All things considered, which credit card to get for miles?
 

It seems that one of the key things to do to be able to afford travelling is to get a frequent flyer credit card. Among things to consider are fees and interest rates. It also seems to me that it would be logical to get a card that that doesn't charge fees for transactions outside the US, unlike Chase and Citibank. What card do you use and why?<BR>Boring, I know. But reply would be much appreciated.<BR>

As far as I know, all of those that accrue frequent flyer miles charge fees. I think the very best card is American Express. We use this 100% of the time and put the points into the Rewards Account ($1 = 1 point) then we transfer them to an airline, or to a hotel or to rental car companies etc. Whatever we are looking for at a given time. This way we have such flexability without limiting ourselves to just one airline, or one hotel program etc. I only had 9,000 Delta Frequent flyer miles so I transferred 71,000 AmEx points and flew first class round trip to Europe (80,000 frequent flyer points required). I also transferred points to the Starwood hotel program to cover my hotel. I'm racking points quickly these days because I charge my daughter's college tuition on the AmEx card. I like the flexability that AmEx offers.<BR>Ken

We use VISA with Bank of America (travel on US Air) card and they told me today they do not charge any percentage for conversion in Italy when you use ATM.

We use American Express and joined their Rewards Program. Go to americanexpress.com and you can read about it. They do not charge any transaction fees when used in Europe. You can also order foreign currency prior to leaving the USA so when you arrive you have pocket money before hitting the ATM's (no charge for this...you order the money by phone and it is mailed to you so you never need to go into one of their offices). We have transferred Reward points towards most everything from hotels, airlines, rental cars etc. It works best for us.

Ann, my USAirways card is Bank of America Visa, also, and they sure charged me for conversion last year in Italy and just last month in Paris when I charged things. But then you said when you use ATM; do you mean for cash advances? I thought interest started acruing on that immediately, which can really add up in a hurry. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding.

Another vote for American Express and its Membership Rewards program. We have used the points on airlines, hotels, etc. You don't transfer your points until you have a reservation so it is very flexible.

A previous poster said that AmEx charges 2% conversion fee (all MC/Visa charge 1% with most banks adding 2%). That would make it cheaper than a Citibank card, but 1% more expensive than MBNA or Capital One. Sounds interesting, though.

Have been an AMEX Gold card holder for many years. On a recent trip thru southern France & Italy, my Amex card was only accepted about 70% of the time whereas my MBNA Visa card was accepted 100% of the time. Amex rejection was especially annoying at toll booths!<BR>Bear in mind that not only is there an annual Amex card fee but you also have an additional fee to be able to earn mileage credits! And yes their currency conversion fee is higher than MBNA.

I just signed up for an MBNA travel rewards progran. I can't remember the exact name of the card as they have several.<BR>I use my MBNA card in Europe because they do not charge an additional conversion fee. All of Mastercard and Visa cards have the standard 1%.<BR>This card also has no annual fee, which many cards do such as Amex for their travel program.<BR>After the introductory period, there is a standard 9%n annual percentage rate if you do not pay balances monthly.<BR>

Sue, in reference to Bank of America card, maybe they gve me wrong advice. They gave me a list of certain banks to get cash ATM withdrawals in Italy for no charge but if you go to other places they said they may charge you. I do not know if it is diffcult to find these but they said to go to: Barclays, BNP Paribo, Deutsche Bank, Scotiabank, Westpak.

I would select one that matches the airline you typically fly. Depending on where you live, I'm sure that some airline tends to be more dominant. I live in Chicago, so American and United are your best bets (neither of which participate in AMEX rewards). I do have an AMEX which I use to add to my Starwood Hotels points balance. I also have a Citibank Aadvantage (American) visa (my Company's preferred airline is American). <BR><BR>I wouldn't get too hung up on the foreign transaction fee as this is only an issue on vacation (typically not more than once or twice a year). It's like planning a vacation based upon the dollar's strength or weakness. It's nice when the dollar is strong, but I've never planned, canceled or altered a vacation because of it.

Ann, I use only my debit card (which takes $$ directly from my checking acc't in bank back home) to get money at ATMs. Perhaps there is no conversion fee when using Bank of Am. card, but I am certain that that's an expensive way to get cash because of the interest rate. I would only use it in an emergency for cash. I do use it overseas for purchases.

