Try the credit card section of my website below. Current good ones, all free of annual fee for at least 1 year:

On the Annual Fee Cards page:

American Airlines (20,000 miles)
United Airlines (20,000 miles)
U.S. Airways (15,000 miles+ 1.5/$1 spent first year)

On the Free Cards page:

Delta Airlines SkyMiles (17,500 miles+ 2,500 miles for adding another card holder)
Delta SkyPoints (7,500 points)
Starwood (6,000 points)
Priority Club (30,000 points)
Gold Points (20,000 points)
Marriott (15,000 points)

Need a new credit card
 

I got a letter from MNBA for my Merrill card and they are increasing my APR to 8.9 from 5.9 for some unknown reason (I charge anywhere from 10k-30k a month on this and usually pay it off) With them changing the rewards program and the APR it is time to find a new Visa or Mastercard.

I already have a Platnium AE and a Starwood card and charge what I can on those (1k-2k a month). I also have an Quantem World Points card with MNBA.

What I want to achieve with my credit cards is a free vacation each year, I would love to charge everyting to the Starwood card but the place where I spend the 10k-30k a month only takes Visa or Mastercard.

I live in the Detroit area and am pretty sure Northwest is my best bet for an airline plus I have around 80k miles with them. I already have the Platnium Northwest card, am thinking of canceling that and getting the Signature one for the bonus miles.

I have been looking at the HH visa card, and so far it looks to be in the final running. I was wondering if anybody else has anymore sugestions. I have excellent credit so I can get any card. I would like to gain status also with my card. I am gold with Starwood already. Any help would be appreciated!

Chris B

Don't get the Hilton Visa. Very poor earning. If you want the card to help towards status, both UA and US have Visa/MC products that award status miles based on spend. But it's not enough for status exclusively via the cards... (Randy expects an airline card this year to offer status purely based on spend, so put this in the category of 'developing'...)

If I was going to put 10k - 30k/mo on a Visa/MC product I'd probably do it on either (1) the USAirways Mastercard from Juniper Bank which offers 1.5 miles per dollar spent for the first 12 months of cardmembership or (2) the Diners Club card for its flexibility to transfer points to various programs (though many major US carriers have dropped out, and the card is somewhat disfavored at the moment.. though mostly compared to its past glory, I do think it still compares favorably to most Mastercard products).

Use a debit card and you don't need to worry about intrest rates.

So, say I am only interested in sign-up bonuses...

I hadn't thought of this before, but I suppose i could sign up for the Midwest card for 12,500 miles, and then transfer them 1:2 to Hilton (fee-free), right?

You've been an FTer for 6 years with over a thousand posts and you are just figuring this out now...........? ;)

I believe you can only transfer in blocks of 5000 miles, so either 2500 Midwest Miles would be stranded or you'll need to get 2500 more for your next transfer.

Unless you are holding a balance on the card, who cares about APR%? Do you carry a large balance? If you are worried about rising APR's, well thats the current environment, I dont think you'll find a lot of 5.9% fixed with Int % climbing. If they are still low, they are sure to rise in the coming months.

Ken in Phx

I am an electrical contractor and sometimes we do not get paid in a timely manner and have to "float" some money. I liked the 4 free nights we got with the Merrill card along with the low APR. I am still thinking things through, I might just move some MBNA credit lines back to my Quantum card and take the Merrill card down to a minimum credit line until I use up the 100k points I have on it then cancel it. I wish Starwood had an US Visa or Mastercard.

I looked into the Dinners Club and it did not do anything for me. I have been still looking at various airline cards, but I like the option of hotel stays with the starwood card. I just had to make an 12k charge and have another 10k coming up soon so it looks like these will go to the Merrill card until I decide.

Regarding the interest rate you may call them and ask to lower it.

I know, I know... it's just that I never fly Midwest, so hadn't looked at their card offers...

And I never fly Midwest, so I never looked at the transfer options to Hilton! :o

OK, I'll forgive you this one time...........;)

But I hope you've also already signed up for the AA Mastercard, with no-fee for six months (which means signup, get your points, and then cancel). It comes with either a 25,000 HH points or 30,000 HH points signup bonus (whoops, I mean 12,500 or 15K AA miles bonus ;) ). Last I checked though there's a $25 fee to transfer from AA to HH so this isn't as valuable as it previously was, but hey, free HH points are free HH points right.

OK. Trying to decide on which cards to 'let go' and ones to consider.
Travel for pleasure only. Accumulate points on AA Mastercard - fly using 'vouchers' from voluntary bumps. Worked twice last year. Have about 65,000 pts. in my and hubbys accounts. Can our points be combined??
Should I cancel the card before June (end of second year and reapply next year)? Do I chance losing points in our accounts? Also have had HH Amex.Exp
for years and have used for GLOP and AXON. Plan on continuing this card.
Have Marriott and Starwood cards and want to get rid of one. Which one?
(Both have fees). Considering replacing these two with Priority cr. card. (No fee but how are the redemptions?) Also an MBNA Plat. Plus with 38,000 pts in.
Want to consolidate cards to get the most from our spending. (Never have carry-on balances - always pay all off each month.) Any ideas? :confused:
Thanks

I think I can help. I think you do have too many cards.
#1 MBNA Plat. Use your 38k+ pts then get rid of it
#2 Cancel AA Mastercard. ( you wont lose your AA miles if you cancel)
#3 Get rid of your Marriott Card
#4 Keep your Starwood Card

Starwood card will allow you to earn AA miles 20k = 25k AA miles
Marriott is a stay-earning chain.
and No your accounts at AA cannot be combined into one account

I think Starwood has better Resorts/Vacation destination than Hilton. So you can earn "better" by accumulating Starpoints and only buring them for AA miles to top off an acct.

Just my opinion.

ken in phx

Blasphemy!! :D You can never have too many cards!! I say cut the old ones and sign up for new ones for the signup bonus. Sign up for the IC CC for the 30K points (a free night at any IC worldwide), make a charge, get your points and cancel. Continue this method with UA credit cards, more AA credit cards, etc. Not SPG AMEX, they will only give you the signup points once. My philosophy is the more signup bonuses you can get, the better: it's like free money!!! The only reason not to do this is if you plan to get a new mortgage or re-finance in the next year or so.......