Question
Leaving aside sign-up bonuses, and "category" purchases, are there any Visa or MC cards that offer more than 1 mile per dollar?
Answer
I only seen Amex do it with their MR and DL cards, and only on certain purchases
Answer
the only one I know of is Aloha (1.5 miles/$). Starwood from Amex has an effective 1.2 miles /$.
Answer
While the original question is about "miles" but if you consider "points", then Citi's Hilton Visa gives 2 points/$ and no annual fee.
FWIW,
Cheers
Answer
Best Cards:
Amex SPG - 1.25 miles/$ most any airline if transfered in 20K chunks
Various promos happen - giving even better rates. I will transfer 20K SPG this month = 35K Asia Miles (promo good through Feb)
MBNA eBay Anything Points card 1.15 Asia Miles/$
1 eBay point/$ - converts to 1.15 Asia Miles through Points.com
No annual fee - but no sign up bonus - transfer works easily with no min
or max. IF they run another promo like they did last May, this gets even
better. Points.com: Sign up for a pointsplus membership - choosing 2500
eBay points as your bonus - then convert to 2800 Asia miles. Cost $30 and
gives you unlimitted free transfers.
Diners Club Card - once it gains MasterCard acceptance in a few months
1 mile/$ - but various transfer promos giving better
Recurring BA miles promo (1.5 miles/$)
Recurring SWA promo (Free ticket for 12K spending)
Note: FTers should learn the value of Asia Miles - 60K Asia Miles is a BA or LX and others transatlantic ticket in J (up to 5K miles travelled each way).
Answer
Yes, in theory there are some cards that offer more than 1 point per dollar. For instance, if you apply for the Bank One World WildLife Fund credit card it gives 1% to the world Wildlife fund but if you pay an additional $59 per year you can earn unlimited points at the rate of 1 point per dollar where 10,000 points equals $150 or 1.5% cashback. So in essence, you are earning 1.5% cash back and the charity is earning 1% cash so the total is 2.5% cash or the equivalent of 2.5 points per dollar.
MBNA's alumni cards and their environmental causes cards are also similar. For many of these cards the charity you choose earns 0.5% of the amount you charge and then since these cards also have worldpoints you earn 1 point per dollar which if you earn at least 25,000 points in 5 year can be converted to $250 cash back. THis card has no annual fee so you could get 1% cash back and the charity would get 0.5% cash and therefore you would be earning 1.5% cashback or equivalent of 1.5 points per dollar in comparision to a straight 1% cash back card.
None of these cards are in the strict sense a more than 1 point per dollar card but usually the best cards offer the equiavlent of only $0.01 per point so that is why I say that they can be considered more than 1 point per dollar
JC
Answer
Joe1690 - cards like that are only a good deal if you have no use for premium transatlantic tickets from CCs like the one I mentioned that earns MILES in a generous FF program.
The best cash-back deals out there are 1.5% (usually there is some sort of catch).
For $55,000 spent on my eBay MBNA Card I get a roundtrip business class ticket to Europe.
For $55,000 spent on on a 1.5% cash back card you would get $825 back.
To me, a British Airways Business Class ticket to Paris, Venice, or Rome is worth more than $825.
To those that value the $825 more - go for it!