Question
Air Travelers Association Ranks Credit Card Travel Reward Programs
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040114/dcw013_1.html
David Stempler, President of the Air Travelers Association, today released the results of a survey and ranking of non-airline, credit card travel reward programs. He stated that, "the survey was conducted to determine which components of these travel reward programs were most valuable to travelers."
Answer
Choosing Credit Cards with Airline Miles
http://www.kron4.com/Global/story.asp?S=1603326
Credit cards that offer free airline miles are getting more and more popular. But according to a new survey, only a few are offering the perks consumers really want: flexibility, and more miles for the buck.
Includes video clip (Windows Media Player required).
Answer
Anyone have the new Capital One card yet? They don't even have their website fully built out - yet more evidence that banks tend to roll out these home-grown points cards in a half-baked fashion with vague terms, poor support, and less-than-perfect processes.
I'd be interested in that card and its apparently-simple 1.11% yield. Assuming that you spend a reasonable amount on the card and buy plane tickets (from any of your favorite sources) frequently, you can earn around a true percent cash-back.
But I'm ever-skeptical, until I hear an actual experience from someone who has spent $9000, bought a plane ticket, and gotten $100 credit on their bill.
Answer
Originally posted by EPS:
Air Travelers Association Ranks Credit Card Travel Reward Programs
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040114/dcw013_1.html
David Stempler, President of the Air Travelers Association, today released the results of a survey and ranking of non-airline, credit card travel reward programs. He stated that, "the survey was conducted to determine which components of these travel reward programs were most valuable to travelers."
What a completely bogus survey chart! Why would someone care whether one card requires x miles for a free trip and another requires y miles for a free trip, when the number of miles you earn per dollar spent is completely different (by at least a 1-to-2 ratio, and at least a 1-to-4 ratio in one comparison case) between some of the cards on this list, with no indication of that! For example, American Express Blue earns 1 mile for every 2 dollars spent, while if you can use British Airway miles, Diners Club can earn you 2 miles for every 1 dollar spent (and that's not counting bonuses, like 24000 bonus miles for signing up).
If the first column had been "spending in dollars needed for free roundtrip", I might have been more impressed (but I doubt they would've gotten the Diners Club/BA ratio right even then).
Also, there should be a column indicating whether miles can be combined from other sources. A lot of people get very confused by those "redeemable toward any airline" programs that use "fake" miles, where they're not combinable with miles you earn any other way.
Answer
Originally posted by EPS:
Choosing Credit Cards with Airline Miles
http://www.kron4.com/Global/story.asp?S=1603326
Includes video clip (Windows Media Player required).
Another article that's more bogus than useful. It touts the Southwest Airlines card as giving you a free trip for $19000 (actually, it's $19200) in spending (but it calls it "miles", whereas Southwest doesn't use miles!). But nowhere does it explain that, if you earn ONLY through that card, you have to spend that $19200 within 12 months or you earn ZERO free trips. IOTW, not only is the Southwest card combinable with other ways of earning Southwest "milesage", you HAVE to use it that way unless you've got a LOT of spending you can put on your Southwest Visa every year. (As opposed to some other cards where you have to spend signficantly more to earn a free trip, but you don't have to have all that spending in one year.)