I mention some offers for Canadians, but probably the best resource for miles producing credit cards for Canadians is the Rewards Canada Bonus Mile Promotion Directory.

Caution: Most cards have a limit on the number of miles you can earn in one year. If you plan to charge a lot on a card, be aware of this limit.

Note: By accepting offers for the American Express card and the Visa and Mastercard Business cards and charging $750 on each within 4 months, you will have at least over 123,000 American Airlines miles. 60,000 miles will get you a cattle class ticket to Europe. 90,000 miles will get you a comfortable business class ticket to many international destinations. 35,000 miles will get you from the U.S. to as far as Central America, Peru, or the Caribbean - and you do want to see Machupichu before it falls down, right? I see no reason why you can't apply for all of the cards. The only limitations would be the annual revenue you tell them you have for the business card (though the seem to have eased up on their requirement recently), and your ability to charge $750 on each within 4 months.

Caution:

A reader warns that they tried to bill her the annual fee after ordering a free card. She says she had to send them a copy of the offer. So be sure to make a copy, just in case. Keeping a copy of any offer you accept from any company, along with its URL, is always essential.

Caution: I am hearing that Citibank is sending something called a "yearly summary" to card holders and billing them $15 for it. Readers are complaining that they did not order and did not want this summary. They tell me the fee is reversed when complaint is made, but I suggest you tell Citibank up front that you don't want the summary.

Citibank occasionally offers these cards on their main page with increased requirements or lesser awards. But they will often leave up the better offers for awhile. So I list specific offers I have come across below. Be sure to make a copy before applying.

There is a Mastercard Easy Savings program available for businesses. I leave it to you to investigate the terms and conditions, but it looks promising.

Platinum Select Mastercard and American Express personal cards, and Business Mastercard.

• 30,000 miles each after making $750 in purchases on each within 4 months of getting the card.
• 1 mile/$1 spent.
• No annual fee for first year, $85 a year thereafter ($75 for the business card).
• Available as a personal Mastercard or American Express card, and/or a business Mastercard. I see no reason why you can't get all three, especially if allow at least 90 days between your requests for the two personal cards. No promises, though.
• You can also obtain these cards by calling (800) 206-7403.

Personal or Business Platinum Mastercard or American Express card

• 25,000 miles after making $750 in purchases on it within 4 months of getting the card.
• 1 mile/$1 spent.
• No annual fee for first year, $85 a year thereafter for the personal card, $75 for the business card.
• Available as a personal Mastercard or American Express card, or as a business Mastercard. I see no reason why you can't get all three, especially if allow at least 90 days between your requests for the two personal cards. No promises, though.
• Be sure to make a copy of the offer, the application, and the terms and conditions pages, and carefully read those terms and conditions.

Platinum Personal Mastercard.

• 25,000 miles after making $750 in purchases on it within 4 months of getting the card.
• 1 mile/$1 spent.
• No annual fee for first year, $85 a year thereafter.
• Be sure to make a copy of both the application and terms and conditions pages, and carefully read those terms and conditions.

Business Visa Credit Card.

• 25,000 miles after making $750 in purchases on it within 4 months of getting the card.
• 1 mile/$1 spent.
• No annual fee for first year, $75 a year thereafter.
• If you have no prescription drug insurance, save 10% to 60% on many prescription drugs.
• Be sure to make a copy of both the application and terms and conditions pages, and carefully read those terms and conditions.

American Airlines Visa Credit Card.

• 20,000 AAdvantage bonus miles (maybe 25,000 miles) after you make $750 in purchases within 4 months of becoming a cardmember.
• No annual fee for the first 12 months.
• 1 mile/$1 of purchases on the card.
• The small print of this offer says that this offer expired December 31, 2008, but it was still online February 7, 2009. Since the fee is waived for the first year, I see no downside to trying for this offer if you need it.
• It may be possible to get both the Mastercard and the Visa card. That would be an easy 35,000 mile free ticket to Central America or the Caribbean, with 11,500 miles left over. Please tell me about your experience doing this, but please wait at least a few weeks after you receive your statement for both cards to see if the bonus miles actually post.
  • On August 19, 2008, a reader reported success in getting the miles for both cards.
  • This flyertalk discussion indicates that a personal American Airlines Visa card is available by telephone only, with a 25,000 mile up front bonus. Start at post #16.
  • On April 6, 2009, a reader wrote

    "The current online application still shows 20,000 miles with an expiration date of 12/31/08. If you call 1-800-359-4444 they have a 25,000 miles offer with $750 minimum purchase within 4 months."

Citi Gold Advantage World MasterCard.

• Note: You can help me at no cost to youself by applying for this same offer for this same card via CreditCards.com. Click on this link for airline cards, then on the link to Airline Specific Cards (or just scroll about half way down the page to Airline Specific Cards section), then to the Citi® Gold / AAdvantage® World MasterCard® offer. Thanks.
• 15,000 AAdvantage bonus miles after you make $750 in purchases within 4 months of becoming a cardmember.
• No annual fee for the first 12 months.
• 1 mile/$1 of purchases on the card.

Citi Bronze Advantage World MasterCard.

• College student version.
  • No annual fee.
  • 1 mile/$2 spent.
  • No miles bonus for first purchase.
  • No minimum income or co-signer required.
  • Special Student Deals.
  • Access to credit education tips and tools.
• Regular version.
  • 2,500 miles for first purchase after $125 in purchases within the first 4 months.
  • 1 mile/$2 spent.
  • No annual fee.
  • Maximum miles that can be earned is 25,000 miles per calendar year.
• If the link disappears, try the standard number for applying for Citibank American Airlines cards, (800) 359-4444. If that doesn't work, call customer service at (888) 766-2484 and do not respond to any of the prompts. Instead, wait (several minutes) until the system gives up trying to understand you and sends you to a human being. In both cases, you will most likely have to ask for the card by name. Most reps say they have never heard of it, but they all have the means of looking it up.

Note the differences in the maximum miles that can be earned in one year.

These offers change all the time. Please tell me about your experience trying to get any of them, or about any new offers you know about.

American offers credit cards worldwide.

• Mexico. 10,000 mile bonus last I looked (August 24, 2006).
• Canada. Expensive, but it includes a very interesting travel medical insurance policy that would cause the card to be a very good deal for those who travel outside of Canada. This is probably the same insurance policy offered with the Canadian British Airways card. That policy is described below.
• Central America (and the southern tip of Florida and Grand Cayman Island). (The page that the AA page links to does not mention miles. Ask.)
• United Kingdom. No annual fee, 6,500 miles up front, last I looked (June 23, 2006).
• Japan
• Bermuda
• Other countries.

Bonus Offers:

• American Airlines offers limited time, heavily restricted reduced mileage awards for holders of American Airlines credit cards.
• I received an email from Citibank on April 15, 2003, offering 250 miles for accepting on-line statements, but I can find no mention of the offer on line. Ask customer service after you get your card. To change to on-line statements, log into your account, click on "Manage My Account", go to "Stop Paper Statements", and enroll.

Cancelling the card:

• A thread in FlyerTalk offers a good discussion on what you might expect when threatening to cancel the card.
• A reader writes: "If you call and threaten to cancel the card after using it for 3-4 months, they will now give you 5,000 miles more to keep it. Then you can cancel it anyway a month later." She was referring to the free platinum card mentioned above, but this might apply to all cards. After I posted this note, another reader confirmed that this works.
• On December 23,2004, still another reader wrote "upon telling Citibank that I was going to close my Mastercard account with them (their normal customer service number) as my annual fee was due, they went ahead and gave me 4000 AA miles to keep my account open..."
• On March 1, 2004, a reader wrote: "I called Citibank today to cancel my AAdvantage card because the annual fee is due soon. I was offered a $50 certificate to offset the annual fee so I can keep the card for another year, continue to earn miles and have no fee to pay."

