If you like to travel, it might make sense to pick a credit card that has
the best airline mile program.
With many of
the best airline miles programs, we've never had to pay more than a few bucks when booking award travel.
Not exact matches
NerdWallet has released a study of travel rewards credit cards and the loyalty
programs for four U.S.
airlines — American, Delta, Southwest, and United — that determines how consumers should
best use their points and frequent flier
miles.
The Starpoints earned through this card, the cornerstone of its rewards
program, can be used to book hotel rooms, as
well as be turned into
airline miles.
Airline frequent flyer
programs have their
good times and their bad times, and no one wants to earn
miles with a carrier that suddenly decides to devalue their
miles or change their awards requirements.
It can be very hard to redeem
airline miles for flights during peak travel seasons, so these
programs are not very
well suited to those who only travel during the holidays.
Earning
airline miles is easy with this
program as
well: you can earn 500
miles per stay with 28 participating travel partners.
It can be very hard to redeem
airline miles for flights during peak travel seasons, so these
programs are not very
well suited to those who only travel during the holidays.
The Starpoints earned through this card, the cornerstone of its rewards
program, can be used to book hotel rooms, as
well as be turned into
airline miles.
As the Citi ThankYou
program gives you the option to both transfer points to
airlines as
well as use your points at a fixed rate to buy cash fares, the
best use of points would be to redeem them for
miles.
She holds
miles in the American
Airlines AAdvantage frequent flyer
program that she received from her personal and business travel, as
well as
miles she earned from her American
Airlines credit card.
But the
best benefit of this card is the 10 percent redemption rebate
program: Every time you book an award flight using your American
Airlines miles, the
airline will give you back 10 percent of the
miles you spent, up to 10,000
miles per calendar year.
Earning
airline miles is easy with this
program as
well: you can earn 500
miles per stay with 28 participating travel partners.
Best Western offers fewer
airlines to transfer points for
miles when compared to other
programs.
The
best part of their
airline transfer
program is that it automatically adds a 5,000 -
mile bonus to your select participating frequent flyer
program for every 20,000 points transferred.
Our picks for the
best rewards credit cards have rewards
programs for varying card needs, including if you're looking for
airline miles, cash rewards, cards with points, or just searching for a card with no annual fee.
Airlines are changing their frequent flier
programs in other ways as
well: American
Airlines AAL, -0.57 % changed its rewards structure in April (for travel beginning in June) so that for about half the year it will increase its redemption rate to 30,000
miles, up from the previous 25,000
miles, and on the busiest days will charge 50,000
miles; however, during less busy times, it will lower the rate to 20,000
miles.
If you fly often, then it might be
better to choose a travel
miles program, especially if you tend to use one specific
airline.
Even though you can book travel from the card issuer's travel portal, the
best thing about these cards is that you can transfer the
miles to
airline and hotel partners» frequent travel
programs.
And there are some
good values in their award chart where you'll save
miles compared to booking through other
airlines» frequent flyer
programs.
Don't worry, some of the
best credit cards for
airline miles let you transfer their
miles to a number of different rewards
programs so you can earn
miles without worrying about one particular carrier.
For
best results and value, you'll want to make sure you're transferring to a 1:1
program (that's 1 SPG point to 1 partner
airline mile).
Perhaps the
best part of an overall travel rewards
program, though, is that you can often use your rewards in conjunction with other
airline rewards, such as frequent flyer
miles, to really make the most of your savings.
One of the
best and most glamorous
airlines in the world, Emirates, isn't a member of any alliances, but it is a transfer partner of American Express Membership Rewards and SPG
programs, and it has a number of partners that you can earn and redeem
miles on.
The
best frequent flyer
programs do more than reward you for your loyalty; they dole out free
airline miles that let you score free travel.
Now that you know what some of the top
programs are, we have some
good news to share: While it's commonly thought that you have to fly all the time to earn
airline miles, this couldn't be any further from the truth.
With a few
programs that provide
good redemption rates, you shouldn't have any trouble earning the necessary
miles to fly American
Airlines business class.
There is no limit to the number of
miles that can be earned with your Hawaiian
Airlines World Elite Mastercard as long as the
program continues and the cardmember's credit card account is open and in
good standing.
If you want to earn bonus
miles more quickly or try another
airline loyalty
program, a
good option is the Chase United MileagePlus ® Explorer Card.
The Turkish
Airlines frequent flyer
program is called
Miles & Smiles, and since they are a member of Star Alliance, their
miles can be used for flights on their own planes and those of any other Star Alliance members as
well.
If you are not committed to flying with American
Airlines, you might find
better flexibility with other travel credit card
programs, where you can redeem
miles on any
airline you want.
The banks are probably the most
well - versed in the going rate for
miles and points from the
airlines since they often work with multiple loyalty
programs and are the largest buyer of
miles and points.
