Hi,
I'm a new flyer wannabe. I want to start with a conservative plan to start accumulating miles on a credit card. I don't spend that much but I'd like to earn miles with what I do spend. The information on the in's and out's of credit cards and airline programs is overwhelming and I don't know where to start. Can someone give me a quick and easy way to get started. I need to make a few hundred dollar purchase in the next few days and would like to start accumulating miles for this. I don't have an airline preference. Most of my flying would be domestic US.

Thank in advance for your help!

PS I have good credit.

:-:

1) Where do you live (i.e. which airlines serve your home airport - if NW doesn't serve your airport, then you may want to consider a different airline)?

2) You're not going be approved for a credit card in the next few days to be able to put your purchases on it.

3) Sign up for multiple when they have promos & bonuses - there's a 20K UA card for $60; an occassional 15K-25K DL Amex (25K based off of spending - they've had a promo for this for the past 2 years) for $85 - those are the best opening promos, I think. Also, the SPG Amex is a great card to have to b/c you can transfer over 20K & get 25K or if you do it when BA has their double mile promo, 20K SPG = 50K BA.

4) Check out www.freefrequentflyermiles.com - pgary's site for a lot more info & strategy.

5) Welcome to Flyertalk!

Thanks!

[Complete aside: I don't know what all the acronyms mean. Is there somewhere I can go to find out?
UA - United Airlines?
DL - Delta?
SPG ??
BA - Bank of America?
]

I don't mean to be difficult , but is there some way to settle down with just one credit card? (I don't need to make a billion miles, and I'm not sure I have the time to keep up with all the deals.) If not, how does one shuffle them? Sounds like there's some really complicated strategy.

I live in Tucson, Arizona. NW (Northwest?) does serve Tucson but I don't understand why you ask that. Do they have some great credit card or something?

Thanks again!!

Which airline you select can depend on your home location. Example: folks in Dallas might go for the Citibank Mastercard that earns American Airlines points due to American having a major hub there. People in Houston might go for Continental's affinity card with Chase or American Express card (Green, Gold, or Platinum one).

You should consider which airline suits you based also on where you might want to go to determine who services that destination city. More flights for that airlines means more free ticket availability.

As mentioned, several credit card issuers are offering signup bonuses. If you do some research on this forum, you'll quickly begin to understand all of the acronyms.

Some folks limit themselves to one card if they don't use their cards too often and still want to earn enough to eventually get a free tickets. Those who can charge more might opt for two or more cards to gain flexibility. Most airlines offer partnerships with other airlines. Consider researching this.

Welcome to FlyerTalk, Patricia! Everyone here was new at one point, so I'd simply suggest reading as much as you can, as well as using the powerful Search commands. Also, there are some tools in the "Quick Links" menu above that you may find helpful, particularly the Glossary!

By the way, you're right about UA and DL being United and Delta. BA is British Airways [Bank of America might sometimes be referred to as BofA].

SPG is Starwood Preferred Guest, which is an excellent hotel loyalty program offered by Starwood, the parent company of such hotels as Westin and Sheraton. The SPG American Express is very popular among people here, as it has a low annual fee (free the first year, then $30/yr afterwards) and Starpoints (the program's "currency") can be converted into miles with most airlines at a favorable ratio (e.g., if you decide you need miles in your American Airlines (AA) account, 20,000 Starpoints can be easily converted into 25,000 miles on AA!). The hotel awards are very valuable in their own right, especially since there are no capacity controls or blackout dates!

Again, welcome, and happy travels!