Help - Completely and Totally LOST!
 

Hello!

I'm a senior in college and I like to travel. My major is International Business and if I don't do anything, but travel, I want a rewards card (even tho most will be paid for by my company - I still want a card). I see over 300 billion offers out there, but why should I pick one over the other? Any and all help could be appreciated. I'm not sure if we can dish out MSN logins here, but if anyone wants to one-on-one talk with me over helping, I would truly appreciate it. I'm flying to NYC this December so I need to act fast!

Airline Credit Cards
 

Welcome to Flyertalk. There are tons of offers out there. One of the easiest ones to get a lot of miles in is the Citibank American Airlines card.

I would recommend reading the forums, and digesting the information, and not get overloaded on stuff. Read the credit card forums, as well as the airline forums and decide which are a good fit for you.

Hi rblake,

Welcome to FT!

The answer to your question could very well depend on your company's travel policy.

(1) They may force you to use a corporate credit card

(2) They may have specific airlines and/or hotels to use. If so, it may make sense to choose a card associated with either of those

Before you rush, I would try to answer those questions. After that, choices can be determined by

(1) what are you trying to achieve? Hotel rewards, cash back, award air tickets?
(2) in which country are you based (since it will impact the available solutions)?
(3) is there a preferred airline alliance you're looking at?
(4) do you have a particular hotel chain you prefer?

No solution fits everyone, so think about these aspects first before making up your mind.

Cheers,

GenevaFlyer

On the airline side, other things like where you live and where you commonly go, can also be important to the choice of a card.

If you are based in Atlanta, for instance, the Delta card could be ideal. But if you are in Washington DC, and regularly go to Chicago (which is served nonstop by American and United), either the American or United cards are better deals.

In addition where you fly for business can have an effect. If you are already flying say to Cincinnati alot from New York, a personal card for the airline you normally fly can add more.

But you can also take the other approach. Assume that the company flying will get you airline miles and use your personal card for hotel miles.

The first question is, do you / will you carry a balance, or pay in full each month?

There are lots of reasons not to carry a balance. But if you do, then you should focus on finding the lowest possible interest rate. Cards that earn miles (or hotel points) tend to have higher interest rates, and none will offer mile rewards worth anywhere near the cost of the extra interest.