Just got off the phone with American Airlines. Apparently I can inherit my mother’s AAdvantage miles. I’m enrolled in the programme, but have no miles. She had something like 87,000. I was prompted to call American Airlines because I received a credit card offer from them. Assuming I get the credit card (I’m sort-of unemployed, though I’ve ‘a partner’ in a business), I can use the credit card to earn miles.
I have an REI credit card. I earn a 1% dividend (redeemable for cash or merchandise) on non-REI purchases and a 10% dividend on REI purchases. I use this card for everything except gasoline. Over the years I have gotten a roof rack system for my Jeep, two pair of Vasque hiking boots, and a whole bunch of assorted items from REI all ‘free’. Yesterday I bought my ex-fiancée some REI socks that she just loves for her birthday in November, and bought some for myself as well. And I’ve ust taken the cash a lot of times. This credit card has been good to me.
So if I get the AAdvantage card, should I use it instead of my REI card? One thing that I enjoy – but don’t do nearly enough of – is travelling. Using the card to build up my air miles would be a convenient way to get back to Europe for a visit.
Sounds good to me, but only if you are sure you want to travel. If you don’t plan on flying much, you have to weigh the miles versus your REI rewards, which seem to be substantial. You might be better off selling the free stuff you get for you REI rewards and using that cash to buy your plane ticket(s).
I don’t even have to sell the REI stuff. Just wait until the July after the dividends come out, and I can get cash.
I haven’t actually looked at numbers, but let’s say I spend $1,000/month on a card. For non-REI purchases, that would get me about $120 at the end of the year. (Since I’ve been investing in the business and buying expensive equipment, my REI rewards should be rather significant next year! But let’s just do the $1K/mo. thing.) I think I’ve heard that $1 = 1 mile for airlines. In that case, I’d earn 12,000 miles per year. I’m guessing that at that rate it would take 2½ years to get a ‘free’ ticket to Europe. In three years, at that rate, I’d have $360 from REI. I think the air miles are a better deal. (No idea what a plane ticket to Europe costs.)
I’ve often had the urge to jump on a plane and go someplace. I think if I had the air miles I just might go for it.
American’s program isn’t bad… AAdvantage SHopping
Between them and UselessAir, my (wonderful) brother flew my butt all over Australia & NZ earlier this year - I only had to pay for one stinking flight the entire time.
87,000 miles is a lot…IIRC, it didn’t take much more than that to get my business class ticket from LA-Sydney.
AFAIR, United’s miles (my program) cost 144,000 miles for a free ticket, and about 40-50K for an upgraded ticket. My tickets to Europe (without counting miles) cost $500-1000 for a round trip (SFO to Prague [my jumping off-point]).
I’ve earned several free flights from my Alaska Airlines card. I also belong to their dining program, where I earn 10 miles per dollar spent at certain restaurants, and that adds up, too.
My situation may be atypical, since I travel so much for business, but the miles from these non-flying programs really add up.
American has a good program, and you can earn miles on American while flying other carriers, and spend miles on other carriers flights. Details here.
Checked with my (wonderful) brother - it was like 105,00 for my UselessAir (flying on Qantas - best airline on the planet) ticket. American’s program is a little different - he said that same ticket would have needed about 125,000. That was a business class ticket. Economy on American would need about 75,000; first class about 145,000.
United’s Mileage Plus can get you a free ticket to Europe in economy for only 50,000 miles, 80,000 for business class and 100,000 for first.
I think airline cards are great, but then again, I travel a lot. When I go to D.C. from Denver I get (approx) 3000 miles for the round trip, plus another 2000 for booking online, plus the 350-400 on the mile for dollar on the price of the ticket. Three of those trips and I earn a free trip (15,000 miles) anywhere in the continental U.S. I also earn miles from the hotels I stay in, retail and online stores (Netflix, Barnes&Noble, Cabela’s, Kohl’s, Safeway, etc). I also get miles from restaurants, even though I never know which ones offer them. They just show up on my Mileage Plus statement.
I earn .50 miles to the dollar at Safeway, but I just discovered that even though I signed up for the Club Card using my account #, that no miles have been credited to my account. So I’ve emailed Safeway, and I plan on raising hell. Over the time I’ve had the card, I should have earned several thousand miles. Enough to make me eligible for an economy ticket (with my existing miles).
Your numbers are a little high there. I’ve got an American Airlines miles credit card. I just checked, and it would take 40k pts to fly from Minnesota to London and back, economy. On top of that, there is a $82 fee for the flight. To Paris, the points are the same, the additional fee is $52.
To Canada and the lower 48 states, 25k pts and $35.
Here is something I did last summer, with some of my pts. I flew a friend from Alberta down to Minnesota and back up to a different city. It cost me 25k pts and about $30. So you can use your pts to buy someone else a ticket, and there was not additional charge to leave and fly back from different cities.
Take a look at what ever card you are signing up for. Most airline miles cards have an annual fee. It can still be worth it, but there is a fee.
A friend of mine’s mom pretty much travels the world on free airline tickets using such a card.
His parents own a number of rental properties, and nearly 100% of thier cash flow passes through this account. Not only does the card earn miles, but gives them several weeks float between the time they have to tidy up a place, and when they see the first rent check & deposit.
Well say you make $160,000 a year, and you put all your bills and purchases on your credit card, I could see how it’s easy to spend $50K-$80K on a CC a year.
Its possible. Put all of your bills on the card and pay it off with a check at the end of the month. Some folks are paying their taxes by CC and college tuition. The miles can add up. But personally unless you fly that airline to supplement the miles you earn on the card, I think other no-fee cards are a bit cheaper.
I fly about 35,000 miles a year. With occasional bonus promotions, that is about 40,000 “points”. I book everything online, so that is another (approx) 15-20K. I put all my business expenses (hotel, meals, parking) on it which can add up to another 3000 points. Add the matching miles from hotels, rental cars, shopping, etc. that can be another 5000. That adds up to about 65,000 points a year, which is about right. (Actually, I just checked and I already have 59,900 this year!)
65,000 gets me 2 1/2 RT coach in the US and Canada, one business class to Hawaii or the Caribbean, 1+ coach to South America or Europe, or one coach to Australia or the Pacific Rim. Not bad.
JohnnyL.A. if you like to travel then the AA card would be a deal for you. I don’t have Delta’s American Express SkyMiles card but I earn SkyMiles with Delta when I fly which is several times a year. Over the years I have used the earned miles to buy tickets to fly places around the U.S. and it’s been a good deal. My credit card earns me cash back bonuses (it’s a MC not a Discover) which I like, so I have a best of both worlds situation going on. Before the current credit card I had a GM MasterCard which earned me money towards the purchase of new GM vehicles. I had earned as much as $2000 towards the purchase of vehicles with that which I liked but since I bought my Mustang, I’ve become a Ford fan. The cash back means more to me than the money towards the purchase of a new vehicle. I could have the same deal with Ford if I wanted. Ok, where was I? Oh yeah!
If travel is the thing that means most to you then by all means go with the AA card. What you earn coupled with your inherited miles should get you that ticket to Europe real soon. Go for it!
