An air mile credit card allows you to earn points, which you can redeem towards your next travel expenses. An air mile credit card will help you get a free airline ticket the next time you fly. If you are a frequent flyer, you can use those miles to build your reward points quickly and be able to redeem them faster.
You earn points whenever you use your air mile credit card to make a purchase. After you have earned a minimum number of points, you will be able to redeem them. The number of points required for travel will depend on how far your destination is.
There are many companies that provide air mile credit cards. You can find them at a bank, a major credit card company or directly from one of the airlines. Each one will have its advantages and disadvantages. Your local bank might have more restrictions on when you can use them or how many air miles you can earn. A major credit card company will offer the most flexibility when getting airline miles. You get more options on what airlines you can use them with and there are no black out dates. You might not earn as many miles but just knowing that you can use them whenever and where ever is sometimes worth more.
It is important to evaluate different air mile creditcards before you select one. Usually you get 1 travel mile for every dollar you spent on your card. Some purchases may even earn you bonus miles. Many airlines have dropped their blackout date when reward miles expire. This lets you continue accruing your rewards until you are ready to use them.
Also important to note is whether your everyday purchases on your air mile credit card will qualify for reward points. For example if grocery and department store shopping is included in the reward program, you can earn lots of points fairly quickly. Some big-ticket item purchases like a flat screen tv or other electronics can help you earn lots of points and get lots of rewards. If you can pay the balance off every month on your airline miles credit card than you should be using the credit card all the time.
With an air mile credit card, it is also important to compare companies interest rate and other options such as balance transfer fees and annual fees. You do not want your reward points to cost too much in terms of a higher interest rate or annual fee. If this is the case than it does not make sense to have the card.
An air mile credit card may offer reward points that pay towards a rental car and hotel costs. This can make your vacation or business trip a little more affordable. For business travelers, an air mile card can be very useful as their frequent ticket purchases can help them get rewards points and get a free trip once in a while.
If you find that an air mile credit card is not for you, then there are other credit cards, which offer different rewards such as rebates toward gas purchases, sports tickets and even plain old cash with cash back programs. Some airline reward credit card companies will let you cash in your air miles for cash if you do not see in the unforseeable future that you will be using them.
