Airline Credit Cards Discussion Area

JJJBBB · 16 November 2010 at 4:53PM

Roger1:

Also, thanks for the tip on the American Airlines credit card. Maybe I'll switch to that. Their miles are very easy to spend.

I think perhaps you're right that European schemes are only really good value for those interested in business-class travel. US schemes, on the other hand, are better value for those who travel a fair amount, but not weekly, and appreciate being able to get an economy-class round-trip award ticket every year or so.

powerone · 17 November 2010 at 10:04AM

If you are already a member of a scheme with miles/points. For example virgin and you dont necessary fly that often. Its often handy to have a card so you can keep topping up the miles without them being lost.

Roger1 · 9 December 2010 at 12:16PM

It depends. Miles are typically transferred from the cards to miles accounts once a month. Each miles scheme has different terms and conditions, some more favourable, others less so.

For example, BA and Virgin miles last 3 years but are extended each time that another transaction (flight, hotel, card transaction, etc) is made so you can colect over a longer period. American Airlines and most US schemes have a shorter limit of 18 months.

Airmiles now last two years unless a credit of at least one Airmile is made every two years, and a £30 surcharge per booking is made if a credit has not been made for just 12 months.

A useful by-the-way, American Express Membership Rewards points have no time limit and can be transferred into a number of airline accounts as and when, including BA, Virgin and bmi (but not American Airlines).

Roger1 · 9 December 2010 at 12:23PM

JJJBBB wrote: »

If you have any tips on how to spend BMI airmiles I'd be very grateful.

Sorry, I missed your question.

There's a wealth of advice at FlyerTalk - http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/bmi-diamond-club-486/ - which would be difficult to summarise in a short response. Have a look, it's not too daunting!

Best value seems to be miles+cash, especially in business or first class. I have a booking to Cape Town in biz on South African Airways using miles+cash. See http://www.flybmi.com/bmi/en-gb/loyalty-programmes/diamond-club/ways-to-spend-miles/bmi-and-star-alliance-flights.aspx to see what miles+cash costs.

insurgente · 11 December 2010 at 3:39PM

Roger1 wrote: »

Sorry, I missed your question.

There's a wealth of advice at FlyerTalk - http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/bmi-diamond-club-486/ - which would be difficult to summarise in a short response. Have a look, it's not too daunting!

Best value seems to be miles+cash, especially in business or first class. I have a booking to Cape Town in biz on South African Airways using miles+cash. See http://www.flybmi.com/bmi/en-gb/loyalty-programmes/diamond-club/ways-to-spend-miles/bmi-and-star-alliance-flights.aspx to see what miles+cash costs.

So just to confirm, you can use BMI diamond club miles on partner airlines right? I'm hoping I might be able to use mine towards a flight to Brazil with TAM at some stage

I'm looking at buying some BMI miles as I'm not using the credit card that much. The site claims there is a special offer til december 12th where you get a 'bonus' of 50% more miles. Has anyone found this worth while? Getting another 3,000 miles would get me close to where I want to be (which would cost £39). But I'm sure I looked at the site a couple of months ago and 3,000 miles would've cost about the same

Roger1 · 12 December 2010 at 4:34PM

insurgente wrote: »

So just to confirm, you can use BMI diamond club miles on partner airlines right?

Yes. You will need to speak to the call centre to do this. Be aware that flights are subject to availability. They may or may not have flights on the dates you need so you may need to be flexible. TAM is not the only possibility. I haven't checked, but you may be able to get there with another airline, for example Lufthansa, United, Swiss etc (Personally, I'd avoid United because of the need to suffer the TSA 'security' indignities and the longer flight times.)

If you're thinking of buying miles, hurry! The 50% extra offer ends today. I have bought some miles for Mrs Roger. As for value, that depends on you and whether you think it's worthwhile. Just a data point, the price includes a £15 fee, no matter how many miles you buy. This means that higher amounts work out better value, provided of course that they meet your purpose.

Caz3121 · 12 December 2010 at 5:07PM

insurgente wrote: »

So just to confirm, you can use BMI diamond club miles on partner airlines right? I'm hoping I might be able to use mine towards a flight to Brazil with TAM at some stage

I'm looking at buying some BMI miles as I'm not using the credit card that much. The site claims there is a special offer til december 12th where you get a 'bonus' of 50% more miles. Has anyone found this worth while? Getting another 3,000 miles would get me close to where I want to be (which would cost £39). But I'm sure I looked at the site a couple of months ago and 3,000 miles would've cost about the same

Miles are normally £12 per 1000 plus a £15 admin fee
usual fee for 3000 miles = £12x3 + £15 = £51
current offer pay for 2000 get 1000 free = £12x2 + £15 = £39

and yes you can use bmi miles on *A airlines and partner airlines
I have travelled First on Thai and Swiss and have Business bookings next year on Air New Zealand and Air Canada

insurgente · 12 December 2010 at 7:50PM

thanks for the replies y'all

I have a US passport so wouldn't worry too much about passing through there....except for the waaaaay longer journey times as well.

Good point, if flying on those airlines is all the same price i'll go however. I can be flexible

you're right though, I just used some BA/Airmiles and getting a flight was tough

Maybe I'll just buy these miles then. I'm just trying to nudge myself over 25,000 miles, as I believe a flight to Brazil is then about £375. At the rate I'm using this card, that may take forever...may be easier to just spend the £39 and get the miles

ljasmin65 · 13 December 2010 at 7:58AM

:j:j Again, not a very well documented article. Virgin Atlantic American Express Credit Card (white) also gives a free companion ticket (for travel by Virgin), no annual fee, and their need to spend less than £ 15 000. An upgrade to premium economy available to spend £ 10,000 a year. Better than the BA Amex Black card board is similar to the Virgin the best map of BA, is a cheaper rate annual BA, with £ 115, against 150 pounds for BA, and you get the companion ticket with an annual expenditure £ 7.500. :j:j

Roger1 · 13 December 2010 at 8:59AM

Apples and oranges!

After qualifying expenditure, Virgin cardholders can get a companion ticket when s/he BUYS a ticket, and only in the higher fare classes, plus the 'taxes' on both tickets.

The BA companion ticket is awarded after qualifying expenditure and is offered when the cardholder REDEEMS miles for one ticket, plus the 'taxes' on both tickets.

That's a huge difference. Everybody's situation is different, of course, but for my money, the BA scheme is superior for this reason, and also because BA has a far, far wider network than Virgin.

It's in business and first class that the differences really show, especially with Virgin where you have to spend ££££ on a ticket to get a 'free' companion ticket. Generally speaking, awards in economy class are poor value.

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