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Advice on airline credit card

Discussion in 'Non-Vegas Chat' started by PaulBowdry, Jan 4, 2016.

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  1. PaulBowdry

    PaulBowdry Low-Roller

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    Looking to get an airline credit card and was wondering if anyone had advice on what they think would be a good one to get. I fly either out of ORD or MKE. I have read online about them. Any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated. Also best sign up bonus for a card i am looking into as well. I was leaning towards the United Card. Sign up bonus sucks but get free checked baggage with it and priority boarding plus 2 1 time us united club passes a year. So they fee would be worth it. Thanks everybody.
     
  2. SH0CK

    SH0CK Stylin' and Profilin' Quasi Tech Admin

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    I think the current offer is 30K miles plus those other perks with the united card, but you can sometimes find that same card for 50K miles. Plus, the fee is waived for the first year.

    I think the current American Aadvantage card promos are about the same as United's but they also (sometimes) offer discounted rates when you use miles to purchase a ticket.

    I don't have a Southwest card, but I think you can get somewhere around 50K miles to start out... might get those after spending so much $$$ with that card though.

    My additional advice would be to try to call and cancel which ever card you get during the 11th month. Sometimes they will throw in extra miles or waive the fee to keep you using the card. An ALWAYS pay the card off each month, otherwise, you might as well just buy airlines miles as the interest rates can be killer.
     
  3. PaulBowdry

    PaulBowdry Low-Roller

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    Thanks for the advice. Right now the southwest card is only 25000 miles that is only one flight round trip. I didn't check into the American advantage one. I am leaning towards united but will wait until I find the 50000 point bonus. Frontier card you get 40000 points if you spend 500 in 3 months. That is good for two round trip tickets. That is one I will use and cancel in the 11th month to get free flights. My credit is good enough to take a hit closing an account. Thanks again.
     
  4. bta15

    bta15 Tourist

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    Get united and chase sapphire preferred. U get 25k with united and benefits and then you get 50k with CSP (plus 5k for authorized user)...
     
  5. hundth

    hundth Low-Roller

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    Hold out until Southwest offers the 50k points. They do it on and off through out the year. There points system is easy and it's easy to redeem. Edit....I'm heading to vegas Friday for 11k points round trip. So if you are flexible you could squeeze 4 flights out of the 50k.
     
  6. nostresshere

    nostresshere Mr. Anti Debit Card

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    I did not see it mentioned, but I would also figure out which airline you are most apt to fly. Availability of cheap, or points driven flights. Time schedule, etc. Getting 50,000 points on airline "A" will not help if flights are not available.
     
  7. meyers67

    meyers67 VIP Whale

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    Where do you fly from to get a Vegas flight for 11k round trip?
     
  8. hundth

    hundth Low-Roller

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    Minneapolis - Saint Paul Airport. In dollars the flights were $108 each way.
     
  9. BayouBengal

    BayouBengal VIP Whale

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    Two things to consider, who flies out of your airports and where do you want to go when you spend your points? If you want to fly to Europe or Asia, the a major like United will be your best bet. But if you travel primarily in the us (Caribbean and Mexico) and you're near a southwest hub that could be a good value. I live in a United hub city but southwest pretty much runs our smaller airport and 90% of my travel is served by swa routes so it was easy for me to go with the sw card.
     
  10. Joe

    Joe VIP Whale

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    We have the SWA card and fly exclusively out of Milwaukee (MKE). Between my wife and I we have had 6 different SW cards. Each one came with 50,000 miles, so 300,000 so far. We spend the $2,500 in the first 3 months and cancel the card, but the miles go into our accounts. I have kept the last Premier card because I can't get any more, without cancelling and waiting 2 years.

    The 50,000 mile offers are not standard, it's usually 25,000, but they do come up every few months. I would wait for one. I tried applying for my 4th card, a business card using a phony business name and my home address, but they rejected that one.

    I play the cash back game, so our Amex Blue gives 6% on groceries, AARP 3% on restaurants & gas and we put everything else on the SWA card. We average about $3,600 per month on SWA.
     
  11. undathesea

    undathesea Grandissimo

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    You're pretty fortunate because you basically live near hubs for all the major airlines.

    I would personally consider the citi / aadvantage platinum select visa/mastercard.

    You get $50k miles, group 1 boarding, 10% back on redeemed miles, free checked first bag, no foreign transaction fees (which I use), and 25% off in-flight purchases.

    I would also consider getting the southwest card if you're planning to fly them out of MKE.

    http://thepointsguy.com/credit-cards/airline/

    That guy does a pretty good job of breaking down all of the cards. He has articles on many of them and the reasons you should get a particular card.

    Also, as others mentioned, you should use the one you plan to primarily fly with.

    I use my aadvantage card almost exclusively and earn about 10k per month on it.
     
  12. Bo333

    Bo333 VIP Whale

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    I just read an article on this last week, sorry I can't remember where as I read too much crap.
    But I think in general it was one of the Capital One credit cards that did miles that was rated the number one travel card (this is from my failing memory).

    I was tempted to switching, but I've used the American Airlines card for so long that I get a few perks.
     
  13. 44inarow

    44inarow VIP Whale

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    For me it depends more on the benefits than the miles. You can get miles and sign-up bonuses for just about any airline; the question is whether you'll use the benefits and how much those are worth. I fly AA and almost always check a bag, so the free checked bag that comes with their card means that it pays for itself multiple times over. The miles are basically just an added perk.
     
  14. undathesea

    undathesea Grandissimo

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    One of the perks I love about Barclay Card with AA (not available any longer) is the 10k EQM every year based on spend. That perks has had me at Gold for the past two years now. Since I do about three trips to Vegas every year, I nearly hit 15k just on those flights alone.

    Of course, Gold pretty much sucks on American, but I'll take the priority lines at security at their hubs any day of the week.
     
  15. ajp

    ajp High-Roller

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  16. hammie

    hammie VIP Whale

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    Joe, look into getting a mailbox at your local UPS store, I believe these come with a physical address. The name of your business is Vandelay Industries and you're in the latex glove business if asked.
     
  17. hammie

    hammie VIP Whale

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    Unda, I have the Barclay Aviator card, it was previously the US Airways card. Is this the same as what you have?
     
  18. Joe

    Joe VIP Whale

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    HA! Still my all-time favorite TV show! :thumbsup:
     
  19. Coupee36

    Coupee36 Tourist

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    Not sure, but I believe united card also allows access to lounges, and that's always been a great perk for me when traveling. Those lounges comes in handy why flights are delayed.
     
  20. aaronw915

    aaronw915 Low-Roller

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    This is one of the best bonuses/cards out there. I also got the 50K point bonus a few years ago. If you get creative you can use these points to help get a companion pass, as long as you earn 60K + more points. I love my SW card and and fly SW weekly for work and use it for everything.

    SW only flies out of MDW, not ORD.

    You'd have to travel to MKE to hop a SW flight, which offers non-stops to LAS. So it may be worth the drive to MKE depending on where you live.

    FYI I spot checked a flight from MKE-LAS in April and it'll cost you between 25k-30k points round-trip. So you may be able to get 2 RT to Vegas out of it.
     
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