|
Free Web Directories, search engine submission, submitter, submission, search engine optimization, link popularity, search engine, email, search engine registration, web design, web position gold, search engine submissions, webdirectory, submitters, safelist, webmasterworld, directory, online parts catalog
digital camera reviews cool cars digital camera prices cell phone directory canon cameras work at home sony digital cameras travel directions Worldwide Hotels, Review paris hilton google games cheat yahoo ebay jessica simpson poetry
|
|
|
 |
Featured Products |
|
|
Blogs, Comments |
|
|
|
|
|
| Articles, Category: Dating, Relationship
my chemical romance jennifer love hewitt love poems free chat rooms love quotes matchbook romance yahoo personals chat rooms |
| The Credit Card Choice: Miles or Points?
| 07/02/2010 | Name: Guest
Comments: IF you’re one of the millions of people who use a credit card connected to a particular airline — one of the cards that typically award frequent flier miles for every dollar spent —you probably earn more miles by swiping your card than by flying.
But given how difficult it is becoming to redeem frequent flier miles for free tickets and the fact that credit card companies are developing their own rewards programs — some with better travel benefits than airlines offer — it may be time to rethink which card is front and center in your wallet, especially if the card’s primary selling point is the ability to rack up free flights.
While there is no perfect travel-rewards card for everyone, cards that offer points instead of miles might be a better option for people who aren’t particularly loyal to a single airline since points can usually be redeemed on many airlines.
I recently reshuffled my credit cards after a year of frustration trying to redeem Delta miles earned with an American Express Delta SkyMiles card for a free ticket. Although the card’s promotional materials promise that the 25,000 bonus miles one can earn just by signing up are “good for a free flight,” every time I tried to book a Delta award ticket, the cost was usually 40,000 miles. So when my American Express statement arrived with a charge for the card’s $95 annual fee (which had been waived for the first year), I canceled the card.
My current go-to credit card is U.S. Bank’s FlexPerks Visa card, which isn’t affiliated with any airline and was named the best credit card for travel perks by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine last year. Instead of earning frequent flier miles, I get one point for every dollar I spend, and those points can be used to book free tickets on dozens of airlines. Once I earn 20,000 points, I can cash them in for a ticket worth up to $400 using U.S. Bank’s booking partner, Travelocity.
This accomplishes the neat trick of allowing me (and other cardholders) to avoid something airlines refer to as capacity control, which limits the number of seats on a flight that can be bought with frequent flier miles. Since I wasn’t exchanging miles, but effectively buying a ticket, there were no restrictions on the flights I could choose from.
For a trip from New York to Los Angeles in April, I cashed in 20,000 FlexPerks points for a round-trip ticket on JetBlue. (Delta wanted 40,000 miles for a similar nonstop itinerary.)
Bob Daly, a senior vice president with U.S. Bank, said that when the company set out to design its own travel rewards program — after its previous Visa card partner, Northwest Airlines, merged with Delta — delivering on the promise of free flights was a primary objective.
“It had become more and more difficult for people to get award seats,” Mr. Daly said, adding that users of the card, which first became available last year, had cashed in more than a billion FlexPerks points in the last 60 days, which adds up to 50 thousand airline tickets at the 20,000-point level.
Other travel rewards cards that earn accolades are also awarding points instead of miles. Some even allow customers to use them toward hotel stays — an often overlooked benefit.
For three years in a row, the Starwood Preferred Guest American Express card (a card affiliated with the hotel company) was voted the best travel card in the Americas by members of the frequent flier site Flyertalk.com. That card, which charges a $45 annual fee after the first year, was also recently rated the best travel rewards card for domestic use by the editors of SmarterTravel.com.
Cardholders earn one “Starpoint” for every dollar spent, and each point can be converted to one mile in 30 frequent flier programs; there is a 5,000-mile bonus when users transfer 20,000 points. Starpoints can also be used to buy airline tickets — 30,000 points gets a ticket that costs $345 to $410 — and free nights at Starwood hotels.
Another card that earns free flights on multiple airlines is Capital One’s Venture Rewards card (annual fee $59 after the first year). In this case, cardholders do earn miles — two for every dollar spent — but Capital One’s miles can be redeemed for monetary credit: every 20,000 miles earns you a $200 credit on your card statement.
Chase’s Sapphire card is another option for travelers who want to exchange points for tickets on any airline. Cardholders earn one point for every dollar spent; points can be used for tickets on multiple carriers (it takes 30,000 points to buy a $300 ticket).
But despite the flexibility offered by this growing breed of card, Tim Winship, editor of FrequentFlier.com, said credit cards connected to particular airlines still have some benefits that bank cards can’t match, like the ability to use miles for upgrades.
Chase’s Continental cards and the American Express Delta SkyMiles card (which I just jettisoned) have recently introduced another perk: allowing cardholders to check one bag free. 1 2 Next Page »
| | |
|
|
|
|
Worldwide Online Free Catalog Resource -
Full-service, Free web directories, Free Catalog, Online Marketing, Business review, Hot Cars, Travel Hotels, Tattos
A worldwide Cars Review - Automotive Catalog, Biggest Automotive Directory, Vehicle information and pictures, Free blogs review
Worldwide Business Directory.biz - #01 Worldwide Business Directory.biz - Worldwide Business Directory, Search Engine Marketing, Reverse Directories, Online Marketing, Online Business Communication, Network Marketing, Home Business Opportunity
|
|
|
|
|
Home
