I have spent 3 hours on this site and have learned a ton, but sometimes it's to much for specific questions that I have (while some of mine have been answered though)

Here is a brief history of my situation.

1. I signed up for Southwest Chase card and received a free RT. I am now up to 26 points, I do regret getting the SW card because I live in Lynchburg, Va with only AA and US-A servicing us.

2. I have a HH Silver card with 28,000 points and I'm some what happy with being only HH so I dont think I need a card that offers hotel rewards as well.

3. I will travel about 30 times a year (most of the time driving) on the company dollar so MAYBE a CC isnt the best answer but instead sign up for a free rewards program offered by airlines but I would be willing to sign up with AA or US-A CC if it would give me a lot of miles for signing up

Any ideas or things to do different would much appreciated. I do use the search function as much as possible to keep you guys from having to answer the same things over and over.

Anything else yall need to know please ask.

Thanks so much

For the driving travel that you do, is it with your own car and you get mileage reimbursement, or are you renting a car?

Others can probably opine better, but if it were me, and SW did not service my airport, I'd cancel the card after using up the free credits and go with an AA card. Since (a) making use of any rewards is going to be somewhat inconvenient and (b) you wont be flying them regularly enough to earn future rewards.

OK, so you are basedin Lynchburg VA, have limited air travel, mostly domestic, but significant car travel, and usually stay at HH where you are a Silver elite HH member, is that correct? When you say "I have a HH Silver card with 28,000" I take that too mean that you do not have a Hilton Credit Card, but rather that you signed up for the Hilton Honors loyalty program, and have achieve Silver elite status. If I am mistaken, correct me down thread. Some observations and recommendations:
1. As for you SW Chase card: yeah, probably not doing you any good since you on't fly SW much anymore, but maybe those 26 points will be worth something to you down the road.
2. Time to research a more suitable FF program, chosing between the two most available to you. Won't hurt you at all to sign up for both, but do some research and figure out which one best suits your travel requirements, and try to stay with that one.
3. Consider a credit card that benefits your new FFP.
4. If you like Hilton and it suits your needs, then look into the Hilton promos on the HH forum here. They have an ongoing method of fast tracking to Gold status. They, like most programs, also offer a branded CC (Hilton AmEx or Hilton Surpass AmEx), and using it in a Hilton hotel offers about the best return on investment out there.
5. Hilton does get a bit of negative press here on FT, particularly compared to SPG and Hyatt (the latter has all hte buzz lately it seems), but I like Hitons program, they have had excellent promos the last year, and despite the devaluation, I think you can still get excellent return on spending with the right CC and strategy

I rent and it's paid for by the company card. Good idea, I should do it before the $58 annual fee kicks in too.

Does AA offer good promotions a few times a year (like the free RT from southwest) or just sign up anytime for the card...you were talking about the CC from AA correct?

Thanks guys

I would second the idea of focusing on a hotel earning card. If you like the Hilton brand then definitely get one of their cards.

Once our weekly air travel ceased I started maximizing the Hilton points. I realized that I could stomach sitting in coach for 8-9 hours if I had to buy a coach ticket, but wanted to stay in a nice hotel for the 1-2 weeks holiday. I would rather hoard hotel points and get a free 1-2 week stay in a nice hotel.

Check out the Hilton forum here to see about a fast track to gold and info on the Surpass card and its' benefits.

Thank you, you are correct, only signed up for the free HH program.

Perhaps holding 2 CC's the Hilton CC and the AA CC.....I do revert back to my previous posts question though, is it worth holding out for a special promotion for bonus points/miles or do they not really do that. I will close out all the other cards I own (SW Chase, AMX Blue)


I do currently have both AA and US-A free FF programs....I think I'm up to 5,000 miles on US-A. I highly doubt that amounts to much!

I'm not a big fan of Hilton ... as their program seems to be in a lower class compared to Hyatt or SPG. However, if its suiting your needs, I wouldn't necessarily look to change right away.

I'd recommend the following-

1) Research both Hyatt & SPG, which are both more of 'luxury' brands. Better for resorts destinations, etc. If they have hotels in your preferred destinations, might want to consider switching down the road.

2) However, if you determine that Hilton is the right way to go, and its where you are staying on most of your visits, HHonors offers cards from both Visa & Amex. I believe they are similar, but you should look into each. Remember that Visa is more widely accepted than Amex, so if you plan to only have 1 card, that might be the better route.

3) I dont know what car rental company you're using, but that amount of rental usage should definitely warrant (a) signing up with 1 company and sticking to them and getting car upgrades, free rental days, etc. and (b) seeing what rental companies Hilton partners with so you might end up with some better deals, transfer points, etc.

4) American offers the Citi Mastercard and/or Amex with 25k sign up bonuses, with certain conditions. AA's program is generally regarded highly for award earning/redemption and ability to transfer to partner (both One World and codeshare) airlines.

Realistically, my general opinion is something along the lines of:

HHonors Visa Card from Citi
AAdvantage card from AMEX

or

HHonors card from Amex
AAdvantage card from Citi (Mastercard)

Depending on whether you are flying AA more or staying at Hilton's more, and how you are going to be using your cards (remembering that AMEX is not as widely accepted).