Anyone redeemed their credit card points/air miles to purchase air tickets?

With credit cards offering 1 point for each $1 purchase, this could
add to 40-50K points/year depending on purchases. So, did anyone use
these points to get free air tickets?
Most credit cards seem to offer a domestic return ticket for 20K
points, Europe for 40K points, etc.
But the cash value of these points is low - $200 for a domestic return
ticket.
Is this useful? Has anyone redeemed these points?
Thanks.
-mark sabatini

mark sabatini wrote:

With credit cards offering 1 point for each $1 purchase, this could
add to 40-50K points/year depending on purchases. So, did anyone use
these points to get free air tickets?
Most credit cards seem to offer a domestic return ticket for 20K
points, Europe for 40K points, etc.
But the cash value of these points is low - $200 for a domestic return
ticket.
Is this useful? Has anyone redeemed these points?

Usually it is 25K points.
My advice, don't use 25K points for a flight you can get for $200.
There are a lot of flights that you can't get for $200.

We used my points to fly from New York to New Zealand with stopovers in Hawaii and Guam.

It was a great trip.

About half the mileage used was from the credit card and the rest was from airline flights.

With credit cards offering 1 point for each $1 purchase, this could
add to 40-50K points/year depending on purchases. So, did anyone use
these points to get free air tickets?
Most credit cards seem to offer a domestic return ticket for 20K
points, Europe for 40K points, etc.
But the cash value of these points is low - $200 for a domestic return
ticket.
Is this useful? Has anyone redeemed these points?
Thanks.
-mark sabatini

Just got back from a long weekend in Las Vegas. Ticket was a
no-charge points ticket from my Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
(CIBC) Air Canada Aeroplan Visa card.

It pays 1:1, with select restaurants and other paying 1:2.

IMHO, the trick with these cards is to put EVERYTHING on them. I am
religious about this. _ANY_ purchase over $5 goes on the card,
including my phone bills, groceries, fuel etc. and I pay the card off
in full each month.

2 or three times a year they provide me with "visa cheques" which
provide 1 aeroplan mile for each $2 written on the cheque. Again, I
use these cheques for big ticket items.

I believe if you have the strength of will to behave in this fashion
you can accrue points fairly quickly and earn some free travel. If
you "hate" credit, don't use the card for EVERYTHING (i.e. "I could
never pay for groceries on credit,") or can't pay it off in full each
month then they're not worth the fee.

Also, stay away from the cards that collect points "for use on any
airline." You wind up collecting points in two buckets - The points
from the airlines where you buy tickets and the points from the credit
cards.

Just my two bits.

Geoff Glave
Vancouver, Canada

Geoff Glave wrote:
With credit cards offering 1 point for each $1 purchase, this could
add to 40-50K points/year depending on purchases. So, did anyone use
these points to get free air tickets?
Most credit cards seem to offer a domestic return ticket for 20K
points, Europe for 40K points, etc.
But the cash value of these points is low - $200 for a domestic return
ticket.
Is this useful? Has anyone redeemed these points?
Thanks.
-mark sabatini


Just got back from a long weekend in Las Vegas. Ticket was a
no-charge points ticket from my Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
(CIBC) Air Canada Aeroplan Visa card.

It pays 1:1, with select restaurants and other paying 1:2.

IMHO, the trick with these cards is to put EVERYTHING on them. I am
religious about this. _ANY_ purchase over $5 goes on the card,
including my phone bills, groceries, fuel etc. and I pay the card off
in full each month.

I agree.. You also want to check into IDINE. For AA, for instance, you
get up to 10 miles per dollar or you could get a 20 percent off of the
bill. All you do is register your credit card. I don't generally search
for restaurants that participate, and the last one I was credited for
was a total surprise. Somethimes they also offer bonus miles. I have
also not had a problem with getting the miles for specials and when
using coupons.

