Whats the best airmiles credit card?

mrmonkeh

Hi all,

I'd like to get a new card for gaining airmiles (that I intend to pay off every month)

Its hard to get a side by side comparison on who each airlines schemes compare - the points seem to have different values. Can anyone give me some advice on what they consider the best deal?

The 3 scchemes im looking at are Avios, BMI and Virgin miles. Im not picky on airline, I'd just like to know which one I'll get free tickets with the fastest

Cheers,

Monkeh

_Andy_

What is your likely annual spend going to be?
Also do you prefer to fly long or short haul?

mrmonkeh

Around 20 to 30k+

Long Haul would be the aim

Thanks

CKhalvashi

We spend a 6-fig sum (mainly business expenses) on ours, and have the Lloyds TSB Platinum Duo (Although comes with a £25 annual fee). :mad:

I only use the MasterCard one in the Portuguese Cafe and Arbat, as they don’t accept AmEx.

Paid £112 for 3 weeks in Dubai, 2 adults, 2 children last year, but don’t know what it would be worth to you.

CK

magyar

mrmonkeh wrote: »

Around 20 to 30k+

Long Haul would be the aim

Thanks

It depends a little bit on where you spend your money and what you want to end up with.

Airmiles (with any scheme) tend to be POOR value for economy flights, so if you're thinking of saving up airmiles to go to the Caribbean I'd personally come up with a completely different strategy - look to save as much money as possible in various areas and then just buy a cheap plane ticket with cash.

However they tend to be very GOOD value if you are prepared to pay a typical 'economy' fare and then use the airmiles to upgrade.

But if you save up say 120,000 Airmiles from spend on a BA Amex Premium Plus card and you're spending £10,000+ a year that could take two people to Dubai in First Class, you would pay the taxes of about £900. Probably slightly more than as a charter flight in economy but you get 5* treatment and a flight which would normally cost about £10,000+

Once you've got an idea of what you want to do then you can target an airline/scheme. I would personally stick with Avios, since they have a wide earning potential, can be redeemed on a very wide range of airlines (BA, AA, Quantas) and as long as you earn 1 per year, never expire.

With £20-30k annual spend, and making the most of introductory offers, you should easily be able to get 150,000 Avios in a year.

Your first step would be to get a referral for an Amex card, which I will happily provide if you want one