So airline miles credit cards are my favorite kind of credit cards. Especially the kind that offer member perks, free checked bags, etc.
As I have stated before, my credit is not amazing. It is a high 690 or low 700 on a good day. And I have a bankruptcy on top of that! Why am I sharing this? Because I want people to know that it doesn't take perfect credit to get credit cards that can earn amazing perks.
I started with the US Airways credit card. I applied for it last summer and I declined. I applied for it last October. Declined again. In March after I used my tax return to pay off the emergency trip for my dad's brain surgery that was lingering on my cars, a friend sent me a text message telling me they were offering 50,000 bonus miles and I should apply. I laughed thinking it would never happen, but I tried again anyway. A hard pull is not so bad and the worst they can say is no.
I got an instant approval.
No one was more shocked than I was!!!
That card has now been replaced by an American Airlines card because of the US Airways/American Airlines merger, and that just got upgraded to a better card today when I logged in. I think it is now the American Airlines Silver or platinum maybe, but I don't know and I won't have the card for at least another week. The new card has higher annual fee, but offers no foreign transaction fees (handy if you are in a foreign country) and it reimburses your application for Global Entry so you don't have to wait in line at customs. A nice handy feature if you ask me because I hate customs.
Anyway, I just got approved for another card this week. Not as good, but still worth having and a good way to get your foot into the airline miles door if you want to get started. This card is the Starwood Preferred points card. These points can be transferred over to airline miles on a 1:1 transfer. It does take a bout 3 weeks from my understanding, so plan ahead if you plan to go that route. It requires a $3000 in 3 month spend, and then rewards you with 30,000 points.
But I don't have $3000 to spend on a credit card you say... well, that is where techniques come in. I pay my rent and my car payment and my utility bill and my cell phone bill and my internet bill with my credit cards, and then I send all of my money that I would use for those bills to my credit card companies. I then get airline miles or points This is AMEX, so it is a little more of a challenge to use, but it comes with other perks, like AMEX offers, a free Shoprunner membership, preferred and discounted concert ticket and other venue purchasing, etc. You can also use it for free after rebate items like the Staples deal today, and that helps because you get the money back in the form of a rebate check and can then pay the card back with the check. You can also use a service such as Plastique which allows you to pay any bill with any card for a 2.5% transaction fee. When you consider the price of air travel versus using miles, the transaction fee can be worth it. Here is the link to apply if you are interested, and I will post more as I find them:
The Starwood Preferred American Express Card
No comments:
Post a Comment