Airline Mileage Credit Card - what card do you use?

You need to become better informed on this subject, and this is not the right place to do that (with all due respect, this is a wonderful resource for info on traveling in Europe, but there are lots of poorly informed folks here doling out "advice" on using FF miles, and most of it is simply wrong). There are much better places to find out about this stuff - get over to flyertalk.com and learn how the system works. Just from what you've written here it's apparent you don't know much about how things work. Your miles will never expire if you simply use the credit card once in a while. United's system is vast and offers countless options. You just need to do a little homework so you can understand how to use the system to your advantage. It's not hard. For example, I've been doing virtually all my international leisure travel for the past 20 years using FF miles, mostly through United's system. I've gone all over the world, and I don't think I've bought a ticket on United for 10 years. I fly regularly, and rarely pay for flights. Looking forward to my next trip to Europe this spring (used United miles), and we and my wife are each sitting on several hundred thousand United miles. There are a bunch of great credit card deals currently running. It requires a small investment of your time so you can understand the rules of the game, how to play it, and what's currently available. Go to flyertalk and begin your education.

As an example of how one must become savvy about subtleties, I'd refer to the post above with its reference to "blackout dates". This is a term that's almost universally used to deceive the rubes. No disrespect intended towards Tom, who is just trying to be helpful, but in this case the terminology really only serve to cheat people who have not done their homework. This is a tactic that Capital One uses constantly (a very sleazy company). They toss around this term incessantly, but it doesn't mean what you think it means - and that's exactly what they want. When you see this term used, assume that someone's trying to scam you and run the opposite direction (present company excepted, of course). The fact is, there are no "blackout dates" on any flight I've ever heard of in any FF system - they don't exist, so when Capital One crows about how you don't need to worry about them...well, that's technically true, but it doesn't get you anything you can't get elsewhere. However, there are, and always will be capacity controls that all airlines use to govern how many seats they will make available on any given flight, and what the airline will demand in payment for those seats. There are frequent flyer "award travel" seats on virtually every flight. But getting those seats is the trick. Most people never get to use their FF miles or they waste them by spending double or triple what they need to to, because they're ignorant of the system, and/or they're deliberately misled by companies whose business model depends on cheating you. Get thee to flyertalk and you will find good, reliable information on how to work the system. It feels great to fly to the other side of the world for pocket change.

What he said. Plus - no use having a card associated with a. Airline you don't use. I have United / Continental card and every dollar I spend is on mile earning card. I take advantage of every mile earning promotion - Mileage Shopping and Dining earn me tons. Go to flyertalk.com for good advice. Like above we havent paid for international flights in four yeas Nd the last three we have earned enough miles to go first class ( super saver tickets )

The best cards are the ones that let you use your "points" to fly on any airline, for example the Capital One Venture card, or - even better if you're eligible - the Navy Federal Credit Union Flagship Rewards card. These cards also allow you to avoid the problem of blackout dates. There are several others like this. Also, you don't have to fly to prevent your miles from expiring. Just for example, with United, all you have to do is make an online purchase through their "mileage plus mall" and that will count as activity on your card. Buy a pair of socks, push your expiration date out another 18 months.

I do it differently as I save for super saver first class - which on United/Continental is 100,000 miles (or maybe now 110,000). I have looked at Capital One but I think that many miles would only get me an $1100 ticket as mileage is ties in with the cost of the ticket.

Thank you for your response and the website information. I will check it out. I do realize I need to be better informed (thus the question) and just wanted to get some ideas. I do know that not all information on discussion boards will be 100% accurate for any subject but I do think this is a feast place to start, asking fellow travelers who have more experience. Thank you though for your concern re: making decisions about important issues, such as credit card use, based on opinions from others. I grew up with the internet so believe me, I know the information on it is not always correct. Thank you again,
Crystal

When I have enough miles to book a ticket and know my travel dates (usually the week before Easter as its school break) I check the airline website every single day. Also, I never get my heart set o. A trip. I have a dozen possibilities (into here and out of there) and I play around until I Find something that works. This year we are going to Germany and Austria. Last year Peru. The year before Portugal. I am so wanting to visit Italy but am yet to find super saver flights that work for us.

Yep - as bronwen suggests, flexibility and persistence are some of the keys to FF success. But knowledge of the system is equally important. Guess what: the airlines do not make it easy for you to learn the rules of the game - they don't want you to know the rules - they make money if you never get to use your miles, so they keep it challenging. Another surprise: the customer service agents employed by the airlines to help you with your FF requests are often no better informed than the (usually clueless) customers who call them. If you want to be successful, you need to know your stuff. Again, get on over to flyertalk and learn.

