pbenzon

Hi all,

I've had a Delta Skymiles AMEX for just over three years, and up until recently it's served me fairly well. But because of a few frustrating experiences with customer service and what seems to be a very decreased number of 25K mile flight redemption, I'm thinking it's about time to take my credit card/frequent flyer business elsewhere. I was wondering if the pros out there had any advice.

Here's my situation: I spend about $1500-$2000 a month on the current AMEX. Because of double miles, various bonus periods, etc., I've been able to get ~2 flights a year out of the card. Although it's starting not to work for me in terms of availability, I like the fact that I've been able to get fairly good turnover on flights, at least considering that fairly low spend, and I'd ideally like to duplicate that as much as possible.

I'm almost exclusively a domestic traveler, shop a lot a grocery/drugstore/gas, pay off my balance every month, and don't mind an annual fee if it doesn't kill me. I've been looking at a few cards to switch to: Citibank AAdvantage (I've gotten a few 20K signup offers in the mail), SPG AMEX, the various Citi PremierPass cards, and Capitol One. Anyone out there with advice about what might be best for someone in my situation?...Thanks...

Also, I've unfortunately let my renewal period pass by on my AMEX, so I've already paid the annual fee through next March, for what it's worth.

anaggie

Welcome to FT.....

Before I can suggest what you need, can you pls answer the following:

1) Do you fly a lot for work and then use the miles for vacation travel?

2) Can you consolidate the spend in to 1 card thereby increasing your spending on one card?

3) Do you care about elite status with the airlines? Do you have it now?

4) Are thesed redemptions primarily for vacations? And what about hotel points?

with these questions answered, you will get a much better response....

mia

Welcome to Flyertalk.

Delta has just emerged from bankruptcy. There has been a redemption frenzy due to the uncertainty. I would expect Delta award availability to improve, but not immediately because summer is peak travel season for families and people will have booked ahead while the Chapter 11 was still in process. When you have looked for award availability did you only look online, or did you call and ask about awards on Delta's Skyteam partners including Continental and Northwest?

If you change to Citibank AAdvantage you will still be tied to a single program. I seldom have trouble finding awards on AA, but we do not fly coach. You will also earn fewer miles because Citi only rarely offers more than one mile per dollar, they do not have "double miles for everyday spending" ongoing.

If you change to Starwood American Express you will be able to transfer to many programs, including AA and DL. This means you can find the airline which has award availability when you need it, and transfer after holding a reservation. Again, you will give up double points for everyday spending, but this is offset by a 5,000 mile bonus when you transfer 20,000 points in a transaction.

If you change to Citi PremierePass Elite you will be taking an entirely different approach. You will earn double points for everyday spending, and you will be able to multiply your points by flying. However, you will not be able to combine Thank You Points with any existing or future airline miles earned by flying. If you use Thank You's Fixed Flight Option you will be essentially guaranteed a ticket on the dates you want to fly (unless cabin sold out), but you will not necessarily fly the carrier, times or routing you prefer. In my judgement this is a low risk for someone who travels economy class within North America a few times per year and does not aspire to earn elite status on a specific airline.

pbenzon

1) Do you fly a lot for work and then use the miles for vacation travel?

No -- I travel rarely, and virtually never for business, so most of my points come from spending rather than flying.

2) Can you consolidate the spend in to 1 card thereby increasing your spending on one card?

As small as it may seem to some on here, the $1500 I mentioned (actually more like $1500-$2K) IS more or less my total monthly spend -- with the exception of a few local merchants that don't take AMEX, I put just about everything on that one card.

3) Do you care about elite status with the airlines? Do you have it now?

Don't have it and don't really care.

4) Are thesed redemptions primarily for vacations? And what about hotel points?

These points are mostly for vacation-type travel, but not always with dates that are all that flexible. As for hotel points, most of my travel is to see family and friends, so lots of free hotel stays isn't terribly valuable to me.

Thanks for your help and questions -- I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

with these questions answered, you will get a much better response....[/QUOTE]

anaggie

since you have do not care about status, the CITI AA card is of no use....