We have an American Express and also a Mastercard. We just returned from Austria, Switzerland, Italy and Czech Republic where we used the AmEx exclusively (never not accepted). We prefer the flexability of the AmEx Rewards Program. We still have our mastercard which gives us points on American Airlines but usually don't use it much. The following participate in the Rewards Program: TWA, Hawaiian, Virgin Atlantic, Korean Air, Delta, US Airways, Continental, Southwest, AeroMexico El Al Israel, Mexicana, LatinPass, All Nippon Airways. All the major hotel chains participate. We use our ATM (with pin always required/not a debit card) for all our cash withdrawls. We've never received a cash advance so don't know about that. We are never charged a transaction fee on our American Express.

Any Mastercard or Visa has a minimum 1% fee built into the currency conversion rate.<BR>Many Mastercard and Visa issuers add an additional 2% to the currency conversion rate.<BR>American Express and Diner's club have a 2% fee built into their currency conversion rate.<BR>It makes the most sense to get a ff credit card with the airline you are most likely to use based on your home airport. American Express is great for some but doesn't include United or American. If you generally use one of those two airlines, you should get a card affiliated with them. Since both have the extra 2% conversion fee, don't use them while traveling outside the U.S. <BR>Getting cash with an ATM card makes a lot of sense. However, there is still a 1% fee built into the conversion rate. Also, some banks, either the issuing bank or the ATM bank charge an additional fee for using the ATM.<BR>Traveler's checks cost a lot to use. When you attempt to use them, you generally will be charged a commission/fee anywhere from 4-10% for the currency conversion.<BR>Credit card cash advances are also very expensive. Generally, you are charged a 2% cash advance fee, interest starts immediately on the cash advance, and you are still stuck with the additional 1-3% fee built into the cash advance.

A number of US bank/airline partnerships now offer miles on your ATM/debit card, not just the ordinary credit card. My bank (B of A) awards 1 mile (Alaska AL) for every $2 in purchases (not cash withdrawals) on the debit card. If you're like me and use the debit card for food, gas, and lots of other purchases, it really adds up. I still get 1 mile per $1 on the credit card (same airline) if I want to use it. For overseas travel, the combination is fine. However, I think the banks are going to reduce the benefit of ATM cards for overseas use pretty dramatically if they keep adding conversion fees and other hidden charges to the deal.

Thanks all for your responses. I am in LA and I never seem to use the same airline twice when going anywhere. I will be going on extensive trip soon, that's why I inquired about transaction fees. AmEx seems to be the popular choice, but they charge 2% conversion fees. I am not positive about B of A but I am inclined to think that they will DEFINITELY charge - they charge for EVERYTHING, so they are not on my list for sure. I will inquire about MBNA ff program - thanks, Sherry. Somebody mentioned Capital has good ff program, but I also heard they charge extra conversion fees? I also heard thet Diners Club has the best dollars-to-miles ratio, but they charge a steep annual fee and are not as widely accepted. Any comments on that one?

We have a Gold AmEx card that we use all over Europe. We've never been charged the 2% fee that you're referring to...or have we?? I'm not aware of this fee...I'd love to hear more. Tyler<BR><BR>P.S. I wouldn't own a debit card even if it did offer miles. You're so much safer just using an ATM for obtaining cash. Many articles written this past year about the downside of ANY debit card.

Tyler<BR>The AmEx 2% fee is built into the conversion rate they use.

I hate to get into these credit card and money threads, but today it is timely. I just cashed in 100k points for $2000 dollars worth of tickets to venice in Oct. It made no difference which airline---it is just money to be spent on any itinerary. It is the CMA Visa rewards program thru my Merrill Lynch acct. The best I have seen.

Why is a debit card worse than an ATM card? or a regular credit card for that matter?<BR><BR>The rules (at least on mine) for paying any unauthorized charges are the same, and I never keep all my money in my checking account, so I can't be completely wiped out. I use my debit card for everything and would love to get ff miles for it. Is there a drawback I haven't considered?

The drawback with a debit card is that if you lose it, and it can be used without a PIN, a thief could empty your account before you know it. If this happens when you are six time zones away from your bank, it is no fun. Even though the bank will eventually credit the lost funds back to you, you don't have access to that money while you are away. With a straight ATM card there's the safety of the PIN, and with a credit card you can contest a charge before you pay the bill -- the signature debit card has neither advantage.

oh, I see<BR>We're coming at it from different angles. I was thinking of a debit card to use at home to earn points FOR the trip. And you're thinking of using while you're ON the trip. <BR>It would be a pain to straighten things out 6 time zones away, but if your credit card is maxed out you'd really be in the same fix (if you didn't have an ATM card to use that is).

