michele

Considering signing up for a credit card. The annual fee is $80 (high), but they offer 12,000 frequent flier miles as a bonus for signing up (1,000 miles per month for a year), in addition to earning one mile for each dollar spent. The miles can be transferred to any major airline to be redeemed toward a ticket. <BR>So my question is, is it worth it to pay $80 just for the 12,000 frequent flier miles? How much is a frequent flier mile worth anyway?

Andy

Be careful with those credit cards that say they can be used for any major airline-they usually give you a $ value and then say you have to add more money to tkt as there aren't enough miles... <BR>Best bets are VISA,MC and AX--VISA tied in with 1 major airline carrier-MC is the same...tied in w/ 1 major carrier,say like American...But AX has a real program that's been in existence for over 14 years: for every $ you get same number of miles which then go into a large kitty in your account--and YOU can then take those miles and use them towards any FF acct you have that they deal with.ie Delta,USAir,American,Twa--etc...They also have a sign up bonus but you pay for your AX card45 for card and then $35 to join their MEMBERSHIP MILES CLUB.....they also have a revolving credit card called SKYMILE card where each $ earns 2 FF miles on DELTA and they also give a terrific sign up bonus--but with the Skymiles Card you can only accrue on DELTA whereas the regular AX card you can use with lots of other airlines---I usually keep 1 VISA hooked to USAIR (the major carrier where we live) and the AX --I normally live with the AX card and only use the Visa when AX is not accepted....Have used AX miles for 3 sets of business class tkts already and it is well worth the small cost.

michele

The one I'm looking at is Diner's Club. <BR> <BR>Andy: I have the USAirways Visa too, and I use it for everything. <BR> <BR>This would mainly just be to get the 12,000 bonus miles.

Duane

Michele, <BR> <BR>I have the card you are speaking of. The only thing you have to do is charge something on it per month, and you will receive 2,000 club points per month, which translates into 1,000 FF miles per month, on any airline. In fact, I just got off the phone before reading your post transferring some points from Diner's Club to American Airlines. You can also get an extra 3-4,000 miles by referring people (per referral). I think that this card is worth it, at least for the first year (you can always cancel at the end of the year and not pay another fee). It's very flexible (you can use for any Airline). Airlines often run specials on Diner's Club as well. For instance, British Airways recently allowed you to convert 50,000 club points to 50,000 miles (enough for a European trip). Right now, American is allowing you to convert from DC points to AA miles for less than the normal 2 to 1 ratio. You will receive 2 DC points or 1 FF mile for each $ you spend. <BR> <BR>For a discussion of this card go to www.frequentflier.com and go to the forum section. Then use the "Search" function at the top and put in "Diner's Club" and read about the review of this card. Also, you could go to www.mileageworkshop.com, and look under credit cards. They call this the best credit card deal out there (voted on by Frequent Fliers). <BR> <BR>Duane

Beth

<BR>The question is: Is it worth it to you. I have a FF CC and pay 50.00 a year. I fly free one or two times a year and yes, it's more than worth it. I've flown to Europe, Alaska, etc save hundreds if not thousands with this card.

Capo

Hi Michele. I'm with Northwest Airlines WorldPerks program. With that program, 25,000 miles is good for a domestic roundtrip ticket any time of year (assumining, of course, seat availability.) A roundtrip from Seattle to Boston, for example, might be anywhere from $300 to $500 (or more) so, at a minimum, 12,000 miles would be "worth" $150, and, at a maximum, "worth" $250 (or more).

Bob

I would go with a card such as Master or VISA that can be used all over Europe.

michele

Duane: Thank you for your response based on your own experience with this card. It was very helpful. Actually, I originally learned about this offer at one of the websites you mentioned (mileageworkshop). One question: Can you transfer the miles from the card to the airline in any increment you want, or do you have to have a certain number of "points" accumulated? Or are there limits on how many times you can transfer the points to miles in a year? Can you, for example, transfer 2,000 points into 1,000 miles on American one month, and then the next month transfer 2,000 more points into 1,000 miles on Northwest? <BR> <BR>I am leaning toward getting it.

Diane

I've had a Diners card for YEARS, and I think it is well worth it. It was accepted just about everywhere all over Italy. You have to transfer miles in increments of 1000, I believe. (I've done it several times.) You can also use miles accrued miles to pay the card fee annually. If you pay it off when due, there is no % finance charge. They have a concierge service and can check on all kinds of things for you while you are planning a trip. I didn't notice that they added anything on to the exchange rate (could be well hidden, but we kept a pretty good eye on how it was tracking while we were travelling) Plus, when it was discovered a week before we were to leave that someone in Florida was using my card number, they called me right away, and overnighted me a new card. (Nearest thing we can guess is that someone at a specific hotel when I was in Miami on business in December, or from a restaurant when we visited my parents in Orlando at Christmas, made a copy off a receipt and manufactured a "duplicate" card. They were pretty stupid, as they tried to charge $7000 at a restaurant in Coral Gables!) And, no, I didn't get the miles for the fraudulent transaction!

lucky

12,000 miles for $80 would always be a good deal. but if you have other mileage cards..to go thru this excersize only to get these miles and not to use the card does not make sense even for 12,000 since I would imagine that there maybe some proviso as to card activity in order to eventually transfer the miles. Also, we are all different of course, but the notion to transfer only in small increments of 1,000 or 2,000 at a time to different airlines seems bit penny wise and pound foolish. In my opinion you should find the card you like that offers the best program for you...and then use the hell out of it on as many different purchases as you can. Frankly, I am a big fan of American Express and endorse their Membership Reward Program. I beleive their new Delta Skymiles is an attractive card. Don't know all of the restrictions.. but if it is included under the Membership Rewards Program then even though it is a Delta affinity card..the points in the Rewards Program can be redeemed via their re-demption program or can be transferred directly to your Delta Skymiles Account.

lucky

...and can be transferred out to the Membership Rewards Program to the Mileage program of any of the participating airlines........sorry did not mean to confuse and imply that they are transferred only to Delta.

ohoh

um, lucky, if you only need 579 miles to get a first class RT on United you only need to transfer 1000 miles, not any greater amount...no program that I know of lets you transfer only 579 miles. And if the next month (or 3 months later or whenever) you needed to transfer 4,000 to American for a different ticket, you could do that too. What's penny wise pound foolish about that? Many frequent flyers have accounts with several different airlines.

Dick

Capital One has a mileage Visa card for $17.00 per year. Seems to have everything you are looking for at a much better price. Has a 9.9% finance charge on unpaid balances which is pretty cheap if you carry a balance. <BR> <BR>Dick

Duane

Michelle, <BR> <BR>I think the minimum you can transfer is 500 miles or 1000 DC points at a time. And yes, you can transfer 500 to American and then 1000 to Northwest and then 1000 to Delta, etc. <BR> <BR>

Duane

Michelle, <BR> <BR>Forgot to really answer your question: there are no limits on the # of times you can transfer points into miles. As long as you have the minimum miles to transfer you can do it.

michele

Dick -- But does the Capital One card offer 12,000 frequent flier miles as a bonus for signing up? <BR> <BR>Thanks Duane & others for all your responses.