Hi, I am new here and have a question. What is the best cc for miles. I do not mean 1 dollar spent=1 mile. I have a cc that gives cash better at 3-5% cash back. I do have a hilton honors card but am looking for airline miles. We have a large family and it is expensive to fly anywhere. Business cards are okay too, but AMEX gives more points for groceries, which doesn't make sense since it is a business card. I have been researching and it really doesn't seem much better than most of the 1 percent cash back. Any advise please?

Welcome to FT.

If you have a CC getting 3-5% on all purchases, use it. It's better than any mileage card you'll find.

Agreed, and to elaborate:

If you charge $25,000 per year, most mileage cards will give you 25,000 miles, which will be enough for a free roundtrip within the continental US. Of course, you may have difficulty using the free ticket during peak travel periods.

If you charge $25,000 per year and get 3-5% cashback, you will end up with $750-1250, which may be enought to pay for 2+ free trips, depending on where you are going. Plus, you will accumulate miles for the flights that you buy, and there is little danger that your cash will become worthless (unless you live in Argentina) vs. airline miles on a soon-to-be-bankrupt airline.

I have been happy with my membership rewards card from Amex. I am still saving my points but you can easily rack up 2 rt tickets in a year depending on your spend.

can u tell us which cc gives you 3-5% cash back?

I only know those 1%/5% ones.. But if there is a straight 3% cash back cc w/o cap, I will say it can beat any mileage cc.

sorry, I don't mean to mislead. I have a business card which gives 3% cash back on home improvement, staples, office max ect., phone service and everything else is 1%. This is with Bank One/Chase.

Then I have a dividends reward card with Citibank which gives 5% on groceries (that adds up with a family of 5). and 5% on gas (that adds up too) and 1% on eveything else. I get about $500 a year between the two of them. Then I have the Hilton Honors card which gives me about 3 free nights a year.

I just keep hearing about friends who fly here and there and the more I looked into it, it was=to 1 % cash back. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something.

We just purchased DVC and MVC and I am distressed with the cost of airfair for a family of 5.

I have most all mileage producing credit cards described on my website, Free Frequent Flyer Miles in the Credit Card section. My favorites and reasons why are listed on the Important Starting Info page.

I prefer miles over 1% back, but would use the 5% back wherever I can get it. My website has a section on Value of Miles that would be of interest to anyone trying to understand how to compare miles to money.

I use most all of the Airline affiliated cardit cards and I switch in and out by cancelling and re-applyng in order to get the latest bonus mile promotion, and not pay the annual fee. I also alternate between Personal and Business accounts.
I keep the SPG Amex (small annual fee) for the 20% transfer bonus (waiting for a 20,000 point balance) and the ease of transferring to (most) all airlines......and a "comped" Gold American Express card (rarely used)
In the past, I have managed to fly in the front cabin using award ticketing for International trips with ease.......lately I find it's getting a little harder as the airlines increase points needed and availaility worsens.
The (current) practise of not holding an award reservation until return date makes it harder to ticket as the limited First & Bus. avaiability hurts if you can't hold the award reservation until after the 330 day inventory comes in.
All that being said - I am still managing - although it is a lot of work to juggle the accounts around.
Lately, I have been looking into the Diners Club card as they are now affiliated w/MC. (Years ago I used Diners for the ease of tranferring to so many airlines, but had trouble charging in the US....so gave it up - although the double pt. transfer to BA once a year was very helpful)
Diners is looking good, except I am a bit annoyed at the 95c per 1,000 pt. transfer fee and the high Annual Fee.
However, it is a way of getting rid of all my Airline affinity cards - just using Diners for most of my charges & perhaps keeping SPG Amex (for the 20% transfer bonus) and Delta Skymiles for the Double/triple miles for the on-going promotions. It might be worth the $95 Annual fee to consolidate all my "bookeeping"......
I appreciate any comments and/or suggestions ..........
Thanks, Renee

BankOne/Chase offered me that one a few days ago, I'm thinking of getting it. I'd just use it for 3% items, and use my mileage cards for 1% items and special promos.

3% beats any standard mileage rewards.

The only negative with the card is the reward can be pulled only on your anniversary date and if you have a balance the award is credited to the balance. That is an accounting nightmare if you use quickbooks. The only way around it is to not have a balance the month before and then they will issue you a check.

This article might help too...

http://budgettravel.about.com/cs/air...eage_cards.htm

SPG Amex.

$1=1 SPG point.

20k SPG points = 25k Airline miles.

Earning 25% on your points aint too shabby.

I use a V/MC only for those merchants who don't accept AMEX.

I agree. SPG Amex. And, if you manage to use your points wisely for hotel nights, you'll get a great value for them.

obviously that is better than 1 for 1 but taking into consideration the annual fee and that other cards are 3% or 5% do you think the 25% on your points is a better deal? Of all the cards I have researched this one does seem the best, I am just not sure that I should stick with my cash rebate cards rather than deal with wanting to travel and then being denied of using my miles because of availability. I have a timeshare and when my week is booked, my airfair does not have the ability to be flexible. What are the opinions out there about the ease of use of their miles?

To answer your question of "What are the opinions out there about the ease of use of their miles?"

--> I am not sure that you get what the SPG program is about. It is the "Starwood Preferred Guest" program (basically the Sheraton/Westin hotel chain) Every dollar you charge gets you 1 SPG point. SPG points can then be transfered to virtually any airline program on a 1 for 1 basis (but transfering 20k SPG points gets you a bonus, so you get 25K in airline points). So, the ease of use of the miles is all dependent upon which airline you transfer your SPG points into. (You can also use the SPG points for hotels, which, in my opinion, is a better deal than using air miles, but I digress)