Good credit card mileage program?

[Cheryl-Feb06]

Hey Everyone,
I just redeemed all my United Mileage Plus miles for our flight from Chicago to Orlando in Feb. I wasn't really happy with the number of flights available to buy with miles ( I had to switch the days of my vacation just to use them). I couldn't believe how difficult it was to book a flight 7 months away! Anyway, I think I am going to cancel my card - I don't like the $60 annual fee and am nervous about limiting myself to flying on United.
Any good programs out there? I've seen the commercials for Capital One and am wondering if that is a good card for mileage or if there is another. Preferably a card where I am not limited to one airline. I pay the balance each month, so a low interest rate is not important.
Thanks!

 

[IwannaseeMickey]

I think ours is now thru Chase Bank One. It has changed so many times in the last 8 years! But, we like it, we get one mileage point for every dollar, and I can find my own travel plans and call them and book on whatever airline I want. No black out dates either. We, too, put everything on it and pay it off at the end of the month, and have never paid interest, so it's a good way to rack up miles. One thing I noticed too, is that they just changed the mileage rates, and while every airline is like 24K points for a ticket, if you book on Continental (I think it's that one) it's actually less points. A little incentive. I think our annual fee started out at $20 8 yrs ago, but it might be $30 now.

 

[Chicago526]

Well, the fact that you couldn't use your miles to fly on the dates/times you wanted have nothing to do with HOW you earned the miles. Every airline limits the number of "free" seats for each and every flight. Once those seats are gone, their gone. The best way to make sure you get the free seats you want is to book ASAP, as soon as you know you are traveling. Most airlines have their schedules open for booking 11 months in advance.

That said, you did make an excellent point about being locked in to one airline. You should look at a program that will let you book any airline you want. I believe Capitol One and American Express both have programs like this. I don't have either (I have United since I always fly them anyway) so I can't coment on how good their programs are.

 

[Jen_in_NH]

I've had one of the US Airways cards for a few years now. The annual fee is pretty high (I really don't remember right now), but we put everything on the card. We've gotten 3 free tickets so far, and I have enough for another. I looked at other cards that let you fly on any airline, but there aren't that many airlines out of NH, so the US Air tends to be the easiest for me to book. I;ve never had problems getting a particular day, but sometimes the times are odd. I've had trouble finding flights when one of the tickets is with frequent flier miles and the other is cash, but it usually works out.

Jen

 

[Windjammer]

I think the best card is the Starwood Preferred Guest American Express Card. You earn Starwood points but the points can be transferred to practically any airline. Moreover, there is a bonus. If you transfer 20,000 miles AMEX will kick in an extra 5,000.

The first year is fee free and the charge after that is $30 per year. Thre is a bonus right now where you can earn up to 10,000 miles relatively easily. Following is a link:

https://www66.americanexpress.com/cards/Applyfservlet?csi=6/14309/b/58/1954876953/195115336645/0/n

You can also get free hotel nights for as little as 2000 points.

Steve

 

[Lewisc]

Well, the fact that you couldn't use your miles to fly on the dates/times you wanted have nothing to do with HOW you earned the miles. Every airline limits the number of "free" seats for each and every flight.

SW has a handful of blackout dates otherwise no capcity controls on the seats. If there is any empty seat it's yours.

 

[dizplanner]

I have a Capital One Miles One card. The miles are good on any airline - if you can book it, you can get it. No black out dates or times. I just booked four seats from Denver to Orlando on America Airlines for next March for just under 80,000 points. You get one point per dollar spent on the card. The number of points required is based on the cost of the airfare. Take the cost of the airfare and multiple by 80 and that is the number of points required. (Although I think the minimum is 9000 points, but that is an airfare of only $112 - I'll never see an airfare that low from Denver, so it is a non-issue for me.) It was easy to redeem my points. I just called, they verified my account and balance and then transferred me to a travel agent. Since I already knew which flights I wanted, I told the agent. After a bit of back and forth, I had her select the correct connecting flights. The flights were showing as $252 on the American website - she was able to book them for $244 so I actually got it for fewer points than I expected. She redeemed the points, then assigned our seats. No problems. The tickets are non-refundable, non-changable. So if don't book until your dates are firm.

My annual fee is $19. You can also get cash (1% - not quite as good a deal as airfare so I've just done airfare) or other rewards. This is actually my second set of tickets. I also booked tickets in 2004 - the rules were different then - 35,000 for a ticket up to $500. Since I was booking for March in January, the cost of the tickets was $535 - I ended up using 140,000 points and paying the extra $140 - although those tickets on Frontier were direct flights - we have a connection this time - all direct flights are well over $400 right now with no signs of going down. I decided not to wait.

I used to have a United Visa card - I also cancelled due to the restrictions and high annual fee.

 

[Chicago526]

SW has a handful of blackout dates otherwise no capcity controls on the seats. If there is any empty seat it's yours.

That's right, I always forget about ol' SWA. But 99% of the airlines out there DO restrict the number of free seats.

 

[Lewisc]

That's right, I always forget about ol' SWA. But 99% of the airlines out there DO restrict the number of free seats.

Exactly, OP is in IL and SW flies from MDW to MCO. SW may make sense for OP.

 

[Chicago526]

Exactly, OP is in IL and SW flies from MDW to MCO. SW may make sense for OP.

I'm in IL too, and SWA doesn't work for me, I'm much closer to O'Hare than Midway. The slight savings isn't worth the hassle of trying to get to Midway, so I never even think of SWA!

 

[Lewisc]

I'm in IL too, and SWA doesn't work for me, I'm much closer to O'Hare than Midway. The slight savings isn't worth the hassle of trying to get to Midway, so I never even think of SWA!

OP was looking for free airline tickets through an airline credit card. It's not a slight savings if it's a free ticket vs paying for a ticket. If O'Hare is more convenient and you can book fares that work for you then you should fly out of O'Hare.

You could use an AMEX Rewards card and transfer your credit to a specific airline program when needed.