I’m solicting opinions… As I paid off credit card bills this month, and then made reservations for the D.R. trip this Christmas, it occurred to me that if I were earning miles in American Airlines’ flyer program with my credit card dollars, I’d be flying free by now. But I’m not.
Does anyone have any particuarly good (or particularly bad) experiences as far as choosing a credit card that offers airline miles? I’m specifically interested in AA, but would appreciate all comments.
Thanks!
I took AmEx up on a year free (no annual fee) of their Delta Skymiles card. The offer came as an email spam. I’ll rack up points for a year then dump it. It’s a good deal, but my problem is that a lot of places still don’t take AmEx.
Bricker,
I use the CitiBank card with AA miles and its pretty good. There is a fee but it’s very small, and I don’t think the miles expire as long as you make a purchase every two years with it. My advice is to find someone who will give you a huge sign on bonus. For a while, MCI was giving 7,000 miles for switching long distance (probably more now with Worldcom in the crapper)
I have Bank of America’s Alaska Airlines card. Of course, if you’re not in the Pacific NW, that may not be the best choice for you.
There’s a yearly fee of $75 for platinum, with which you get: unlimited miles earning, one $50 companion ticket per year (buy one ticket, get second for $50), two free upgrades per year, two free boardroom passes per year, travel insurance, car rental insurance, etc, etc. And you get 6000 bonus miles for signing up over the web, 1000 for booking a ticket at their website and 500 for checking in at their website.
And you can use their points on loads of other airlines, including American.