Chase Bank, the issuer of United Airlines credit cards, will allow only one bonus for each type of card (personal signature, personal gold, and business) per person. Supposedly this is per life, but this policy has not been in effect long enough to test this by waiting a few years after cancellation and then applying again. You can get a bonuses for each of the personal signature and gold cards, and a business card. I have received the bonuses for both the personal signature and the business cards after the bank policy came into effect. I haven't tried for the gold card yet.

• On November 3, 2008, a reader wrote:

  "My wife and I both received the 25,000 bonus miles, this after churning other United cards from previous offers. My most recent bonus from Signature cards came back in April. While Chase has rejected recent bonuses for United Credit Card bonuses, the miles ffrom the Gold Card posted to both of our accounts this evening."

Before you sign up for any card, be sure to read my section on More initial miles below, so you can avoid accepting extras without getting all of the miles you can for them.

United Airlines has several free and annual fee offer of interest:

Free Offers

• 25,000 mile offer for the Visa Signature card. This is the best offer I have seen for a United Airlines credit card. It was first discovered via some serious futzing by a flyertalker, described in this thread. The offer was probably intended for a select audience, but as of December 16, 2007, it was on the front page of www.united.com. There is no reason why you can't apply for both the personal and business card. Be sure to make a copy of both the offer and terms and conditions pages.
  • No annual fee for one year. $60/year thereafter for the personal card; $75 for the business card.
  • 25,000 miles after $250 of purchases on the card.
  • 1 mile/$1 spent purchases. The business card offers 2 miles/$1 spent on United Airlines purchases.
  • The personal card caps miles that can be earned at 60,000 per year. The business card caps them at 150,000 miles.
  • Other goodies of dubious value.
  • Personal Signature card, or try this link.
  • Business Platinum card, or try this link.

• 25,000 mile offer for the Visa Gold Class card.
  • 25,000 miles after $250 in purchases on the card.
  • Annual fee waived for first year.
  • 2 miles/$1 spent on United airlines purchases. 1 mile/$1 spent on other purchases.
  • Other goodies of dubious value.
  • Readers have told me that they have received the bonus for both a Signature and a Gold card. I would wait a few months after cancelling one before getting the others, though I have been told this is not necessary.
    • After I posted the commment, Andrew Cram of RewardsDB.com wrote

      "For clarity, you probably should call the card "The United Airlines Gold Class Visa Signature Card" as it is a form of the Visa signature product and is very different from the no-annual fee "United Airlines Gold Visa card". Similarly there is a "Platinum Class Signature Visa card" which is a separate product from the "Platinum Visa card". Chase really has gone overboard in creating cards!

      Anyway - just wanted to give you the heads up before you inevitably get complaints from people who applied for the wrong card and didn't get the mentioned bonus etc."

      Andrew studies this stuff perhaps even more than me. I am now wondering if he is correct and that this card is considered the same as a Signature card, or if we really now have five opportunities to earn free bonus miles. The offer to which I link does has listed as one of its benefits "Signature Benefits". Since there is no annual fee for the first year for these cards, there should be no direct loss of money for experimenting with this. Please tell me of your experience trying to get the 25,000 mile bonuses for both this card and the Signature card.

• 21,000 mile offer for the Visa Signature card. This offer appeared on the front page of united.com on September 25, 2006. Best use the link there if it still exists.
  • No annual fee for one year.
  • 21,000 miles after $250 of purchases on the card.
  • 1 mile/$1 spent purchases.
  • Other goodies of dubious value.
  • Note that the page you get has a link to a similar offer for the business card.

  20,000 miles offer

  • 20,000 miles after first purchase - no minimum purchase requirement
  • $25 travel discount certificate
  • 1 way 1,000 mile one class upgrade certificate
  • Annual fee waived for one year.
  • You may confirm all of the details of this offer by calling 877-273-7138 and mentioning the referral offer with Promotion code MPF327. A script will be read to you. Please do this before asking me to refer you.
  • To receive this offer, I must refer you. I get 5,000 miles for doing so. Please be advised that I have a serious limit of three people I can refer. You must absolutely promise me that you will apply for the card through my referral and that you no of know reason why your application will be refused. Be strongly advised that if you have at any time in the past received a United Airlines personal credit card, you will be refused this offer. Please do not cause me to waste my referral.

    17,500 mile offer for a Gold card.

    • No annual fee for one year, $85/year thereafter.
    • 17,500 miles for first use.
    • I am not certain how many miles/$1 spent.
    • Call (877) 339-0292 and mention source code BPPC. If they ask, tell them you saw it in the in-flight magazine. This is the phone number give to me by a reader. It appears to be a number for signature card applications. The first time I called it, the rep was able to look up the offer via the source code. The second time I called the number, the rep was unable to do this. So you may have to call back several times to find a competent rep.
    • The reader who sent me this offer speculates that since the bank allows only one bonus offer (perhaps in a lifetime, or perhaps every few years - it remains to be seen), if you have already have received such an offer for a signature card, you may still be able to get this one for the gold card. Please tell me about your experience with trying this. Thanks.

    15,000 mile + $50 offer for the Visa Signature card.

    • No annual fee for one year.
    • 15,000 miles for first use.
    • $50 statement credit after your first purchase.
    • 1 mile/$1 spent purchases.
    • Other goodies of dubious value.

  • United Airlines offers a free, no annual fee United Mileage Plus Gold Visa credit card that earns 1 mile for every $2 spent. 2,500 miles for first purchase. Miles awarded are limited to 30,000 per year. Carefully read the terms and conditions.

  • There is a student version of the free card. Carefully read the terms and conditions. Miles awarded are limited to 30,000 per year, but the card is supposed to include some unspecified student discounts, and perhaps it has lower credit qualifications. But the student discounts may also be available though United's College Plus program described in the Student Programs section of this web site. Ask. Mention promo code MPG632 if you do this by telephone. Please tell me what you find out. Thanks.

  Annual Fee Offers:

  A September 21, 2006 post on Flyertalk says:

  I received Email offering 5000 EQM for ist purchase + 5000 EQM for spending $ 35,000/year + 1 EQM for every $ on United tix for upgrading United visa to platinum It costs $80 more than standard card but as I was close to Premeir this will put me over the top for a reasonable cost. Call the # on the back of the card to upgrade.

  This may be useful for those close to achieving status with the airline.

  United offers a Mileage Plus Visa Signature Card offer for 15,000, 17,500 or 20,000 miles up front and one mile per dollar spent up to 60,000 miles per year (Mileage Plus Premier members have no cap), and possibly useful other goodies. It costs $60 a year, which means that those 15,000 miles cost only 0.4 cent/mile, the 17,500 miles cost less than .35 cent/mile, and the 20,000 miles cost only 0.3 cent/mile. Good deal, but be sure to remember to cancel the card before they charge a second annual fee. (When I called to cancel in January, 2003, they extended it a year for free.)

  Caution: Neither the application form nor its terms and conditions mention the up front bonus. Be sure to make a copy of the offer, in case you have to argue to get your miles.

  • 30,000 mile offer.
    • 30,000 miles after $250 in purchases.
    • $60/year fee. So, if the 25,000 mile offer with fee waived for the first year is still available, you would be paying 1.2 cents/mile for the extra 5,000 miles.
  • 20,000 mile offer. I am unable to navigate to the 20,000 mile offer from either the airline or the bank website, but when I posted a similar offer here previously, it was used successfully by many of my readers.

  • Another 20,000 mile offer. This one costs $85/year (0.425 cent/mile for the bonus), but it offers the additional advantages of
    • 2 mile/$1 spent on all united.com airline ticket purchases made with the card.
    • 2,500 Anniversary bonus miles. But you would have to pay the annual fee again to get them.
    • The maximum number of miles you can earn on card purchases with the United Mileage Plus Gold Class Visa Card is 100,000 miles per calendar year. However, there is no mileage cap for Mileage Plus Premier, Premier Executive, or Premier Executive 1K members.
    • Plus, earn 1 Elite Qualifying Mile for every $1 spent on united.com airline ticket purchases, up to 5,000. (Typical of United offers, it is not clear if that Elite mile is in addition to the regular miles you would earn anyway, or if it just means that the regular mile qualifies as elite.)
    • Other goodies of dubious value.

