Earning miles on a credit card?

[Randum]

Anyone have a credit card they are using to earn miles for flying? I am looking to get one but not sure on who to go with. I was told Chase is pretty good?

 

[Viper GTS]

Unless you just really, really want miles there have typically been higher value rewards programs. With the prices of flights lately though the gap may be closing.

My rewards card of choice at the moment is the Chase Freedom (cash mode). 3% on gas, groceries, and fast food + 1% on everything else. If you save up $200 in rewards you can get a $250 check.

That works out to as high as 3.75% cash back (if you made nothing but 3% purchases), far better than the typical miles card.

Compare that to a typical miles card offering 1 mile per $1 spent. Even at today's ticket prices (Recently bought tickets from Portland, OR to Pittsburgh, PA for nearly $600) that would be at best 2.4% back if I had managed to find a 25,000 mile eligible flight. If I'd had to burn a full 50K it would have been 1.2%.

The only situation where a miles card might be the better value is a card with a ton of bonus miles on signup, & that's a one time boost in value.

Viper GTS

 

[daggerr]

I use a few different credit cards to maximize my cash back and other rewards. If I sign up for a "points" or "miles" card, I usually get one where I can easily redeem my points for gift cards that are nearly as good as cash (e.g. gas gift cards).

For example, I've got one card for 5% cash back at gas stations, another card for 5% points at restaurants and entertainment, and third card for 3% at grocery stores, utilities, and some other categories.

It's hard to recommend the best card for you without knowing the categories in which you spend the most, but some good cards are the AmEx Blue Cash, Citi Diamond Rewards, Capital One No Hassle Miles Ultra for Professionals, Capital One No Hassle Miles for Travel and Gas, etc.

You can use the rewards calculator linked-to in my signature to help figure out which card or combination of cards would pay you the most in rewards for your normal spending profile.

 

[marvdmartian]

It wasn't a credit card, but I had a debit card before, from Citibank, that gave me 1 mile for every $2 I spent with the card, which cost me a small fee (don't remember how much) per year. Since I used that debit card for 90% of my purchases, the miles racked up pretty quickly. Since it was just spending the money in my checking account, there was no interest or monthly payments involved.

 

[zoiks]

The best way to figure this out would be to look at how many points/miles you need to accumulate for the rewards you are getting. For example, CapitalOne, Citibank etc charge a ratio of the amount of miles to the ticket price at that time in dollars. I was looking for a ticket to Barcelona this year in June and the average ticket was around $1300. Citibank and CapitalOne required about 130k miles for the ticket as per their reward page. Note the ratio of the miles required to the actual price.
I instead used my Alaska Airlines Bank of America credit card for my rewards. It cost me 50k miles to get the same ticket on Continental (partner airline for Alaska Air) to fly in June. Bank of America also gives you 10k miles when you sign up so its a good deal. $39 annual fee for the classic card which is not too bad. I get 1 mile per $ spent.

 

[The Stigenator]

i was thinking of the southwest rapid rewards card..
i usually fly southwest for work, so i get enough credit from there. But the card really makes you spend a hell lot more.. 1200/credit
I can get 6-8 credits for that amount being spent.

 

[kranky]

A good cashback card will almost always beat a frequent flyer miles card.

- Cashback gives you a choice of any airline. FF miles don't.
- Cashback lets you get a ticket on any flight where there are seats available. FF miles don't.
- Cashback lets you buy a ticket using whatever rebate you've earned. With miles, if you don't have enough for the whole ticket, you can't use any.
- No expiration dates on cash.
- Airlines are in serious financial trouble. You might end up building up miles on an airline that goes bankrupt before you can use them.

 

[dud]

Originally posted by: Randum
Anyone have a credit card they are using to earn miles for flying? I am looking to get one but not sure on who to go with. I was told Chase is pretty good?

Suggest you get/use a card based upon other factors such as lower interest rates. With the state of the airline industry these days and the upcoming mergers/fight for survival I would avoid a "MILES" card at all costs. Even if the industry were not in such turmoil I would personally go with a non-miles card. Do you have any idea how hard it is to redeem miles? I've only been successful doing it once in my life ... and that was for a relative. Too few seats ... too many restrictions.

Cash rewards are better.

 

[JEDI]

Originally posted by: Viper GTS
Unless you just really, really want miles there have typically been higher value rewards programs. With the prices of flights lately though the gap may be closing.

My rewards card of choice at the moment is the Chase Freedom (cash mode). 3% on gas, groceries, and fast food + 1% on everything else. If you save up $200 in rewards you can get a $250 check.

That works out to as high as 3.75% cash back (if you made nothing but 3% purchases), far better than the typical miles card.

Compare that to a typical miles card offering 1 mile per $1 spent. Even at today's ticket prices (Recently bought tickets from Portland, OR to Pittsburgh, PA for nearly $600) that would be at best 2.4% back if I had managed to find a 25,000 mile eligible flight. If I'd had to burn a full 50K it would have been 1.2%.

The only situation where a miles card might be the better value is a card with a ton of bonus miles on signup, & that's a one time boost in value.

Viper GTS

3% gas??? rossman would say u are no ferrengi

5% gas cards:
shell (shell gas)
discover (any gas station, max $100/month)
penfed (1.25% everything else)
costco business (includes 3% restaurants)

Op:
as Viper said, unless u fly OFTEN, straight cash back is a better choice.
my main card is 1.4% straight cash back.
my 2nd card is 5% gas

Originally posted by: marvdmartian
It wasn't a credit card, but I had a debit card before, from Citibank, that gave me 1 mile for every $2 I spent with the card, which cost me a small fee (don't remember how much) per year. Since I used that debit card for 90% of my purchases, the miles racked up pretty quickly. Since it was just spending the money in my checking account, there was no interest or monthly payments involved.

epic fail

well at least your not in debt

 

[OulOat]

Penfed Visa Platinum Gas Cash Reward - 5% on gas, 2% supermarkets, 1.25% on everything else, no annual fees
Costco TrueEarnings American Express - 3% on restaurants and gas, 2% travel (plane, car, hotels), 1% on everything else including at Costco. Annual fee is Costco Membership.

If you must get a miles card, get a Starwood Preferred Guest American Express card. 1 point per dollar spent. Annual fee is less than $100. Starwood points are generally worth about 3 cents each, way more if you use them wisely. You can freely trade your Starwood points one-to-one for airline miles, so you are not tied down to one airline. For most airlines, Starwood also gives you a 5000 miles bonus for trading in 20k mile increments. Usually there is a sign-on bonus for 10-20k points.

 

[dr150]

Why be beholden to any particular airline miles card.

Get the Starwood AMEX. You can transfer points to 30 airlines...most all at a 1:1 ratio. Plus you get 5k miles free when you transsfer 20k to your FF account.