#1: The Miles Card from Discover. The Miles Card from Discover is a no annual fee airline rewards card that offers a 0 less than that of the "average" frequent flyer card. Additionally, you pay no interest on purchases or balance transfers for up to 1 year.
Book Any Travel, Anytime with No Blackout Dates or Restrictions Double Miles On Up to $3,000 in Travel and Restaurant Purchases Each Year 1 Mile for Every $1 on All Your Other Purchases Unlimited Miles that Never Expire* Redeem for Travel Credits to Your Account, Gift Cards from Any of Our 70 Brand-Name Partners or Cash Starting at Just 1,000 Miles No Annual Fee Online Account Access Introductory Rate Annual Fee Intro Applied To 0 after $80,000 in annual spending. So if you are a big spender, this is not the airline card for you.
No Pre-Set Spending Limit Signature Exclusive 24-Hour Customer Service Double Miles for Purchases Direct From Northwest Airlines? No Blackout Dates for Award Travel Up To 5 Miles Per $1 Spent at Over 10,000 Restaurants and Hotels Nationwide Free Rental Car Collision/Loss Damage Insurance Sign Up Now and Get a One-Time, Up To 20,000-Mile Enrollment Bonus
#3: Gold Delta Skymiles from American Express
The Gold Delta Skymiles card is always sending cardholders great discounts on Delta flights, and you can get accepted even if your credit score is average. You can also earn 2 miles per dollar at supermarkets, gas stations, drug stores, home improvement stores, the U.S. Postal Service, on Delta Air Lines purchases, or when paying wireless phone bills. Earn 1,000 Skymiles with each purchase of a Delta round-trip ticket and 500 Skymiles for one-way tickets. Although you can only use Delta to fly, Delta does fly to most locations in the U.S. and has a wide variety of flights daily, so you can generally fly when you want to use your rewards. Again, no blackout dates gives this card bonus points. If you have a VERY good credit history, we recommend the Platinum Delta Skymiles Credit Card from American Express. The Platinum Delta Skymiles Credit Card gets 20,000 bonus miles and perks galore, as long as you use them on Delta flights only.
#4: JetBlue Card from American Express
The JetBlue Card is great, but since Jet Blue doesn't fly as many places as Delta, we had to rank it lower since the average person may want to fly places Jet Blue doesn't go.
Low introductory rate for balance transfers 5,000 bonus Award Dollars The annual fee of $40 is reasonable as compared to other airline reward cards. Get one free flight for every $1,000 spent on JetBlue flights, restaurants, movie theaters, gym memberships, event tickets, and golf green fees. DRAWBACK: Point expire after one year
Airline credit cards were designed to help you earn air miles when you use your credit card. The miles can then be redeemed mainly towards airline tickets but most credit card providers partner with other merchants to give you a wide choice of options. Using your airline credit card frequently is a great way to enjoy free air travel to many destinations especially if you combine frequent flying with the selected airline and frequent purchases with the airline's card, the combination of the two would lead to you earning those free tickets faster.
When choosing your airline card, you should evaluate the number of miles offered as an introductory incentive. Depending on the offer, you could earn up to as much as 30% of the miles you need for certain destinations. Providers can offer up to 17,500 introductory miles which is added to your account when you make your first card purchase. In addition, the number of miles you earn for each dollar spent is important as the more miles you earn on purchases the quicker your total miles add up. Miles per dollar range from 1 mile per dollar spent up to 2 miles per dollar.
To entice you to apply for the credit card the provider would offer very low and sometimes 0% introductory APRs on the airline credit cards and these rates tend to vary across the industry. While the rates may prove attractive you need to look at the length of the introductory period as this can range from as little as one to 24 months. The longer your introductory period the less interest you would pay on your purchases and this would save you money. The reversionary APR should also be considered as at the end of the introductory period you could be faced with a substantial increase on your monthly payment.
Freebies often accompany the standard benefits of airline credit cards such as 24 hour concierge service, free one-way class upgrade travel certificates and discount travel certificates. Airline credit cards can offer no pre-set spending limit and zero liability on unauthorised purchases which gives you added protection against the fraudulent use of your card should it ever occur.
The annual fee of a card would add to the total cost of maintaining that card as you would have to pay interest on the annual fee as well as the balance on purchases, so be sure to budget for it if your card carries one.
The rate charged on your purchases abroad can add a significant amount on to you card balance but the industry average is about 3%. Airline credit cards that offer no over limit fees ensure that you have one less fee to worry about but late payment fees do apply to most cards so it is in your best interest to always pay your bill on time. Once you shop responsibly and earn your miles, you would be on your way to enjoying free air travel to your favourite destinations.
Both Deidre Shirley & Anthony Samuel are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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