Airline Credit Cards - A Useful Guide

An airline credit card can save a lot of money for that special trip. Among the generous incentives by some financial institutions are free airline miles. Think of the souvenirs you could buy with the savings. Not everyone can afford to take a vacation every year. Then others don't include an airline trip for that yearly retreat. So when a dream trip comes to mind, it's important to many, to try to do it as economically as possible.

Some people may not want to be tied down to one airline so they wouldn't necessarily be interested in an airline credit card. Perhaps a credit card that offers air miles in their rewards program would be more to their liking. This type of card can also save on any travel or purchase.

Let's discuss in more detail how to maximize your card's earning potential.

Bonus Miles/Points

Some airline credit cards will give a new card holder bonus miles for choosing their card or even give double miles/points when you purchase airline tickets. A little investigation into what each card offers before applying can save you not only in interest and fees, but in actual miles/points as well. In fact, some airline credit cards offer as much as 25,000 miles just for choosing their card! A little research in this area will definitely be to your advantage in getting the most miles/points as quickly as possible.

Double Miles/Points

Another avenue of quickly adding mileage/points to your account is by receiving double miles/points for airline ticket purchases. Check to see if the airline credit card companies you are interested in will double miles/points for the purchase cost of a regular ticket charge. If you travel frequently due to business or for personal reasons, these types of miles/points credits could really add up quickly.

Business Expenses and Tickets

As a business owner, you can use your airline credit card for business expenses and earn miles to help offset the expense of your employees' airline tickets for their business trips.

For personal benefit, another approach is to charge business expenses to your airline miles credit card that will be eventually reimbursed by your employer. When you receive your travel check from your employer, make sure you pay the balance owed by the due date and you will have miles/points earned for a well-earned vacation!

Earning Maximum Miles/Points and keep the Interest Costs down

Since many airline miles credit cards have a higher interest rate than other cards, to most effectively use your airline credit card without running up unnecessarily high interest charges:

1. Using your airline card for your everyday shopping, such as grocery shopping, pharmacy needs, or even online bill paying. Be sure that the financial institution that issued your card rewards miles for the ways you want to use your card. Be sure not to go over your usual monthly expenses already budgeted;

2. Many airline cards will give you bonus miles for using the card at specific merchants, so the easiest way to earn more miles quicker is to do your shopping with these select merchants.

3. Immediately pay off any balances when your airline credit card statement arrives.

What will this accomplish?

1) It will credit your account with the maximum miles/points without incurring the high interest rates;

2) Since you are earning miles/points quickly, you can enjoy the reward of going on more trips or to a more exotic destination than by just occasionally using your airline miles credit card.

It is up to you how quickly your reward miles/points add up. These ideas are very simple, but if used correctly will give you maximum benefits with minimal costs. Here is a quick checklist for your reference:

1) Research alone can add up to 25,000 miles on your new card;

2) Add some miles from airline ticket purchases;

3) Business expenses-either actual business or personal business can be used to offset future business expenses or used to enable personal trips.

4) Finally, converting simple costs of daily purchases/budgetary expenses into miles/points will give you countless opportunities to earn miles and points.