Need FF Advice Please

[SalandJeff]

I originally posted this on the budget board, but I think I should have posted here.

I need advice on accumulating ff miles through credit cards. We currently have Delta Amex cards and have been accumulating miles.

But the cards are up for renewal (at $85 each) and I'd like to get cards that would allow us to get miles for any airlines, and with a lower fee.

We are trying to accumulate the miles for airfare to eastern europe or russia (for our adoption) and the choices of airlines are sometimes limited.

Any advice on which cards have low fees and can be used with many airlines?????

Thanks!

 

[prncess674]

try the Starwood Perferred Guest credit card. The fee is only $35 a year. You can transfer points to several airlines and for every 20,000 points you transfer to airlines you get a 5,000 mile bonus.

 

[tn4mickey]

We had the Delta Amex for one year. When the renewal notice came with the $85 fee I called to ask if the fee could be waived and was told no so I cancelled the card. Over the next few weeks I received several calls trying to get me to keep the account and they acted like they couldn't believe the rep. I talked to on the phone refused to work with me. I don't know if they would have actually waived the fee or not, at that point I wasn't interested. I'm not going to pay a yearly fee for a credit card. Long story short, it couldn't hurt to ask.

 

[pumpkinboy]

The Amex Rewards Plus card will work with more airlines, and the fee is about the same. We use that for most of our charging and build up enough for a couple of free tickets a year (but then we charge a lot). Now if only we could get the FF tickets for any kind of reasonable flight...

One caveat might be that you will usually have to reserve FF tickets well in advance. The Amex Rewards program lets you get companion fare certificates for a number of airlines serving Central and Eastern Europe, including Air France, Alitalia and Swiss (the first two are also Delta partners tho). The airlines all have somewhat limited East European penetration, mainly the big cities like Moscow, St Petersburg, Kiev, Bucharest, Warsaw, Sophia. If you need to go somewhere further or smaller (like Chelyabinsk or Semipalitinsk), you will likely need to go for one of the rickety local airlines (eg Aeroflot) that have no FF deals available for you.

 

[Jestocost]

We have the Capital One MilesOne card. It's $19 per year and you get one mile for every $1 charged. A coach ticket within the 48 contiguous states is 25,000 miles. You can use miles on any airline, with no blackout dates or other restrictions, but you have to redeem and book through them.

They have a new GoMiles card that has a slightly different ticket cost structure. With that card you pay 90 miles for every dollar the ticket costs, so you can use your miles more efficiently by shopping for lower fares. They claim you also can book through them, through travel Web sites and through airlines directly.

 

[XStAnt]

I have an Elite Rewards card through MBNA. There is no annual fee. One mile for each dollar spent. It is 25,000 miles for a trip in your "zone." The country is divided into 3 zones. 30,000 miles for one ticket anywhere in continental US. It is 50,000 miles for one round trip ticket to Europe. It doesn't say anything in particular about Eastern Europe. It can be used on any airline with no blackout dates. However, you have to book through them and at least 14 or 21 days in advance of travel.

I used the card for a trip to Jackson Hole, Wyoming and had no problems. (I wasn't going to pay $460 per person for a trip from Philadelphia.)

DW and I charge everything on it: food, groceries, gas, phone bill, etc. It can add up quickly. Just be careful you don't charge more than you can afford to pay each month. I don't think the interest rate is very good, but we pay everything off each month.