Airline miles credit card

[NY Pirate Princess]

Good morning budget board! This is my first post over here.

I currently use my Disney Visa like a debit card for everyday expenses, subtract the purchase from my checkbook, and earn Disney Dollars. I just started looking into airline miles after having my brain tickled by a Capital One ad I caught yesterday.

I don't particularly want to pay an annual fee, but if I can get FREE FLIGHTS in 18 months for our next Disney trip it will be totally worth $49.

Can anyone tell me their strategies for these cards and which one they like the best? We fly Jetblue and our next trip will be about $1500 for 3 adults and one child, baring enormous price hikes.

Thank you!

 

[lauradis]

Most people here love southwest.

I haven't joined the crazy reward cc thing yet but thinking about it.

 

[Marionnette]

Good morning budget board! This is my first post over here.

I currently use my Disney Visa like a debit card for everyday expenses, subtract the purchase from my checkbook, and earn Disney Dollars. I just started looking into airline miles after having my brain tickled by a Capital One ad I caught yesterday.

I don't particularly want to pay an annual fee, but if I can get FREE FLIGHTS in 18 months for our next Disney trip it will be totally worth $49.

Can anyone tell me their strategies for these cards and which one they like the best? We fly Jetblue and our next trip will be about $1500 for 3 adults and one child, baring enormous price hikes.

Thank you!

The "best" airline rewards credit card will be the one that actually offers points that you can use. IOW, a SWA credit card does you no good if you fly on Jet Blue.

Personally, I don't care too much for "branded" credit cards unless you use that brand often. And by "often", I mean that you will continue to use that brand after your current trip is over. If you fly frequently and exclusively on Jet Blue then their AmEx card with a $40/year annual fee might be worth it for you.

However, if you want flexibility in your rewards, then choose a credit card that allows you to use your points on things other than just flights BUT lets you choose any seat on any airline if you do want to book flights. I prefer the Chase Sapphire Preferred card ($95 annual fee) because I can book any flight and then use my points as a statement credit for the cost of the flight. I can use those points for other purposes as well. I've paid for my kids' college text books, exchanged the points for SWA points, ordered GCs from their redemption mall and booked hotels through their portal.

Bankrate .com has a page where you can compare credit card offers. You might want to do a search for it. It will show you the top cards for what YOU want to get from a rewards card.

 

[hsmamato2]

agree with pp..... what airlines/which area do you fly from? that makes a big difference.... if SWA flies near you, that is the best deal when they offer a bonus for signup,no contest.
Jetblue is another good one,and as a pp mentioned, the Chase sapphire preferred,if you qualify is a home run kind of card.(easy transfers to travel programs)
FWIW, the 'credit card thing' isn't necessarily 'crazy' as someone said... it def. can be, but it doesn't have to be.
What it means is if done carefully and **within your means** it is the best way to travel at a discount.
(within your means= you don't spend extra $ to get rewards,you never carry a balance and pay charges,you use the cc for everyday life,and get free travel in return,def. not crazy)
Also, I know there are lots of choices, but I have never seen a 'no fee' card that makes it worth my while to carry and use, I pay an annual fee, and I get WAY more back in travel costs than that small fee costs me.....

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I agree that you need to use a branded card for the airline you fly the most. I have a UA Chase Visa, which makes sense for me, because I usually fly UA. Due to my FF status, I don't need all of the benefits (such as a free checked bag and priority boarding), but I got 50,000 FF miles after charging a certain amount after signing up and I don't get charged a foreign transaction fee when I use it overseas.

 

[sunshinehighway]

agree with pp..... what airlines/which area do you fly from? that makes a big difference.... if SWA flies near you, that is the best deal when they offer a bonus for signup,no contest.
Jetblue is another good one,and as a pp mentioned, the Chase sapphire preferred,if you qualify is a home run kind of card.(easy transfers to travel programs)
FWIW, the 'credit card thing' isn't necessarily 'crazy' as someone said... it def. can be, but it doesn't have to be.
What it means is if done carefully and **within your means** it is the best way to travel at a discount.
(within your means= you don't spend extra $ to get rewards,you never carry a balance and pay charges,you use the cc for everyday life,and get free travel in return,def. not crazy)
Also, I know there are lots of choices, but I have never seen a 'no fee' card that makes it worth my while to carry and use, I pay an annual fee, and I get WAY more back in travel costs than that small fee costs me.....

I have an Amex Everyday, no fee version and I think its worth it to use. It gets membership rewards so you can transfer to airline and hotel reward programs.
2% back at grocery stores and 20% bonus when you have 20 purchases in a month. The sign up bonus is not as good as annual fee cards though.
I mostly fly Southwest to Florida so I do wish Southwest were a transfer partner. Jet blue is a transfer partner.

 

[MinnieForMe]

My favorite card after the Sapphire is the Barclay's World Mastercard. It's so easy. Just buy your tickets on JetBlue with it and pay yourself back on your next statement.

 

[DisneyEater]

Which is your home airport? That can help. Also, where do you spend the most i.e. grocery, gas.....?

 

[NY Pirate Princess]

You guys are great! I will try bankrate.com. I think, though, the Jetblue card might be my best bet. Unfortunately, Southwest does not fly from our airport.

 

[Miss Whimsy]

While a more general card definitely keeps your options open, in general airline points work best when you can mega-load onto one airline. I live near a JetBlue hub, so that's the airline I try to fly most, and I finally got the card this year. The fee put me off for a while, but I've already taken the BF with me on a trip for free. tbf I travel a lot for work and buy my own tickets and get reimbursed, so I earn at a pretty decent pace without having to spend my own money. ~magic~

If you do sign up for JB, make sure you get the 20,000 bonus points, I somehow signed up during the like 24-hour period between promotions and then had to fight for them for a few months. (protip: find a reasonable amex rep and then say you're closing the card, and then DON'T take the first offer you get. I said I'd think about her 10,000 point offer and she called me back an hour later with an offer for the full 20,000. first time I ever negotiated something. I'm still proud of myself lol.)

 

[MillauFr]

We use the Alaska Airlines Visa. It is a pretty good deal because you get a companion fare ticket every year and the annual fee is only $75. It works great because we get a $600+ ticket to Hawaii or Orlando for $119 which is a great deal. Not as good a deal if we use it to go to Disneyland because those tickets are around $300.

 

[DisneyEater]

You guys are great! I will try bankrate.com. I think, though, the Jetblue card might be my best bet. Unfortunately, Southwest does not fly from our airport.

From NY you may want to look at the British Airways card or a card that gives you Chase Ultimate Rewards or Amex Membership Rewards points that transfer to British Airways.

NY to Orlando is 7,500 avios (that is what they call their miles) each way or 15,000 round trip.

You can fly AA or US Air amongst other One World Airlines.