Narrowed it down to 4 credit cards
 

I wasn't sure where to put this since it is a question about several cards, not one card for one airline.

Ok, I would like to sign-up for a second mileage earning card and after 2 weeks of research, I have narrowed it down:

1.Delta
2.usairways
3.american
4.starwood

ok, delta has the nice double miles bonus on certain purchases AND from 5/15-7/15 they are having double miles on all purchases.

usairways is an airline I fly the most next to continental

american seems to have that "all miles count toward the million mark" thing for permanent elite status.

everyone seems to love starwood bc of the 20,ooo=25,000 conversion bonus

Ok, at this point I am having a very hard time choosing. I have never flown american or delta but those two perks might make me switch over.

I charge every single thing I can. I usually charge at least 2,000 a month and atleast 30,000 a year.

I only fly about 5-6 times a year and it's LAX to Buffalo or NYC. I will be flying to other places in the next year or so that are out of the country.

0% intro or BT's would be nice but not if it means a low sign-up bonuus.

If I am wrong about any of the perks I listed please correct me. If anyone has any thoughts on which card would be the best, I would really appreciate it.

I hope I included all the info that is needed in order to get advice. Thanks in advacne for your thoughts.

I am sick of miles since the airlines have made it harder to get awards and raised award levels. I do like miles but only by legitimate travel.

As far as general spending, I use the new Chase Freedom Master Card which was a replacement when Shell Master Card broke away from their association with Chase. One gets 5% back in gas for gas purchases and 1% for everything else. The card is free.

I suppose if one charges thousands of dollars per month, they can justify the annual cost for an airline affiliated card.

If you don't fly AA or DL, you might miss out on AA and DL offers and you won't have trip earned miles to add to credit card miles. Therefore, consider US Airways' card. I think US is a decent airline.

Is your first mileage earning card an Amex, Diners, or MC/Visa?

If you already hold one MC/Visa, the Starwood Amex might be a good one for you to have. Lots of flexibility: you can go with hotel stays if you need them, or go to AA with your 20k-25k conversions if you are closing in on 1MM AA Lifetime.

I held the DL Amex card for one year and earned some huge bonuses. It was worth the $85 one time, but would not have been worth it ongoing. Starwood Amex is easier to swallow: first year free, then $30/year (unless they've changed that).

I currently hold the AA Mastercard. I find it to be worth the $50/year because it's the only MC I've held in the past five years that has pretty good customer service. There are occasionally discounted-mileage awards for cardmembers, but I've never been able to take advantage of them. I will cross 1MM on AA within a year, and I may reevaluate whether I need the card after that.

ok, thanks both. My other card is a continental mastercard.

also wanted to mention that I'm not interested in doing the "get the card for the first year and then canceclling it" I plan on keeping whatever card I choose..not sure if that makes a difference in peoples choice.

2,000 miles a month? What you need to do is find a friend who is in the construction industry. You can rack up 30 times this per month at the lumberyard, not to mention the carpeting, appliances, lighting... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

I don't understand what you mean...maybe I'm tired...do you mean 2000 a month is not enough?

I think that xpacific means that you could be getting a lot more miles for expenses that you wouldn't normally incur. I do this through my own business chase card that gives CO miles. But don't even think about doing it with someone else's miles, unless you are ready to become co-owner and deal with the tax implications.

BTW, I think, from what I've learned here, that the Starwood AMEX is the best choice.

If your goal is to maximize frequent flyer miles, then the AmEx Skymiles card is your best bet. Due to some things being always double miles (groceries, hardware, gas, usps), the random double miles on everything promotions, and the 10,000 bonus on renewal for 25K in yearly spend, your 30K in spend will likely turn into about 45K miles (assuming your spending is something like mine). You can also boost this through some additional manipulation (e.g. savings bonds during double miles promotions), but this is true of just about any card (perhaps not doubled). If you go for the Skymiles platinum you can also get a 15K signup bonus.

You may consider starpoints worth more (for free hotel stays) however, or be willing to give up some miles for the flexibility of choosing the airline to send your points to (all the biggies, except UA which has a 1:2 conversion rate). In which case Starwood is the better choice. The starwood card has a 10K signup bonus (search the starwood forum for a link) which gives you 4K for the first purchase and another 6K over your first 11 purchases at starwood properties (technically it is supposed to be stays, but any charge from a starwood property that is coded as lodging will get you the credit - some hotel restaurants will likely work).

