airline credit cards

[butterflycruise]

Hello everyone who has to fly to a port. Have you used an airline credit card and which one? I see some have free airfair after first purchase etc. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

[mikesteg]

Generally speaking, you probably want to go with the one that has the most/cheapest flights from your airport to where you want to go. That is assuming the offers are roughly equal and you are trying to get somewhere specific. If not, you probably want to go with the airline that has the most traffic from your airport in general.

 

The idea is that FF tickets are sometimes hard to come by, especially if you need several on one flight. Going on a cruise can reduce your time window substantially, right? You can go a day before, even stay a day after, but it soon becomes cost prohibitive to book those 'free' tickets. If you go with the airlines with the most traffic you have the best chance at having viable options when the time comes to book.

 

Along those lines, with most airlines you can check what FF inventory they have available to get an idea what is feasible. Keep in mind though, even if you get the miles with your first purchase they may take 6 weeks to post. Many will post about the same time your statement goes out, but you can't count on it if you're going for a specific flight/cruise/date.

 

We actually fly on Southwest primarily, and transfer points from Chase Sapphire and Chase Freedom. Freedom has quarterly 5x bonuses which allows up to 30,000 points per year (per card... get one for each adult if you can as Freedom has no fee)... if you're going to spend that money anyway. You can xfer from there to Sapphire, and from Sapphire to many airlines (or hotels.) Sapphire does have an annual fee, but can be gotten with a big sign up bonus occasionally.

 

Southwest does FF tickets by dollar value, at 1.67 cents per point. A cheap flight can be less than 8000 points each, or 16k round trip. Much better than 25,000 for a coach class ticket on most other carriers in the US. Southwest is about to devalue it's point system (I think to 1.5 cents per point) but most other airlines are doing the same in some fashion.

 

Anyway, with the Freedom 5x bonuses (which include Amazon this quarter) we can get 8% return (5x1.67) by burning those points on Southwest. That's tough to beat for us. That does require the Sapphire to make the transfer, but the Sapphire itself gets 2pts/dollar on dining and travel all year round so we get 3.3% back on cruise travel. :D That is, if you spend $3000 on travel and dining per year you get ~$40 more than you would from 2% card which would pay for 1/2 the fee.

 

Chase does allow you to transfer between family members so it is possible to pool points from more than one Freedom onto one Sapphire and from there into one FF account.

 

The other benefit of going the Chase route is that you aren't stuck with a single airline. Transfers are instantaneous in many cases, so when you find FF flights on whatever airline you can put a hold on the seats, xfer the points, and actually get to use your points to fly. :eek: ;)

 

 

All that said:

(1) Don't spend money you wouldn't spend otherwise

(2) Don't run a balance on a credit card. That will quickly squash any benefit you get from the card. This is what they want. Don't let them win!!! :cool:

(3) Chase won't let you get a bunch of cards all at once. Maybe one per adult, then months later again. Lots of info on that if you google.

[MTJtraveller]

I'm a BIG fan of "airline miles" accumulated on various credit cards. There is a whole world of information out there on accumulating miles (try FlyerTalk.com) that gives you all sorts of inspiration in accumulating miles for tickets. It's time consuming but for me has been worth it. We flew as a family (3 of us ) on miles from our regional airport to London for a cruise, my husband & I flew Business for a cruise to London and back from Lisbon on miles this Fall and I'm waiting to book my husband and I back to Lisbon for our cruise next November. ALL on miles.

 

Sure makes a vacation a lot more feasible. :)

[CruiserBruce]

I agree with most of what mikesteg has to say. Your first consideration should be the airline that has a solid presence at the airport you are most likely to fly out of. It does you very little to be affiliated with an airline you can't use often.

 

Next up would be to consider where you are thinking of going. Most of the "cheap" airlines don't fly outside of the US, and/or don't leave the continental US. So if going to Hawaii is important to you, Southwest doesn't do you much good.

 

The Chase idea is sound (it is what we use also), but look carefully at the rules. Some of the credit cards that allow you to use miles on several airlines don't allow accumulation at the same rate as a single airline card does. Some limit miles accumulated per year, others, like ours, don't. Believe me, as we have earned over 120k miles (about 30K in bonuses, the rest earned) on our credit card this year, and the year isn't over yet, that matters.

Edited November 16, 2013 by CruiserBruce

[Cmildenb]

I just got a Frontier Airlines cc since I would have used their flights anyway and the card offered two round trip tickets for the $70 annual fee.

[Giffer]

My wife and I both have Southwest CC. We use them for our business travel and then use the points for our cruise trips. We normal sail out of Miami, so we fly in to Fort Lauderdale on SWA. Because of the Southwest/AirTran merger we were able to fly into San Juan for our Valor cruise. And we can fly to Hawaii since AirTran flies there. Have been very happy with the card and the easy use of the points.

