I was wondering if there was a "best" airline affiliated credit card for the purpose of earning EQM miles? i.e., is there any credit card that doesn't cap you out at 10,000 EQM miles annually? (I've a while reading the forums and haven't come across any--but I figure it doesn't hurt to ask in case I missed a thread)

Re credit cards, earning EQM on an annual basis is the biggest draw for me (versus, say lounge access or a 5K EQM one-time grant). I would like to sign up with an affiliated credit card and start using it for some amount of purchases each year, without planning to cancel it etc.

Re airlines, I will be focusing EQM mile efforts on CO, UAL and AA. So I am hoping one of these guys has a great credit card program that I missed (although I don't expect this to be the case). Alternatively, if someone else has a great card program, I'd consider racking up points on that respective card instead.

I currently have Amex Gold and charge 75K a year to it annually. I am figuring why just get regular miles if you can get EQM miles...

Thank you. (I apologize in advance if anyone feels I haven't done enough reading on my own; I've spent a few hours reading threads/browsing websites at this point.. but I am a newbie.. and have to google stuff like "RCC" "EQM" etc.)

Welcome to FT, shanshan. This has to be the most polite posts I've read . I can't answer your question ( I know of no CC than can give you more than 10K EQMs but that doesn't mean there aren't any) but it might be helpful to use the FT GLOSSARY to check things like EQM, RCC, etc. It's quicker than googling.


Bobette

I know the United Chase credit card you can get 5000EQM by trading in something around 50000miles, IMHO I would rather do an MR than trade in that many miles. I do not think the AA card offers any way to get EQM's.

It doesn't help you for CO, UA & AA, but DL's affiliated AMEX is the champ for earning elite miles. With 75K in annual spending you could earn 20 - 30K in EQMs (actually MQMs in DLspeak) depending on what you're willing to spend in annual fees. Search the DL forum for Platinum AMEX or AMEX Reserve.

Thank you for the help. The glossary has been very enlightening! The "*a" is genius!

Its a shame that UA/AA/CO have such tight limits on their cards. I may end up lifting the UA Economy+ card to get access to economy+ seating while I build up my status (which the card will marginally help achieving as well with 10K EQM).

Won't be going the Delta route, but that is indeed a tempting card for someone without status like me. I wonder if that card is a function of the deal's AMEX was able to strike while Delta/Northwest were in bankruptcy (AMEX had provided liquidity by pre-purchasing miles etc.). I guess UA didn't execute a similar deal while in bankruptcy.

Thanks again and Happy New Year!

I wouldn't say AA has tight limits on their cards. As far as I am aware it's the only program that counts total credit card spend towards lifetime elite status. Gold at 1MM and Platinum at 2MM.

I know you said you aren't focusing on Delta, but for your current $75K spend, that would get you the best bang for your buck in terms of EQMs. $60K spend on a Delta Reserve card gets you 30K EQMs (and another 10K the first year only, for 40K total, if you haven't had any of the Amex Delta cards before), plus the signup bonus RDMs and 30K bonus RDMs when you hit the 60K, amongst other perks (lounge access, free companion cert, status level tiebreaker, etc.) Hefty annual fee involved, but well worth what you get for it. I assume you aren't leaning towards Delta because they might not serve your home airport well or at all, but if thats not the case, then maybe a reason to reconsider.

Another thing about the Amex DL cards is that they come in various flavors, allowing you to effectively avoid the "cap" you mentioned by obtaining several and distributing your spending amongst them. Though you have to spend $220K annually in total to do it, you can get 100K annual EQMs for it.

Thank you very much. I will indeed reconsider this. I am moving to Orange County area. Once I arrive, I will see if folks there fly Delta/NWA often. I am under impression they do AA/UA and I will need to join them on flights. I'll be doing mainly SNA/NYC flying. Some SNA/DCA for which I think Delta/NWA would be a decent option. At worst case it will allow a backdoor into a different airline alliance program. I haven't had any affiliated credit card before.. only have the regular Amex gold card right now.

Others here could better comment on your routing concerns, but if it turns out to be something that works for you, note that if you fly Delta moderately (say, 50K BIS miles annually) *and* are able to earn hefty EQMs (MQMs with Delta - Medallion Qualifying Miles) via the Amex cards, you might be able to secure their top of four standard elite tiers (Diamond Medallion, at 125K MQMs). This would afford you benefits you probably wouldn't get by coupling moderate flying (again, say 50K BIS miles) on some of the other airlines with the more limited (and in some cases, nonexistant) EQM earning opportunities via credit card.

Just to make sure the newbie doesn't get too excited over what AA calls "Gold"... It's just any other US carrier's Silver, but it is nice that all program miles count toward MM.

FWIW Amex is offering a French FB Gold card for which every EUR spent brings you 1 Flying Blue EQM. To my knowledge, that is the only card (at least in Europe) offering EQM. Spend 40,000 EUR and get FB Gold, i.e Skyteam Elite Plus.

Only requirement is a French bank account (easy to get) and a FB account.

Good point, but not every other carrier calls it "silver," either. The important message is that there are no universal standards for elite tier names. BA's Gold, for example, is all the way at the other end of the spectrum; well above most U.S. carriers' Gold levels. And what is one to make of names like "Chairman's Preferred" or "Premier 1K?" Lufthansa's three tier names, "Frequent Traveller" (often used elsewhere as a generic term for any member), "Senator," and "HON Circle," mean nothing to me. And what of Air New Zealand, where "Gold" and "Gold Elite" are different? We have to take each airline's naming scheme as it comes, and not be confused when two of them happen to use the same term. The likelihood is that they use it to mean different things.

We can probably assume the OP is in the U.S. given his mention of UA, CO, and AA, and among U.S. carriers in the 15 years I've been a hard-core mileage addict, AA is the only I can think of which called their 25k level Gold...