Elkay21

Hi all! I'm a 20-something who loves to travel and wants to do more of it! I'm looking for advice about credit cards, airlines, and mileage programs that will help maximize my ability to travel for cheap. My go-to airlines have always been American and United, though not for any major reason. I do have a friend who is a pilot with PSA/partnered with American so when we travel together, it's almost exclusively on American. That's my only bias, I think. I'd love to fly first class some, especially long flights, but I'm fine in cattle-class too.

I currently have four credit cards and excellent credit:
1) An old card that I don't use, just keep open for longevity - no annual fee
2) Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select, everyday card - annual fee that I manage to get waived nearly every year
3) Chase Sapphire, some everyday use but mostly big expenses - annual fee
4) Cash rewards card through my bank, use for gas and groceries - no annual fee

My current mileage balances:
1) AAdvantage (American Airlines): 22K (just cashed in 35K for a trip last month!)
2) MileagePlus (United): 63K
3) Sky Miles (Delta); 7K

I've been using my Sapphire card to feed my bank of United miles and keep them from expiring. I'm hoping to use them for an Italy trip in 2019 (how many do you think I need?). Probably not the most efficient use of such a powerful card. How can I use it better, moving forward? I've also thought of cancelling it to save on the fee...? Any general advice? Tips or tricks? Thanks in advance!!

JPG3392

Others will be able to offer better advice regarding credit cards than I can, but I can comment on your hopes of using United miles for an award trip to Italy in 2019. I normally use my miles for travel between the USA and Austria or Germany, and have found saver economy awards more readily available using UA miles than using AA or DL miles. You should be able to find flights for 60k RT, especially if you're flexible about dates and destinations within Italy. Two points to keep in mind: 1) Summer is the high season for transatlantic flights, so if you're planning to travel in that period you should book your award flights as soon as possible. 2) Unlike many other airlines, UA permits one stopover on RT award travel at no extra charge, provided that certain requirements are met. For example, you could add a stopover in Munich or perhaps Vienna on your way to or from Italy (not both ways) without paying more than 60k.

Elkay21

Oh that's really good to hear! Both that UA has reasonable reward availability and that 60K will likely be enough. I've been a little worried about how many I would need, in the end. I'm probably going to avoid summer, if possible. I was thinking about Fall.

Could you perhaps tell me a little more about stopovers? I know I've read about them before. It's like an extended layover, right? What sort of time restrictions are there? No more than 24-48 hours? How do you find them and book them?

Thanks!!