Which card to go with?
 

So I'm planning to apply for a CC which I could share with my wife and this way collect the miles.
I live in NYC, have Silver with StarAlliance (LH) 80k+ miles, status till 2014.
Also have ~10k miles with UA and ~16k with Delta.

I thought about going with some Chase offers, but after reading some threads here it looks like AA (with Citi) gives the most.

Ideally I'd like to stick with Star Alliance, but I'm open to the suggestions!

Why are you limiting yourself to just one card?

First of all, welcome to FlyerTalk. As others will chime in - in terms of your question, it depends!

It's kind of like saying I want to buy a house. What should I get. Wait a minute! Where do you want to live? Kids? Want or need a backyard? How do you feel about commuting? You get the idea.

Do you want points for flights, hotels or both? Do you want them for Economy air travel or Business/First Class? And what are your travel patterns and how do you see them evolving?

As for me, I generate a lot of points by using my cards for both personal and business expenses. I like to fly in the front of the plane. So my answers are just for me.

I have found the best all-around card is the Starwood American Express. I can convert to almost all airlines (United and Continental are possible but with a poor conversion rate) and get more miles than I would with an airline card.

I have also found it to be useful, however, for domestic coach since I can use it without converting to miles and just let Starwood buy me a ticket. I have had instances where Continental wanted 50,000 miles for a round trip while Starwood got me a revenue ticket for only 25,000 points. But as I said above, I usually save them for long-haul premium class travel. I have done well transferring the Starwood points to US Air during special promotions and have had some great trips. Finally, if you run limited dollars thru the card, you can get great redemptions from what they call Cash and Points for their hotel rooms.

In terms of another card, I think you will find that many on these boards have limited loyalty! We'll follow the latest promotion, use the card for a year and ditch it if something better comes along. I've been using the British Airways Visa since I got 100,000 miles free from them plus the Hyatt Visa since I have enough BA miles right now.

Read the boards and determine what is important to you. Good luck!

The Citi AA promotions right now are fantastic and I'd highly recommend reading through that thread to get some more info. PS, at 80k+ miles you shouldn't be attributing to LH, imo. This can get you gold *A status on a handful of other airlines allowing you to enjoy all the benefits that come with it. I presume you fly a lot of NYC-Germany considering you attribute to LH, but * Gold will give you many benefits that you'll be able to enjoy.

The Southwest free flight + $500 in gift cards to me is about the best deal going but many people hate Southwest (I like them out of Omaha).

A close 2nd or 1A for me would be the Citi AA with 75,000 free miles.

Those are the 2 I would do if I didn't care about who I flew with.

GL

If your wife has decent credit, she may want to apply for her own credit card(s), doubling your opportunity for signup bonuses.

That's true, I didn't want to go deep into details to discourage people from reading long story :)

I usually fly economy, but thought that have miles can either use them for upgrade to higher class or get an award flight, no?
Also I don't mind having a hotel card, I'm looking for something most beneficial here, since for example I don't always stay in Marriott.
If they're giving air miles too, I'm happy to hear that.
Great points with examples, thanks!
I would like to use our points/miles for vacations so flight + hotel if possible.

That's also true, however I thought that using one account with two CC assigned to it (one used by me another by my wife) would speed up the whole process of reaching certain number of miles since we're both collecting for that one - correct me if I'm wrong or there's better practice for couples.

I guess having multiple CC would affect my score? Not that I will need it soon, but I thought that banks would be careful seeing me carrying already X cards and wanting a new one.

I think so too, but I'd have to start everything from the beginning - is it worth it?

Yes I use to live in Europe so continued using this one, however 80k is my award miles not the status miles.

There are long haul flights and hotels coming this year + I would really like to make the money I (we) spend working for our vacation, that's why I asked here for help.
You guys are awesomely helpful and feel free to comment more if you think you know the better way.

If you are getting a card other than the Starwood and like the AA card it offers lots of free miles upfront, I second the idea of having your wife get her own card with her own bonus.

Concerning how many credit cars you can have for earning bonus miles, etc. I have 8 right now, and creditkarma.com says that my number is a little below average. I have seen reports on FT of folks having 20 or more credit cards. So, unless you have a low credit score, you can certainly go for a few. It is best to mix them up among different issuers (Citi, Chase, AMEX, etc.) and over time, but there are plenty of miles out there waiting to be accumulated.
By the way, Citi will allow you to get two personal cards at once, so there is a possibility of getting 150,000 miles on that deal. So, in my opinion that would be a VERY BIG start.

I second those people who suggested the SPG Amex. That's a great card and you can transfer miles to a ton of programs, sometimes with a bonus on top of it. Be careful, though - you may start using them for hotel redemptions like I did!

The AA cards from Citi have great bonuses as you know. Definitely worthwhile.

The benefit of both spouses getting cards is more with the signup bonuses than with retaining them for longterm, generally. My wife and I have both done the BA Visa, SPG Amex, and Citi AA last year. However we probably won't both keep each card variety once a year is up (unless a great retention offer comes along).

This is where FF programs like BAEC, that allow household accounts, can be great, as it gives you more flexibility. SPG permits points transfers between accounts at the same residence, which is yet another reason that card is a great!

But I'd also agree in general, be unfaithful and take advantage of whatever card offers you, and your credit score, can! :)

First let me say how glad I am that this topic got started and all the answers. I am considering another card and have been thinking the same thing. I live in CLT and have worried that if I do the AA card I will have a harder time redeeming the miles as US is the dominant carrier here. Any one have any tips on that?

I've redeemed AA miles from CLT with no problem. I can see it might be an issue if you only fly to places AA doesn't serve well, or if you are on a tight schedule and need specific flights. But if you have any flexibility, AA out of CLT should be great.

This is a very good point.

For example, the Continental One Pass Plus card has a 50K bonus (probably limited time) and you can get the general 30k bonus with the United Select card. Both cards are from Chase. The reason I mention this is because you can have 80k when the two programs merge sometime in the next 12 months.

In addition, if you join Continental's OP program now and signup for its Mileathon program, you can some extra miles for applying for the OPP card.

Just a suggestion.

OK first shot AA. Applied online for Visa - still waiting for reply and over the phone for Amex which got approved immediately.
Hoping that after they will send me targeted offer for the checking account which would add additional 30-40k as other flyers report.

Also thinking about Continental 50k and UA 30k which, as I read, would merge once the merger process is completed. Is this true?
The only concern I have is applying for cards in the same bank (both are from Chase).
Should I be worried about this?
Also thinking about SPG Amex, but here the $15k spend is my concern.
What about 45k Delta Amex? (considering this because already have ~19k with Delta).