  • 17,500 mile offer. Click here or here. The offer was on the front page of United's website on June 25, 2005.

  • 15,000 mile offer. This is the current standard offer. Note: If this is the only available offer, please tell me this and allow me to refer you. I would get some miles at no cost to you. Do check my What's New page to see if I am traveling, so you will have an expected response time. Alas, the maximum number of up front miles you can receive if I refer you is 15,000.
  Please tell me if these offers are cancelled or modified. Thanks.

  • An intersting offer for the Mileage Plus Business Awards Visa.
    • 20,000 bonus miles after first purchase
    • Earn 2 miles/$1 spent on United travel and services
    • Earn 1 mile/$1 spent on all other purchases
    • Earn up to 250,000 miles per calendar year
    • No mileage cap for elite members
    • Yearly anniversary awards
      • 5,000 bonus miles
      • 2 Red Carpet Club passes
    • Membership in Perks Plus Program with additional corporate travel rewards options.
      • Travel certificates for free* United travel
      • One-class, one way upgrades
      • Premier and Executive Premier level membership
      • Additional Mileage Plus miles
    • $125 annual fee, $25 for each additional card

  United offers a Platinum Class Visa Signature card for $140/year. It has several worthwhile extra over its regular Visa Gold card:

  • Best offer: 20,000 bonus Choices after your first purchase.
  • Second best offer: 15,000 bonus miles after your first purchase.
  • 5,000 Elite Qualifying Choices or Miles after your first purchase.
  • 5,000 Elite Qualifying Miles when you spend $35,000 each year with your card
  • 1 Choice or mile/$1 spent.
  • 2 Choices or miles/$1 charged on groceries, dining, gas at the pump, and home improvement.
  • 2 Choices or miles/$1 charged for United and Star Alliance ticket purchases, and up to 5,000 Elite Qualifying Miles for ticket purchases at united.com (1 mile per $1) each year.
  • No limit to number of redeemable Choices or miles you can earn
  • Other goodies of dubious value.
  More initial miles:

  When you sign up for your card, do not sign up for the "Payment Protector" program, the one that pays your credit card bill when one of various defined disasters happen to you. Instead, wait for your card to arrive, the call (8007) 801-7319 and sign up for this plan to receive 1,000 United Airlines miles. The cost of the plan is $.89 per $100 average balance, with no charge if there is no balance. I was offered this plan by a regular credit card customer service rep, who assured me that even if I were to carry no balance (and thus generate no fee) and then were to cancel, I would still get the 1,000 miles. I suggest you do just that. It's a terrible bet anyway, unless you know your future. On August 28, 2006, this offer was described at the bottom of United's Ongoing Credit Card Offers page.

  After you receive your card, you can refer a friend to receive one and receive 5,000 miles. Info here, at the bottom of the page last time I looked, and here. Note that if you refer someone, the maximum number of up front miles that person can receive is 15,000. So you would be doing a disservice to that person if there better offers. In the past I have had to fight to get my referral miles. Good luck.

  Bonus offers:

  United is offering bonus miles for certain transactions. Some are listed here. Typical of United Airlines credit card offers, the offers are far from clear. Be very certain to keep a copy of any offer you are counting on along with its terms and conditions. Getting more than one card.

  A reader writes:

  "I now have 2 UA personal VISA cards and a business card...I received 15000 for the 1st card in Year 1 at no fee, and 5000 in year 2 after renewing at $60; I paid $60 and received 17500 miles for the 2nd card; and I paid $60 and received 15000 miles for the Business Card. All without having any business. But they didn't seem to care and didn't even want to know the name of the business.

  Cancelling the card:

  • When I called to cancel my card near the due date for the annual fee, I was offered the card free for another year. This was January 2004, if memory serves me right. (Alas, it often doesn't.)
  • In January 2004 two readers told me that they got either the 15,000 or 20,000 mile offer, cancelled the card, waited four and two months, respectively, and then got the 20,000 mile offer again.
  • A reader told me that she waited for the $60 fee to post on her statement and called to object to it, and then cancelled the card. She says she got her $60 back and was able to keep her 20,000 mile bonus for first use. I leave this to be judged by your system of ethics.
  • On February 23, 2004, a reader wrote:

    "Yesterday I called United Mileage Plus Visa's credit card customer service to request a cancellation of my card (it's due to renew in about 4 months). They offered to give me 2,000 mileage plus points for free if I kept the card for another 90 days. So I asked if I could still cancel before the annual fee and get the 2,000 miles and she said sure, they just wanted to see if 90 more days and 2,000 points would help me reconsider. The customer service # is 800-537-7783 - they will transfer you to a cancellations department (which they lovingly call the 'special' customer assistance center)."

    (I assume by "points" the reader meant "miles".)

  United Credit Card monthly special offers are listed here, and their ongoing special offers are listed here.

  United has credit cards available to people residing in many countries other than the U.S. It's list of these cards provides contact phone numbers, but no details of the offers.

   

I particularly recommend the Alaska Airlines program because of its extensive list of partners on which you can use Alaska miles.

Alaska Airlines offers

• Visa Signature card personal card for U.S. residents.
  • 20,000 miles for first purchase.
  • Another 5,000 miles after spending $750 on the card.
  • One $50 companion ticket. Pay $50 for a ticket for a companion - same as the ticket you buy. Any fare is valid. Alaska or Mexico, here I come!
  • 1 mile/$1 spent - 3 miles/$1 spent in purchases of Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air tickets and Vacations packages (probably directly from Alaska or Horizon Airlines).
  • Probably $75 annual fee, though the fee schedule was temporarily off line when I wrote this January 22, 2009. That's only 0.3 cent/mile for those 25,000 miles, even if you have no use for those other goodies. This is a "limited time offer". Please tell me when it disappears. Thanks.
• Visa Signature card personal card for U.S. residents.
  • 20,000 miles for first purchase.
  • One $50 companion ticket. Pay $50 for a ticket for a companion - same as the ticket you buy. Any fare is valid. Alaska or Mexico, here I come!
  • 1 mile/$1 spent - 3 miles/$1 spent in purchases of Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air tickets and Vacations packages (probably directly from Alaska or Horizon Airlines).
  • Two board room passes.
  • $75 annual fee. That's only 0.375 cent/mile for those 20,000 miles, even if you have no use for those other goodies.
• Visa Business card for U.S. residents.
  • 20,000 bonus miles with first purchase.
  • 1 mile/$1 spent. 3 miles/$1 spent on Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air tickets purchased through Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air.
  • 0% intro APR on purchases for the first 9 months.
  • $50 annual fee for business, plus $25/year per card. So the 20,000 miles cost 0.375 cent/mile, which you can probably more that recover via the money you earn on interest on the balance transfer.
  • Annual $99 (USD) Companion Ticket.
• Platinum Plus personal card for Canadians
  • 20,000 Bonus Miles upon approval.
  • 1 mile/$1 spent - 3 miles/$1 spent on Alaska Airline tickets and vacation packages
  • 2 Board Room passes.
  • $75 annual fee, for a cost of 0.375 cent/mile.
• Visa Signature or Platinum Plus card:
  • 5,000 miles upon approval, plus 1,000 miles for applying online. (The latter is for a limited time. Please tell me when it disappears.)
  • 1 mile/$1 spent. The Signature card offers 2 miles/$1 spent in purchases of Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air tickets and Vacations packages (probably directly from Alaska or Horizon Airlines).
  • One round-trip $50 (USD) Companion Ticket upon approval. Pay $50 for a ticket for a companion - same as the ticket you buy.
  • 2,000 anniversary Bonus Miles when you renew your card each year, plus another $50 companion ticket.
  • Two Board Room passes upon approval.
  • $75/year annual fee. So the 6,000 up front miles cost 1.25 cents/mile.
• Visa Gold or Preferred card:
  3,000 miles up front, plus 1,000 miles for applying online.
  • 1 mile/$1 spent
  • $45 annual fee, for 1.125 cents/mile for the 4,000 miles. No miles for renewal.

