questions from an unknowledgable one
 

i don't fly much, have never had or used fequent flyer miles or earned mileage points.

but, i am planning on going to hawaii in 2004 and have a couple trips to northern canada planned for 2002 and 2003. i do use credits cards and am wondering if someone has any advice for me about how or whether i can start to get some mileage points out of using a credit card. thanks.

Steve, Welcome aboard. Never hurts to start accumulating F.F. miles. Would recommend that you decide which airline you are going to Hawaii on, and what airline is the most convienient for your nearest airport. Then get a co-branded C.C. for that airline (Almost all of them would give a "start up" bonus).

Delta needs fewer miles to Hawaii, and they offer generous signup bonuses with the Delta Optima card. Search the Delta forum for related articles.

There is a lot of information in the credit card forums.

I personally use the Citibank AAdvantage MasterCard and love it.

------------------
I wish I were 1,000 miles away

Welcome to FlyerTalk, stevedug. Another option I would consider is using the miles for the hotel rather than the airfare. The Hilton Hawaiian Village is a beautiful property, among others. Many of the mileage programs allow miles to be converted into HHonors points. You may end up saving dollars and getting more value out of those hard earned miles!