 

Sent from my Samsung Note 10.1 using Forums mobile app.

[CruiserBruce]

AirTran doesn't fly to Hawaii.

[Giffer]

AirTran doesn't fly to Hawaii.

You are correct, my bad. Southwest is rumored to be starting California to Hawaii flights in 2014/15. They have started taking delivery of the 737-800, which is open water certified. And their flight crews have started over water training. It is not a matter of if, but when.

 

Airtran is currently San Juan, Aruba, Bahamas and Mexico as non-domestic flights.

 

Sent from my Samsung Note 2 using Forums mobile app.

Edited November 17, 2013 by Giffer

[CruiserBruce]

Over on FlyerTalk, the consensus is that the Southwest to Hawaii program is on hold.

[Keith1010]

Like some have mentioned I use a card that will allow me to maximize flights on the airline that has the most fights from my home airport.

 

Keith

[girlscruise2011]

I just got a Southwest Card and it came with 50K points. I put everything on that card for a few months and got enough points for my family of 5 to fly home from San Juan for my January 2014 cruise. It cost a $99 annual fee but where can you get 5 flights for $99?

 

It does work but you have to watch out. The interest on it is very high.

[pilot123texas]

FF credit cards can be very beneficial. A lot depends on what airport you will normally be flying from. Too many credit cards, however, can have an extremely negative impact on our credit rating. (Those retail store promotions that offer you 10% off your purchase if you sign up for a credit card can tank your credit score faster than you can say "CHARGE IT.") So you need to pick just a couple that work the best for you and then stick with them.

 

I carry two cards. One is a platinum American Express. AMEX points can be transferred to several airlines, as well as used for cruises and hotels. In addition, you can put several cards on the same membership program. My company provides me with a AMEX card for business travel, and I am able to combine the points earned on both cards. A platinum AMEX card will give you access to several of the airlines lounges, as well as AMEX's own lounges which have complimentary food, drink and wifi. (Only in Dallas and Las Vegas right now, but this is an area of expansion for AMEX - supposedly opening more in 2014). It also pays for up to $200 a year in baggage and other airline extra fees. And there is no extra exchange charge if you use your card overseas. A platinum card does cost about $450 a year, and there is also a charge to belong to the membership program, but the cost is about the same or less than just one airline club membership. So if you travel a lot, it can definitely be worthwhile.

 

Not every place takes AMEX, so our second card is a Citibank VISA associated with American Airlines. This happens to work the best for us as nearly all my business travel is on American. You just have to figure out what works the best for you. I should note, we NEVER, EVER pay an annual fee for the non-AMEX card. Occasionally we have gotten a notice of a fee, but when my husband calls to cancel the card, it has always been waived.

 

We put virtually everything on our credit cards, and you would be surprised how the points can add up. That said, don't even think of going this route unless you are disciplined about using credit cards. We make sure our balances are paid off every month.

[mikesteg]

I just got a Southwest Card and it came with 50K points. I put everything on that card for a few months and got enough points for my family of 5 to fly home from San Juan for my January 2014 cruise. It cost a $99 annual fee but where can you get 5 flights for $99?

 

It does work but you have to watch out. The interest on it is very high.

 

I believe that all the SWA cards give an annual bonus of points which more or less offsets the annual fee. For instance, that $99 card probably gives you 6,000 points which are worth roughly $100 (pre-devaluation). Of course, you have to be able to use the points... but you aren't just flushing the money down the pot like with many cards.

 

However, other cards are offering free bags or a free hotel night these days. The AAdvantage Citi cards give a mileage rebate when you use FF miles, which can be substantial. A wisely selected may card pay for itself, or more, if the features/bonuses have value to you.

 

I agree that if you are in a position where you are paying interest, finding a low fee card should be the #1 priority. I don't think that any of these rewards cards with large sign up bonuses fall into that category.

 

 

Too many credit cards, however, can have an extremely negative impact on our credit rating.

 

This is not really true. Getting a bunch of cards at once, or running a high percentage of debt, or not paying your bills... that will hose your credit.

 

Your credit rating is based partially upon how much of your open credit you use. Therefore if you have $100k of open credit lines and only charge 2k per month (and pay it off), you will have a better score than if you have 5k of open credit and charge that same 2k (40% utilization.)

 

That said: average age of credit is also a factor in your credit score. On top of that, you simply won't be able to get more cards (or possibly other loans) if you get a bunch of cards in short order. A person needs to build a credit history over a long period (probably 10 years or more to allow for 'new' cards), but it is certainly possible to have a dozen cards with a huge available credit and still have a score in the 800s.