Dates are not all that flexible...again airline mile award tickets require award flexibility......so not a good option...so again a single airline card is of no use

family stays ... so no need for hotel points....

do not travel a lot, but neither do you spend a lot ---- so PP Elite and Chairman V2 is out

and the winner is......Regular Premier Pass ...earn 1 flight point per 3 miles flown, double point on everday spending, and the Thank You Network travel where you do not need to have flexible dates....

driftings

Having tried all 3 of the cards you're considering, I'd suggest only the SPG AMEX. With a 10,000 point initial bonus, first year fee-free and only $30 thereafter, you'll have the most flexibility with choice of airlines and receive a 5,000 mile bonus when transferring 20,000 points to whatever program you choose. In addition, you can transfer your existing credit line with American Express to the new card. Also possible that AMEX will prorate the fee you paid on their other card - you should ask when closing it.

Link:
https://www201.americanexpress.com/c...8153857805/0/n

Kagehitokiri

if you can fly Spirit, they have a $69 card with double points, and awards are only 15K (~3 per year possible)

otherwise definitely citi premier pass, since its free, and has double points.

Pizzaman

My vote would be for SPG Amex, since not only can you transfer to most airlines at a favorable rate, you can also use them to stay at Starwood properties during vacations if you so choose.

SPG also has a cool award called "Nights and Flights" where you can redeem 60K or 70K points for 5 nights in a hotel plus 50K airline miles.

pbenzon

Thanks to everyone for their responses-- foolishly, I had never thought of calling Delta for award redemption rather than looking online (guess I'm too tied to the web!!). Was able to find a 25K flight on Skyteam partners in a matter of minutes, which kept me from letting those miles gather dust in my Delta account if I leave. So my question is, why don't they list Skyteam flights in award travel listings? Is it just an information-sharing thing??

A question about some of the card discussion that's gone on above: do you get double miles on Citi Premier Pass regular, or just elite? With my low spend, that's one of the things that's really helpful to me.

Also, I notice that nobody has mentioned CapitalOne. One of the attractive things to me there is that (if I understand it right) you can redeem to buy a regular ticket with them, not just redeem for an award ticket -- it seems like that would give greater availability, more even than Starwood (which does seem attractive). Is that the case?

anaggie

GOOD LUCK WITH CRAP ONE !!!!!

pbenzon

Anaggie, when you say that Citi Premier Pass points don't transfer to airline programs, how do they work then? Is it just purchasing flights from a selection of airlines through their network? If so, you make that sound like a disadvantage -- why is that?

Kagehitokiri

citi's reward program is called Thank You Network. its a proprietary system. MUCH BETTER than capital one's.

merrill may be better in some respects, but it does not have double points. neither does starwood.

you do not need premier pass elite.

http://www.spiritair.com/welcome.aspx?pg=routemap
does Spirit fly out of/in to the places you usually fly?

mia

Citi's Thank You Network, Capital One, Merrill+ and some others are fundamentally the same concept. You accumulate points, they purchase a ticket when you choose to redeem. These are paid tickets, they do not come from "award" inventory controlled by the airlines. However, there are importat differences in implementation.

For example, both Citi Thank You and Merrill+ offer a ticket for 25,000 points. Citi gives double points for some categories, which means you can accumulate 25,000 points with less than $25,000 spending, while Merrill+ does not. Citi guarantees a ticket on the dates you want to fly (unless cabin 100% sold on every flight), but they can choose the carrier, routing and times that are least costly. Merrill gives a $500 allowance toward a ticket on AA, BA, CO or DL. This is almost alway enough to get a seat, and you can choose the carrier, routing, and times from whatever is available at that price. It comes down to your personal preferences.

It sounds as if double points for supermarket, pharmacy and gasoline contribute a substantial amount to your accumulation. If this is correct I would look for a Citi card that has that feature -and- is eligible for the Thank You Fixed Flight redemption option.

anaggie

not a disadvantage at all....go to the Citi Premier Pass redemption thread...and just look at the redemptions taken,...

awake

Citi PP Elite offers double points on drug/grocery/gas. If you want to juggle a few cards, consider Citi Diamond Preferred and Citi Professional (3 points on Restaurant/Car Rental/Office Supply spending). All of these cards have generous initial bonuses.