Credit Cards for Miles?

[AnnaNova]

i have been wanting to get a credit card with miles rewards, but i cant figure out which would be better: the ones offered by the airline companies or the ones offered by just credit card companies? i know that this part of the forum is more about getting rid of the credit cards, but i think it could really help us. i know how to manage it and will only use it paying it off at the end of the month.

my family lives in europe and every time we fly over there to see them, its a huge hit on out finances. if miles from the cc can help us even a little, it would be worth it.

any suggestion on which ones are better?

[sewaneecook]

We use credit cards responsibly, only for things in our budget and we pay them off each month in full and then get the cash back or rewards as a bonus for things we would buy anyway.  If you would use the miles, and not spend more using the credit card than you would using cash, and you pay it off in full each month, then I don't see it as a problem (and I'm even a HUGE Dave Ramsey fan!). 

As for which card to get, check which one gives more miles, whether or not there is an annual fee, and how easy it is to redeem those miles (there are often blackout dates and you can't buy tickets last minute using miles with certain cards).  In other words do some research to see which card will give you more of what you will use.   

[cristina47454]

We had a card with miles. Unfortunately, it DID have an annual fee of $85 and miles were next to impossible to redeem. Ours was with American Airlines...maybe other airlines are different.  But last time I tried to redeem miles, there was very limited availability unless you upgraded from a 25k mile ticket to a 50k mile ticket. Travel to Europe was ridiculous. They would sometimes run "double miles" but we never managed to take advantage of them.

So def. do some research! The miles did help us out a couple of times for family trips or last minute funeral arrangements, but that seemed to be the exception rather than the rule.

[taubel]

We have a card that gives 1% cash back, with no annual fee. We charge EVERYTHING on it, but pay it off every month. This year we got back $330 in January (but obviously we used the card A LOT throughout the year). They money gets credited to our card statement. It's nice having it as "cash," to spend how we wish.

[freestylemama]

We have a Discover Miles card with no annual fee.  We charge everything we can (and pay it off each month).  We get at least one free ticket a year this way. 

[Caneel]

We have several ff accounts with different airlines.  Based upon my experience trying to use those miles, I would look for a points type of card. 

Our problem with using true miles is the lack of availability.  We could never find 3 tickets on the days we needed/wanted to travel.  I suspect that the airlines make it very difficult for the traveler at the basic awards level to obtain tickets using miles.  I know some families were one parent is flying several times a week that can successfully use their miles but they are also buying at the next award level because their milage bank is so large.

I have sort of given up hope on the miles thing.  Now I offer them to anyone who can use them.  Recently, an employee went to Florida and was super flexible about the dates and I was able to get him a USAir ticket for 25,000 miles.

We do have an Amex card that I am very pleased with.  It accrues points for purchase and those points can be used for airline tickets.  So if I have 100,000 points, the first $1,000 in airline tickets are paid for.  I like Amex's booking site too.  Amex's fee is high so keep that in mind.

All that being said, look for a card that lets you accrue points you can use on any airline over a true FF miles card.  I know someone who is happy with her Amex Delta card because Delta is her primary choice. 

[serenbat]

We get miles via our grocery store (with the "shopper's card) - http://www.shoprite.com/cnt/OnePassmiles.html

 we mostly end up using them for FREE magazines and the coupons inside on the mags are a free bonus!