If you find yourself doing a lot of traveling, having a travel rewards credit card is a must. When that travel means flying a particular airline, then an airline miles credit card is the way to go. Airline miles credit cards can offer unique benefits for frequent flyers that most travel rewards credit cards cannot and as the movie “Up In The Air” has shown, the miles can be racked up in the millions.
Make no mistake, choosing an airline miles credit card should be done only if you enjoy flying a particular airline. Too often, consumers find themselves tied to an airline they have poor experiences with simply because they earn a few additional miles. Whether your airline of choice is American, Continental, Delta or a few others, we’ve got a co-branded credit card that can make your flying experience much more enjoyable.
| Citi® Platinum Select® / AAdvantage® Visa Signature® Card |
|
- Earn 30,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles after $1,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of cardmembership*
- Your first eligible checked bag is free*
- Priority Boarding with Group 1 privileges* and 25% savings on eligible in-flight purchases*
- Earn a $100 American Airlines Flight Discount every cardmembership year with qualifying purchases and cardmembership renewal*
- Double AAdvantage® miles on eligible American Airlines purchases*
- Earn 10% of your redeemed AAdvantage® miles back - up to 10,000 AAdvantage® miles each calendar year*
|
| Intro APR |
Intro APR
Period |
Regular
APR |
Annual
Fee |
Balance
Transfer |
Credit
Needed |
| N/A* |
N/A* |
15.24%* (Variable) |
$95, waived for first 12 months* |
N/A* |
Excellent Credit |
|
| Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express |
|
- Bonus Miles: earn 30,000 bonus miles toward Award Travel after you spend $500 on the Card within the first three months of Cardmembership.
- Earn As You Spend: Get 2X miles on Delta purchases and 1X miles for all other eligible dollars spent.
- Check your first bag free on every Delta flight - that's a savings of up to $200 per round trip for a family of four
- Premium Travel Perks: Settle in sooner with Priority Boarding, and enjoy the skies with 20% in-flight savings to use toward meals, beverages, and movies awarded as a statement credit.
- $0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $95.
- Terms and Restrictions Apply.
|
| Intro APR |
Intro APR
Period |
Regular
APR |
Annual
Fee |
Balance
Transfer |
Credit
Needed |
| None |
None |
15.24%-19.24% (Variable) |
$0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $95 |
No |
Excellent Credit |
|
| Virgin America Visa® Signature Card |
|
- Earn up to 15,000 Bonus Points on qualifying transactions
- Enjoy 3 Points per $1 on Virgin America purchases
- Earn 1 Point per $1 spent everywhere else
- Low Intro rate on balance transfers for the first 15 months after account opening
- $150 off a companion ticket every year
- No blackout dates on any seat, at any time for reward flights
- Please see terms and conditions for complete details
|
| Intro APR |
Intro APR
Period |
Regular
APR |
Annual
Fee |
Balance
Transfer |
Credit
Needed |
| N/A |
N/A |
15.99% or 24.99% (Variable) |
$49 |
0% |
Excellent Credit |
|
| The US Airways Premier World MasterCard® |
|
- Earn up to 50,000 bonus miles on qualifying transactions
- Exclusive: Redeem for flights for 5,000 fewer miles
- Enjoy 2 miles per $1 on US Airways purchases
- Earn 1 mile per $1 spent everywhere else
- Two roundtrip companion tickets each year
- Zone 2 priority boarding on every flight
- First class check-in
- Please see terms and conditions for complete details
|
| Intro APR |
Intro APR
Period |
Regular
APR |
Annual
Fee |
Balance
Transfer |
Credit
Needed |
| N/A |
N/A |
15.99% or 24.99% (Variable) |
$89 |
0% |
Excellent Credit |
|
Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by American Express. Opinions expressed here are authors alone, not those of American Express, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by American Express. This site may be compensated through American Express Affiliate Program.
Rob founded the Dough Roller in 2007. A litigation attorney in the securities industry, he lives in Northern Virginia with his wife, their two teenagers, and the family mascot, a shih tzu named Sophie.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I would strongly recommend against CitiCards. We recently signed up for one of their cards based on a promotion with Expedia. We had one problem after another. After talking with Citi and asking for help with our problems, we got basically nowhere. The customer service was simply horrible. We’ve had great success with CapitalOne. They have various rewards cards that you can find one that meets your situation and needs the best.
I have NEVER before bothered to post a comment on a story but reading the initial comment basically demanded I do so.
I have carried a Citi AAdvantage Gold card for a dozen years. While credit card companies are never going to be warm and fuzzy, Citi has been consistently reasonable and responsible.
In contrast, I used to carry TWO CapitalOne cards (from before I had the Citi card) and had one for 10+ years and the other 5+ years (from memory). Every little thing with the CapitalOne cards turned into a massive hassle. After completing a significant European vacation using one of my CapitalOne cards almost exclusively I found one overcharge on my bill (out of probably 100+ charges) and filed all of the proper work to contest the overcharge. CapitalOne did nothing to support my claim against the vendor and kept piling on interest/penalty fees (I had paid everything BUT the contested charge) and fought with me for ca. a FULL YEAR before dropping the interest/penalty charges and accepting my version of the bill–which, from memory, was about 85% of the posted billing.
After I dropped that card in disgust, years later CapitalOne closed my other card for non-use (which was true, since I was still angry about the massive hassles)–no problem.
But here’s the kicker–years later CapitalOne sent me a targeted, individually identified offering for another card. The benefits seemed to make it a worthwhile deal so I said yes. THEN THEY REFUSED ME, citing poor credit (and the only problems I’d ever had was with them) and, in the process, screwing with my existing credit rating.
First THEY solicit ME, and then they screw with my credit rating!
Best advice I can offer is NEVER deal with CapitalOne–if you do, sooner or later, you’re going to be very sorry.
HI-sailor,
I agree with you 100 %. Credit Card companies are not warm and fuzzy, they are money making enterprises. But, as you stated, Citi has never done me wrong. I asked them to waive annual fee this year because I hadn’t used it in a few months. The employee said to make 5 purchases in 30 days at any price (a dollar 5 times) and they would reimburse me for the 85 dollar fee. I stayed with them and will keep their cards. If you have a bad experience with any card you need to pursue the issue until it is resolved. They don’t want to lose you.
Well even if I don’t use these credit cards, it’s always good to know everything about it.
I usually fly Delta, but I will not get the credit card. The flights are too high and the charge for baggage is outrageous! I’ll take the bus even though it takes longer.
You can definitely see your enthusiasm in the paintings you write. The sector hopes for more passionate writers such as you who aren’t afraid to mention how they believe. All the time follow your heart.