Airline Credit Cards

Do I have to be a frequent flyer to get an airline miles credit card? While frequent flyers will certainly benefit more from a miles credit card than others, as long as you travel at least once a year, you can extract significant value from such a card. This is especially true given the attractive initial rewards bonuses that many airline rewards credit cards now offer, which often equate to one or more free flights. However, no matter how attractive these initial bonuses are, if commercial travel isn’t your cup of tea, you will inevitably redeem miles for non-travel goods of services and would therefore have been better off applying for a points or cash back credit card from the get go.

What to look for when evaluating airline rewards programs: It’s often difficult to evaluate airline credit cards because you not only have the typical credit card concerns to worry about (e.g. credit standing, fee structure, etc.), but you must also tackle issues unique to airline rewards programs (e.g. whether there’s an airline affiliation, relative differences in value between miles in each program, etc.). Credit card disclosures are by no means short either, so to make things easier on yourself not only use Card Hub’s credit card comparison tool (we’re obviously biased in this regard), but also be on the lookout for the following key pieces of information:

1. Airline Affiliation: Some airline cards offer generic miles that can be redeemed for flights on any airline. Others are tied to particular airlines and provide miles usable only for flights with affiliated carriers. The former are good for both the infrequent traveler and those who travel a lot, but on different airlines. The latter are only good for brand-loyal frequent flyers.
2. Initial Rewards Bonus: The initial bonus that you can earn during the first few months of card use is an extremely important consideration. The reason for that is bonus miles on certain cards may even exceed the number of miles attainable from a full year of card use.
3. Earning Rate: You need to figure out how quickly you’ll be accruing miles, as this dictates how lucrative each card you consider will be. Just be aware of cards that require you to sign up on a quarterly basis in order to be eligible for the highest rewards earning rates.
4. Earning Tiers: Airline miles credit cards sometimes distribute miles at a particular rate up to a designated spending threshold, at which time the rewards earning rate changes. Depending on your spending habits, this could significantly alter the net earning rate a given card provides.
5. Expiration: If your airline miles will expire at some point, you clearly need to know about it. When present, expiration is typically linked to either account inactivity or the amount of time elapsed since miles were earned.
6. Redemption Policy: You must know the number of miles it takes to get free flights and other perks because this will clue you in to how much these miles are actually worth and how long it will take for you to see tangible benefits. In addition, you need to figure out whether any redemption limitations, such as blackout dates or limited seat availability, apply in order to make sure that the miles you earn can actually be put to use.
7. Status Miles: For frequent flyers choosing between multiple airline miles cards tied to the same airline or deciding which airline to cast their allegiances with, the inclusion of status miles and the rate at which they can be earned is key.

What’s the difference between airline miles and airline status miles? As is the case with hotel credit cards, airline rewards cards offer two types of miles: those redeemable for free flights, upgrades, etc. and those that allow you to climb the loyalty status ladder. All credit cards with airline miles offer the former; however, only those affiliated with a particular airline offer the latter. Garnering airline status miles should not be a priority unless you fly often and exclusively with a given airline, as you may have to pay a higher annual fee to get an airline card offering them.