  Bank of America offers Canadians Visa credit cards with 5,000 and 3,000 mile first use bonuses. Details.

  Alaska Airlines Bank of America credit card holders earn up to 25,000 Alaska Airlines miles for referring friends to the program (2,500 miles/successful referral).

  This FlyerTalk thread discusses the possibility of getting the 3% rip off fee for foreign currency conversion waived if you are a good customer of Bank of America. Ask.

   

Northwest Airlines has phased out all of its credit cards.

Note: Regular riders of Amtrak should consider the Amtrak credit card as a free alternative for earning Continental Airlines miles. But note its risks and restrictions, especially the one that requires that you spend $200/year on it for Amtrak tickets before you can tranfer credit elsewhere.

For U.S. residents:

• World MasterCard.
  • 20,000 Continental miles for first purchase during the first 2 months from account opening, for an annual fee of $85 a year (0.425 cent/mile).
  • 5,000 miles for adding a card member during the first 2 months from account opening, bringing the cost of the 25,000 total miles to 0.34 cent/mile.
  • Primary Cardmembers are eligible to check their first bag without paying a fee (savings of $30 round trip per passenger checking bags).
  • 1 mile/$1 spent on the card; double miles for purchases made on the card at Continental.
• World MasterCard.
  • 20,000 Continental miles up front for an annual fee of $85 a year (0.425 cent/mile).
  • $50 credit after first purchase, bringing your cost to $35, for a very good 0.175 cent/mile.
  • 2 President's Club passes every year on your cardmember anniversary.
  • 1 mile/$1 spent on the card; double miles for purchases made on the card at Continental and certain other merchants.
  • The link to this offer has been rather flaky. The reader who gave me the URL told me it came from Continental's website, but I don't know which one. There are many worldwide. The "en-US" part of the URL does seem to indicate that the website is in the U.S., but I am unable to navigate to it from the U.S. website I get. Be sure to keep a copy of the offer so you can show the bank that this is the one you accepted, if necessary.
• World MasterCard.
  • 21,000 Continental miles up front for an annual fee of $85 a year (less than 0.405 cent/mile).
  • No limit on the number of miles you can earn on this card.
  • 2 President's Club passes every year on your cardmember anniversary.
  • 1 mile/$1 spent on the card; double miles for purchases made on the card at Continental and certain other merchants.
• A Business MasterCard
  • 20,000 miles up front for $85 a year for your first card (0.55 cent/mile), $20.00 per year for each additional card.
  • As a one-time bonus annually, once you exceed $25,000 in net purchases you will receive 5,000 bonus miles.
  • 1 mile/$1 spent on the card; double miles for purchases made on the card at Continental and on dining, gas, and office supplies at office supply stores.
  • 2 President's Club passes every year on your cardmember anniversary.
• A Business MasterCard with 15,000 miles up front for $75 a year for your first card (0.55 cent/mile).
• A Presidential Plus World MasterCard
  • Primary cardmembers get their first and second checked-bag fees automatically waived (a savings of up to $80 per round trip per passenger checking bags). For frequent Continental Airlines flyers who check two bags, this feature may justify the expensive $375 fee,
  • $75 credit after your first purchase.
  • Presidents Club Membership for as long as you carry the card for you and your family or 2 guests, including access to over 60 additional affiliated lounges worldwide.
  • Other possibly useful goodies.
  • Be sure to carefully read the terms, conditions, and fine print.

  Continental lists many offers of credit and debit cards worldwide on its Credit/Debit Card Partners page.

   

• 25,000 bonus miles with your first purchase. I believe that 10,000 of those miles probably count towards Dividend Miles Preferred status, but read the terms and conditions and ask questions to be sure.
• $79 annual fee, for a cost of less than 0.316 cent/mile.
• 2 miles/$1 spent on US Airways purchases.
• 1 mile/$1 spent on other purchases.
• A 6 month 0% balance transfer and convenience check offer with a 3% fee, $5 minimum, $100 maximum. Earn 1 mile/$1 transferred up to 10,000 miles.
• An annual certificate redeemable for up to two $99 Companion tickets, whatever that means. Beware of the terms and conditions of companion tickets.
• Thanks to View from the Wing for this information.

U.S. Airways Dividend Miles Mastercard from Barclays Bank:

• 15,000 bonus miles with your first purchase.
• $79 annual fee, for a cost of less than 0.53 cent/mile.
• 2 miles/$1 spent on US Airways purchases.
• 1 mile/$1 spent on other purchases.
• A 6 month 0% balance transfer offer with a 3% fee, $5 minimum, $100 maximum. Earn 1 mile/$1 transferred up to 10,000 miles.
• An annual certificate redeemable for up to two $99 Companion tickets, whatever that means. Beware of the terms and conditions of companion tickets.

U.S. Airways World Mastercard from Barclays Bank.

• 5,000 bonus miles with your first purchase.
• No annual fee, so the 5,000 miles are free.
• 1 mile/$2 spent on purchases.
• A 6 month 0% balance transfer offer with a 3% fee,$5 minimum, $100 maximum. Earn 1 mile/$1 transferred up to 10,000 miles.

Two U.S. Airways Business Mastercards from Barclays Bank. (Thanks to View from the Wing for this information.)

Offer #1

• 25,000 bonus miles with first purchase.
• $79 annual fee, for a cost of 0.316 cent/mile.
• 1 mile/$1 spent. Double miles for U.S. Airways purchases.
• A 6 month 0% balance transfer offer with a 3% fee, $5 minimum, $75 maximum for those 6 months, no maximum thereafter. Earn 1 mile/$1 transferred up to 10,000 miles.
• A complimentary U.S. Airways Club Day Pass.

Offer #2

• 5,000 bonus miles with first purchase.
• No annual fee. So those miles are free.
• 1 mile/$2 spent. 1 mile/$1 spent for U.S. Airways purchases.
• A 6 month 0% balance transfer offer with a 3% fee, $5 minimum, $75 maximum for those 6 months, no maximum thereafter. Earn 1 mile/$1 transferred up to 10,000 miles.

U.S. Air is starting a program of partnerships with various vendors who will provide extra miles if you use your U.S. Air credit card for purchases with them. The list of vendors is tiny now, but it is said to be expanding.

Note: Regular riders of Amtrak should consider the Amtrak credit card as a free alternative for earning Southwest Airlines credits. But note its risks and restrictions, especially the one that requires that you spend $200/year on it for Amtrak tickets before you can tranfer credit elsewhere. Using the Amtrak card actually gets you a free trip much faster than using Southwest's card after the first year bonus, so long as the Amtrak > Choice Points > Southwest credits conversions are not changed, and so long as you qualify for this privilege.

Southwest Airlines offers Signature and Business Visa cards for annual fees of $59, and a Classic Visa card for and annual fee of $39. There are various offers of bonus credits for first purchase, plus 1 credit per $1,200 spent (double credit for Southwest Airlines purchases on the Signature and Business cards). It takes 16 credits to earn a round trip ticket on Southwest. Do the math to see what the bonus credits offered are worth.

I see no reason why you can't get both the personal and the business card.

See note 3 on the 16 credit personal card offer to read about the Classic Card. The web page seems to imply that it is the bank's choice which card you get, but that the lower fee card may be preferable to some. So, after applying online, I would try calling the bank to see if you can express your preference, or, if that doesn't work, calling them immediately upon receiving the higher priced card to ask for it to be changed. If you are successfully in getting the Classic card by your request, please tell me how you did it. Thanks.

Please tell me when any of the bonus offers disappear. Thanks.

