Hi all. I recently started a career which involves a fair amount of domestic traveling, so I wanted to swing by and ask the good folks here which airline and credit card(s) I should go with.

The only issue is that my company has given me a Diner's Club card, so I will have to book my company flights through that rather than my own. There is an option to pay $75 to sign up for the Club Rewards program, which ends up being $1 charged = 1 Diners Club Rewards Point = 1 Frequent Flier Mile. Is this worth doing?

Considerations:
- I live in Philly, so I will usually be flying out of PHL.
- I rarely check bags when flying.
- Most of my spending is on eating out, online shopping (mostly Amazon and clothes shopping), and gas.
- My credit is pretty good, so that shouldn't be an issue.

Preferences:
- I'd prefer to fly United if possible since they allow you to change flights for free within 24 hours of departure. Since Philly is a US Airways hub, is this a dumb idea to try to stick with United?
- I've been staying at Marriott properties for work (and have a loyalty account with them) - I am currently a Silver, so I'm not tied to them, but anything that is compatible with Marriott would be a plus.

So, any recommendations you guys can make would be awesome! Thank you so much!

Welcome to FT! From just a cursory view of your post, I can tell you that US Air will be the best airline of choice. As its a secondary hub for them, rates are usually very competitive from PHL. As an AA LT member, I'm most looking forward to US Air's integration into AA later this year/early next year. That said, as a UA person, you may have to abandon your Star Alliance proclivity for what will probably be a One World takeover of the PHL market.

United is actually a fine idea, and they will be staying with Star Alliance after US merges with AA and moves to One World. Star Alliance has more partner airlines, so generally more options for award redemptions. Since PHL is a US hub, you may end up flying more US flights than you want; credit those flights to United until the merger and you'll still be earning United miles on US flights.

Newark is a United hub, so if you don't mind taking Amtrak or driving for award redemptions, you would still have a lot of options even after US leaves Star (United & other partners have flights from PHL, but not as many, especially internationally). Since you eat out a lot, I'd go with the Chase Sapphire Preferred card - you earn 2 points per dollar on restaurant and travel spend, with a 7% bonus at the end of the year. You can then transfer those points to United.

Alternatively, go with US, since this is a hub and you don't know how long it will be before the merger is complete. You may very well earn enough miles in the meantime to cash out in Star before the transition to One World! You may not know that US offers the opportunity to buy elite status outright at any level. They also have something called a preferred trial - you pay for a Silver Preferred trial (the lowest elite level) and then fly as much as you can in 90 days - and they update your status as you progress, so you immediately receive those benefits. So if you pay $200 and fly 30,000 miles in 3 months, you'll be Chairman's (the highest level).

I don't hear good things about Marriott, but if you have to stay there for work, you have to.

I would sign up for multiple FF & hotel programs since there is no cost. Your company policy may dictate which flights / hotels you have to take. We also don't know what the new AA / US merged company will look like. You mentioned a preference for UA, but what will happen once US leaves star alliance? Are you ok with UAs schedule and transferring in UA hubs?

I agree with the Chase Sapphire Preferred as your first card. Some of the hotel chains offer very tempting credit card bonuses, so I would consider them after the Sapphire.

Diners Club USA transfer partners are listed in this thread:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/diner...os-2012-a.html

If your Diners Club card is on a corporate account you will also be able to transfer points to American Airlines.

How much do you expect to spend on Diners Club in a year?

This is only true after you have reached Gold Status or above. If you have no status or Silver, you have to pay a change fee. Also, it also depends on whether there is space available on your preferred flight at the same fare level ("bucket code" such as T, V, W etc) or else you have to pay the fare difference, even if you are Gold.

Look here
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/onewo...help-here.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/star-...post-here.html

PHL has wonderful non-stops to several European cities on US that aren't too hard to get seats on. PHL should stay a mini-hub for the new airline. Therefore US and AA are your best best bets by far. The Barclays US card and the Citi AA cards.

Your choice longer term is really between UA and AA, not UA and US. I would think AA would be preferable for someone living in Philadelphia, but it wouldn't hurt to keep a UA program active as well. Remember that both UA and AA offer OW redemptions at half the miles, so you can draw on both programs to arrange a RT.

All - thank you so much for your responses. The information you've all provided has been very valuable.

I'd like to transition away from my student credit cards and enter the Chase Ultimate Rewards world (Sapphire Preferred or Freedom), since it seems like one of the best options out there at the moment. With that in mind, I have a couple of additional questions:

1. Chase Ultimate Rewards points are transferable 1:1 with United, but not with AA. What exactly does this mean? Can't I still book AA flights through a Chase partner portal like Travelocity?

2. This might seem like a dumb question, but what exactly are the advantages of living in a hub city for a particular airline? More nonstop flights to more cities, I'm guessing? Are flights generally cheaper? If I were to go with a non-hub airline (for Philly) like United, would I have a difficult time trying to find flights, and would they be more expensive?

3. Seems like the most prudent decision might be to open up a Chase UR-related card like the Sapphire or Freedom and also to go with AA as my primary airline, since they will likely have Philly as a hub or mini-hub. Any feedback regarding this? Any recommendations for a hotel chain that would be compatible with these two choices?

Thanks for the list. I expect to spend around $10,000 in a year. What are your thoughts - should I still go for it?

Based on my personal experience, I have to humbly disagree with you. I have no status whatsoever with United, and their mobile app for the iPhone allowed me to change my flight at no charge within 24 hours of departure. It's important to note that this only seems possible through the mobile app.

Just as a backup alternative, I would also suggest signing up for both the AA and US credit cards while you still can. This way you can get both sign-up bonuses and when they merge, have a nice little AA miles account when the two airlines merge.

I can only comment on a few of these issues, but here are some thoughts.

1. I have no experience with Chase Ultimate Rewards, but my understanding is that you could book AA flights through Travelocity, but that you could not transfer Chase points to AA (at least not 1:1) for purposes of award redemption.

2. The advantages are more flights (especially non-stops) to more cities. These flights are not likely to be cheaper; in fact, they are likely to be more expensive, since one airline dominates the market. You would not have a difficult time finding UA flights from Philly, and may find lower fares, but you are less likely to find a non-stop and more likely to have a connection at EWR, IAD or ORD, depending on your destination.

When it comes to credit cards around here, its usually AND, not OR.

Most value miles between 1 to 2 cents each, more perhaps if they want to travel first class international. At a penny a point, 10K of spend is worth at least $100, I'd pay the $75 to earn points.

Whether you pick UA or AA in the long run, I'd suggest you get a US and AA account now and sign up for both credit cards. You should be able to bank a bunch of free miles before the merger. If you are married have your spouse do the same. It'll be a great vacation fund even if you go to UA later on. Not sure how close to EWR you are to keep UA in mind.

If you have a list of places you'll likely travel, I'd review that against non-stops from US, since it might make your life easier...