all. Lots of people redeem miles for economy flights...it still saves money on airfare - sometimes quite substantial savings. That's not to say it's always best to use miles vs. paying cash for a given trip, especially if you have a better use for those miles on a later trip, but miles aren't just for luxury. My own travel is a mixture of economy and business/first...and a mixture of mileage redemptions and cash tickets - depends on the situation (including what's available).

You also want to look at welcome bonus earnings compared to ongoing, everyday earnings, on the different cards. Some cards are great for the initial bonus, but not worth keeping long-term for daily spending - and vice versa - but both have their role in a good strategy. Similarly, bonus categories (e.g., 3x miles on gas stations) come into play. In general (always exceptions), annual-fee cards will have better welcome bonus, benefits, or ongoing earning rates than no-fee cards, which is why you shouldn't dismiss annual-fee cards (in addition to the fact that some will have special offers waiving the first year fee). In other words, what you get in return for the annual fee can represent a benefit and savings to you far in excess of the fee - but you need to evaluate the offers and see.

Your travel patterns are a factor, too. For someone mostly flying domestic economy, for example, they may get more benefit from a cashback card over the long term. Yet they could still reap savings from an occasional large welcome bonus on a miles-earning card. Whereas someone wanting to fly on an international route with expensive cash fares even in economy, will spend forever earning that ticket with a cash-back card.

So I'd just say spend some time learning what's out there, how the different mileage programs work, what CC offers are available, and what works for you.

beachmouse

While the sign-up bonus is typically pretty modest, I've had good luck with the no annual fee AmEx Everyday card when it comes to internal promotions and their new ebates.com partnership when it comes to racking up the Member rewards points or high value statement credits. I think it's really the only no fee card with the big fat list of useful transfer partners, and there's typically a bonus period every year when you're get a 25-40% . bonus when redeeming for Avios or Flying Blue miles or such

I live in a region with typically expensive cash rates for plane tickets due to lack of competition on routes where I want to go. I redeem for coach tickets and typically do get the 'good value' out of them of 2 cents a mile or better.

beckoa

Welcome to Flyertalk @PleasurePoints.

Please follow the redirect as we relocate your query.

~beckoa, co-moderator Information Desk

(mod hat off: I have over time decided to downgrade some of my airline cards to fee free versions after a year when offered; keeps the account open for average age of accounts and credit lines- but YMMV if this is a good strategy for your situation)

javabytes

PleasurePoints

it's all a matter of utility and taste, if you travel a lot internationally then you would definitely benefit from an airline miles card. Some of them don't charge overseas transaction fees which are a big long term win for your wallet. The blue delta sky miles card will be nice when i plan my next trip, they give you 10k miles for only spending $500 in three months. Everyone spends that much money in 3 months, even homeless people.

But yeah cashback rewards are the most universal, which is why people everyone who can should exploit them.

mia

These two cards are very very similar, but you have reached opposite conclusions. Why?

PleasurePoints

actually they are practically the same, i just didn't realize American Airlines AAdvantage mileup card had the same sign on bonus. Whelp, this is why im here, asking questions tends to help clarify things for me...