Frequent Flyer Credit Cards and Their Benefits

One of the most popular types of rewards credit cards has been the frequent flyer cards.  These offer the ability to save money by applying the miles that you have built up when travelling by air to apply for free airline flights, etc.
Here are the main features of the frequent flyer card which will help you make a choice between them.

Sign up bonus amount.  Most of these cards offer a sign-up bonus when you apply and are granted a card.  So, how much is that bonus and how close will it get you to a free ticket?  Most cards offer a lower number of miles, but if you search around you might be surprised to find cards that, upon issuing, have enough miles included to purchase your first ticket.

Restricted routes.  Take note of the routes that are allowed under the card’s guidelines.  This will help you narrow the cards down according to where you want to fly in the future.  Stay away from cards offered by smaller, more regional airlines to avoid getting burned with this restriction.

Transferring Miles.  Can you transfer your miles to a partner airline carrier?  If so, this gives you more flexibility in your travel options.  It might help take away any negatives for getting one of these cards.  Make sure that you know and understand if the bonus miles are restricted to the airline of the card or of those are transferrable, too.

Miles Earned.  How many miles do you earn from purchases at merchants?  Normally, you will see one mile offered for every dollar you spend.  But this might be different with the varying card companies.  Some might offer more and others less.  Typically the lower miles offered mean that there is a lower accompanying annual fee. This makes the card a better choice for those who may not be using their card as much.  If you look carefully, you can find some cards that offer double miles to help you build up your miles faster.

Mileage Restrictions.  You need to find out if there are restrictions placed on the number of miles that you can earn in a given year.  Usually it is an astronomically high number like 100,000, but you need to know this before applying for the card.  If you find yourself in the position of exceeding this restriction, the best answer is to apply for a different frequent flyer card from a different bank.

Expired Miles.  When do the miles expire?  Most of these cards require account activity in order to keep the mileage offers valid.  Usually the duration of that activity is three years.  The activity most often required is the redeeming of miles or purchasing a ticket.  Read and understand the restrictions on this option as not paying attention can cause you to lose the very reason that you signed up for the card in the beginning.

The idea behind these cards and their use is to earn miles faster in order for you to be able to take advantage of them as soon as possible.  Some people opt for an Airline Miles credit card instead of one of these because you can convert their points into miles and transfer then to a frequent flyer account for use on tickets.

Make your choices wisely and enjoy the benefits of one of these cards which will get you to some very nice locations at a greatly reduced price.  This is a nice way to take loved ones or family members on the vacation of a lifetime.  Nice benefits and nicer way to enjoy them.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, March 28th, 2009 at 2:08 am and is filed under Credit Card Rewards, Credit Card Use. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.