Credit cards & Big Signup Bonuses

Now that we have selected the airline loyalty program you want to use, let’s talk about how you can earn miles for your free trip.

As you remember, there are two primary ways to earn miles: by flying or by using credit cards.

Unless you are a flier who travels a lot, it is very hard to earn enough miles through flying. Since most of us don’t fly that often, the best way to earn those miles would be via a specific type of credit card, the travel rewards credit card, which rewards miles with every purchase you make with the card.

Credit Card companies usually reward 1 point or mile per $1 spent. So the more you spend while using these cards, the more points or miles you earn.

Not only that, many different cards have category bonuses that give additional miles if an item is part of that category. These category bonuses can add quickly build up your miles balance.

The AMEX Gold card gives 3 points for every $1 spent on airfare.

While using your credit card regularly can build up your points or miles, it might take a while before you would have enough miles to redeem a flight. There is, however, another way to earn miles quickly.

Sign Up Bonus

Credit card companies are always looking to have more people sign up for their service. So as an incentive, they often give sign-up bonuses. These can range from free meals or movie tickets, but the most enticing of all are airline miles. Airline miles bonuses vary by card, but some can reach over 50,000 miles. To illustrate, here’s where 50,000 miles can take you.

All you have to do is to sign-up for a credit card, meet a spending requirement, and voila! You can already smell the café in the streets of Paris, see the city of London on top of the Big Eye, or hear the music of the Carnival in Rio de Janeiro!

And because you can usually apply for multiple credit cards annually, the generous sign up bonuses provided by credit card companies can help you quickly rack up enough miles for your trip. In fact, there exists a vibrant community that currently exist that use sign up bonuses to their advantage.

The truth about credit score

Now you might be thinking this may sound too good to be true or that applying for many credit cards will cause your credit score to lower.

When I got into the mileage game I was initially very skeptical and credit score conscious. Some detractors will say that your credit score will take a hit after applying for many cards. It turns out that applying for too many credit cards hurts one’s credit score is a myth.

Let me tell you of my own experiences: I’ve applied to over 50 different credit cards and my score has actually gone up! As long as you pay your bills on time, your credit score will gradually increase.

Before you know it, you’ll already have enough miles to go on that dream vacation you’ve always wanted to go to.

However, if your finances aren’t in shape, then I suggest that you get them in order first before you apply for any new credit card.

Your credit score is very important. You can read more about all the factors influence your credit score and whether you should apply for credit card bonuses here.

Choosing the Right Credit Card

Different airlines are partnered with different credit card companies. This means that each credit card has its own airline partner where you can redeem your miles.

For example a Chase Sapphire card earns Chase UR points, which can be used on different airlines such as Southwest & United.

However, a Chase United card earns miles that can only be used for trips booked on United. It can’t be used on any other carrier that has its own partnership with other credit card companies.

You want to make sure that the credit card you apply for can earn miles that can be redeemed for travel on your selected airline loyalty program. Nothing could be worse than earning the miles necessary and then finding you can’t use your newly earned miles for your trip. With so many different frequent flyer programs and different types of credit cards, it can easily be overwhelming to keep track of which cards to apply for.

With a heap of reward credit cards out there, it might be daunting to find out which one is the best for your needs. Luckily, we’ve broken it down to four distinct factors to help you decide which one you should apply for: Card benefits, Sign-up Bonus, Minimum Spend and Annual Fee.

Card Benefits
Most credit cards have category bonuses which give multiple bonus points for purchases within certain categories. Most cards also have benefits that include airport lounge access, car rental insurance, and price protection.

Sign Up Bonus

Sign up bonuses change constantly, in fact there are often different offers for the same card. You may be getting a lower sign up bonus if you use the wrong link! The Miles Maximizer tool will always show the best current publicly available sign up bonus.

Minimum Spend
Most credit cards require you spend a bit of money on your credit card before you can receive your sign up bonus. This is known as a minimum spend.Most major credit cards have a minimum spend usually around $3000 in 3 months. A few don’t even require you to spend on anything.

Annual Fee
Cards usually have an annual fee attached to them. However, the benefits of a card often offset this fee. Most credit card companies usually waive the annual fee off the first year, so you can see if the card is right for you.

Picking the right credit card is a challenge. When I first started out, I spent hours researching on benefits for every single card before deciding which card to apply for.

The good news is you don’t need to such research. To make the process much simpler, I created the Miles Maximizer.This is a tool which shows only eligible cards that can be used award redemption on ___.

Not only that, it lists each card’s benefits, sign up bonus, minimum spend, and annual fee. The tool is completely free, and will save you hours of guesswork and frustration.

For award trips to ___, there are ___ cards that you can use.

Miles Essentials

Introduction to miles
All about loyalty program
Credit cards & Big Signup Bonuses
All about your credit score
How to earn your miles