What credit card for Airline bonuses

campbeji

Hi all,

I want to get a new credit card that gives you points towards airline flights. I have no idea which is the best to get. I would hope to be able to spend about £70,000 a year on it and I will be paying it off in full eack month. The only reason to get this is to get the free flights, I will only be spending money I already have and would have spent anyway.

Any ideas.

I know there is a guide in the site but it does seem out of date now that the Airmile scheme is changing.

Thanks
Jim

Fruit_and_Nut_Case

It would make sense to get a card associated with an airline which flies to where you want to go.

FYI I have a Virgin Atlantic AmEx

campbeji

Hi,

I can see your point but I will hopefully be making a few different trips over the next few years, 1 or 2 long hauls and with luck a handful of European trips. I'm really looking for the most bang for the buck. I had pretty much convinced myself to go for the Airmiles card but with that all changing I don't know now.

Any Ideas?

Thanks
Jim

_Andy_

£70k a year would earn you 140k miles on the Virgin Atlantic Black Amex. 100k miles would get you an Upper Class return to West Coast USA

Caz3121

You should look at what airlines you will be looking to redeem miles on. There are 3 main alliances, Star Alliance (LH/UA/bmi/CO and others) One World (BA,AA and others) SkyTeam (KLM,AF,Delta) If you think you will get no use redeeming for one alliance then there is no benefit from getting their card. BMI is good value for redeeming on Star Alliance flights, BA is good for using miles for upgrades. Have a look over on flyertalk but much will depend on what you want to do with the miles you earn

chattychappy

The BMI scheme is really good, especially their miles + cash deals. Also the miles don't expire provided you keep the account active. I have an MBNA mastercard (no longer available) linked to that, as well as getting miles from star alliance.

The BIG BUT is that the days of the scheme are almost certainly numbered following a takeover by Lufthansa. Alot of talk on flyertalk.com (checkout the BMI diamond club forum).

campbeji

Hi,

OK, I have a couple of questions, Is there a list anywhere of all the cards that give airline points?

I'm also wondering about these aliances, I havn't come across them before, is it a case of getting points on an aliance scheme (ie you can use them for any airline in the aliance) or do all the airlines have their own scheme (but you can swap around the points or whatever).

I had a look at the flyertalk forum, there is a lot on there and it's tough to get the relevant info, I think I need an expert, I wonder if Martin Lewis is going to do an update on his guide anytime soon.

Thanks
Jim

Caz3121

In my circumstances I have a bmi credit card and also fly a fair bit with them.
I have also flown with other Star Alliance (*A) airlines such as Lufthansa, United, Air New Zealand and each time have given my bmi card details and earnt miles. When spending the miles I do not usually spend on bmi but have spent on flights on Thai, Swiss and others
I have built status on my bmi Diamond Club card and am now a gold member which means I can use the *A lounge whenever I fly on *A even if in economy plus get extra baggage allowances etc.
There are people with bmi gold status that have never set foot on a bmi plane but travel with *A airlines.
Many of the airlines have their own cards and the spend credits will generate extra miles to redeem (but do not count for status)

The changes to the Airmiles scheme is going to map it more to the BA scheme from what I have read so you may be more restricted to One World Alliance airlines than is the case today