As a result of reading the responses here and re-checking the milesone.com site as of Feb 7, I discover that there is no longer a 21-day requirement or Saturday night stay, AND you can purchase your ticket online and get reimbursed (I haven't tried that yet, but it sounds like good news). The site no longer posts the availability of the 18,000 miles requirement for flying within one of three zones, but that may not mean one is ineligible if he joined when that was an option. I am puzzled, however, about the post from standby4321 since on the site I can't find any reference to the 9,000 points mentioned.

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

Why wouldn't you be able to just buy the SideStep ticket? (I won't even get into why SideStep would have an $800 ticket when no one else had anything for less than $1500.) The primary advantage with the Captial One card (or so it seems) is that they say "Buy the ticket at your preferred source, and we credit you $100 for every 9000 points."

Or am I missing something?

When I posted this about Capital One's $1500, I was not aware of the buy-and-get-remibursed option. I had been led to believe that I needed to have Capital One book the flight for me, and they would do so only for the airline posted rates. Clearly, I misunderstood the situation from my conversation with the Cap One rep. Thanks to Flyer Talk, I'm now more knowledgeable. I have no idea why the huge difference between SideStep and Expedia/Travelocity, but it exists -- example PDX-MUC mid-June.

I'm fairly certain MBNA America doesn't charge an extra 2% on foreign currency transactions. Citibank, however, does charge the standard 1% + 2% markup...

MBNA issues the AMTRAK card, which I use exclusively for foreign travel. I returned from Mexico yesterday. The currency conversion rate for charges there were approximately the interbank rate plus 1%. Just call them to be sure this also applies to the card you are interested in.


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Free Frequent Flyer Miles

Ah, but I want no foreign currency ripoff AND miles. Is there an MBNA mastercard/visa that gives miles?

Amtrak points can be converted to United, Continental, or Midwest Airlines miles, 1:1, 5000 point increments, 25,000 points per year max.

MBNA also has Lufthansa, Aer Lingus,and Gold Points credit cards, and the Air Canada Mastercard for U.S. residents. Info on these cards can be found on the Credit Card pages of my web site below. (The free Lufthansa card apparently is no longer offered. It's on my list of future updates.)

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Free Frequent Flyer Miles

MBNA Amtrak is the only credit card I have found that has NO annual fee, rewards with points/miles of some kind, and adds no additional % to the standard 1% FOREX fees charged by VISA/MASTERCARD. United miles are OK with me, so it works out.

The new Capital One card is based on the price of the ticket. You can use your travel agent (or theirs), an airline site, or a travel site like Travelocity or Expedia. The amount of miles required is 90 times the ticket cost. For instance, a $100 ticket requires 9,000 miles. I think it sounds kinda interesting, but there is a $19 annual fee.

I currently use a Citi Traveler Miles card with no annual fee. However, it requires 25,000 miles for a domestic ticket ($500 max, 21-day advance purchase with Saturday night stay). Also, you must purchase your ticket over the phone using their affiliated travel agency, and there is a $15 ticketing fee.

This is simply a 1% cash rebate card disguised as a miles card.

QL

I used to carry the MilesOne card, but changed to MBNA World Points after hearing that they don't have an annual fee. I'll let you know what the experience is like once I earn enough miles for a free ticket.