All of the above assumes that your spend can be done primarily on AmEx which is not always a good assumption. In any case you will want a Visa/Amex to back up the AmEx for places that don't accept AmEx.

I agree with Human Unit that the Chase Freedom Card (formerly the Chase French card http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif) is a great choice. Unfortunately I respectfully disagree with most of the other things he says (the rebate is 6% for gas in the first 90 days the card is open, 3% afterwards, and 1% for all other purchases). The really great thing about this card is that the rebate is delivered as a card credit the next month as opposed to waiting for the end of the year. It also gives you the full rebate from the first dollar spent as opposed to other cards that only give you the full percentage after thousands of dollars of spend (e.g. discover).

notsosmart-thanks for answering that question for me. I don't have any business expenses though. Those are just my monthly bills and what-not...so I think I am missing how to make more miles. ? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif ?

VPescado-

wow..lots of grgeat help there. thank you. My goal is to maximize miles for free tickets..I really don't need hotels. I mostly go hoem to visit my nephew so I stay with my parents and I have a time share for other trips so the airfare is what is needed.

I really am looking at that delta amex...

Someone posted a great offer that was snail mailed ( http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum21/HTML/010059.html )but I don't think it's for everyone. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif so I will try for the offer you mentioned)

edited to mention that I buy very little gas. so the gas rebate probably isn't the best for me. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

[This message has been edited by Prncs (edited 04-15-2003).]

VPescado-

also wanted to ask, do you have the delta amex? I read some thread tonight where a lot of ft'ers were denied their bonus miles...and said they were cancelling their accounts... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

visit www.amexsux.com

do you recommend anyone?

Airline miles are becoming harder and harder to redeem. For that reason I have been accumulating Starwood points that can be used for hotels or air travel. Personally, I feel that you get more bang for the buck by redeeming the Starpoints for hotel stays.

I do have a Delta card; however, I will be cancelling it upon the annual renewal. I was attracted by the double miles promotions, but I have read that a few people have gotten burned on this by not receiving their bonus miles. In addition, it takes months for the bonus miles to post. Starwood makes it much simpler.

Congratulations. Unless you want to spend time opening and closing accounts, this is the way to go.

As mentioned many times, Starwood Amex is the best first card. And since Amex is not accepted everywhere you'll need a Visa/MC as a backup. The easiest option is to get the Visa/MC affiliated with the airline you'll fly most.

Should you pay a fee for the Visa/MC? Just run the numbers: If the fee is $90 and a mile is worth 2 cents, you only need to charge $4,500 a year to breakeven ($90/.02).

Surely you will hold on to it for the two million lifetime platinum status!

What exactly is "lifetime" to you AA fliers these days?

Family flyer,

thanks for your advice. This will be my second card. For the last three years I have held the chase continental card. It's yearly fee is $45.00 and I spend about $30,000.

I guess the only reason I am not running toward the starwood is bc I don't stay in hotels. The last time I had to stay in one was almost 2 years ago. I guess I am wondering how much use it would be to someone who doesn't use hotels... Any thoughts on that one? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Whether you stay in hotels is irrelevant. First, let's assume you will only use air miles. With the SPG Amex you have tremendous flexibility because you can transfer to many airlines and get the bonus when moving 20K.

I wouldn't assume air miles are worthless. For every post on FT about redemption difficulties there's another post saying redemption (even to places like Hawaii) isn't a problem.

And if you build up a lot of SPG points, I don't see why you wouldn't use them for a free hotel stay. The benefit of adding the SPG Amex is that you cover not only your airfare (CO Mastercard), but your hotel (SPG) as well. So someday you take a vacation and just pay for food and a rental car.

I too am trying to simplify my cc situation too and am worried about my MP Visa miles. Isn't it somewhat of a drawback with the SPG card that you have to transfer in increments of 20,000 to get any bonus miles? If you need every last mile in the account transferred in order to get a tkt, do you make one transfer of 20,000 then another transaction for the remaining miles in the account if they are less than 20,000 and not get any bonus?

[quote]<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Family flyer:
[b]
The reason I woldn't use them for free hotels is that when I travel it is to one of three placecs. My family where I stay for free. NYC where I stay for frree with friends, or at one of my time shares which is already paid for. I just don't have the need for it. The free tickets are what I'm looking for. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

I did apply a Starwood card last week, what I am really thinking about is the word “Active Member”. Sheraton usually is not a good choice for the destination I frequently travel to. But in order to keep my status as an “Active Member”, I will be focused to stay at a Sheraton or other Starwood owned properties once a year.

