Question about frequent flier miles
 

How much cash do you need to spend to get a free r/t ticket? Which credit card is the best? How much is the annual fee? Thank you!

TTT

This question is difficult to understand. If you're talking about spending cash to get a "free" ticket, then why wouldn't you just buy the ticket? Programs vary, as do the conditions of redemption. How much cash a person spends to eventually end up with an award ticket depends greatly on how the cash was spent, promotional bonuses, etc. Can you define what you are talking about a little more? I'm guessing an affinity credit card program, perhaps?

Yes I am speaking about a rewards program for credit cards. I always pay off my balance in full. I would just like to accumulate some travel miles for it. Does one dollar equal 1 mile? How many miles would I need to get a r/t ticket to a US destination.

Seth, the airlines themselves determine how many frequent-flyer miles are required for a ticket. The amount depends not only on the airline, but also on where you are going, when, and what class. The amount of miles can range from 20,000 for a domestic economy-class flight to 100,000 or more for first-class to Europe.<BR><BR>Frequent-flyer miles can be gotten not only through actual travel, but also through credit cards. Some cards will get you miles (which they often call "points") only on one particular airline. Others, like American Express, are affiliated with several airlines. I most cases, each dollar spent on the card gains you one ff mile. <BR><BR>American Express, for one, also allows you to "buy" miles at a rate of $15 per 1000.<BR><BR>Thus, the answer to "Which card is best?" is "It depends."

Ooops, I was writing my response while Seth was postig his clarification!<BR><BR>But still, the answer depends on which airline you want to fly. AmEx is more expensive than most (I think) but offers maximum flexibility.

I have American Airlines Mastercard through Citibank. Annual fee is $50. Usually $1 = 1 mile, but AA has many specials where you can get double, triple and sometimes quadruple miles for $1 spent. Check out www.aa.com and then "AAdvantage" tab. For credit card specifics see www.citibank.com. AA is running a special right now and my husband and I are going to Cayman for only 25000 miles a piece, plus $46 per person for taxes and Cayman departure tax. Can't beat that price to Cayman!

We have an Amalgamated Bank (Chicago) MC which earns us 1 mile for every dollar spent using this credit card. For every 25,000 miles/dollars accumulated we get a free ticket (or a $350 discount) for any flight on any airline. There are no restrictions or black out dates, but you must book at least 30 days in advance. The first few years we had this card there was no annual fee, but they changed that a couple of years ago. I think it's $29 annually now. This is a MUCH better deal than the airlines' own FF mile programs since you can use any airline, any flight. We've redeemed our miles several times and have been very happy overall. I think there are other credit cards that offer similar deals.

My husband has a card that allows miles on any airline w/ no blackouts...but....<BR>It is a max of $500 ticket value, requires a Sat stay, no European travel, and no upgrades. What's the point? I can afford $500, what I can't afford is that Business class ticket to Paris. Does anyone know of all-airline cards that still allow full participation in an airline's ff program?

Because we usually fly Delta, I switched to AMEX platinum last year. It is 75/year, but you get 10,000 bonus miles immediately, then another after you spend so many dollars. We put everything on that card! They gave double miles for purchases Dec-Feb plus you earn double miles at many places(post office,IRS, gas)Delta gives 1000 bonus miles for booking online. This year, I've used 3 tickets to Florida and two to Frisco. Why use a card if you can't get something in return?There are other cards that reward miles with no annual fee, but this one has been very good for us.

I am an American frequent flyer and have used miles for free businessclass tickets over a dozen times now -- usually to Europe, but also to Asia and Australia/New Zealand. I charge everything I can on my Citibank AA card, pay it off monthly, and rack up a lot of miles. I also joined their Aadvantage Dining program. You register your Citibank card and when you eat at many, many restaurants you automatically get 10 miles for each dollar you spend -- with no record keeping. A group of us went to a casual bar restaurant near by a few nights ago. I put it all on my card and the others gave me cash. Our $300 bill equalled 3000 miles to my account. While in New York, I racked up over 10,000 miles eating in a number of registered restaurants -- most I didn't even realize until they appeared on my statement.<BR>Switching your long distance to MCI can give you as much as 5000 miles just for switching, plus more miles everytime you make a call.<BR>Everytime I send flowers I do it through their recommended service and get another 500 to 1000 miles.<BR>I may sound obsessed with it, but I just cashed in 90,000 miles for a free round trip business class ticket to Europe this summer, and I still have over 130,000 more left. And I really do not fly that much!

In August we started using our Amex card for EVERYTHING - gas, grocery store, dining, a fence. We get 1 point for every dollar plus a few double points for certain stores. Since Aug, we've racked up close to 30,000 points, enough for a coach ticket. We chose Amex due to the flexibility of airlines and the fact that we HAVE to pay it off every month. But, we also pay close to $100/year for the annual fees.<BR><BR>I recall seeing an article in the Washington Post within the past year or two that reviewed several airline cards. If I recall correctly there was an MBNA card with a minimal or no fee and numerous airlines. This seemed a much better deal compared to just getting a United, Delta or other bank credit card. <BR><BR>Most cards, though, usually give you 1 point per net dollar spent and transfer the points over to the respective frequent flier program (if it's set up with one airline specifically). Then you would just have to check the airlines' point policies - usually 30k or so per domestic coach ticket. And, on these cards you usually pay a fee.<BR><BR>Hope you can find something!

Here is a website devoted to the topic of frequent flyer miles:<BR><BR>www.flyertalk.com<BR><BR>or <BR><BR>www. webflyer.com

Check out the Citibank TravelerMiles MasterCard. We've had pretty good luck with it for a number of years now. I hate to say I don't remember, but I can't recall a yearly fee - there is a fee for flight tickets, I think it was only $15 a transaction (my husband and myself).

All good tips. In my own case, I have a preferred carrier where I maintain status, so it makes sense to concentrate all of my efforts on that particular carrier. This includes a credit card, long distance service, hotel programs, car rentals -- the works. The suggestion by scigirl to go to www.flyertalk.com is something I HIGHLY recommend. You need to stay on top of all of the promotional opportunities to make maximum use of them and there are many. It is actually amazing how many miles can be collected if you travel a bit and pay attention to the programs.

What makes sense for you depends upon your flying and shopping habits. I'm not a big shopper and, even charging everything I can, it would take me years and years to earn a flight to Europe solely with a credit card. But when I combine my credit card miles with my two or three long-haul trips per year, it does add up. Those credit card miles are enough to put me over the top. So for me, a card tied to a particular carrier does make sense.

Even without being a big shopper, you can put a lot of your expenditures on a cc. Groceries, gas, medical co-pays, etc. Everything but library fines!

Each semester, we put our son's college tuition on our affinity card and paid it off when we got the next statement, of course.

Oh yes, you can deduct household repairs,mortgage, taxes, tuition....we charged our LASIK eye surgery on it!!!<BR>

The Citibank Traveler Miles program is pretty good for domestic flights. You can redem miles for $100 off a ticket price. So, if fares are low, you can redeem 20,000 miles for a $200 round trip ticket. Most other programs, you would have to redeem 40,000 miles for a round trip, no matter what the current fare price is. If fares are on the high side, 40,000 miles gets you a round trip domestic, not matter what the cost.<BR><BR>It is not so good for international flights. You can only use 40,000 per ticket to get $400 off the ticket price. <BR><BR>There are no blackout dates, and you can use on any airline.<BR><BR>