New to forum. My husband and I are traveling to Europe in early Sept. I've been told to get a cc with airline rewards. I'm not a fan of cc, but have heard that it could get us 1 free flight if we do. However, I'm not sure if we should, or which one. Do I go with a general card with ff rewards, or an actual airline (like AA, United, or Continental) card?

welcome to ft quassie24....your question is very general & we will need more before any suggestions can be given out....

how often do you travel????
which airline or hotel do you often use????
where do you live????
how much are you looking to spend on the card????

the answers to these may help us help you a little better....

welcome to FT quassie24. saad has asked some good questions. I have also written two blog posts on how choose an Airline Miles credit card. You can read them here: http://boardingarea.com/blogs/unroad...t-card-part-i/

You might be better off with a credit card that doesn't charge foreign exchange fees which can run 2.5% of every purchase overseas (even the ones that the seller puts in dollars). Schwab has/had one as does Capital One. Schwab is 2% cash back (to your brokerage account) and Capital One has points that you can use for airline miles (I think, I don't have the card). I thought I saw something about a new hotel card that had no forex fees, but I don't remember whose it was.

Schwab has an ATM card that is fee free (and will refund foreign ATM fees if they are separately charged.) This is good for getting cash overseas.

If you want miles, look for a card that is offering a large bonus for sign up. Stay away from Delta--almost all their domestic flights are up to 40,000 miles per ticket (some are 25,000, but very difficult to find.)

AmEx might be a good choice. Their points are transferable for any airline, so you aren't tied to one carrier. Also, I've heard good things about the Starwood AmEx which allows you to transfer their points to airlines.

how often do you travel???? maybe 2-5 times a year
which airline or hotel do you often use???? southwest, delta
where do you live???? Kansas City
how much are you looking to spend on the card???? Prob around $2K for this trip. I can't find anything under $950 pp to Europe.

It seems AA, Continental, and KLM are the main airlines to travel to London and Rome.

Thanks for your blog link. I think the 3rd card is our best option, but since we start at 0, doesn't seem like it's a good idea for us either. We only travel 2-5 times a year, so not sure getting a cc is worth it.

It would be helpful if you explained your objection to credit cards, because it appears you are thinking of using the card only to buy airfare. The more usual approach would be to use the card to buy everything that you can year 'round, in order to accumulate a pile of miles or points which you then redeem for flights (or hotel stays).