No you won't. This has been discussed. Starwood Lurker confirmed that by using the credit card, that this counts towards your annual usage.

You have answered your own question. With a MP Visa, you may have to worry about United. But with a SPG Amex, you don't have to worry because your miles aren't tied to one program.

As for the lack of bonus when transferring fewer than 20K ... Remember that there's nothing wrong with a 1:1 transfer - that's what most other cards give. Also, even without getting a bonus, you're still able to top off many program - a benefit few cards provide.

With all these sign up bonus mile offers, why not get them all?

Delta is _again_ offering their GOLD delta skymiles card with first year annual fee waived and 10,000 bonus miles.

United Mileage Plus VISA offers 15,000 bonus miles for $60 annual fee. Also, for each free-additional card you request, you get 2500 miles (I requested 3, so that's 7500), ALSO, if you pay $25 and upgrade to the Gold Mileage Plus VISA, you get another 5000 miles. I did all that. total 27500 miles for $85!

The amex starwood card is really good. You can wait until they have another sign up bonus promotion. I got 5000 for getting that card.


------------------
_ __________________ _
AirmileOffers.com

It took me a long time to fix my credit and getting all of these cards, even if I closed them before the renewal it would damage my credit. I'm looking for one card to go with the one I already have. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

If you fly US Airways the most, I would strongly urge you to get the BofA card because they typically run various cardholder only promotions that make it well worth having if you fly US a lot, including double status mile promotions applicable to cardholders only.

Assuming you do that, I'd then suggest you dump the Chase Continental card (unless you really like it) and get a Starwood AMEX card.

Personally, I'd suggest a third card too, the Diners Club, with points good on any airline and a minimum of 60 days to pay the bill, it's great for using the float.

The life of the airline, of course http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

I vote for the starwood AMEX. I think I have only stayed at a 4 points in the entire time I have had this card. I think the low fee (free was better of course)is well spent when you consider the flexibility and the 5K bonus. I would say I have funded my AA account mostly with this card - getting miles by buying savings bonds among other things. I also have citibank AA MC's but I do not pay the fee because I have a citigold account at citibank so that is a perk for their $95 fee (which was reduced from $125). I also get a free diner's club which I use only for car rentals. So I use my AMEX first. If a place does not take AMEX I use my citibank. The citibank card came in handy with c2it before they started charging fees, and now to load the citicashcards offerred through citibank. The loads count as purchases, MC and VIsa only accepted and money can be withdrawn at a citibank ATM at no fee. So, I would vote for the AMEX, and citibank AA card, and drop your Continental card. That way you could build your AA card, and transfer to CO from AMEX if you need to top off.

------------------
Ms.DtG

If you accumulate 1MM AA miles (through flights, cc's, or any other means) over any period of time you become Gold for life. For 2MM you become Platinum.

Credit cards are a big struggle for me right now.

I have:

Starwood AMEX
Hilton AMEX
Several BofA Alaska Airlines Cards
NWA
AA Citibank
Several UA cards

The smartest thing I have ever done with points is to transfer 120,000 Starwood points in exchange for 300,000 Qantas points which we used to book what might very well be the last Concorde award tickets on the planet. (Thank you very much for helping me with that Ozstamps)

Other than that, my all time favorite miles are my BofA Alaska Airline miles. You can use them on tons of airlines--Alaska, British, Continental, American, Northwest, KLM, Qantas, Hawaiian, Lan Chile, Horizon, ERA and Penair. Oh yeah, and Amtrack.

I keep NWA miles to upgrade, just in case I have to fly NWA.

Occasionaly when I want to stay in a really expensive Hilton, I'll use Hilton points for some of the nights and pay for a night so I get both the stay credit and still don't exceed my or my client's budget.

I have more UA miles than I would like to have right now, so I am in the process of switching to more AA credit cards. My idea is to get enough AA miles to have status before I ever fly them.

I pray fervently that none of them go Chapter 7. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/eek.gif

are there drawbacks to AA? I mean I don't undnerstand why everyone wouldn't focus all of their efforts on making 1 million on AA... ??

