Thanks for looking. I use my debit card for everything but after hearing my dad, brother, boss. talk about all the miles and "free" trips they get I'd like to get in on this. I'd like to be able to fly to Europe as well as in the States. My credit is "good" but defiantly not great. I'd fly maybe once a year. What programs should I look in to?

read the newbie sticky at the top of the forum.

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.601 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

"My credit is 'good' but defiantly not great."

Let's hope that this is a typo.

lol yea

Where would you like to go on vacation if you could fly for free? Would you travel by yourself or with a partner? Tell us where you want to go, and what airport you are flying out of, and we can suggest what airline it would be best to concentrate on.

The best mile bonus offers right now are the Citi AA cards; apply for 2 personal cards at the same time and you can get 150,000 AA miles for spending $5,500 in 6 months. Look at AA's reward chart and see how far that would get you.

To find out if your credit is good enough, you can apply to find out, pay for a credit score, or use a website like Credit Karma or Credit Sesame to see what your "simulated" credit score is.

How much do you spend a month, and what is it usually on? Try to think of all the things that you normally spend money on, and which of those could be paid for with a credit card. Stuff like rent, certain bills, mortgage, etc won't work with credit cards. But most everything else will.

When you say your credit is good, but not great what do you mean? Is it because you just don't have credit history, have late payments, foreclosure, etc?

If your credit rating has some issues you may well consider about getting a supplemental card with a person who has a good credit rating. That should help for a start.

You said you use your debit card for everything. Have you ever had a credit card? Do you have any credit cards now?

If you don't have any credit cards, I would look for a credit card you would keep for a long time to help your credit score, that you would never cancel. This means either a no-fee card or one you are willing to pay the annual fee on every year. For me, I have a free Hilton Honors Amex from 2002 and a Citi Hilton Honors Visa from 2003 that I keep long term and won't cancel. I wish I still had the Navy Federal Visa I got in 1993, it would make for a more impressive credit history. The cards that give airline miles all have annual fees, though most are waived for the first year. I cancel my airline cards when the annual fee is due. Some hotel cards will give you a free night every year to offset the annual fee, like the Chase Hyatt, Marriott, and Priority Club Visa. The SPG Amex is a good all-purpose card, relatively low annual fee of $65, and you can transfer 20,000 SPG points into 25,000 AA or Delta miles. Once you have a card that is your keeper, then apply for miles cards.

Visit some of these point collecting blogs:

frugaltravelguy
thepointsguy
View From the Wing
Million Mile Secrets