First Class Airline Miles Credit Cards

Jan 04 2010

First Class Airline Miles Credit Cards – The Best of the Best

Posted by Admin in Finance News

Whether you are a frequent flyer or travel once a year for vacation, with the right credit card you can earn free hotel stays and air travel. The trick is to get the card that best matches your spending and travel habits.

There are two kinds of airline miles credit cards. First, there are cards that earn rewards for a specific airline or hotel rewards program. Second, there are travel reward cards that offer points that can be used for travel on most airlines and stays at most hotels. We’ve collected the best of the best of both kinds of airline and travel rewards cards and list the below.

Best Airline Miles Credit Cards for Specific Rewards Programs

Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express – The Starwood Preferred Guest credit card from Amex may seem like a strange choice for an airline miles card. After all, Starwood is a hotel rewards program. But it makes our list because Starpoints can be used for air travel in one of two ways. Starpoints can be converted to just about any airline miles program. And convert 20,000 points into miles at one time, and Starwood throws in another 5,000 bonus points. You can also use Starpoints to purchase air travel without converting to miles through Starwood’s SPG Flights program. As an added feature, you can earn up to 25,000 bonus Starpoints as a new card member, which is good for up to a 6 night stay at any category one or two hotel. Visit the American Express Starwood Preferred website for more information.

Platinum Delta SkyMiles Credit Card from American Express – You can earn 20,000 bonus miles right of the bat after making your first purchase with this card and earn another 2,500 once you have added an additional cardholder. Two neat features this card has is that you can pay part of your fare with your miles and the rest with your AMEX card AND each year you renew the card, you earn one free companion coach class ticket. The drawback to this card lies with it’s $150 yearly fee, but if you use the coach ticket, consider it money well spent.
Virgin Atlantic American Express Card from Bank of America – If you fly Virgin airlines, then this card is an absolute must. The Virgin Atlantic American Express Card from Bank of America offers a 0% intro offer on both purchases and balance transfers for up to 7 months, 20,000 Flying Club bonus miles after your first purchase, 3 miles per dollar spent on Virgin airline flights, 1.5 miles per dollar spent on everything else AND the opportunity to earn an additional 15,000 bonus miles after your one year anniversary.

There are of course credit cards for just about every airline miles program. If you use the same airline frequently, that airline’s miles card is probably a good bet.

Best Overall Points Card for Airline Travel

Capital One No Hassle Miles Rewards Card For Excellent Credit: The first thing that jumps out at you is that it’s a Capital One card, so you know that if you use your card outside of the United States, there is no extra foreign currency fee (see below). With this card you earn 1 mile per $1 spent on the first $1,000 you spend each billing cycle, and double rewards (2%) after making $1,000 in monthly purchases. You can then use the miles for any travel expense, cash back, or gift cards. The card carries no annual fee and offers a 0% Intro APR until December 2010.

Escape by Discover Card: The Escape card is a great travel card that gives you double miles on all purchases. In addition, every cardholder has the ability to earn 25,000 bonus miles. Make at least one purchase each month and earn 1,000 additional miles for the first 25 months. Miles can be redeemed for travel, cash, or gift cards. The card also carries a 0% Intro APR for six months on both APR and balance transfers. There is a $60 annual fee tied to this card, but if you use it enough, the miles should pay for themselves. Visit the Discover Escape website for more details and an online application.
Capital One No Hassle Miles Ultra for Professionals: This card earns double miles on ALL purchases and offers a 0% Intro offer for 12 months on all purchases. Miles can be used for any travel, cash, or gift cards. The one drawback is that you are charged a $39.00 annual fee to keep this card.
Chase Sapphire Card: With the Chase Sapphire, you can earn double rewards (2%) on all travel purchased through Discover’s Ultimate Rewards platform. Sapphire also offers 10,000 bonus points after your first purchase, which is a $100 value. There is no annual fee for this card. Visit the Chase Sapphire website for more details and an online application.

Best Credit Card for International Travel

If you’ve ever purchased anything outside of the United States with your credit or debit card, than there’s a good chance you’re familiar with the term “foreign transaction fee”. Depending on the credit card provider that issues the card, there can be up to a 3% additional cost on all goods and services purchased outside of the United States! Even though you might have a travel rewards credit card that offers high cash back or double miles, there’s a good chance that they charge a foreign transaction fee. So the card you use to earn points and miles may not be the best card to take with you once you travel.

There is one credit card issuer that does not charge a foreign transaction fee–Capital One. If you’d like to see what other cards charge, check out this list of credit card foreign currency transaction fees.

Tagged as: airline miles credit cards, american express, chase, discover, travel reward credit cards

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