These days it pays to make every penny count. One way youcan do that is by using a credit card that earns airline miles. Many companiesoffer such cards. Some are related directly to airlines and some are productsof credit cards companies alone. Examples of airline-affiliate credit cardsinclude the God and the Platinum Delta SkyMiles Credit Cards from AmericanExpress. The Delta Reserve Card and the JetBlue Card are also from AmericanExpress. Cards that are not allied with any one particular airline include theWorld Perks Visa Platinum Card, the World Perks Visa Signature Card and theMiles card from Discover.

Each credit card with airline miles differ greatly dependingon the card issuer and the airline affiliated with the card, if any. As withall credit cards, it pays to do your research and shop around to get on boardthe program that best fits your needs. Make sure the fees, if any are low, makesure the rewards that you earn (generally miles toward free or discountedtickets) are redeemable with (at most) minor restrictions on the dates, makesure there are no blackout periods in which you can use the rewards points thatyou have built up.

In addition, many cards with airline miles offer some typeof sign-up bonus. Make sure you can really use the bonus they offer. Considerthis: are you already a member of an airline reward program? If so, will yournew card and its bonus program allow you to add to the rewards you have alreadyaccumulated, or will this be a new account of bonus points?

Lots of people don't care so much about free trips as theydo about upgrades. Look into any program that you are considering to make surethat you are working toward the benefit that you want. A free cross-countryticket may not be so great if what you are really interested in is afirst-class upgrade on a ticket you have already bought.

Finally, make sure that any plan that you join lets youaccumulate points or miles without restriction on the time in which they haveto be used. There is nothing worse than accumulating a lot of points and thenhaving them expire because you did not have the opportunity to use them

There are so many programs out there that you should notsettle for one that it not absolutely what you are looking for. So take yourtime, investigate a little and make sure that you get the credit card withairline miles that you want and need.