Travel Miles on Credit Cards-which company offers the most workable ?

Limits on reward seats only come into play if you're using the airlines' own frequent flier mile program. When you use a rewards card like NFCU Visa or Cap One, as far as the airline is concerned you're a regular customer.

Capital One rewards miles are good on any airline at any time. No restrictions. If any seat is available, you can book a ticket. You have two choices: 1. Book the ticket yourself on the airline's Web site and then have Capital One's rewards affiliate credit your account for the money you paid. 2. Have Capital One's rewards affiliate book the ticket for you and no money will be charged to your account.

If you have any military or DoD connection, you may be eligible to join the Navy Federal Credit Union. Their "Flagship Rewards" Visa card requires about half as many reward points per comparable airline ticket as Capital One. You can also fly any airline, anytime. No blackout dates or other restrictions.

Both great suggestions for cards that can have miles redeemed by any airlines. Do all cards have limits on the number of reward seats that are allowed on any flight?

Tom,
That's great info. We are on Citibank which though connected with American is a bank card. We are finding that if we'd like to find a seat Italy in September we have to book 11 months ahead. Haven't tried checking the regular flight schedules but would think that there might still be flights available for sale that are not available on the reward program. Also American says that the longest leg of the flight has to be on American. When we get into the nitty gritty we find that there are small little rules.

With American or Delta there are only a few seats for Rewards, but if you call the airline you can find out exactly how many days ahead they open up tickets... its almost a year, but not quite... and if you call that day you might get a ticket. I have switched to American Express for miles on any airline, any time, but also have the Delta Amex... which are limited, but if you fly a lot you still have those fly miles to use. Also, I have called numerous times for the same route... and gotten different answers each time and ultimately ended up getting a ticket. You need to be really patient and find an agent who wants to get you that ticket. I have gotten European tickets (without additional miles) only a few months ahead.

When you have a credit card affiliated with a single airline, you'll still be tied that airline's FF program with all its blackout dates and seat restrictions. Much better to have a "rewards" card unaffiliated with any particular airline.

With all due respect, all of what's been said here is a gross oversimplification. The fact is, maximizing the benefits of credit cards (and other ways to earn miles/points) for airline travel is a very complex equation, filled with obscure rules, misleading/conflicting offers, code language, and plenty of gotchas - all of which are constantly shifting. Most people never get to use their miles (or use them in very unfavorable ways at best) - and that's the way the airlines want it. It's a complicated game. Honestly, if you want to play it, the details are too byzantine for this forum. I suggest you Google "FlyerTalk" and prepare to invest some (considerable) time learning about the rules of the game. My wife and I have been doing virtually all our international leisure travel for 15 years using frequent flyer miles, and have flown to Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean many times on free tickets. It's certainly a great way to help stretch your travel budget (to put it mildly) but it requires paying careful attention to details and learning about the constantly shifting rules (which the airlines do their best to obfuscate). This forum is a great place for advice on European travel; it's not the best (or even a very good) place for learning the intricacies of flying around the world for free/almost free.