If you're looking to maximize your hard - earned
airline miles by booking trips to multiple cities, or even countries, United MileagePlus is one of the
best programs to do just that.
While there are often distinct advantages of credit cards directly attached to an
airline (a
miles - based
program), I thought it
best to provide you with a
program that will allow you to learn what types of rewards you actually want and need from a travel rewards
program.
Although Virgin Atlantic
miles program doesn't fare very
well against some other popular
programs in the
airline industry, it does have some decent options that can be availed for certain flights.
It's a
good idea to join
airline mileage
programs to earn
miles for all the flights you take.
The Alaska
Airlines Visa Signature card is an excellent card for earning
miles in one of the
best frequent flyer
programs in the industry.
As the Citi ThankYou
program gives you the option to both transfer points to
airlines as
well as use your points at a fixed rate to buy cash fares, the
best use of points would be to redeem them for
miles.
Earn three times the benefits: Membership in the Expedia +
program, there is the possibility of a triple reward where you can earn the
airline frequent flyer
miles, Expedia + points as
well as the credit card reward points on the relevant bookings.
This is a much
better deal than the 45,000
miles and up that many U.S. - based
airline programs would charge for a round trip to Hawaii.
All of the
airlines we'll consider for this trip allow for stopovers, so the trick is to simply determine which
airline program is
best for this trip, and then to put some
miles to use!
So I decided to collect the
best offers for the major
airline miles programs available right now.
Currently, members may accrue Points towards either (i) PreFlight
Program Rewards vouchers
good for free parking and, where available, car wash services («
Program Rewards Vouchers») OR (ii)
airline miles towards designated airline loyalty programs («Airline Rewards»), both as more fully described below, but may not accrue Points towar
airline miles towards designated
airline loyalty programs («Airline Rewards»), both as more fully described below, but may not accrue Points towar
airline loyalty
programs («
Airline Rewards»), both as more fully described below, but may not accrue Points towar
Airline Rewards»), both as more fully described below, but may not accrue Points toward both.
Rather than earning Points for Eligible Stays or as otherwise provided herein, you can instead elect to earn
airline miles («Miles») with any of our approved partner frequent flyer programs («Airline Programs») by logging into your Account through www.bestwestern.com or the Local Site for your country of residence or by calling a Best Western call center and directing BWI to award Miles (instead of Points) as your earning preference, identifying the Airline Program, and providing your frequent flyer membership number for your preferred Airline P
airline miles («
Miles») with any of our approved partner frequent flyer
programs («Airline Programs») by logging into your Account through www.bestwestern.com or the Local Site for your country of residence or by calling a Best Western call center and directing BWI to award Miles (instead of Points) as your earning preference, identifying the Airline Program, and providing your frequent flyer membership number for your preferred Airline
programs («
Airline Programs») by logging into your Account through www.bestwestern.com or the Local Site for your country of residence or by calling a Best Western call center and directing BWI to award Miles (instead of Points) as your earning preference, identifying the Airline Program, and providing your frequent flyer membership number for your preferred Airline P
Airline Programs») by logging into your Account through www.bestwestern.com or the Local Site for your country of residence or by calling a Best Western call center and directing BWI to award Miles (instead of Points) as your earning preference, identifying the Airline Program, and providing your frequent flyer membership number for your preferred Airline
Programs») by logging into your Account through www.bestwestern.com or the Local Site for your country of residence or by calling a
Best Western call center and directing BWI to award
Miles (instead of Points) as your earning preference, identifying the
Airline Program, and providing your frequent flyer membership number for your preferred Airline P
Airline Program, and providing your frequent flyer membership number for your preferred
Airline P
Airline Program.
The Chicago - based
airline will give up to five million
miles during the course of the
program as
well as up to $ 100,000 to match individual donations.
You can also use
miles from those
programs to travel on American
Airlines and those other partners as
well.
If you're looking to fly Air France first class, you'll need to book through Flying Blue, but paying the exorbitant Flying Blue rates to fly first class on a partner
airline, rather than booking those seats through that partner or another SkyTeam member with
good first class redemptions, is a waste of
miles, particularly if you're transferring from a transfer
program.
Even though you can book travel from the card issuer's travel portal, the
best thing about these cards is that you can transfer the
miles to
airline and hotel partners» frequent travel
programs.
See related: Your rights when dealing with canceled flights, Debunking myths about frequent flier
programs, How to find the
best airline rewards bonus
miles deal, Tricks and tips to keep frequent flier
miles from expiring, Do you lose your
miles if you cancel your rewards card?
American
Airlines announced today several changes that affect its loyalty
program, including how it awards status,
miles, and upgrades, as
well as how you can redeem your
miles for award flights.