Best CC for air miles or cash back?

[mike981]

I have been looking at getting one for the better part of a year and I am stuck. Since I am from MN, Northwest has a monopoly at the twin cities airport. But their CC is not that good. American Express looks good, but most of the places I go, do not take it. The same with Discover. And add to the fact that I do a lot of shopping at Sams and when I read the fine print, you get like .25 for every dollar spent at a major discount store.
We fly all of the lines, so we are open to any ideas, thanks!

 

[GoofItUp]

mike981 -

I'm not sure I can direct you to one particular card, but I can tell you what I do. I had miles on 3 different airlines. I decided to get an American AAdvantage MC because American can get me to where I want to go with my points (Hawaii) most conveniently for me. I also utilize several other AAdvantage 'point-builders' so I knew my miles would build up quickly. Their CC offer is 1 mile/dollar.

I also fly Southwest some, but knew that I would not be able to get to Hawaii on Southwest, so I did not choose their CC.

Don't know if this is much help, but I'm sure others will post with what they are using and hopefully give you more options/directions. You might also want to check out frequentflier.com There's lots of good info there on choosing a card.

 

[mike981]

Thanks Goofitup!

I hope to hear more ideas.

 

[QuickGold]

I use the Delta AmEx personally...sorry to hear AmEx isnt taken around your parts.

 

[SusanU]

Look under chase travel rewards as their card is good for any airline. For 10,000 points you get $100 off, or 15,000 $150 off any ticket. It is also good for 20-25,000 miles for free ticket different airlines in US. I know Continental is one. They partner with NW so you could use on NW through Continental. ALso good for car rentals and hotels including Marriott. We have used several for 10,000 that are good for 1 night w/breakfast for 2 that have been worth $200 if we had paid cash. Also I have seen a capital one visa advertised that is similar. I would go for one of these so you could use on any airline and still look for a good price with dollars off.

 

[stressedmom]

I used to have a NW Visa card that gave me 1 point for every dollar I spent towards airline tickets on Northwest but I didnt want to pay the annual fee. I called them and they told me they have a Visa card with no annual fee but it only pays 1 point for every 2 dollars spent. I figured that was free money even if it takes a little longer. I max out points on my GM card every year first then start using this one.

 

[SCOTTOHIOCPA]

I don't know if you are interested in going on cruises, but MBNA has a cruise rewards card with no annual fee. They give back 2% of your purchases in $500 or $800 amounts and you can bank up to $500 per year. The money is good on any cruise line. My wife and I took a 4 day Carnival two years ago for FREE and we are going on the Disney Wonder in April with $800 off.

Their websitte is www.mbna.com.

 

[missypie]

I used to use an American Airlines Mastercard exclusively - I earned enough miles for 3 of our tickets to Paris. Now I've switched to a Disney Visa, in anticipation of a June 2005 trip to WDW. You have to figure out what benefit you'll use more. It now takes 25,000 miles to get a ticket on AA to Orlando...for the same amount of purchases, I could get $250 in Disney Dollars. Since we can almost always get an advance purchase ticket to Orlando for under $250, it makes more sense to earn the Disney Dollars.

If you are in a stage of your life where you buy lots of toys and diapers, the Toys 'R Us Visa may be for you. They give double points for Toys 'R Us purchases...my kids are older, so I tend to use my Toys 'R Us card only around Christmas, and earn enough to get quite a few dollars off for one of my kids' January birthday presents.

One more thing about the American Airlines miles...if you do any business entertaining (or just dine out alot), you can register all of your credit cards for their dining program...lots of restaurants give 10 miles per dollar spent...so if spend $75 on a business meal, I get 750 miles! You don't have to say anyting to the waiter...the points appear automatically when you use a registered credit card.

 

[drewc]

I just got the Capital One, Miles One rewards card.

You accumulate 1 mile for every dollar, and it is good on any airline with no blackouts.

You multiply the price of the ticket by 90 to figure out how many miles it costs you. You can start with a $100 ticket (9,000 miles).

I went with this because it doesn't restrict you to one airline, and it lets you choose discounted rates for tickets. However, I think specific airline cards are more likely to give you a free flight with fewer miles accumulated, so if you always fly the same airline, you might be better off with one of those cards.

 

[missypie]

Good point about blackout dates, etc. I think that instead of visibly curtailing their frequent flyer programs, financially troubled airlines are cutting the number of FF seats available. I booked our tickets in July for our March trip to Paris and the agent told me that I was getting the last three FF seats!...not many people can or do book 9 months in advance!

 

[mike981]

Thank you all for your help. I went to http://www.frequentflier.com/ and it looks like, with it and your help I should get this nailed down.

 

[MRS AR]

I have both AMEX and Capital One cards. Capital One is a hands down favorite. Mine allows for zone travel. 18,000 points for travel in your zone 25,000 between 2 zones, etc. It works great for our family. I've heard the newer ones start with 25,000 points for travel in your zone. but even then is a good option, since you can redeem points for cash as well as trave. The site www.capitalone.com explaines it well.

 

[jgates]

If you head for cash-back I love my chase i-card. It sends you a webcertificate each month you accumulate more than $10 in rewards ($1000 spending). If you don't make it one month, it just accumulates. I have a plastic icard back from the great days of rewards programs and so I can use it at any retail store. I have around $200 on there right now and will probably purchase one of our tickets with it in another month or so.

 

[jekjones1558]

mike981
I am a fellow MN resident so I understand the NW monopoly problem. We only fly non-stop and I am a teacher, meaning we have to travel during high-price times. I have had the CapitalOne MilesOne card for years and have used it to get 4 free Orlando tickets when FF seats are never available. You also accumulate FF miles with the tickets you get through this CC. My card has recently increased points needed to 35,000 from MN to Orlando, but if I feel I can get a better deal by paying cash for air tickets, I can always trade the points for cash. I charge everything (groceries, phonebill, newspaper subscriptions, gasoline, etc.) and pay it at the end of the month with one check. I am pleased with it. When I retire and no longer need to travel during high-season, I will probably use my Disney Visa in a similar way, then use the cash when I am at WDW.