Best Credit Card for Air Miles??

[2mickeys1minnie]

I am interested in getting a credit card to start earning miles to help pay for our annual airfare to the world. Anyone have any recommendations on what the best card for earning may be? I was considering the southwest card but not sure how great that is...any help would be great! Thanks

 

[justplaingoofy]

Instead of using a credit card that gives air miles, we use the Chase credit card that gives cash back at a rate of 5% gas & groceries, 1% everything else and no annual fee.

That way we use the cash for whichever airline we like. Sometimes one airline will have much better rates or schedules.... Anytime you want you can call and request the $ you earned and they will send it in a check which then goes into the Disney fund

We put everything on it, then pay it off at the end of the month...

 

[bearzabout]

Depends on which airlines fly non-stop from the airport near your home. For us, it is Spirit. As long as you book at least 21 days out, it only takes 22,500 miles to fly to Orlando from Detroit. Northwest requires 50,000 miles frequently.

 

[Katiebell]

We just recently got a Citi AAAdvantage card that gave us 20,000 FF miles for AA with our first purchase of $250. I charged $260 toward our Disney trip, then paid the balance in full with trip money we had saved up Just an offer we got in the mail, but you might check their website. We might have been sent the offer because we already have some FF miles on AA from our trip to Ireland in 2005?

 

[missymouse]

We had the Citi Aadvantage card for 12 years and it was great, however we moved away from Texas which was an AA hub. Since we are no longer at a hub it is very difficult to go anywhere with our accumulated miles on AA. We could do it but it is really screwy like flying to DFW to Orlando or my favorite flying to LAX then to Orlando. So we decided to switch to the Thank You Rewards card that CITI offers. Still get 1 point for every dollar spent but we can use the points for any airline or shopping for other things. We haven't cashed out or used any of our points yet so it is yet to be seen how that will work. The thing we like the most about the Citi cards is that they have Virtual Account Numbers for internet purchases where the number is only good 1 time and 1 merchant and you can set the maximum amount that can be charged.

 

[writersblock42]

I had a whole bunch of miles with United and could not use them. They would not let us take a one way trip. We had to pay more than it would cost for a one way ticket to combine miles. It was really expensive to add miles and you could not sell back miles. We had no way of using them unless we wanted to take a round trip to like two driving hours away. So read the fine lines. Oh and they expire, you can't use them on certain dates things like that.

 

[DianaPrincessofWales]

Like others have said it depends where you are located and what airline you would use the most. I live in MN and it is ruled by NorthWest Airlines. While we tend to have alot of complaints about them, apparently they were rated the top FF mile program (World Perks) according to Comsumer Reports. They have worked out well for me and have been able to get to Florida and Canada with as little as 21,000 miles (25,000 with a 4000 mile off coupon they send me yearly). Can't complain, free is always best. There is a 50$ yearly fee but it has been well worth it for us! We collect about 2/3 of our yearly miles with the CC (one mile per dollar spent) and other offers make up the rest. We also charge everything possible on the card and always pay it off on a monthly basis. Hope that helps.

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

I'd be leary about getting a credit card that earns frequent flyer miles as it is getting more and more difficult to actually find seats. I've been trying for over a year to use up my Delta Skymiles and can never find any availability for the seats that require 25,000 miles. I've had their credit card for years and just a few days ago I cancelled it and got the Costco True Earnings card by Amex...I will get a high enough rebate during the first year to pay for one or two tickets without having to pay the $85 annual fee I was getting dinged on the Skymiles card.

 

[WeRblam]

We love Jet Blue (TV in every seat) and it goes non-stop to MCO as well as lots of other places. I just got an American Express Business Card that gives you 1 point for every dollar. When you accumulate 200 points, that converts into a True Blue point. Get 100 True Blue Points and you earn a free R/T. Another good thing, is that I get 5% off any Jet Blue Flight and earn double points as well as points for taking the flights. When you sign up, you automatically get 25 true blue points and $50.00 statement credit.