I think it depends where you live and what airlines fly where you want to go. AA is good for me in Chicago as it flies where where I want to go - west coast, east coast, mexico, Europe. However it is not a good choice for southeast, Florida as Delta and Continental seem to have the cheap fares in that part of the country. If I had to fly there frequently I'd be picking a different airline. So there are factors other than permanent status that come into play for people.

------------------
Ms.DtG

SO if I fly LAX to NYC and Buffalo NBY, then I would be smart to choose AA? I've always gone wit CO and US but the lifetime status has me wondering... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

CO flies into Newark, which is usually more expensive to get into NYC. I've also heard from many that it is hard to get an award ticket on CO, so I have moved my husband's and daughter's accounts elsewhere, and I have left the 34K I have with CO alone - just in case. If AA flies where you want to go, then I'd say go ahead and concentrate on AA. Lifetime status has been one ofthe pluses for me and I'm almost at lifetime platinum. But it would only make sense since I can fly where I want to go with all those miles I've collected with AA. Also, for the first time, I was able to take advantage of the reduced mileage bonus that comes with the Citibank platinum card. Every quarter, certain cities can be gotten at reduced mileage. With a citibank gold card - it is 5000 miles less, and with the platinum card it is 7500 miles less. So they had tickets to Toronto for 17,500 miles. Since my niece got married in Toronto last week-end, it was a no brainer to get 3 tickets ($24 tax) and fly. By booking (holding) online, each account will get 1000 miles. (Needing to hold, then call with the code for the reduced mileage award). It is another aadvantage of having an aadvantage citibank card. Only once before was I able to get a reduced award - to Orange county for 20K. MOre in the past than recently, AA has offerred alot of bonuses for flying particular routes. I have frequently benefited from that.

------------------
Ms.DtG

dgordon, thanks for your insite. MAy I ask, are there any drawback is your opinion to having their card or choosing to fly american?

Is there a link on FT that explains what the perks are for reaching 1 million adn 2 million?

thank you for your help. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

I would go to the aa thread. There's lots on their program. fewmiles also has a web-site on their program which is very helpful to newcomers. For me, the AMEX starpoints card and the Citibank MC are a good combination. AMEX gives the 5K bonus AND flexibility to top off other accounts (I personally have not ever done that). They both have been used towards my goal of lifetime status. I have not experienced any drawbacks with this program. Just returned from a trip to Toronto. My cousin had a flight to NY at the same time as our departure. By have Gold status, she saw how we bypassed the long coach lines, checked in at business class, and saw the benefit of the perk. We were on an award ticket and it didn't matter. Once I reach lifetime platinum I will feel freer to use award tickets and might not fly enough on paid tickets to reach even Gold status (last year I did not fly enough to maintain platinum status. I would still be gold even if I didn't have lifetime gold. But if that happened again this year, next year I would have no status.I like knowing that no matter what, I will have status. You extra miles when you fly (25% with gold, 100% with platinum) 500 extra miles with IDine after 3 restaurant visits, etc. The extra room in coach really makes the trip more comfortable. And when I have had a problem, they have resolved it more times than not.

------------------
Ms.DtG

I've gone to the AA thread a few times as well as the mastercard/visa and didn't really find much so I really do appreciate your opinions. I'm so conflicted over this stupid choice...I am so bad about making choices...I should just put them in a hat and pick one http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif lol

If you're buying a new house or are doing a lot of home improvement work, I think that one of the best deals is American Express' permanent double miles promotion for purchases at home improvement stores. A friend recently bought a new house and spent something like $10,000 at Home Depot - he has a round trip ticket on Delta to show for it, since he used his Delta Amex card for all the purchases.

Chau!
Allen

Prncs - You really can't go wrong trying the AMEX starpoints card - it is free the first year, and you will see how much you actually use it. As much as the double promo is great on the skymiles card, it limits you to Delta. I did the Delta card, and have flown them when flying to Savanah - so I have about 100K in Delta - as a back-up, but I cancelled it and prefer the AMEX. The fee is only $30 after the first free year as compared to $85 with the skymiles AMEX. Also look for a high bonus offer for the citibank card. There have been some as high as 10K. It is how I have ended up with so many citibank cards. My fee is waived through my citigold account at citibank. I think it is a leap of faith. I use my starpoints card first, then my citibank if AMEX is not accepted. Now that the US govt accepts it for buying US savings bonds, it is a great way to collect miles.

------------------
Ms.DtG