Money Blue Book

Updated List Of The Best Airline Miles Credit Card Offers (Free Miles For Free Flights)

One of the simplest ways to save money on airline tickets is to take advantage of free frequent flyer mile offers – namely the credit card bonus rewards and free miles that many airline miles credit card issuers promote to attract new customers. Most of the time, the instant bonus miles are enough for a free domestic roundtrip flight or at least enough to tip you over the mileage limit if you are just short. For those interested in earning free frequent flier miles with each card purchase, please view my list of the best airline miles credit cards.

Over the years, I’ve taken advantage of free frequent flyer mile bonuses and airline credit cards to earn free flights and air travel tickets. A while back I needed to book a flight but was just shy of the free flight limit. Rather than going ahead and paying the $200-$300 for the ticket, I decided to apply for the airline’s own branded credit card to take advantage of the free mileage offers. While some of these airline credit cards have an annual fee, their introductory sign-up terms usually waive the fee for the first year. If you aren’t looking to get a free domestic ticket but instead are trying to save up for an expensive international flight, be sure to keep track of your frequent flyer miles expiration dates.

Here, I’ve gathered a list of all the airline mile credit card offers available out there, along with their current free airline mileage promotions. I’ve also included the miles needed to redeem an economy class domestic ticket for each particular airline program.

Earn Free Frequent Flyer Miles Upon Sign Up – Travel Rewards Earned Are Good For Any Airline

1. American Express Starwood Preferred® – Earn 10,000 miles good towards the frequent flyer programs of over 30 major airlines. With the extra 6 month spending incentives, you can potentially earn up to 50,000 bonus miles in 6 months. The $45 annual fee is waived for the first year. I personally think it’s the most versatile and best travel credit card available.
2. Discover Card Miles Card – 12,000 miles for any airline. No annual fee.
3. Citi Premier Pass Elite Level Card – 20,000 bonus points after $600 in purchases made within 3 months of account opening. There is a $75 annual fee.

Earn Free Miles For Specific Airline Frequent Flyer Reward Programs Upon Sign Up (Sorted By Airline)

1. Alaska Airlines – Visa Signature Card – 20,000 free Bonus Miles. Free award travel begins at just 20,000 miles. You can earn and redeem miles for 10 airline partners that include (Air France, American Airlines, British Airways, Continental Airlines, Delta, Horizon Air, Northwest, and Quantas). There is a $75 annual fee.
2. American Airlines – Citi Platinum Select AAdvantage® World MasterCard – 25,000 AAdvantage ® bonus miles after you make $750 in purchases within 4 months. 25,000 miles is required for an economy domestic ticket on American Airlines. The $85 annual fee is waived the first year.
3. American Airlines – Citi Gold AAdvantage® World MasterCard – 15,000 AAdvantage ® bonus miles after you make $750 in purchases within 4 months. 25,000 miles is needed to redeem for an economy domestic ticket on American Airlines. The $50 annual is waived the first year.
4. American Airlines – CitiBusiness AAdvantage® – 25,000 AAdvantage ® free bonus miles after you make $750 in purchases. With this Citi Business card offer designed for those who travel regularly on American Airlines and would like to earn free travel for business-related expenses, cardholders can earn 1 mile rewards for every $1 spent, and enjoy mileage points that never expire.
5. Delta Airlines – Amex Delta Reserve Card – Earn up to 10,000 Medallion Qualification Miles with your first purchase. Spend $30,000 in a calendar year and you can earn a boost of 15,000 MQM’s and 15,000 bonus miles. With the card, travelers enjoy complimentary Crown Room Club Access and free annual domestic companion certificates, which can be used for first class airfares or coach class tickets.
6. Delta Air – Amex SkyMiles® Platinum Card – Earn 20,000 bonus Delta SkyMiles after your first purchase with American Express along with 5,000 Medallion Qualification Miles for Elite travel status. Miles never expire and there is no mileage limit. The annual fee is $150 unless you are also a basic card member of a domestic American Express consumer card account that has an annual fee greater than or equal to $55, in which case the annual fee is $95.
7. Delta Air – Amex SkyMiles® Gold Card – Earn 20,000 Delta SkyMiles after your first purchase with American Express. 25,000 miles is required for a free economy ticket through Delta and its partner airlines that include Air France, Continental, Northwest, and Korean Air. The $95 annual fee is waived the first year.
8. Hawaiian Airlines – Visa Platinum – 10,000 Bonus miles. There is a $50 annual fee.
9. JetBlue – Credit Card from American Express – 50 TrueBlue points with your first purchase. 100 TrueBlue points is needed for a free domestic ticket. There is a $40 annual fee.
10. Northwest Airlines – WorldPerks Visa Signature Card – 15,000 WorldPerks miles with your first purchase. 25,000 miles is needed for a free domestic ticket on Northwest Airlines or any other WorldPerks partner airline. There is a $55 annual fee.
11. Northwest Airlines – WorldPerks Visa Platinum Card – 10,000 WorldPerks miles with your first purchase. There is also a $55 annual fee.
12. Southwest Airlines – Rapid Rewards Signature Visa Card - Earn up to 16 Rapid Rewards credits (8 free bonus credits after your first purchase and another 8 for eligible balance transfers) – Enough for a free round trip flight. There is a $59 annual fee.
13. Southwest Airlines – Rapid Rewards Visa Signature Business Card – Earn up to 16 Rapid Rewards credits – Enough for a free round trip reward. There is also a $59 annual fee.
14. United Airlines – Mileage Plus Signature Visa Card – 21,000 United bonus miles with your first purchase. 50,000 miles is needed for a domestic ticket on United Airlines. There is a $60 annual fee.
15. United Airlines – Mileage Plus Platinum Business Card – 20,000 United miles after your first purchase. The $75 annual fee is waived the first year.
16. Virgin Atlantic Airlines – Virgin Amex Black Card From Bank of America – 20,000 instant Virgin Atlantic Flyer Club miles after your first purchase with the Black American Express card from BoA. Get 7,500 anniversary Flyer Club miles after spending $15,000 in the first year, and earn another free 7,500 Flyer Club miles after spending $25,000 in net purchases. Earn free frequent flyer miles with every purchase with no limit to the number of miles you can earn.
17. Virgin Atlantic Airlines – Virgin Amex White Card From Bank of America – 12,500 instant Virgin Atlantic Flyer Club miles after your first purchase. Get 2,500 anniversary Flyer Club miles after spending $5,000 in the first year, and earn another free 5,000 Flyer Club miles after spending $15,000 in net purchases. You also get free mileage rewards for all purchases.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 8th, 2008 at 2:00 am and is filed under Credit Cards, Deals and Offers, Make Money, Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.