• Bonus offer: 16 credits for your first purchase. Same offer for a business card.
• Bonus offer: 10 credits for your first purchase. Same offer for a business card.
• Bonus offer: 9 credits for your first purchase. Same offer for a business card.
• Bonus offer: 8 credits for your first purchase, 8 more for a balance transfer (but do the math on the fee). Same offer for a business card.
• Regular offer: 8 credits for first purchase.

Southwest Airlines offers an annual fee Classic Visa credit card for a more reasonable fee of $39 per year. The differences I can find between it and the signature card are a lower credit limit and no double credit for Southwest Airlines purchases. The limited time offers seems to imply that you still get the bonus credits for first purchase, but it is not completely clear. I suggest that you call (877) 665-9146, mention the card code for the offer, and ask if you can get the bonus for the card with the lower fee.

Caution: Southwest credits expire 2 years after they are earned. So be sure you can earn enough credits within that time to earn a ticket and can spend them within that time before you accept Southwest offers.

I understand that Midwest plans to charge $25 for transferring Midwest miles to Amtrak points after June 30.

Midwest Airlines offers credit cards with up front miles, one free, and one with an annual fee. Both offer up to 10,000 miles for balance transfer (at 1 mile/1$ transferred in the first 30 days after you open your account) and 0% interest for 6 months for those transfers, but with a fee of 3% of the amount of each transfer, $5 minimum, $50 maximum. Be sure to read the Cautions section of the Important Starting Info page of this credit card section before doing a balance transfer.

• Special offer: World Mastercard, $69 annual fee, 20,000 miles for first purchase, for a cost of 0.345 cent/mile. The extra 7,500 miles over the regular offer below for the extra $20 cost 0.267 cent/mile, assuming you cancel the card before you have to pay the higher fee again.
• The fee World Mastercard regular offer costs $49 a year and provides 12,500 miles with first use, for a cost of 0.392 cent/mile. 2 miles/$1 spent on Midwest Airlines or Midwest Express tickets, 1 mile/$1 spent otherwise.
• The Platinum Mastercard has no annual fee and offers 5,000 miles with first use. 1 mile/$2 spent.

• 25,000 Midwest Miles with your first purchase. These miles should be enough for a domestic ticket on Midwest or Northwest Airlines, the latter at least until it merges with Delta Airlines.
• 2 miles/$1 spent on Midwest Airlines or Midwest Connect tickets.
• 2 miles/$1 spent on dining, lodging, gasoline and car rental purchases.
• 1 mile/$2 spent on all other purchases. Caution: Read that carefully.
• 5% rebate on Midwest Airlines tickets purchased with your card.
• 0% fixed APR for purchases (not balance transfers) - effective for the first six billing cycles after you open your account. I am not sure if the fee counts as a purchase. Ask.
• $49 Annual Fee.

Midwest regular business card offers:

• 12,500 bonus miles with first use, 2 miles/$1 spent on Midwest Airlines or Midwest Express tickets, 1 mile/$1 spent otherwise. $49 annual fee, for a cost of 0.392 cent/mile.
• 5,000 miles with first use. 1 mile/$2 spent. No annual fee.

Frontier Airlines offers two Mastercard deals:

• 5,000 Bonus Miles miles for applying for and using once its free, no annual fee MasterCard. 1 mile/$2 spent.
• 15,000 Bonus Miles miles for applying for and using once its $49 per year MasterCard. (So the extra 7,500 miles cost you 0.653 cent/ mile.) 1 mile/$1 spent.
• These deals are available for both personal and business cards. So get them both.

Both cards offer 0% interest balance transfer for first six billing periods, with a 3% fee capped at $50 per transfer. One Mile per $1 in balances transferred to your Frontier Airlines MasterCard requested in the first 30 days after you open your account, up to a maximum of $10,000. (The Juniper Bank site indicates $5,000 max.) So if you do one $10,000 transfer and pay it off immediately, you should receive your 10,000 miles at a cost of 0.5 cent/mile. (But read the terms and conditions, and my cautions on 0% balance transfer offers on the Important Starting Info page of this Credit Card section.)

How to use this offer to get a free domestic ticket or ticket to Mexico and make a profit doing so. Note that it takes only 15,000 miles to get ticket to anywhere Frontier flies in the U.S., including Alaska, and 25,000 miles to fly between the U.S. and Mexico. Getting the card and doing a single balance transfer of $10,000 from a card you were going to pay off with your own funds would cost you a total of $50 for the no annual fee card and would get you the 15,000 miles needed for the domestic ticket, or $99 for the annual fee card and would get you the 25,000 miles needed for the ticket to Mexico. Not bad. But note that you could put into a Virtual Bank Money Market account (see my writeup on this in the Banking section of my Finance page) the $10,000 you would have used to pay off the account from which you did the balance transfer and, at the current rate of 3.48860689% (APR of 3.55%), would earn $144.39 over 150 days (5 months). Even after paying taxes on this, you would probably still have earned more than the fees you paid, and would have that free ticket.

• 10,000 Award Dollars, that's 50 TrueBlue points - halfway to an award flight, with the first purchase on your Card. This offer is valid for first-time JetBlue Cardmembers only. You may be permitted to have more than one JetBlue Card account; however, you are only eligible to earn one welcome bonus.
• Use your Card or fly JetBlue and extend the life of your points for a full year.
• Earn one Award Dollar for virtually every dollar spent.
• Earn Double Award Dollars for the purchase amount of JetBlue flights, purchases at restaurants and movie theaters, purchases of gym memberships, tickets for sporting events or performing arts events sold by the event venue, theater, or authorized agent, and greens fees at golf courses directly billed as such.
• 200 Award Dollars= 1 TrueBlue Point and 100 TrueBlue points=one round trip flight
• The annual fee is $40, which gets you 50% of a round trip domestic ticket.
• Carefully read the terms and conditions.

Jet Blue Airways offers a business American Express credit card :

• 10,000 Award Dollars, that's 50 TrueBlue points, with the first purchase on your Card. That's half way to a round trip flight.
• Double Award Dollars on purchases of wireless telephone services, automobile gasoline, car rentals, office supplies, and JetBlue flights, in each case not purchased at warehouse clubs, superstores or supermarkets.
• Save 5% on JetBlue flights purchased directly from JetBlue reservations at 1-800-JETBLUE or www.jetblue.com. JetBlue Business Card accounts will receive a maximum annual savings of $2,000 per Card account.
• The expiration date of all TrueBlue points in your TrueBlue Membership Account will be extended to be one year from any date you have a TrueBlue point credited to your TrueBlue Membership Account from one of the following activities: (1) Using your JetBlue Business Card Account for eligible purchases or (2) The primary account holder flying a JetBlue flight segment that is paid for with your JetBlue Business Card Account. Eligibility and timing are based upon the date the TrueBlue point is credited to your TrueBlue Membership Account from one of the above qualifying activities.
• $40 annual fee.
• Carefully read the terms and conditions, which, of course, you would automatically do, since you are a business person.

Caution: The Jet Blue frequent flyer program is very different that any other. Be sure you understand how it works before you commit to it. Note, for example, that points expire in 1 year unless you fly on their metal or use your Jet Blue credit card.

• 4 Roundtrips - 5,000 bonus miles
• 7 Roundtrips - 10,000 bonus miles
• 10 Roundtrips - 15,000 bonus miles
• 12 Roundtrips - 25,000 bonus miles

Spirit Air offers a World MasterCard.

• Annual fee is $69, but it is waived for the first year.
• 15,000 bonus miles when you make your first purchase.
• 3 miles/$1 spent on Spirit.
• 2 miles/$1 spent on everyday purchases at select merchants.
• 1 mile/$1 spent anywhere else.
• Elite status.
• Make at least one purchase per month and you’ll automatically be upgraded to an Elite member.
• As of June 18, 2007, your Spirit Airlines miles will never expire if you make at least one purchase/month on the credit card. Otherwise, your miles could expire due to this policy in the terms and conditions of the miles program:

  "If you have less than 2,000 miles posted to your account from any source during the previous 6 month period, miles older than 6 months will be expired." And "If you want to keep your miles, get a FREE SPIRIT MasterCard* and make just one purchase per month - then your miles will never expire."