In article ,
(mark sabatini) wrote:

With credit cards offering 1 point for each $1 purchase, this could
add to 40-50K points/year depending on purchases. So, did anyone use
these points to get free air tickets?
Most credit cards seem to offer a domestic return ticket for 20K
points, Europe for 40K points, etc.
But the cash value of these points is low - $200 for a domestic return
ticket.
Is this useful? Has anyone redeemed these points?

Not me, but my boss and her husband pay for most everything they buy
with a credit card that offers free air mileage. Once a year, they take
a two week trip and the mileage from their credit card almost always
pays for their airfare for my boss, her husband, and her five kids. I am
serious. They once went to Europe on free mileage, and I think last
summer, they went to the Canadian Rockies. This is from flying from the
mid-atlantic region of the United States.

"mark sabatini" wrote in message
om...
With credit cards offering 1 point for each $1 purchase, this could
add to 40-50K points/year depending on purchases. So, did anyone use
these points to get free air tickets?
Most credit cards seem to offer a domestic return ticket for 20K
points, Europe for 40K points, etc.
But the cash value of these points is low - $200 for a domestic return
ticket.
Is this useful? Has anyone redeemed these points?
Thanks.
-mark sabatini

Just used mine to get a ATL-LAX flight on United. At least half of it was
from my credit card.

I used my Delta credit card plus some mileage to get 2 RT tickets to
England from Tampa. Like some of the others I use it for EVERYTHING and
anyone that takes Amex. They give double points for lots of purchases
including gas and groceries.

~~DORIS~~
=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0__ /7__/7__/7__
=A0\::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"james_anatidae" wrote in message ...
"mark sabatini" wrote in message
om...
With credit cards offering 1 point for each $1 purchase, this could
add to 40-50K points/year depending on purchases. So, did anyone use
these points to get free air tickets?
Most credit cards seem to offer a domestic return ticket for 20K
points, Europe for 40K points, etc.
But the cash value of these points is low - $200 for a domestic return
ticket.
Is this useful? Has anyone redeemed these points?
Thanks.
-mark sabatini

Just used mine to get a ATL-LAX flight on United. At least half of it was
from my credit card.

I am the OP. I guess I need to rephrase my question:
CC miles flights usually have a $ limit on a single ticket. For e.g.
my MBNA card says max $200 for free domestic flight, $400 for Europe
ticket, etc.

Also, do they have blackout days?
If there are $ limits, what if when trying to redeem points for a
domestic ticket, they say that the ticket costs $250 and I will have
to pay the difference?
i.e. does one always manage to get a free ticket using just the points
or is there some cash involved?
Thanks.
-Mark Sabatini

I am the OP. I guess I need to rephrase my question:
CC miles flights usually have a $ limit on a single ticket. For e.g.
my MBNA card says max $200 for free domestic flight, $400 for Europe
ticket, etc.

Also, do they have blackout days?
If there are $ limits, what if when trying to redeem points for a
domestic ticket, they say that the ticket costs $250 and I will have
to pay the difference?
i.e. does one always manage to get a free ticket using just the points
or is there some cash involved?

Well, as always, read the cardholder agreement. But for example with
the "United Mileage Plus Signature Visa Card"
(http://tinyurl.com/2vjg7) you earn one Mileage Plus mile for each
dollar spent on the card. Presumably these miles are credited into
your mileage plus account. So for example, if you were to fly from
Denver to Vancouver you'd earn a little over 1000 mileage plus miles,
or if you were to buy a thousand-dollar television on the card you'd
earn 1000 mileage plus miles. Same thing.

The blackout periods are whatever apply to the airline in question's
rewards program, not what apply to the card. So for example, if you
got the above Visa card earning mileage plus points then the blackout
periods would be he http://tinyurl.com/2989f. In the case of Air
Canada, if you want to pay more in points then there are no blackout
periods.

A return ticket anywhere in North America costs 25,000 reward miles in
the United airlines example, so you can do the math accordingly

Cheers,
Geoff Glave
Vancouver, Canada