ForumsAccounting and Budgeting

Everybody has rewards credit cards. the fun is when you try to redeem your miles.
Best case go with the airline you use the most. Sometimes they will give you an
extra 20,000 miles for signing up for a credit card and extra miles for another card
in the name of your business.
Choose wisely. LUCKIEST

Luckiest made a good point, select the rewards program based on the airline and/or destination you travel to most. Rather than selecting the credit card company first - select the airline first and then see what company or bank they partner with. I can speak from two experiences. I have a British Airways card and can use it to fly via BA; Cathay Pacific; Quantas; and other One Global alliance partners. The only con is that I've noticed that BA has many blackout dates and they charge over $100 to redeem your awards travel (one way or round trip)! I also collect miles via US Airways and pleasantly I was able to book my preferred travel at the last minute and it only cost me about $30 to redeem my miles. However, they don't have as many "world" partners that meet my destination needs, so I mostly like to collect miles with my BA card.

Every year, I have enough miles to take a trip anywhere in the world. So, yes - very smart to get miles or cash back on your credit card!

My preference: American Express card with their Membership Rewards program.

The Card/Company: For me, it's the best service, "live" people ready to talk when there's a problem, excellent dispute resolution, great management tools, and no hidden charges or fees. Downside is that there is an annual fee and you pay in full each month.

The Program: The points accumulate quickly, there are many "extra points" offers tied to places that I use the card frequently, the points never expire, and they can be redeemed for almost anything. Plus, a couple of times a year, they have a promotion where you have a chance to buy big ticket items with points for just pennies on the dollar - like a Porsche for 3,000 - it's fun!

I also use the Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Visa and the amazon.com Rewards Visa -- just because we fly Southwest a lot and buy a lot of books, and using those cards for those purchases gives "extra points" and translates to flights or merchandise we'd buy anyway. The bank for both is Chase. No annual fee, but the service is marginal when there's a problem, and they do some "sneaky" billing (i.e., pay on-line the day the bill is due and it won't be posted until midnight -- 1/100th of a second after they add a $79 late fee and finance fees based on the pre-payment balance). You can call and eventually get to someone who can take charges like that off, but it takes time and you shouldn't have to bother.

Good idea for a discussion - thanks for posting it.

Thanks alot. I had pretty much narrowed it down to either Citi or Amex but couldn't decide. Also needed to know whether to get a card tied to a airline or not. It seems that the majority here prefer a airline card over a points card--good to know from people who do know. I was really looking at the capitalone miles card but just didn't get a good feeling. thanks for the info

I actually just signed up with AMEX as well. The Platinum Business Card has a feature that awards you one companion ticket for each first class or business class ticeket purchased. Whats nice is that AMEX also has travel planning as well and can be available to help you out at the last minute if there are problems.