  Spirit Air's website describes its very different FREE SPIRIT miles program. Be sure you understand it fully before committing to this card.

   

AirTran Visa business credit card.

• 12 credits for first purchase or balance transfer.
• 2 points/$1 spent on AirTran Airways Travel. 1 point/$1 spent on everything else.
• 0% introductory Annual Percentage Rate (APR) on Balance Transfers, applicable for the first 6 billing cycles after the account is opened.
• Earn one point per $1 in balances transferred to your AirTran Airways A+ Business Card in the first 30 days after you open your account, up to a maximum of 10,000 points. 10,000 points = 10 credits.
• A Balance Transfer fee applies to all Balance Transfers. During the introductory period: 3% of the amount of each transfer, with a minimum fee of $5 and a maximum fee of $75; After the introductory period, 3% of the amount of each transfer with a minimum fee of $5. Note that the maximum fee on the personal card below is less. Be sure to read my cautions on 0% balance transfer offers on the Important Starting Info page of this Credit Card section before using this possibly profitable offer.
• $49 Annual Fee.

AirTran Visa personal credit card.

• 8 credits for first purchase or balance transfer.
  • Note: I have an email from AirTran dated May 2, 2008, that offers 10 points for this card. Alas, the link on that email goes to an application page that does not mention the offer. The link on the email to the terms and conditions goes to a page that does mention this offer (near the bottom). But there is no link on the application page to this terms and conditions page, or visa versa. Try calling (800) 307-0341 to get confirmation.
• 1 point/$1 in balances transferred to your AirTran Airways A+ Visa requested in the first 30 days after you open your account, up to a maximum of 10,000 points. (1,000 points converts to 1 credit.)
• 2 points/$1 spent on AirTran Airways Travel. 1 point/$1 spent on everything else.
• 0% Introductory APR on Balance Transfers the first six months after your account is opened, with a fee per transfer during this period of 3% of the amount of each transfer or check, with a minimum fee of $5 and a maximum fee of $50. (No maximum thereafter.)
• $39 annual fee.
• A business card version of this offer is available.
• Note that if you do one $10,000 transfer during the introductory period and make no purchases, you get enough credits for a ticket for $50 plus $39 minus the after tax amount of interest you earn on the cash you don't have to use to pay off another card because you did the balance transfer. 5% of $10,000 for about 5 months is about $208 before taxes. You will get a bit less than that $208 because you have to pay off a small part of the debt monthly, but you should be able to get a free ticket and still make a profit on this deal if you are careful. Read the terms and conditions, and be sure to read my cautions on 0% balance transfer offers on the Important Starting Info page of this Credit Card section.

There is also a no annual fee AirTran credit card, same balance transfer deal, 3 credits for using the card the first time, 1 point/$2 spent.

Caution: AirTran credits are valid for 12 months after the date on which they were posted to the members' account. So be sure you can use them before you acquire them.

Here is a very easy way to get a round trip ticket to Hawaii for $100. Currently two banks are offering a Hawaiian Airlines credit card - Bank of Hawaii and Bank of America. Each costs $50, and each offers 20,000 miles for first purchase. 35,000 miles gets you a roundtrip ticket between the mainland west coast and Hawaii. The extra 5,000 miles gets you a one way interisland ticket. Also note the interesting miles award tickets to Pago Pago, American Samoa or Papeete, Tahiti, and Manila, and the partner awards on Delta, Continental, Northwest, and Virgin Atlantic Airlines. See Hawaiian's award chart.

A customer rep assured me that it is permitted to get both credit cards. Each offers

• 20,000 miles up front with first use and payment.
• 1 mile/$1 spent, and 2 miles/$1 spent at Hawaiian Airlines.
• 50% discount companion certificate for travel between the Mainland U.S. and Hawaii.
• 2,000 miles upon renewal, should you care to pay the annual fee again.
• Other possibly useful goodies.
• The cost for each is $50 a year.
• Bank of Hawaii offer. Or call (800) 551-0839 and mention priority code FACIYL.
• Bank of America offer. Or call (800) 932-2775 and mention priority code FAB43K.
  • Apparently the Bank of America 20,000 mile deal is a special offer. The regular offer from Bank of American's website is for 10,000 miles up front. So grab the 20,000 mile offer while you can, and be sure to make a copy of all pages of the offer and your application for it.

Bank of America offers a Hawaiian Airlines Business Card:

• 10,000 miles up front with first use and payment.
• 1 mile/$1 spent, and 2 miles/$1 spent at Hawaiian Airlines.
• 50% discount companion certificate for travel between the Mainland U.S. and Hawaii.
• 2,000 miles upon renewal, should you care to pay the annual fee again.
• Other possibly useful goodies.
• Annual Fee is $50 for the Company and $25 per card.

Bank of America also offers a less expensive Classic card.

• 5,000 miles up front with first use and payment
• 1,000 miles upon renewal
• Annual fee of $25.

Caution: This Flyertalk post says that the renewal bonuses will be reduced. Be sure to make and keep a copy of the offer you accept.

Last time I looked an inter island round trip costs 10,000 miles, and a one way trip costs 5,000 miles. The annual fee for the card is probably less than the inter island fare.

Hawaiian Airlines offers 5 bonus HawaiianMiles per dollar spent when you use your Hawaiian Airlines Visa Cards at any participating HawaiianMiles Supercharged merchant. (There are lots of them in Hawaii.) Read the terms and conditions.

This FlyerTalk thread discusses the possibility of getting the 3% rip off fee for foreign currency conversion waived if you are a good customer of Bank of America. Ask.

Air Canada Aeroplan lists numerous mileage earning credit cards on its website.

Bank of America has a 12,000 Air Canada miles offer for U.S. residents. $60 annual fee.

CIBC has a 15,000 Air Canada miles offer for its credit card for Canadian residents only. The card offers 50% more Aeroplan Miles on everyday credit card purchases at grocery stores, gas stations or drug stores. Annual fee CN$125.

• Special offer:
  • 20,000 miles for first purchase, plus 5,000 miles after spending $500 on the card.
  • $20 off any British Airways ticket purchase made at ba.com/get20 with your card through December 31, 2009 for travel completed by December 31, 2010. A Saturday-night stay is required.
  • A Companion Ticket with each full-fare FIRST, Club World or World Traveller Plus ticket purchased with your card.
  • Please tell me when this offer disappears. Thanks.
• Special offer:
  • 20,000 miles for first purchase
  • $20 off any British Airways ticket purchase made at ba.com/get20 with your card through December 31, 2008, for travel completed by December 31, 2009, though it was still online Jananuary 18, 2009. Ask. A Saturday-night stay is required.
  • A Companion Ticket with each full-fare FIRST, Club World or World Traveller Plus ticket purchased with your card. Offer valid hrough December 31, 2008, for travel completed by December 31, 2009, though it was still online Jananuary 18, 2009. Ask.
  • Please tell me when this offer disappears. Thanks.
• The regular offer is for 15,000 miles.

Canadian residents may acquire a very interesting Visa Platinum card from the Royal Bank of Canada.

• It costs CN$165 per year and offers only 5,000 Canadian Airlines miles for first purchase.
• It provides 1 BA Mile for every dollar you spend on the card, and BA Miles for every dollar you spend on British Airways flight that is purchased with the card.
• Free travelers checks.
• So far, this doesn't seem very impressive return for the large annual fee. However, the card has some very interesting insurance programs that go with it.
  • A very comprehensive medical emergency travel insurance policy for travel outside of Canada that pays for medical expenses and transportation back to Canada, including very expensive air ambulance service if required.
  • Flight Delay Insurance.
  • Emergency Purchases Insurance.
  • Hotel/Motel Burglary Insurance.
• This card is well worth a look for Canadians who frequently travel outside of their country.

