What is the best credit card for airline miles?
Posted on July 4th, 2010
Last week a Credit Card Forum reader emailed this question:
Q: What is the best credit card for airline miles?
A: Airline credit cards just aren’t what they used to be. Here’s what you need to know about most of them today:
Annual fee vs. how much you spend
The truth is that for many people, paying a high annual fee just won’t make sense. For example, if you only spend a few hundred dollars per month, then a big chunk of those rewards you earn over the course of the year will just being going to balance out the cost of the annual fee you paid. Unfortunately, almost every airline miles credit cards charge an annual fee, making them illogical for smaller spending.
The airlines your miles can be used for
The problem with cards branded for a specific airline is that the miles are usually only good for their flights. But what happens if they don’t offer a flight to your destination, or even if they do, it’s an indirect flight with multiple layovers? So when you’re asking yourself what is the best credit card for miles, you need to also consider if you ever fly on more than one airline… and most people do.
How many miles you earn on spending
The biggest drawback with airline credit cards is you typically only earn one mile per dollar. If those miles are only worth around a penny each, then that’s basically the same as getting 1% back on spending… it just doesn’t make sense to pay an annual fee to get average reward value.
What is the best credit card for airline miles?
Your best bet is to go with a card not affiliated with a specific airline. That way you have the flexibility to book whatever flight is most convenient. Furthermore, you want a card that gives more than 1 mile per dollar.
Here are our two sponsored recommendations:
For no annual fee:
The Blue Sky gives rewards that are worth 33% more than the typical 1% card. Check out our American Express Blue Sky review to learn more.
For a $60 annual fee:
This is the best deal on the market- Discover Escape gives you 2 miles for every dollar spent (that’s double than most cards). To learn more and for a special signup bonus for our readers, check out our Discover Escape review
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Tags: Airline Miles, Best Credit Card, Credit Card, Miles
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