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Hi! My name is Hilary Russo.
Welcome to Credit-Land.com and our section dedicated to credit cards for travelers.
The Frequent Flyer Credit Cards!
Let's start with a simple question:
Would you like to earn a free airline ticket simply by signing up for a new credit card?
Airlines and banks work together to offer credit cards
with amazing reward programs to consumers with good or even excellent credit.
This section looks at two types of credit cards: airline-sponsored credit cards
and bank-sponsored credit cards.
Although both types reward you with miles for shopping, there is a huge difference between
the values of these different types of miles.
Let's look at airline-sponsored credit cards first.
Airline-sponsored credit cards reward you with regular miles,
the same type of miles you receive from an airline when you buy your ticket with cash.
You will usually earn one mile for every dollar you spend, and can earn
even more on any purchases made with the airline itself.
When you have accumulated enough miles,
you can redeem them for free plane tickets on the airline that sponsored your credit
card, or on any other carrier that is a member of their alliance.
The biggest perk that comes with airline-sponsored credit cards is the mileage bonus the card
issuers may offer for signing up. These bonuses can be as high as 40,000 miles or more,
which is equivalent to a free domestic round trip ticket which can otherwise be equated
to a price tag of $1,000!
Meanwhile, there are some disadvantages to airline-sponsored credit cards.
They usually have a higher interest rate. It is also very common for these types of cards to have an
annual fee, although many banks are willing to waive it for the first year of the opened account.
Also, airlines allocate only a limited number of mile reward seats on each flight,
which means getting a last minute ticket may be difficult.
Booking in advance usually solves that problem.
Now let's look at the value of miles with bank-sponsored credit cards.
These cards allow you to earn 1 or more miles for every dollar you spent.
These are not real miles however, they work quite differently.
While airline-sponsored credit cards give you a free airline ticket for a set number of miles,
bank sponsored credit cards convert your miles into a cash back rebate usually at a rate of 100 to 1.
In the end it comes out to 1% or 2% cash back on the price of an airline ticket.
Bank sponsored credit cards usually have a sign up bonus of around 10,000 miles,
which translates to $100 cash back.
The advantage of a bank-sponsored credit card is that you are not tied to a particular airline.
In fact you can apply your cash rebate to any travel-related charge on your credit card.
The interest rate on these types of cards is usually lower than airline-sponsored credit cards
and may also have a zero annual fees attached.
The major disadvantage of a bank-sponsored credit card is that you won't save as much
on pricey plane tickets.
To summarize, if you book flights in advance
and can be flexible with the dates of departure and return, or if you prefer flying on a specific
airline, you should choose an airline sponsored card.
This type of card will allow you to get an expensive ticket for free.
If you cannot book in advance or cannot choose when to fly, you should choose a simple bank
sponsored card which will give you less savings but guarantees you the ability to apply
with any travel charge.
Earning free airline tickets is simple, just select credit card listed in our frequent flyers section
and you will start saving money on air travel.