Two British Airways credit cards for UK residents are described here.

British Airways offers credit cards in many other countries. To find the offers for your country, go to click here, then click on United Kingdom at the top of the page, and then change your country on pull down list. Look for partners pages, both general and for your specific region.

The British Airways program miles program is quite different that those of U.S. Airlines. This is a card you would buy only if you are familiar with the program and know you will use the miles before they expire.

Virgin Atlantic offers two American Express credit cards issued by Bank of America for U.S. residents. To see the details of the offer, click on the 0% offer link for each card, wait for the pop-up to load, then use the internal scroll bar to scroll down about 2/3 the page.

• The Black Card
  • Annual fee: $90.
  • 20,000 Flying Club miles after your first purchase made with your Virgin Atlantic Card.
  • 2,500 Flying Club miles for each of the first two authorized users added to your Card.
  • 3 miles/$1 spent on Virgin Atlantic tickets and duty free items purchased directly from Virgin Atlantic.
  • 1.5 miles/$1 spent on everything else.
  • 7,500 anniversary Flying Club miles when you spend a minimum of $15,000 in net purchases within the anniversary year with your Virgin Atlantic Card.
  • An additional 7,500 anniversary Flying Club miles will be awarded when you spend $25,000 in net purchases within the anniversary year with your Virgin Atlantic Card.
  • Earned Anniversary Flying Club miles will be posted to your Flying Club account each year within four to six weeks of the anniversary of your Card’s open date. Note that this may mean that you would have to pay the annual fee a second year to get these miles. Ask.
  • If you spend $25,000 in Net Purchases using your Virgin Atlantic Card within a year (a year being the accumulated spend on the 12 monthly statements issued within any anniversary year), the primary Cardmember will also qualify for an Economy companion reward ticket for half the standard miles of a reward economy seat. See the terms and conditions for the many details of this feature.
  • One tier point for every $2,500 spent with the Virgin Atlantic Airways Card. A maximum two (2) tier points can be earned per month. A maximum of twenty-four (24) tier points can be earned per year. For a more detailed explanation, visit www.virginatlantic.com Q&A's.
  • 10% discount on published Virgin Atlantic Premium Economy fares through December 31, 2008 (though this was still online January 18, 2009) when purchasing airline tickets with your Virgin Atlantic Card. Seats are subject to availability. The offer is only accessible via the Virgin Atlantic Card offers section on the website. Visit www.virginatlantic.com.
• The White Card
  • Annual fee: $49.
  • 12,500 Flying Club miles after your first purchase made with your Virgin Atlantic Card.
  • 2,500 Flying Club miles for each of the first two authorized users added to your Card.
  • 3 miles/$1 spent on Virgin Atlantic tickets and duty free items purchased directly from Virgin Atlantic.
  • 1 mile/$1 spent on everything else.
  • 2,500 anniversary Flying Club miles when you spend a minimum of $5,000 in net purchases within the anniversary year with your Virgin Atlantic Card.
  • An additional 5,000 anniversary Flying Club miles will be awarded when you spend $15,000 in net purchases within the anniversary year with your Virgin Atlantic Card.
  • Earned Anniversary Flying Club miles will be posted to your Flying Club account each year within four to six weeks of the anniversary of your Card’s open date. Note that this may mean that you would have to pay the annual fee a second year to get these miles. Ask.
  • If you spend $25,000 in Net Purchases using your Virgin Atlantic Card within a year (a year being the accumulated spend on the 12 monthly statements issued within any anniversary year), the primary Cardmember will also qualify for an Economy companion reward ticket for half the standard miles of a reward economy seat. See the terms and conditions for the many details of this feature.
  • 10% discount on published Virgin Atlantic Premium Economy fares through December 31, 2008 (though this was still online January 18, 2009) when purchasing airline tickets with your Virgin Atlantic Card. Seats are subject to availability. The offer is only accessible via the Virgin Atlantic Card offers section on the website. Visit www.virginatlantic.com.

  Virgin Atlantic offers two American Express credit cards issued by MBNA.

  • The White Card offers
    • 3,000 bonus Flying Club miles upon first spend
    • No annual fee
    • 1 Flying Club mile/£1 spent
    • 2 Flying Club miles /£1 spent direct with Virgin Atlantic or Virgin Holidays
  • Black Card offers
    The
    • 6,000 bonus Flying Club miles upon first spend
    • £115 annual fee
    • 2 Flying Club mile/£1 spent
    • 4 Flying Club miles /£1 spent direct with Virgin Atlantic or Virgin Holidays

   

Two Mastercard offers for U.S. residents:

• Premier Miles & More World MasterCard
  • 20,000 miles after your first purchase and/or balance transfer and pay your annual fee, if applicable.
  • Up to 15,000 additional miles when you complete a balance transfer.
  • 2 miles/$1 spent on ticket purchases with Miles & More integrated airline partners.
  • Economy Class Companion Ticket upon the first use of your new Account for a purchase or balance transfer.
  • $79 annual fee, for a cost of 0.395 cent/mile for the bonus 20,000. Annual fee waived for Senator and HON Circle Members.
• Miles & More World MasterCard
  • 15,000 miles after your first purchase and/or balance transfer and pay your annual fee, if applicable.
  • Up to 10,000 additional miles when you complete a balance transfer.
  • Economy Class Companion Ticket upon the first use of your new Account for a purchase or balance transfer
  • $59 annual fee, for a cost of less than 0.393 cent/mile for the bonus 15,000. Annual fee waived for Senator and HON Circle Members.
• For both cards
  • 1 mile/$1 spent on all purchases.
  • As of January 18, 2009, balance transfers and convenience checks have 0% interest for 6 months, with a 3% fee, with a minimum fee of $5 and a maximum fee of $50 per transfer. Before doing a balance transfer or using a convenience check, be sure to read my cautions on 0% balance transfers on my Starting Info page. Banks are quite sneaky on these types of deals, but you may be able to make money on them if you are careful.
  • An annual companion ticket.

The terms and conditions of the above offers mention a no annual fee Platinum Mastercard, 5,000 mile bonus, 1 mile/$2 spent. I can find no link to it. Call the bank and ask.

Lufthansa's website lists credit cards available for residents of Europe and Japan.

Air France and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines offer several credit cards on their websites that earn Flying Blue Award miles. No bonus offers for first purchase are listed there. Below I provide links to what appear to be bonus offers for first use, but you must be able to read the language to determine what they are. I have no information on the fees for any of the cards. For reason

• American Express card offer for residents of France. 3,000 or 2,000 Flying Blue Miles miles bonus for first use?

  On April 22, 2006, a reader from France offered this translation of the offer:

  Annual fee : first year free then 125.00 euros for the following years
  Additional card : Free for spouse no additional charge points go on your account !!
  Bonus miles : 3000 for the first purchase and then 14 miles for every 10 euros spend at AF/KLM partners and 10 miles earned for any 10 euros spent on your current purchases (gaz, restaurants, whatever,....)
  Extra 45 euros voucher offered for any application to new cardholder + 30 euros voucher on Hertz rent a car. Then monthly selected offers (vouchers 10 to 60 euros on selected flights, car rental, hotel stays)

• American Express card offer for residents of the Netherlands. 2,500 Bonus Flying Blue Miles when you apply for and receive the card, plus 1,000 bonus miles for each supplementary card?
• Mastercard offer for residents of Switzerland. 5,000 Flying Blue Miles bonus for first use?

   

Alitalia suggests obtaining European American Express cards that earn Membership Rewards points, and European Diners Club cards to earn points that convert to Alitalia miles at various conversion rates.

