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 Message Boards » » credit card suggestions (specifically air miles) Page [1]  
quagmire02
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a mod may lock this since there are several in the lounge, but none of those are active, and even though i sent OmarBadu a PM, i don't know when he'll get to it...chit chat gets more traffic, anyway

the fiancée and i are looking to get a joint credit card for purchases that we share (bills, meals out, etc.)...we each already have our own REI credit cards (and are happy with them), but we were thinking about something with airline miles...we both tend to buy EVERYTHING on credit cards and then pay it off at the end of every month (i know i haven't carried a balance from one month to another in more than 7 years, and i'm pretty sure she doesn't do it, either), so we figured that the APR isn't important

basically, we want:
- best deal on miles (most for the money you spend, intro miles, whatever)
- low or no annual fee

considering our credit scores, i'm pretty sure we'll qualify for just about anything, so i'm not really concerned about that, either

on a related note, i still have my first credit card from when i turned 18...it's a student card from BofA and the only reason i still have it is because they keep my interest rate around 4% (i just have to call them every couple of years when they raise it because they've decided i've graduated )...i don't use it except for the shopsafe feature sometimes, so i'm debating closing the account...how will this affect my credit rating? should i wait until we get a new card, or cancel it before?

11/17/2009 10:43:47 AM

hgtran
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depends on which airline you like to fly. I have both United and Delta credit cards. I'm pretty sure they both give you 1 mile per dollar you spend, sometimes more. I signed up for both because I fly with both company and they gave me 25k miles to sign up.

11/17/2009 10:46:17 AM

quagmire02
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ah, that was something else...i was hoping to avoid being tied to a single airline since we like to travel outside of the US quite a bit

capital one and discover seem to have cards with low annual fees ($39-60) and aren't tied to any airlines, as well as having miles that don't expire and don't have blackout dates

11/17/2009 10:49:09 AM

se7entythree
YOSHIYOSHI
17380 Posts
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with a bb&t checking account you can earn points using your check card as long as you run it as credit. we just signed up for personal & joint accounts.

11/17/2009 10:49:26 AM

LunaK
LOSER :(
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my dad has one of those capital one credit cards that you can redeem on a lot of different things (including airlines). he seems really happy with it.

11/17/2009 10:50:31 AM

quagmire02
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^^ well, while we DO now have a joint checking account, the plan is for that to be empty most of the time...the idea is that we each deposit half of the money required to pay bills every month, and then we both put money into our joint money market as savings...the checking gets used up quickly and regularly, and the money market holds most of our joint funds at 2%

^ i haven't seen that one, yet, but i've yet to finish browsing http://www.creditcards.com/ and http://www.bankrate.com/credit-cards.aspx

[Edited on November 17, 2009 at 10:52 AM. Reason : links]

11/17/2009 10:51:55 AM

TallyHo
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http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/finance/711457/

11/17/2009 11:05:06 AM

quagmire02
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my favorite so far is probably the discover more card (though this isn't miles):

- 5% cash back bonus in certain categories (travel, home improvement and department stores, gas, restaurants, pet stores, and more)
- up to 1% unlimited cash back on all other purchases
- 5-20% cash back through exclusive online shopping site
- no annual fee, 0% APR first 6 months, as low as 11.99% APR after

in terms of miles/points, these are the viable options (i'm really only posting this information for reference for anyone else who stumbles across this thread):

Capital One No Hassle Miles Rewards
- 1mi/$1 spent up to $1,000/month
- 2mi/$1 spent above $2,000/month
- no mile limit and miles don't expire
- no blackout dates and no seat restrictions
- any airline and any destination
- no foreign transaction fee (not sure what this is, but I'm sure it's a good thing)
- you can redeem the miles for travel, merchandise, gift cards, etc.
- no annual fee, 0% APR through 11/2010, 13.9% APR after

Capital One No Hassle Miles Ultra (for "professionals")
- 2mi/$1 spent
- no mile limit and miles don't expire
- no blackout dates and no seat restrictions
- any airline and any destination
- no foreign transaction fee
- you can redeem the miles for travel, merchandise, gift cards, etc.
- $39 annual fee, 0% APR through 11/2010, 13.9% APR after

Miles by Discover Card
- 12,000 bonus miles (1,000 bonus each month for first year)
- 1mi/$1 spent regular purchases
- additional 2mi/$1 spent on travel and restaurant purchases and shopping through exclusive online shopping site
- you can redeem the miles for travel, merchandise, gift cards, etc.
- no annual fee, 0% APR first 6 months, as low as 11.99% APR after

Escape by Discover Card
- 25,000 bonus miles (1,000 bonus each month for first 25 months)
- 2mi/$1 spent
- additional 2mi/$1 spent on travel and restaurant purchases and shopping through exclusive online shopping site
- enhanced travel benefits (I don't know what this means)
- you can redeem the miles for travel, merchandise, gift cards, etc.
- $60 annual fee, 0% APR first 6 months, as low as 11.99% APR after

Citi PremierPass Card - Elite Level
- 20,000 bonus points (after $600 in purchases made within first 3 months)
- 2pt/$1 on everyday purchases
- 1pt/$1 on all other purchases (not sure how these differ from "everyday" purchases)
- 1pt for every mile you fly on any airline
- 1pt for every mile friends/family fly on tickets purchased with your card
- complimentary companion ticket when you buy a qualifying ticket
- $75 annual fee, 14.24% APR (no entry rate)

i assume the citi points work just like miles, that 1pt = 1mi, but i don't know for sure (obviously i'll call)

11/17/2009 2:35:05 PM

TJB627
All American
2110 Posts
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From the research I did back in the spring, the Citi PremierPass card was definitely the best for travel (probably because of the free companion ticket). But due to it being my first card, I wasn't able to get that and did the CapitalOne Card Lab thing and got some ridiculously high rate but 2 miles for every dollar spent. That was the next best deal I could find to the Citi card.

This also just popped up in my Google Reader the other day about accumulating travel miles (not credit card advice but still may be relevant):
http://manvsdebt.com/travel-hacking-for-noobs/

[Edited on November 17, 2009 at 3:08 PM. Reason : cleaned up the link]

11/17/2009 3:08:15 PM

quagmire02
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ah, after doing some basic math, these miles cards are a joke...the miles are worth about 70¢ for every $1 earned by the cash back cards (even assuming only 1%, when in reality the average is probably closer to 1.5-2% overall)

just went with the discover more card...if you sign up through mint.com, you get a $50 bonus

11/18/2009 8:18:28 AM

quagmire02
All American
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Quote :
"on a related note, i still have my first credit card from when i turned 18...it's a student card from BofA and the only reason i still have it is because they keep my interest rate around 4% (i just have to call them every couple of years when they raise it because they've decided i've graduated )...i don't use it except for the shopsafe feature sometimes, so i'm debating closing the account...how will this affect my credit rating?"

11/23/2009 3:31:48 PM

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