 

A decent idea (over a space of years) is to get a mix which is mostly no-fee cards, ideally with a sign up bonuses. Once those initial conditions are met, the card goes into the safe. Use it once in awhile to keep it active, and if there are special bonuses. Add a couple of selected for-fee cards, which give you a feature you really need (like the AMEX Platinum or Sapphire) or sort of pay for themselves by giving an annual bonus in exchange for the fee.

 

The other thing is: don't cancel credit cards, especially old ones. That will hurt your credit rating. If you have a fee-based card that you need to cancel, call the provider and downgrade it to a no-fee card. That should not create a credit inquiry on your score, and will alleviate the fee. Then put it in the safe. :D

 

I totally agree to avoid store cards, unless you're moving an buying $5k worth of appliances at Lowes or such. Otherwise, the bonuses available from general cards are much, much better.

 

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Anyway, I really came back to post that the Chase Sapphire just raised it sign on bonus to 50k or 55k (with a higher annual fee).

 

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/chase-ultimate-rewards/1522805-sapphire-preferred-55k-points-after-3k-spend-but-125-fee-after-year-1-a.html

 

If interested, read the thread. The higher bonus comes at the expense of a higher fee, which will eventually cost more. 40k/45k is still good. 45k points is worth $562 of travel booked through Chase. They will allow you to book a cruise and partial pay with your points. I've never done that because we get a much better value by transferring to an airline, but I did book one cruise through Chase and they offered the feature.

 

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Lastly (or really FIRSTLY), sign up for Credit Karma or a similar site. It is free (but they try to sell you stuff, of course). You can check your current situation, including graphs to compare against 'typical', find where your weak areas are, etc. This also allows you to see exactly how a new credit card impacts your score... and you can see how it (usually) rebounds after a few months.

 

This will also give you some idea if you can get the premium cards like the AMEX Platinum or Sapphire. There are other sites which can give you an idea where the credit scores required are. If you probably can't get it, don't apply since you'll still take a credit inquiry/hit. They will probably offer you a lower product, but better to get what you aim for.

[Stevekiel]

I have several airline cards, but it is so hard to book flights to vacation destinations for the 25000 they promise. Miami on a Friday-Sunday is ussually 50,000. The only airline that lets you redeam miles to good vacation destinations is SouthWest. For my cruise in Feb I was able to get two free roundtrip tickets on Southwest for 24,000. That is 12,000 each!! I think I booked two flights Milwaukee to Phoenix this year for 40,000. You have to watch for specials. This would have costed me 80,000 mies on United to Miami!!

[girlscruise2011]

I believe that all the SWA cards give an annual bonus of points which more or less offsets the annual fee. For instance, that $99 card probably gives you 6,000 points which are worth roughly $100 (pre-devaluation). Of course, you have to be able to use the points... but you aren't just flushing the money down the pot like with many cards.

 

However, other cards are offering free bags or a free hotel night these days. The AAdvantage Citi cards give a mileage rebate when you use FF miles, which can be substantial. A wisely selected may card pay for itself, or more, if the features/bonuses have value to you.

 

I agree that if you are in a position where you are paying interest, finding a low fee card should be the #1 priority. I don't think that any of these rewards cards with large sign up bonuses fall into that category.

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I actually applied for the card solely for the 50K points for my next cruise out of San Juan. Even though I love Southwest out of Manchester NH, other then Orlando, most of their flights to cruiseports, (SJU, FLL) have stops and I prefer nonstop flights. I prefer Jet Blue from Boston which has nonstops but while I waited to book my flights home from SJU, JetBlue just kept going higher and higher so thats why I went the route of the SW Card. Paying $99 for 5 flights home to me is worth the stop in Tampa for 1.5 hrs.

 

Unfortunately, with their lack of nonstop flights, they aren't my first choice of airlines so I've stopped using the card for the points. I'll probably even cancel it after the first year.

Edited November 22, 2013 by girlscruise2011

[mikesteg]

I actually applied for the card solely for the 50K points for my next cruise out of San Juan. Even though I love Southwest out of Manchester NH, other then Orlando, most of their flights to cruiseports, (SJU, FLL) have stops and I prefer nonstop flights. I prefer Jet Blue from Boston which has nonstops but while I waited to book my flights home from SJU, JetBlue just kept going higher and higher so thats why I went the route of the SW Card. Paying $99 for 5 flights home to me is worth the stop in Tampa for 1.5 hrs.

 

Unfortunately, with their lack of nonstop flights, they aren't my first choice of airlines so I've stopped using the card for the points. I'll probably even cancel it after the first year.

 

I agree entirely with your logic. From ABQ, we rarely find direct flights to anywhere. We can get them to LAX, but SWA has the best price and selection by far. We also have 2 small kids, so having a good layover to stretch and get fed works better for us right now.

 

I would really like to try Jet Blue, since they seem to have a very good product. Unfortunately, they only fly over the ABQ.