Excellent Airline Credit Card Offers Currently Available

By Mike Grasso

One of the most frequent questions I receive is, "which airline credit card should I apply for?" My response is simple: "It depends." Coming from a financial background, I always recommend you consider your unique situation before applying for a credit card. No single card is perfect; low interest rate, free balance transfer, no annual fee, bonus points/miles offers for first use, etc. It is hard to find one card alone that offers all this.

That said, there are some amazing airline credit card offers to be had right now! If you are driven by introductory bonus/miles offers, you need to have a look at some of these deals I've come across. Be sure to read all the terms and conditions before applying for any of these:

• Continental Airlines World MasterCard (Chase). 25,000 miles after first spend - enough for a free domestic U.S. award ticket, free checked bag allowance, earn at least 1 mile per $1 spent and no annual fee the first year.

• JetBlue American Express Card. 20,000 TrueBlue Points after first spend, no blackout dates on award redemption's, earn at least 1 mile per $1 spent, $40 annual fee. Award redemption's start at only 5,000 miles.

• United Airlines Mileage Plus Visa (Chase). 30,000 miles - enough for a free domestic U.S. award ticket - after you spend $250 on the card, Visa signature benefits, earn minimum 1:$1. $60 annual fee.

• Gold Delta SkyMiles Card (American Express). 20,000 miles, $50 cash back your first ticket purchase at Delta.com or nwa.com, earn minimum 1:$1 and no annual fee the first year.

• Starwood American Express Card. 20,000 points after first purchase. This is a great hotel card, with a wonderful selection of properties. Points can be optionally redeemed for airline tickets or converted to airline miles (convert 20,000 points for 25,000 miles!). No annual fee the first year.

Possibly the Best Airline Credit Card Offers Available

By Mike Grasso

It's new, it's hot, and it's all the buzz over in the Flyertalk and FatWallet forums. We're talking about British Airways Visa Signature Card from Chase - where you can earn 50,000 miles for using the card once, 100,000 for spending $2000 within 90 days. But, there are strings attached.

According to the offer, new BA Visa Signature cardholders will earn 50,000 British Airways miles upon first use of the card - enough for a free roundtrip ticket to Europe. Then earn another 50,000 miles when you spend atleast $2000 within 3 months of account opening - which scores you a second roundtrip ticket. Wowie wow!

And now the strings: As with most award ticket redemption's, the customer is responsible for paying all applicable taxes, fees and fuel surcharges. Unfortunately British Airways is notorious for being the "industry leader" in tagging these charges on. So be aware that your award ticket redemption may set you back up to $250 if flying British Airways. Also, British Airways offers limited service to/from the Bay Area, so availability for award seats, which are capacity controlled, may be slim pickins. Finally, keep in mind there is an annual fee on the card of $75.

But here's some good news: You can redeem BA miles on partner airlines, such as Japan, Qantas, and Cathay Pacific, from 50,000 miles. Or choose to use the miles for domestic trips on U.S.-based partners, American and Alaska from 25,000 miles, and the fees would likely be fairly insignificant compared to flying internationally. Something else to be all jazzed about: British Airways has a pretty robust search engine for searching award availability with partner airlines, which helps limit the need to contact the airline directly for bookings.

Overall, this offer impresses me, and may very well be one of the best deals out there. I just received my approval this week and will report back any difficulties. If you are interested in applying, do it soon as word has it the offer may be pulled by months-end.

Southwest Airlines Visa Free Flight Promo Continues

If you are looking for a new mileage earning credit card, and appreciate the first-use bonus that comes with, then the Southwest Airlines Visa from Chase may be just what you need.

Chase continues to offer this great credit card deal: Get approved for the Southwest Airlines Visa card and earn 16 rapid rewards credits after your first purchase, enough for a free round-trip ticket. Just pay the $59 annual fee. It's like paying $59 bucks to fly round trip any one of many destinations Southwest serves.

Although other airlines, such as United, offer huge first-use bonuses that often equate to a free flight after just a single card purchase, the ability to utilize those miles toward a free trip comes with many strings attached. If you use miles for a last minute flight, for example, United and American Airlines will charge a "close-in" fee. If you book a flight, then decide to cancel it, UA and AA will charge a "redeposit" fee to place the miles back in your account.

Southwest has neither fee. Using your Rapid Reward credits for a last minute flight, or making changes to an award ticket - even cancelling it all together, results in no fee. But, like the other airlines, Southwest award flights are now capacity controlled, meaning only a select number of seats are availed for free flights.