• Select the World++ MasterCard
  • 10,000 Bonus Customer Club Points on first use
  • 2 Points/$1 spent on Icelandair travel
  • 1 Point/$1 spent on anywhere else
  • $39 annual fee
• Select the Platinum MasterCard
  • 5,000 Bonus Customer Club Points on first use
  • 1 Point/$1 spent on Icelandair travel
  • 1 Point/$2 spent anywhere else
  • No annual fee

• 5,000 miles for first purchase.
• 2 miles/$1 spent on purchases.
• 3 miles/$1 spent in purchases at participating grocery stores.
• $99 annual fee.
• $100 rebate on an Asiana ticket.

• 5,000 miles for first purchase.
• 1 mile/$1 spent on purchases.
• 2 miles/$1 spent in purchases at participating grocery stores or on Asiana Airlines tickets (presumably purchased from Asiana, though they don't say that).
• No limit to the number of miles that can be earned each year.
• Automatic $100 rebate on qualifying Asiana Airlines ticket purchases twice per year
• Annual Fee is $80 for the Company.

This FlyerTalk thread discusses the possibility of getting the 3% rip off fee for foreign currency conversion waived if you are a good customer of Bank of America. Ask.

Asiana lists many Korean banks that issue credit cards which earn Asiana miles. One of them is for Japanese residents. No details are given for any of the cards.

Korean Airlines offers several credit cards for residents of Japan. All offer up front bonus miles. Read the terms, conditions, and fees.

And, of course, Korean Airlines offers many credit cards for residents of Korea. To find them, go to its Global Website, chose Korea for your region, and then your language. Click on SKYPASS > Earn Miles, then on Other Partners in the left menu.

All Nippon offers a large number of mileage earning credit cards.

• It's card for U.S. residents offers a 5,000 mile bonus for first use, and 1 mile/$1 spent on the card. It costs $70 a year, for a cost of 1.4 cents/mile.
• It's Hong Kong card for residents of Hong Kong offers a 5,000 mile bonus when you accumulate a spending of HK$2,000 or more within the first 3 months of card issuance, and 1 mile/HK$8 spent on the card. It offers lots of other possibly useful goodies.

Japan Airlines offers several credit cards that appear to be Mastercards. You must have a bank account in Japan to qualify for them. There are up front miles, but the fees are in Yen, so I am unwilling to take the time to evaluate these bonuses.

• 5,000 Bonus Asia Miles upon enrollment.
  • 1 Asia Mile/C$1 you spend on the card.
  • Double Asia Miles for each C$1 spent on Cathay Pacific tickets purchased online at www.cathaypacific.ca.
  • 31-Day Out of Province/Country emergency Medical Insurance. This could be quite valuable if it includes medical evacuation, but I leave it to you to evaluate. I pay US$139 for a similar annual medical evacuation insurance.
  • Other goodies.
  • C$150 annual fee, which make this a possibly good deal only if the medical insurance is as valuable as I think it might be.

  Cathay Pacific offers a large number of mileage earning credit cards for residents of Asia, Australia, some of the Pacific Islands, and parts of the Middle East. Details, such as they are, here. It appears that you have to contact the bank of interest to find out about the fees and conditions.

   

Singapore Airlines has several relationships with third party "points" type of cards which allow you to convert those points to the airline's miles. Details here.

• Platinum Mastercard.
  • $59 annual fee.
  • 7,500 miles for first use. (So the extra 5,000 miles over the card below cost 1.18 cents/mile.)
  • 2 miles/$1 spent on China Airlines travel.
  • 1 mile/$1 spent everything else.
• Platinum Mastercard.
  • No annual fee.
  • 2,500 miles for first use.
  • 1 mile/$1 spent on China Airlines travel.
  • 1 mile/$2 spent everything else.
• There is a 5,000 mile, 0% balance transfer offer for both cards, but beware - read the terms and conditions, and my cautions on 0% balance transfer offers on the Important Starting Info page of this Credit Card section.

China Airlines offers a large number of mileage earning credit cards for residents of the Far East. It appears that you must contact the bank of interest to find out about the offers, fees and conditions.

• Earn 2 miles/$1 you spend with Mexicana Airlines.
• Earn 1 mile for every dollar you in spend other retial purchases.
• 4,000 Welcome Miles when you join Frecuenta Loyalty Program, for a cost of 1.125 cents/mile. I am not certain, but I think this means you don't get the 4,000 miles if you are already a member of the program. The bonus is not mentioned on Mexicana's website.
• 2,000 anniversary miles each year. You have to pay the fee for the second year to get these.
• 15% Discount on Mexicana flights from the U.S. to Mexico and Latin America when you use your card (presumably when you buy tickets from Mexicana directly).
• The annual fee is $45.
• Companion tickets of dubious value. Read the terms and conditions.

• This FlyerTalk thread discusses the possibility of getting the 3% rip off fee for foreign currency conversion waived if you are a good customer of Bank of America. Ask.

Mexicana Airlines mentions a Banamex Credit Card offer, and several other credit card programs about which I have no further information. Presumably residents of Mexico will recognize the cards and will know where to ask.

Aeromexico Visa Signature Credit Card for U.S. residents:

• 20,000 First Use Bonus Miles plus Complimentary Companion Ticket. (But carefully read the footnote on this to see how it must be used.)
• One Club Premier Mile per $1 spent.
• 4,000 Annual Bonus Miles plus $99 Companion Ticket with credit card renewal. (But carefully read the footnote on this to see how the companion ticket must be used.)
• Double Miles on AeroMexico airfare purchases.
• 15% discount on AeroMexico web airfare purchases.
• 5,000 Club Premier Elite Qualification Miles will be awarded when you spend $30,000 in Net Purchases in a 12 month period from your AeroMexico Visa Signature Card Open Date. With $30,000 spend in Net Purchases during each subsequent 12 months of billing cycles, 5,000 Club Premier Elite Qualification Miles will also be applied.
• $80 annual fee.

Aeromexico Visa Credit Card for U.S. residents:

• 15,000 First Use Bonus Miles plus Complimentary Companion Ticket. (But carefully read the footnote on this to see how it must be used.)
• One Club Premier Mile per $1 spent.
• 4,000 Annual Bonus Miles plus $99 Companion Ticket with credit card renewal. (But carefully read the footnote on this to see how the companion ticket must be used.)
• Double Miles on AeroMexico airfare purchases.
• 10% discount on AeroMexico web airfare purchases.
• $45 annual fee.

Aeromexico offers three American Express credit cards to residents of Mexico with annual fees of $80 and $200 with bonuses for first use of 10,000 and 20,000 miles, respectively, for a cost of 0.8 cent/mile and 1 cent/miles, respectively. Each offers 1 mile per US dollar or equivalent spent, and more for Aeromexico purchases. These cards have a very interesting companion ticket deal, wherein you earn free companion tickets when you use your miles to purchase a ticket. The number of companion tickets you earn depends on how much you spend on the card.

Here is another offer in Spanish for 16,000 bonus kilometersfor first use. So now I don't know if the Club Premier program offers miles or kilometers. I leave this to you to figure out.

• South America.
• Central America. (Note particularly the double miles offer for the INTERFIN-TACA-AVIS card.)
• North America. (Note particularly the double miles offer for the INTERFIN-TACA-AVIS card.)

I am not familiar with Diners Club. I don't know if there is a minimum number of points needed to convert to miles, and I don't know if there is a fee to do so. Ask. (A reader tells me that points must be redeemed in 2,000 point increments only. Another reader tells me that there is a $0.95 charge per 1,000 mile transferred.)

Redeem at least 35,000 Club Rewards® points (1 point = 1 mile) by May 31, 2009 and you'll receive 6,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles. Offer is valid March 1 through May 31, 2009. I leave it to you to read the details.

Dinners club special offers. Read the terms and conditions.

• Delta
• Continental
• Frontier
• Hawaiian
• Air Canada
• Virgin
• AeroMexico
• AirFrance/KLM
• ANA
• Alitalia
• El Al
• Singapore

• Southwest Airlines
• AirTran
• Starwood Hotels
• Priority Club
• Hilton Hotels
• Best Western Hotels.