Best FF Visa/MC?
 

Now that I'm convinced that FF miles is the best form of rebate, I need a recommendation for the best Visa or MC to accumulate AA miles with. I have several Amex FF cards already, but not everyone takes Amex (can you say "c2it"?) so I need a backup plan.

The biggest drawback of the FF Visa/MC's is that dratted annual fee. My religion forbids such things -- unless the signup or other benefits outweigh.

Thanks!

I just applied for the GoldPoints Visa card. No annual fee, earn 3 GoldPoints per $ spent (this equals .75 miles per $,) and 6 GoldPoints per $ spent at GoldPoints issuing locations. GoldPoints can be transferred to your American AAdvantage account at the rate of 500 miles per 2,000 GoldPoints. This is only M/C or Visa with no annual fee that lets you earn airline miles that I know of. See: http://www.goldpoints.com/site/earn/...termediate.jsp

I agree with you about refusing to pay an annual fee.

[This message has been edited by Paul3456 (edited 01-01-2002).]

Citibank has a Hilton HHonors Visa with no annual fee. $1 = 2 (3?) HHonors points. These points convert to AA miles @ 5:1 ratio. Last time I was at a Hilton, I saw a sign-up offer of 10,000 points.

Citbank has the AAdvantage MasterCard with a $50 annual fee. However, a search in the American Airlines thread can give you some info about getting 10,000 miles for enrolling. At 1/2 cent per mile, that may be enough for your to "lose your religion."



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On the road,
In the air,
I enjoy travel
From here to there.

MBNA Amtrak Guest Rewards MC has no annual fee, earns 1 Amtrak point per $ charged, and Amtrak points can be transferred 1:1 (in 5,000 increments) into United, Continental and Midwest Express miles and 1:2 into Hilton HHonors points (5,000 Amtrak points into 10,000 HH points).

For more information see http://www.amtrakguestrewards.com .

FWIW, conversion rate of HH points to AA miles is about 4.17:1 (50,000 HH points into 12,000 AA miles), which is slightly better than regular 5:1 exchange rate for other participants in the HHonors Rewards Exchange (DL, CO, UA, and many others).

<Edited to add a link>



[This message has been edited by Eugene (edited 01-01-2002).]

I like the Citi Mastercard. Got 10k bonus miles for sign up and probably will keep this card for this year as well. I also have the HHonor Visa card...it's my backup. I'd get both of these cards if you can find the right deal (which is 10k mile or point bonuses for both cards) http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif



[This message has been edited by afang (edited 01-02-2002).]

Hmmm. Looks like Amtrak card the same with HHonor card with the ratio of 2:1, unless you can get your HHonor card's ratio at $1:3 HHonor points, HHonor VI/MA will come out on top.



[This message has been edited by afang (edited 01-02-2002).]

So, how do you find the "right deal?" Wait for a targeted mailing, or is there a web link to the best deal? So far, the best offer I've seen for the Citibank AAdvantage MasterCard is 7,500 bonus miles (after first purchase). How can I get 10,000 instead of only 7,500?

Kathy

I like the Chase Continental Platinum MC. Get 6K miles for signing up, earn 1 mile per $ spent. There is a fee of $45 for regular card, or $65 for Platinum. Chase customer service has a bad reputation, but I've had no problems with my statements or service issues. AND CO miles transfer to HHonors easily.

FYI: To get this conversion rate, you must get your GoldPoints card through the Radisson website (http://www.radisson.com). Other "flavors" of GoldPoints cards (e.g. TGIFridays, etc.) convert at the ratio of 500 miles for 5,000 GoldPoints.

BTW, there are 10 or 12 airlines participating, not just AA.


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An infrequent flyer trying to change that by earning my miles via alternate methods!
and webmaster at http://www.RewardsLookup.com

Bidkat:

To answer your question, I guess it depends on how much you plan on charging every year. If you can run several hundred thousand dollars a year through your card (as many people seem to be able to do on these boards), get a Citibank Aadvantage card, sign up for the Gold challenge (if you're not already Gold or higher), do a quick mileage run, and collect several hundred thousand miles at a 1:1 rate. At that level of earning miles, the annual fee and the cost of the mileage run are insignificant.

Even if you can't hit 60-100K miles, but can run a lot of reimburseable business expenses through a card, a $50-$85 fee may not be unreasonable - depends on what you're willing to pay per mile.

FWIW, here's a list of some mileage/point-earning cards you may want to check out:
http://www.flyaow.com/frequentfliercreditcards.htm

(Edited because I can't spell)

[This message has been edited by singlemalt (edited 01-05-2002).]

If you got the AAdvantage card that has an $85 annual fee and received 7,500 AAdvantage miles after your first purchase, even if you never used the card again and cancelled it after the first year, you would only be paying around 1.1 cent per mile to purchase those bonus miles. Not too shabby.

Of course, we on this board are always looking for an "angle" or the very best deal -- 10,000 bonus miles instead of 7,500, reduced or no annual fee, etc. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

Kathy

Singlemalt--Excuse my newbie ignorance but could you explain the Gold Challenge and how it relates to the AAdvantage card and racking up those miles.

All it takes is one time for Chase - or any other issuing bank - to screw up on customer service when they really shouldn't, that makes their annual fee seem exorbitant.

A better alternative for CO miles is the Amtrak/MBNA card mentioned previously.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum...ML/000192.html

magic miler:

Happy to pass along to you what others on these boards have passed on to me.

Citibank Aadvantage cards have an annual mileage limit of 60K or 100K, depending on the type of card. However, cardholders who are Aadvantage Gold, Plat or EXP are excluded from these limits (go here: http://www.citibank.com/us/cards/cardserv/worldcard/ , click on any one of the three non-business cards, then read the small print under "Earning Miles").

So if you can run more than $60K or $100K through a card, you need to make at least Gold to get the mileage cap removed. There's two ways to do that: the standard way (fly 25K miles, 30 segments, or make 25K in qualifying points) or the Gold Challenge (which for me is flying 10K miles in discount coach within 90 days) - the best reference for this is: http://plaza.powersurfr.com/fewmiles/AA/index2.html (on the left side click on "Undocumented"). If you're an Aadvantage member, you should bookmark this site - it's a goldmine of info.

I just signed up for the Gold Challenge (I also need the mileage cap removed) - thanks to help from Plato90s (the guru of AA mileage runs and other AA info), I was able to book one mileage run to complete the Gold Challenge: DFW-ORD-NRT-ORD-DFW, 14,152 Q-miles (7,076 Q-points), $480, to done on a weekend (1/19-20) in less than 36 hours (+ a 5K bonus).

Sorry if this is more information than you need - I've had a lot of coffee this morning.

(edited for clarification - and spelling)

[This message has been edited by singlemalt (edited 01-06-2002).]

[This message has been edited by singlemalt (edited 01-06-2002).]