soccr

We have 2 Citibank AA Aadvantage cards, one MC, one Visa, but I'm getting disgusted with their policy on finance charges (used to only pay finance charges on past due balance, now even into months when you have paid balance in full -- a complaint to them yielded &quot;you have to pay it in full EVERY month to avoid finance charges.&quot <BR><BR>I'd like to get rid of Citibank cards but would like to keep earning miles. According to AA, the Discover card is our only alternative for getting AA miles, but I don't believe that.<BR><BR>If you collect miles via a charge card, which one do you use and how complicated are the arrangements for claiming the awards? Are you satisfied with them? Are they nickel-and-diming you to get the miles and/or the awards?

gail

Our decision was based on departure city (Boston) and likely destination cities for husband's business travel - so we have a USAir Visa (I think it is FirstBank). By charging all his business travel to this card and flying primarily USAir, we earn quite a few miles in a year.<BR><BR>We got them to reduce annual fee and pay in full each month so finance charges are not an issue, but I did mail one payment a day late and the penalty imposed plus interest will convince me never to do that again.<BR><BR>If we were selecting a card now, I would probably choose one that allowed you to deposit miles in several airlines, since health of individual airlines is so questionable these days.

Arista

Why don't you call the airlines that you're interested in and ask if they have this sort of arrangement with credit card companies? I'm sure they'd be more than happy to oblige.

Curious

soccr,<BR><BR>You might want to consider a Capitol One Visa. I think it is $17.00 per year. You accumulate miles good for any airline. You can also cash the miles in for cash. If you carry a balance, I believe their interest charge is around 9%. That is about the lowest I have seen of any credit card.<BR><BR>I had the CitiBank AA Visa, but I cancelled it after a few months. If you take a trip overseas, Visa and Mastercard have a 1% conversion fee for money exchange. Many banks, like CitiBank charge an additional 2% for doing absolutely nothing. In the long run, it doesnt' add up to a lot of money, but I like to think I have some principles. I never like to pay something for nothing.<BR><BR>Curious

xyz123

Almost all banks have the same policy as Citibank regarding finance charges. Once you don't pay your bill in full, all later charges begin accruing finance charges from the moment they are charged (or perhaps posted) until the month you pay the balance in full. You get no grace period with almost any credit card if you don't pay yor bill in full; the proper way to use credit cards.

soccr

First of all, the issue here isn't whether I pay all bills in full or not. I almost always do, but three months ago, I paid all but the last $450 because I knew a credit for that amount was pending. I was willing to risk the finance charge on that because I fully expected to pay all future bills in full (and didn't particularly want to GIVE Citibank $450 of my money for a month -- little did I know....). My surprise came when I not only had finance charges for the next month but the following two months as well, EVEN THOUGH I had paid the entire balance each month. I'd expect a bank to charge interest for a month with a balance carried forward but NOT when the balance brought forward is zero.<BR><BR>Second, because of where I live, American is the only airline on which it makes sense for me to accumulate miles, which is why I called American to ask what other cards' programs could provide AA miles, and that's when they told me &quot;only Discover.&quot;<BR><BR>So, &quot;Curious,&quot; how does Capitol One's program work? How do your dollars become AA miles -- is there a pass-through through another organization (like a hotel chain or ...)? <BR><BR>Thanks all.<BR>

soccr

To try to answer some of my own questions, I just went to Capitol One's website and here's what I think is the deal: you collect &quot;miles/dollars&quot; in their own account and they &quot;purchase&quot; the tickets for you. However, you cannot add these credit-card dollars/miles to airline miles you are collecting by traveling yourself on the airline. And it doesn't look like upgrades are at all possible.<BR><BR>Am I correct?

Curious

soccr,<BR><BR>Yes, you are correct. However, by charging your airfare on Capitol One, and flying American, you accumulate miles on both accounts. You can use your Capitol One miles for the ticket, then upgrade with your AA miles.<BR><BR>Curious

artlover

I believe American Express has one that you can use with any airline. Not sure where you are, but our local Costco has a deal where you can get the first year fee waived.

petlover

I have the Starwoods American Express card and it works great....sometimes I use the points for hotels, other times I use them for ALL AIRLINES. I use to have the Citibank AA card but I didn't like being limited to only one airline and no hotel opportunities. (the exchange rate for $ to miles is 1 = 1)

The_Banking_Scot

Hi I have;<BR><BR>The Virgin Credit Card ( for 2* Virgin Atlantic(VS) miles)<BR>The BA Amex Card<BR>The Standard American Express Card ( miles to go to Virgin)<BR>The BAA Worldcard Visa ( for BAA worldpoints which can be converted 1:1 for VS miles<BR><BR>Regards<BR>TBS

traveller333

I personally love my AmEx Starwood card. It gives me the flexability of using the points towards various Starwood Hotels (Westin, Sheraton, 4 Points etc.) or to ANY airline. The conversion for airline miles is 1 = 1 which is MUCH better than the AmEx Rewards Program. Also, I love this because if you transfer 20,000 points to any airline, you receive a 5,000 point bonus so effectively you get a domestic round trip (25,000 miles) for only 20,000 points which makes it even better than the 1=1 coversion. Sometimes I use it for hotels, sometimes for various airlines....it's my call. Until needed, the points just sit there and never expire. This card has now replaced my AA Citibank card and my Gold AmEx. <BR><BR>This card is FREE the first year and $30 per year thereafter.<BR>

Patty

traveller333,<BR>The conversion rate for the Amex Membership Rewards program is also 1:1 for most carriers (unfortunately AA doesn't participate). I do agree with you that the 5000 bonus for 20000 conversion thru Starwood is great that's why I keep both cards, Amex Gold and Amex Starwood. BTW, the Starwood conversion rate is not always 1:1 either. They made a few changes this year most notably with UA where it's now a 2:1 conversion

Patty

Of course, I am referring to the Membership Rewards program, not the new Membership Rewards Options program. The Options program is not worthwhile IMHO if you are serious about collecting miles.

John

<BR>I also use Capital One Visa. You can choose your airline AND make travel arrangements through them if you need to purchase a ticket for a travelling friend etc.

soccr

topped for Cindyloo -- we're all learning here.....

RufusTFirefly

We go for cash rebates--one card gives 3% on gasoline purchases and 1% on everything else. Another gives 5% on Shell gasoline and 1% on everything else.

Bootman4U

BEWARE of Capitol One..you can only use US flag carriers..you cannot do open jaws..no stopovers..and there are restrictions on the AMOUNT of money the fare would cost that these &quot;miles&quot; will cover, lots of &quot;rules&quot; etc. etc and recently when trying to book a trip to LVegas through their &quot;travel agency' which they connect you to after they verify you have enough miles, they came up with some ridiculous itineraries I had checked on Expedia before calling and the ones I found were much more conveneint but THEY said they couldn't find them. I'm not against any of this..just warning you to check the fine print before you take the plunge. The bank that issues the card is not going to lose any money on these deals and for the amount of miles you have to spend it is sometimes better just to pay..and get even more possibly unuseable miles!