Air Miles Credit Cards
With an airline miles credit card, you can earn points that can be redeemed for free flights on various major airlines. These credit cards are perfect for frequent flyers who will benefit the most from an air miles rewards program. Interest rates and fees are typically a little higher than on standard credit cards, so they are not the best choice for cardholders who plan on carrying a balance.
Considerations On Applying For Airline Credit Cards
If you are comparing air miles credit card offers and having a difficult time choosing the right offer for you, here are some main points you may want to consider:
Free Bonus Miles: In order to attract new applicants, credit card companies will stack on tons of bonus miles with your first card purchase. These bonus miles can range from 15,000 to 40,000 bonus miles right off the bat. In some cases, you can get more bonus miles for adding an additional cardholder. Also, airline credit cards will generally give you more points for flying on specific carriers or shopping at specific retail locations. Try to pick a card that will give you the most free bonus miles in addition to the regular miles you will be getting for buying tickets and using the card.
Annual Fees: Most frequent flyer programs will involve an annual fee which can range from $40 to $175 or more. If you plan on using your card often and making many flights each year, then your rewards should easily offset such fees. However, if you don't use the card that often, the annual fee might outweigh the rewards you will earn. You should take a moment to calculate your expected rewards versus the credit card's annual fee and other costs to make sure you will come out ahead. Also, the annual fee for the first year might be much lower than subsequent years, so make sure you are aware of the long-term annual fee amount.
Frequent Flyer or Frequent Spender: The primary use of airline credit cards is obviously to benefit from the bonus miles you get from buying airline tickets. With these programs, you will usually get more points when you buy tickets than other items -- sometimes 2 or 3 times as many points. Of course, if you don't fly often but use the card to make lots of purchases, you can still accumulate a lot of points. However, if you are more of a frequent spender than a frequent flyer, you will probably get greater value out of a Cash Back Credit Card or similar rewards program rather than an airline credit card designed specifically for frequent flyers.
You can continue to Compare Credit Cards by returning to our home page. Airline credit cards are typically a good choice only for frequent flyers.