Advice: big purchase coming...
 

I'm new to this forum so be easy on me pls!
I'm planning a big purchase soon...ugh...take a guess..about 8 grand. I live in Seattle Wa and I'd like some suggestions on which card to sign up for. Prolly most interested in FF cards, with good bonuses right now, since I'll be able to add the miles up pretty quick. Any help would be greatly appreciated, thx!

It depends on what you are going to buy. If you are making purchases at a home improvement center, for example, the Delta American Express card will give you double miles for it. If you are making a purchase at an airline, most airlines give double miles for using at least one of their cards.

Barring those special situations, the Starwoods American Express card gives 1 point per dollar spent, and allows conversion of 20000 points to 25000 miles on many airlines.

Be sure to check the Credit Card page of my web site below to find out if you can get the card you want free and/or with bonus miles for first purchase. There is a lot of info there on most of the cards, with some little known deals listed.

------------------
Free Frequent Flyer Miles

Eight grand....live in Seattle....ENJOY YOUR NEW BOAT!!!!


http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

------------------
Addicted to airline miles? Check out: Mileage Workshop --- "You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline. It helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer." - Frank Zappa (1940-93)

Which airline are you going to be flying on most often? That would be the first question. Don't get an affinity card for an airline that you're not going to have many opportunities to travel on.

You should also take into consideration what you ultimately want to do with your miles. For example, if you want to go to Hawaii or the Caribbean you may want to go with Delta as the award levels are lower. But don't choose them if you want to go to Australia because the Skyteam award is high and the flights are not direct.

Another point: If you are considering the Delta Amex, the platinum card offers you a bonus. If you charge over $25K/year (and you will already be a third of the way there with your first purchase) you get 10K bonus miles.

pgary's site is a good resource for you when making this decision.

Thanks for the suggestions! I will probably fly either NW or Alaska...sometimes fly swa. I travel primarily to Mexico, sometimes Asia, but mostly just to Vegas, California etc...
How is the alaska vs the nw world perks?

I also noticed the United 15,000 plus adding the cards...how does that one stack up?

Buy it in Oregon and save yourself a few hundred bucks in sales tax.

What about NW Visa Card? 15,000 miles + first year fee waived. (800-360-2900 x 2677) Go for FFF3 (See NW website) as well.

Can you tell me what FFF3 is? I went to the NW website and all I saw was a 10000 mile bonus and no yearly fee waived?

Make sure you check out this thread first.

To get the 15K miles, you have to call the 800 number. I saw the information from the NW thread and called the number last week. Was told verbally that I will get 15K and no fee for the first year. It will be weeks before I can verify the actual miles.

FFF3 = Fly Free Fast, 3rd year.
Get the credit card = Qualifying event. Then have 5 partner activities by end of August to get another 10K.

If it's household, sign up for Upromise also. Check that site. It's great for parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles and friends of children.