What Credit Card gives the best Frequent Flyer Program

[126coupe]

AA Advantage is horrible, I have to jump through too many hoops. Last time I flew to Hawaii from LAX via Dallas, TX wtf?

[Joeaksa]

SouthWest is excellent.

They do not "nickle and dime" you to death and run a professional airline.

I fly for a living and when I have to airline anywhere, I fly SWA.

[AFC-911]

What's wrong with AAdvantage? From everything I've read, it's one of the easier programs to redeem miles.

As far as SWA, do they fly internationally? Because I don't see myself redeeming miles to fly domestically.

[TechnoViking]

The airlines have issued so many miles that some say they will never be able to redeem them all.

So if you think of miles as a kind of money, there will be a continual currency devlauation over time. Expect them to be harder to use the longer you hold them.

Last time I used United miles, I think I had to pay $100 since I was booking inside their cutoff window, and I think I booked 3 weeks in advance And rarely can you get a "saver" flight anymore, where a domestic flight is 25,000 miles. I think most miles flights are 40,000 or more now. And forget traveling on "blackout" dates.

So I am intrigued by some of the 3rd party cards that claim you can use their miles on any airline with no restrictions. Would be curious to know if anyone has tried one.

[steve911]

Originally Posted by AFC-911

As far as SWA, do they fly internationally? Because I don't see myself redeeming miles to fly domestically.

They are in the process of buying AirTran which will expand their route structure to the Caribbean/Bahamas I believe. Other than that, they don't have anything international according to their current route map.

[AFC-911]

Originally Posted by TechnoViking

So I am intrigued by some of the 3rd party cards that claim you can use their miles on any airline with no restrictions. Would be curious to know if anyone has tried one.

From what I read in Flyer Talk, the 3rd party cards buy you an actual airline ticket when you redeem, so it's not an "award" seat, but an actual seat that's been paid for & can not be blacked out.

[myamoto1]

I have a Capital One card and belive I get an actual ticket when I cash in miles. I haven't had the card for that long, so I haven't cashed in for a ticket yet. There are several BBS sites dedicated to getting the most out of your card - getting multiple cards, combining miles, etc. Do a search on PPOT for airline miles, I think that's where the link I followed came from.

[Cdnone1]

American Express.
I'm not sure about the regular green card but their "upper" cards allow you to transfer your miles into almost ever major airlines program free of charge.
Also you get free access to the First class lounge
Steve