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Best airline credit cards + tips n tricks?
- Thread starter casa_mugrienta
- Start date
There are a ton of blogs on this. Here is my summary from personal experience:
-Know the difference between Miles and Points. Miles are actual frequent flyer miles that post to your loyalty program, whereas points are usually a statement credit issued by the bank. There’s a use case and argument for both, but know which you are singing up for.
-United/Chase and American/Citi are the most generous with bonus miles at sign up and have the most cards that you can take advantage of. They also allow you to reapply for that card at a later time (4 years last I checked) to collect the bonus miles again. Delta/Amex is scroogy AF and only has a few cards, and IIRC you can only collect the bonus once. End of the day, best place to start is whichever airline you use the most.
-Apply for a new card as often as you are comfortable. Usually the annual fee is waved the first year. When you get to month 11, apply for another from the same bank, merge the credit line into it, and cancel the old card.
-Redemption is a crap shoot. The more you plan in the advance and fly off peak days/times the lower the cost of miles and the less stopovers.
-You want to be mindful of which itineraries are worthy of using miles. It would be stupid to use miles to from NYC to London, where there are tons of low cost options, when the same number of miles can take you from Reno/Lake Tahoe to Istanbul, which would cost a lot more in cash.
-If you have enough miles, it is usually only double to fly business class, which like my example above would cost a whole more in cash. Absolutely worth it from time to time.
I don't have an exact number, but at least 2/3s of my international trips in the last 20 years have been with miles
-Know the difference between Miles and Points. Miles are actual frequent flyer miles that post to your loyalty program, whereas points are usually a statement credit issued by the bank. There’s a use case and argument for both, but know which you are singing up for.
-United/Chase and American/Citi are the most generous with bonus miles at sign up and have the most cards that you can take advantage of. They also allow you to reapply for that card at a later time (4 years last I checked) to collect the bonus miles again. Delta/Amex is scroogy AF and only has a few cards, and IIRC you can only collect the bonus once. End of the day, best place to start is whichever airline you use the most.
-Apply for a new card as often as you are comfortable. Usually the annual fee is waved the first year. When you get to month 11, apply for another from the same bank, merge the credit line into it, and cancel the old card.
-Redemption is a crap shoot. The more you plan in the advance and fly off peak days/times the lower the cost of miles and the less stopovers.
-You want to be mindful of which itineraries are worthy of using miles. It would be stupid to use miles to from NYC to London, where there are tons of low cost options, when the same number of miles can take you from Reno/Lake Tahoe to Istanbul, which would cost a lot more in cash.
-If you have enough miles, it is usually only double to fly business class, which like my example above would cost a whole more in cash. Absolutely worth it from time to time.
I don't have an exact number, but at least 2/3s of my international trips in the last 20 years have been with miles
people hate on American, but between their footprint and their Mastercard, it works. The card, the miles, the upgrades, admirals club. There are a bunch of status reciprocity things too, like for rental cars and Uber etc. “choose any car from the executive aisle”
using miles for business class seats to Kauai? yes please.
Lot of little financial perks add up if taken advantage of
using miles for business class seats to Kauai? yes please.
Lot of little financial perks add up if taken advantage of
Get one that gives miles, not points, on an airline that (if you live in a small city) has a major presence at your main airport. Grapedrink has some solid tips.
If you can, charge all your insurances - home, car, medical, dental, etc. to your airline credit card. Put your rent / mortgage / car payment on it if you can. Use the card for *everything*, groceries, beer, travel, the works. It adds up fast.
Plan your travel way in advance and watch for flash sales on that airline coming in on your email.
I go to Hawaii every year, wifey and I haven't paid for a ticket in ages.
If you can, charge all your insurances - home, car, medical, dental, etc. to your airline credit card. Put your rent / mortgage / car payment on it if you can. Use the card for *everything*, groceries, beer, travel, the works. It adds up fast.
Plan your travel way in advance and watch for flash sales on that airline coming in on your email.
I go to Hawaii every year, wifey and I haven't paid for a ticket in ages.
I put all expenses except mortgage and HOA on my American airlines card. I go to the east coast 4 times a year not work related and I never pay. The layovers are long but its like 13K miles for a RT flight. 3 hour layover flights.
Keep in mind that not all points are equal. For example, Chase points are worth the most amongst the big carriers. So you might see on review sites Chase Sapphire Preferred as the best option even though it doesn’t offer the most sign-up bonus points.
Use the review sites for most accurate reviews and stats. Nerdwallet, points guy, etc.
Use the review sites for most accurate reviews and stats. Nerdwallet, points guy, etc.
Delta/American
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