A PIN-less debit card presents more risk than I'm willing to accept -- at home or away. Others find it convenient.

I have a Capital One Miles One Mastercard which gives FF miles and it absolutely does not have any conversion fee over the usual 1 pct. That's the whole reason I got it, to supplement my VISA, which did have one, for use on major purchases abroad. The FF miles were a plus, but the card does have a yearly maintenance fee (although minimal, about $20, I think) and I don't think there is any std FF card that does not have a yearly fee, usually $60+. Capital One and MBNA are the usual cards mentioned without any add-on conversion fee to the 1 pct.<BR><BR>You can use the FF miles on any airline and it also has a very low percentage rate (but I never carry a balance anyway so don't really care). However, one thing I like is that you have a choice of simply getting the cash back or using them for airline tickets (and I don't know how you do that as I haven't had it that long, given they aren't an airline). I prefer the simplicity of cash back (which is 1 pct of charges, so when you have 25K mi which could qualify you for a domestic trip, I think you have the option of just getting a check for $250 instead). I'll take the cash and buy my own tickets somehow.<BR><BR>I got rid of my debit card also because I didn't like it that it could be used without a PIN. I don't know for sure the protections, my back claims you are protected like a credit card but there was some ominous language about only if you reported it in some time frame of it being lost/stolen, and since I might not notice I didn't like that. Anyway, it would be a giant hassle to try to get the money back, I'd think, anything having to do with banks and cards usually is. <BR><BR>Don't know the details on the stop loss, but I just don't get the point of debit cards since it seems better to me to put all the charges on a credit card, get a free float all month on that money (which didn't affect my decisions on the card, but it's true), and pay one big bill at the end of the month -- much easier to keep my checkbook straight, also. Perhaps there are some places that refuse credit cards but take debit, but I don't go to them (it's often the opposite).

I agree with the American express answer, but I will take it one step further and say to get a Optima/Starwood American Express. You get all the benefits of having and Amex, NO Annual fee, one for one, and these points can either be used for airlines, merchandise or at any of the Starwood properties, which include Westin, Sheraton, W, Luxury Collection, and others.

Great ideas, all. To Christina: I'm seriously considering the Capital One card. Did I understand you correctly-- that the yearly fee is only $20? If so, that's the one for me! Thanks, Sue.

To Cl9: HELLO...I don't mean to be rude but obviously you haven't read/heard on the TV/ listened on the radio about the 1,000's of cases where debit card users have been ripped off by debit cards either here in the USA or abroad. Like Kay explained....how would you like to be far away and find out that you have lost your debit card, and someone has used it to rack of numerous purchases (NOT ATM WITHDRAWLS which do require a PIN) and your checking account is depleted....perhaps before you even realize your card is missing. There have been so many publications (perhaps Congress will even take action) prohibiting these debit cards with the Visa or Mastercard logos. I work with small busineses and we are constantly getting reports of fraudulant usage. I wouldn't own one no matter how many miles I received, KAY IS RIGHT ON! Make sure your card does NOT have this logo. Stan

Sue -- yeah, I thought about this a bit before getting the Capital One and did a little research and am happy with my decision. You can see all the details on their web site (www.capitalone.com), as well as a choice of cards. The fee is $19 annually for the Miles One card (you can't lose since they rebate 1 pct of charges if you choose that option, it seems to me). However, if you don't need the FF miles or want to pay the $19 yearly fee, I think their regular VISA cards don't have the conversion fee and don't have any yearly fee. You'll have to check that out. <BR><BR>One thing I wasn't sure of but found out after applying was the the Miles One card is only a Mastercard, not a VISA. I had sort of wanted a VISA as I think they are accepted more than MC, but decided maybe it was good to have a MC as an alternate as I already have another VISA, and both are accepted everywhere I've been abroad. The Capital One APR is only about 10% also, which is really good.

We have a Capital One Visa - have had it for years and have been very happy with the service.

I carry a Capital One VISA and American Express. I was recently sent a new bank card that was both an ATM and a debit card and I sent it back and requested only an ATM card. Some banks will do it, others won't. My friend is a Banker and she won't carry one. What does that tell you??

To Christina: Thank you. Sue