I have used the United card for about 10 years. We have probably gotten around 5 free flights from it. We don't charge everything we buy and also don't participate in all the programs, that is a lot of work I don't have time for. I got pretty discouraged this year by not being able to obtain an international ticket. But finally landed tickets to Hawaii. The program is now changing some what with the merger of Continental. So I wanted to use up miles and see if I still want to use this method depending on the new rules. But you will not loose miles if you just charge once in a while. Also I dought there is a mileage card attached to an Airline that will give you a card for free. That is how they make some of their money.

I think the only way to make any FF program work for you is to really work every angle. I charge everything on my United card - every oil bill and cable and homeowners insurance I charge. I don't use cash at all. All my shopping earns miles through United Shopping links. I dine at a pub many nights which earns 5 miles for each dollar - its part of the United dining program and our local hang out. I get the cards when there is a really good mileage offer and so far have been able to cancel and get new ones earning more. Then I worked all ends of the merger - signing up for promotions on both United and Continental accounts and then merge the accounts. Seriously, I spend all year finagling ways to earn miles so we can get international business / first tickets. On top of that we have to be flexible about where we go - when we go is based of school vacation.

Sure, Bruce. Look at the original post: "I have a United Mileage Plus credit card, but I don't like it that the miles expire." Miles in this program only expire if you completely ignore them for a year and a half. There are dozens of quick, easy, no-cost ways to keep your miles from expiring, forever. "I would ideally like: no annual fee, and flexibility of flights / a lot of carriers and no expiration of miles." There are a bunch of United MileagePlus cards (and related cards issued by the same bank) that offer no annual fee (sometimes no fee for the first year, after which you can cancel it at no cost; there are other cards in this program that have no annual fee). There's a tremendous amount of flexibility using these miles, as long as you know how/where to look for them. I've used United miles to fly to Germany, France, Spain, Thailand, Indonesia, Japan, Italy, England...there are thousands of options - United's system (with their partners) is very flexible in terms of destinations, routes, flights and seats. You can fly on many airlines. For example, I've got a trip to Slovenia/Croatia coming up this spring that I used United miles to get the ticket. We're flying from Seattle to Frankfurt nonstop on Lufthansa, connecting to Ljubljana on Adria Airlines; return from Dubrovnik on Croatia Airlines to Frankfurt, then back to Seattle on Lufthansa. The cost for these flights was about $100 per person, total (you have to pay taxes and a few to book), plus 55,000 United miles. When I booked, I had many different routes/connections to choose from. I chose these flights because I wanted to try Lufthansa, and I wanted a nonstop from SEA to Europe, and I wanted to choose my seats on a wide-body jet. The point: most of the limitations people perceive with FF seats can be overcome - you just need to know how.

"Also I dought there is a mileage card attached to an Airline that will give you a card for free." Wrong. Very, very wrong. Not to beat a dead horse, but this is typical of the well-intentioned but completely inaccurate information on FF programs that is routinely posted here. I have no doubt that posters here think they're giving good advice, but the fact is that much (most?) of what's posted here is just completely wrong or at best misleading because it only tells a very small part of a much more complex story. If you want success with frequent flyer programs, don't believe what you see posted here, however sincere and helpful the poster is trying to be. This is not the place to come for good info on this subject. Go to flyertalk for that.

David: OK, I'll bite. Might you share one or more examples?

If you can book a ticket online, you can find a free ticket online, although some carriers websites are much easier than others. I use Continental and Delta miles for transAtlantic flights only, never waste miles for domestic. I've had excellent results in using both of those carriers for free seats in both business class and economy for years. Only once have I paid ( $25) for an airline agent to find a route for my free seats, and that was within a couple months last fall, into Athens ( business class, AUS-EWR-GVA-ATH)and out of Rome (FCO-IAD-AUS) in economy plus. Worthwile to get the upgraded seats for the lower miles. I haven't had any problems with Chase for the Continental card, nor with AX for the Delta card, but we charge a lot on annual fee cards which are rewarded with booster miles when we reach a certain spending level.
Go to Flyertalk, see the thread with the special mileage offers, and see if any of those free cards suit you. Pick the carrier that flies from your most often used airport that goes where you want to go ( unlike my friend who loved Southwest but then learned her Points ( miles) wouldn't get her to Europe..)