jrchapma

I posted this same message under the Airline forum, but thought I'd post it here since so many savvy travelers frequent this forum.

I'm inexperienced with whole frequent flyer thing, so please excuse me if I say anything naive.

My husband owns a small business and I finally convinced him to sign up for a corporate credit card that offers frequent flyer miles. Well, it's been a month and he's already accrued 58,000 miles. Great! Except that we just read the fine print and the account maxs out at 60,000 points per year. Oops! So now his accountant is searching for a new corporate card. Any ideas?

Other than the 60,000 point limit, his current account seemed good. No blackout dates, points don't expire for 4 years, can fly almost any airline, and they don't purchase from a block of tickets (as long as a seat is available, we can fly). Just to give you some idea of what our points got us, 40,000 points would get us to Hawaii (capped at $800), 60,000 to Europe (capped at $1200). We could also book open jaw travel.

We fly out of Wilmington, NC, so our airlines are limited to Delta and US Air. Raleigh would be an alternative for travel (more options if we fly from there), but we like avoiding the additional 2 hours of travel and longer lines at their airport.

Can you recommend a good corporate credit card? One with unlimited points? Annual fees are not a concern. Thanks all for your assistance!

Patrick

My American Airlines Citibank corporate card gives a 100,000 limit annually. But of course, it is only good for AA. But I also register the card with AA IDine and get 10 miles per dollar spent on the card for entertainment/dining.

jrchapma

Thanks Patrick! Really need a card with unlimited miles (we'd be at the 100,000 limit in 2 months) and don't want to be restricted to one airline. If you're restricted to one airline, are you also limited to using points on a small set of FF seats? I spoke to a rep at US Air and she told me that to book a flight to Rome or Hawaii I basically have to grab the FF seats as soon as they're made available - about 330 days prior to travel. Making plans that far in advance is incredibly hard!

Sparky1969

try looking at www.flyertalk.com for some help on your questions.

jrchapma

I looked at that site for about an hour this morning and didn't find an answer to my question. Maybe I was looking in the wrong spot - can you tell me specifically where I should be looking?

CarolA

What doess he use the card for?

I use a corporate Diners Club for travel and I don't think they have a limit, but it is more restricted then some cards.

SRS

Not a practical answer, but you could just get basically one of each (AA, US Airways, Continental, United, Delta, Northwest, etc. - and max them all out! Imagine all the fun trips you could take! Anyway, good luck finding the right card!

jrchapma

CarolA - he owns a website/advertising company so they pay for a lot of their internet listings and printing jobs with their credit card.

SRS - my concern with a specific airline credit card is that they set aside a minimal number of seats for frequent flyer people, and seats to popular destinations sell out right away.

Is that a true assumption?

Sparky1969

re: Flyertalk.

They have a couple of different boards you could run a search on regarding higher limit cards that accrure miles. You could also sign up to become a member and then post a message on one of the boards. Those people are very knowledgeable and can steer you in the right direction.

tommy

My Delta Skymiles Platinum Amercian Express card has unlimited miles, but I have experienced the same problems booking tickets that have been expressed on other posts on this board. You really have to plan far ahead with Delta.

kybourbon

National City First Air Platinum Visa doesn't seem to have a cap and can be used for any airlines with no black out dates and tickets can be booked in other peoples names.

jrchapma

kybourbon - that appears to be exactly what I'm looking for. Do you have this card and, if so, have you discovered anything about it that you don't like? Have you ever had a problem getting seats to a location? Thank you for the information!

StCirq

My AMEX corporate card accumulates a mile for every dollar spent, and they are transferable to multiple airlines.

kybourbon

I don't have this card but a friend's father does and has used it for his business for years. She got a brochure from him so I could check it out. My brochure is old but it had the website on the back. nationalcity.com so when you asked this I just looked it up in that site. My brochure had limits listed but when I checked the website today it said no limits but a $29 annual fee. I do know that he "shared" his tickets with lots of family and friends. Unfortunately he passed away last summer but I will try to find out if his wife and son are still using the card for the business. You could also use it for cruises. You can also join the airlines ff program and earn miles for the free flights.

jrchapma

kybourbon - thanks for the additional information. I found the website and the platinum card looks like it has some great benefits. I passed the link on to his accountant. Thanks again!

Has anyone had a problem booking a seat through their Amex bonus program?

Patty

If you're refering to the Amex Membership Rewards program, those miles can be transferred to a number of airlines' FF programs. So any ease or difficulty in booking is dependent on which airline you choose. It's the same allocation of seats as if you try to redeem miles earned from flying.

Patrick

I guess this thread has gone beyond my comprehension. So you are looking for a card that will offer you up to a million miles in a year -- enough for 10 or more free business class awards to Euorpe in a single year -- yet you can't book 11 months ahead. You want to go to Europe maybe 10 times a year at a moment's notice on your miles. Guess I can't help you, but all I can say is I envy you greatly.

I agree that getting several cards from different airlines would be the best way to go. Is to people going to Europe free in business class 5 times a year on two different airlines NOT enough for you?

kybourbon

Patrick - With the Firstair Visa Platinum you are not booking FF seats so no need to worry about 11 months or availability. You are booking regular seats and can book anytime. The points do expire after 5 years. My friend's dad would have points expiring and ask people if they needed tickets because he always had more than he could use. He only used them for flights in the states. I do think it cost a few more points for tickets but you are gaining the benefit of traveling and booking whenever you want.

Patty

kybourbon,
I agree that one of the major advantages of these air reward cards (as opposed to cards which earn miles that can be transferred to FF programs) is the ease of booking. However, a major disadvantage is the $ cap on each category of award ticket. $1100-$1200 will never buy you a business class ticket to Europe. I suppose you could pay the difference, maybe that's an option. But many of us like to save our miles for free premium class travel which is not possible with these types of cards. At least I haven't found one that doesn't have a $ cap.

Patrick

Sorry I'm not familiar with the type card you're talking about kybourbon. How many miles does it take to buy a business class ticket to Europe including a couple stopovers? Or can you even do that? I do mine every year for 90,000 miles. But the ticket is worth over $7000. Does this card work that way?
Frankly I'd never waste my miles on tickets within the US -- the flights are too cheap and lower the value of my miles. The only option would be if I wanted to splurge miles for a first class ticket coast to coast or something like that. But again, it sounds like all those miles earned on some cards wouldn't let you do that.