I am discouraged with paying yearly fees for my gold airmiles Mastercard. When I tried to book air travel as I had collected enough points for a trip, the taxes were almost as much as the cost of a ticket.I'm getting rid of the card and am looking for a no-fee card that gives me the best value.Suggestions?

Depends of course if you carry a balance and need a low interest rate or if you pay in full every month. If you're an AAA member, I like their card and recommend it to those who travel. Doesn't include the additional 2% international surchase that lots of cards have, and you can charge travellers checks without a fee, giving you in essence free money for a month.

I'm confused - why do you think another card would remove the taxes? On a recent business trip, the taxes for my ticket came to over $100, but that had nothing to do with the credit card I charged it to. Some of these taxes are the new fee for the better security at the airports - somehow the adage "you get what you pay for" does *not* seem to apply here - we're paying up for erratic service that varies from one airport to another - but, that's another soapbox. <BR>Another point - if the taxes really were "almost as much as the cost of the ticket", it sounds like you were redeeming for a cheap ticket - I normally use my miles for the expensive tickets, and pay cash for the delightfully cheap ones, thereby earning more miles. I fly free to Europe business class or fly coast to coast on my miles. Just a thought.<BR>Anyway, maybe there is a better card (altho I don't know of one that gives miles, and I've gotten good benefit from my miles) but I wouldn't just do it because of the miles.

topping

Yesterday, I read the following quote in BUDGET TRAVEL magazine: <BR><BR>"By accessing www.mycreditcardsearch.com, you can choose the least expensive (i.e., with the lowest annual charges) of the credit cards enabling you to earn airline miles with each dollar of expenditure. Since those annual fees range from $19 to $90, the savings can be substantial."<BR><BR>I haven't been on this site, but someone try it and spread the news.....

Syl,<BR>I am with you. I have changed my job to be able to spend more time with my family. Now I hardly take any reimbursed business trips to accumulate milages outside of using credit card for everything else. I realized I could get a pair of domestic tickets only every 5 years. Almost eternity for a trip to Europe. This with black out dates! After subtracting annual fees, I was harding saving anything by using the milage card. Now I use a no fee no milage card, save annual fee, and take trips without worrying about black out dates. It was possible to charge college tuition on my credit card, but starting last year, my kid's college stopped accepting credit card payments so this is no longer an option to accumulate milages quickly.<BR><BR>My sister takes numerous business trips and accumulate so many milages to be able to fly free to Europe on business class every year. But she hardly spends any time at home to be with her family. I think it is a matter of trade off, what is important to each.