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Selecting The Right Airline Rewards Card

By Deidre Shirley

Selecting The Right Airline Rewards Card

There are many airline rewards cards out there, so we're going to give you a breakdown of our favorite ones and why they are best for most situations.

#1: The Miles Card from Discover.
The Miles Card from Discover is a no annual fee airline rewards card that offers a 0% interest rate for 1 year, a low long term interest rate, and the opportunity to earn 1 mile for every single dollar spent. The miles you earn can be redeemed on any airline with no blackout dates. This is rare for a airline credit card. Plus, you get 12,000 bonus miles when you make your first purchase, which could be for a 75 cent candy bar. The interest rate on this credit card is nearly 6% less than that of the "average" frequent flyer card. Additionally, you pay no interest on purchases or balance transfers for up to 1 year.

Book Any Travel, Anytime with No Blackout Dates or Restrictions
Double Miles On Up to $3,000 in Travel and Restaurant Purchases Each Year
1 Mile for Every $1 on All Your Other Purchases
Unlimited Miles that Never Expire*
Redeem for Travel Credits to Your Account, Gift Cards from Any of Our 70 Brand-Name Partners or Cash Starting at Just 1,000 Miles
No Annual Fee
Online Account Access
Introductory Rate Annual Fee Intro Applied To
0% Intro APR* $0 Purchases, Balance Transfers

#2: WorldPerks Visa Signature Card

This card is great for people who fly to cities Northwest Airlines serves, although other airlines may be used with this card as well. No blackout dates is a feature everyone loves, especially if you have ever tried to use miles near a holiday. MAJOR DRAWBACK: miles reduced by 50% after $80,000 in annual spending. So if you are a big spender, this is not the airline card for you.

No Pre-Set Spending Limit
Signature Exclusive 24-Hour Customer Service
Double Miles for Purchases Direct From Northwest Airlines®
No Blackout Dates for Award Travel
Up To 5 Miles Per $1 Spent at Over 10,000 Restaurants and Hotels Nationwide
Free Rental Car Collision/Loss Damage Insurance
Sign Up Now and Get a One-Time, Up To 20,000-Mile Enrollment Bonus

#3: Gold Delta Skymiles from American Express

The Gold Delta Skymiles card is always sending cardholders great discounts on Delta flights, and you can get accepted even if your credit score is average. You can also earn 2 miles per dollar at supermarkets, gas stations, drug stores, home improvement stores, the U.S. Postal Service, on Delta Air Lines purchases, or when paying wireless phone bills. Earn 1,000 Skymiles with each purchase of a Delta round-trip ticket and 500 Skymiles for one-way tickets. Although you can only use Delta to fly, Delta does fly to most locations in the U.S. and has a wide variety of flights daily, so you can generally fly when you want to use your rewards. Again, no blackout dates gives this card bonus points.
If you have a VERY good credit history, we recommend the Platinum Delta Skymiles Credit Card from American Express. The Platinum Delta Skymiles Credit Card gets 20,000 bonus miles and perks galore, as long as you use them on Delta flights only.

#4: JetBlue Card from American Express

The JetBlue Card is great, but since Jet Blue doesn\'t fly as many places as Delta, we had to rank it lower since the average person may want to fly places Jet Blue doesn\'t go.

Low introductory rate for balance transfers
5,000 bonus Award Dollars
The annual fee of $40 is reasonable as compared to other airline reward cards.
Get one free flight for every $1,000 spent on JetBlue flights, restaurants, movie theaters, gym memberships, event tickets, and golf green fees.
DRAWBACK: Point expire after one year