Best Credit Card for Airline Miles?

[tiffsix]

Anyone have any thoughts on this? My husband & I are looking to open a new card that will give us the best options for airline miles. There are so many cards out there! Not sure where to start so if anyone has any advice, I would greatly appreciate it! thanks!!

 

[Kimberle]

I use US bank. (Formally Northwest Airlines.) You get a point for every dollar, double for groceries & cell. 20,000 points will get you a ticket $400 or less. They use the Travelocity booking engine. There are a TON of other choices for rewards it you don't want miles. You're not limited to one airline, you can use whoever books through Travalocity.

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

We have a Suntrust Skymiles DEBIT Card and love it! We earned a 10,000 mile bonus just for signing up and earn 1 mile for every dollar spent. We mainly use that account for our vacation fund but we also use it for any expensive purchases like new furniture, DVC, home repairs, etc...

In just over a year we have earned over 27,000 miles.

There is a $55 annual fee for the card.

 

[golfgal]

We have a credit card and our checking account debit cards on a rewards program. They both offer cash as a reward. When we went to DC a couple years ago, we had enough points for $600 cash back, or one round trip airline ticket. Well, for that $600 we got 4 round trip tickets so I would pick one that gives cash back vs just airline miles. More bang for your buck.

 

[jel0511]

Capital One Venture card. We get 2 points per dollar spent on all purchases and they can be used on ANY airline. You just buy any airline ticket you want at the PRICE you find reasonable and then you ask for a credit for the amount of the ticket. So if your airline ticket is $200, you need 20,000 points to have that ticket paid for. It's just so easy to use and the best we've found out there!

 

[snarlingcoyote]

It really depends on what airline you will be using. I have a Continental MC, as that's my preferred airline. I get 1 point for every 1 dollar spent on anything, with bonus points for some vendors and Continental. If I plan, I can usually fly anywhere I need to for 20K points, even if the tickets are going for $800.

 

[tiffsix]

thanks for the replies! We typically fly different airlines. We always shop around for our airfares. I have read about the Capital One Venture Card and that does sound like a good option for us. I was hoping for a card with a decent amount of bonus points when you enroll...but haven't really seen more than 10,000.

 

[snykymom]

I don't like the Capital One card because they don't let you apply partial credits. For example, if you have 20,000 points but your ticket costs $220, you can't apply the 20,000 points to it. It must be $200 or less to apply the full credit. But since Capital One is one of the only cards that don't charge a foreign transaction fee, I'm keeping it. I have the lower point value Capital One (1 point per dollar spent), because the Capital One Venture card has an annual fee. I don't pay fees for credit cards - in my mind, paying a fee wipes out some of the benefits of the card.

The airline card of choice for us is American Express Blue. We get 1.5 points for every dollar spent, and you can apply the points for partial credit. I just did this - got a $150 credit on a $400 airline ticket. It's a no-fee card and Amex is now taken almost everywhere.

 

[Wishing on a star]

We got the Discover Miles Card and are quite happy...

No specific affiliated airlines or hotel chains.
No blackout dates...
Double miles on all travel and dining...
Then, if it works like I understand, after you take a trip, you just have you points redeemed/reimbursed for any travel expenses.

We JUST got back from the second of two back to back trips...
We should have two or three hundred worth of points to cash in.

 

[bear_mom]

I use US bank. (Formally Northwest Airlines.) You get a point for every dollar, double for groceries & cell. 20,000 points will get you a ticket $400 or less. They use the Travelocity booking engine. There are a TON of other choices for rewards it you don't want miles. You're not limited to one airline, you can use whoever books through Travalocity.

This is what we have also. So far we have booked two tickets to Las Vegas and two tickets to WDW. Right now we are saving for four tickets to WDW next spring. We almost have enough now, so even if air prices go up we should be fine.

Emily

 

[kirbsam]

I use US bank. (Formally Northwest Airlines.) You get a point for every dollar, double for groceries & cell. 20,000 points will get you a ticket $400 or less. They use the Travelocity booking engine. There are a TON of other choices for rewards it you don't want miles. You're not limited to one airline, you can use whoever books through Travalocity.

love this card. always fly for 20000 points.