Virgin America Offers 'Absurdly Simply' Visa Signature Card

San Francisco-based Virgin America announced the launch of a co-branded Visa Signature card. Underwritten by Barclays US, the "Absurdly Simple" card offers guests premium services, rewards, and amenities - with no annual fee.

Customers will earn 2,500 Elevate bonus points after the first purchase, triple points on Virgin America purchases, and one point per dollar spent on everyday purchases. Additional bonuses are available on card membership anniversaries and for balance transfers.

According to the Virgin America site, card members who apply by November 30, 2008 and use the card by January 31, 2009, will receive a free one-way flight on Virgin America. And, if that was not enough to get you excited, a bonus 1,000 Elevate points are available if you pre-register for the promotion and opt to get the card.

Overall, I would recommend this card to others. In addition to the built in Visa Signature benefits, the free one-way trip, the first-use bonus points and other methods of point accrual all make this a fairly generous card to consider. Do take note that according to the t&c's, although there are no blackout dates with the free one-way ticket, it's not clear if it is capacity controlled; that is, whether you are allowed any open seat, or if the airline will limit the number of free seats on a flight.

Southwest Airlines Visa: Free Trip Offer Continues

Chase continues to offer this great credit card deal:

Get approved for the Southwest Airlines Visa card and earn 16 rapid rewards credits after your first purchase, enough for a free round-trip ticket. Just pay the $59 annual fee. Previously the promotion has been 8 rapid rewards credits for signing up and using the card. $59 bucks to fly to one of the many destinations Southwest serves in the U.S makes this a hot offer.
Click here to read the t&c or to apply for the card. (corrected link)

The "Best of the Best" Travel Credit Cards

Reader mail from Tony:

"Do you have any insight on which credit card on the market is the best for travel redemption in your expertise?"

Thanks for your email Tony. While many reward programs pay 1 point/mile for each dollar you spend, the introductory bonus of each card varies. I've created a handy list (with links) below of my personal favorites, which all offer generous points/miles after initial usage of the card.

A few things to keep in mind:

-Be aware of the Annual Percentage Rate. If you plan on rolling a balance on a credit card, you should consider searching for cards with a low A.P.R. Not all reward cards have this.

-Input your frequent traveler number at the time of the application; adding it after you receive the card is at the very least a hassle.

-Read the terms and conditions of these applications before applying. Read the fine print.

Starwood Preferred Guest Card from American Express *inflightout recommended*

10,000 points with your first purchase, fee free the first year.

-You earn a 1-3 free night stays after first purchase. No blackout dates with Starwood!

-Earn 1 point for most regular purchases, bonuses when staying at Starwood properties.
Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards SignatureCard from Chase *inflightout recommended*

16 Rapid Rewards Credits after first purchase. $59 annual fee.

-You earn a free round-trip ticket after 1st purchase and payment of annual fee!

-$59 bucks for a free ticket, grreat deal. You also receive free drink certificates when you redeem free flight credits.

Citibank PremierPass Card

10,000 ThankYou points after your first purchase, fee free.

-Redeemable for a $100 gift card, or flight credits.

-Earn 1 point for each dollar spent, and 1 flight point for every three miles flown!

-Applies to flights you purchase for others as well.

Citibank American Airlines Card

25,000 miles after you spend $750 within the first four months of account opening.

-This is enough miles for a free round-trip ticket in the continental U.S. Fee free the first year.

-A great deal if would typically spend this amount of money in a short period of time.

-Earn 1 mile for each dollar spent.

United Airlines Mileage Plus card

21,000 miles after you spend $250 on the card. Fee free the first year.

-Almost enough for a free round-trip ticket in the lower 48 states.

-Miles can be redeemed on partner airlines. A few other card perks as well.

-Earn 1 point for each dollar spent.

Frontier Airlines World Mastercard

15,000 miles after first purchase, $49 annual fee.

-On Frontier Airlines, 15,000 miles is enough for a free ticket within the U.S & Canada.

-Limited redemption options since San Francisco Airport operations have slimed down, fewer flights available to redeem miles on.

-Earn 1 mile for each purchase dollar spent.

Gold Delta Airlines American Express Card

15,000 miles with your first purchase, fee free the first year.

-25,000 miles needed for a free ticket. This is a pretty good offer as well.

-Earn a mile for each dollar spent.