求机票相关省钱/信用卡攻略心得 - 未名空间MITBBS历史存档

求机票相关省钱/信用卡攻略心得# PhotoGear - 摄影器材

A*s2014-05-30 07:05

1 楼

伸手党向万佛请教。
以前很少 travel，所以从来没有关注过如何买机票省钱，里程积分之类的问题。最近
一段时间需要飞两趟往返国内，所以想学习一下如何买机票，里程，应该申请什么样的
信用卡之类的。
各位如果有比较简单易行的攻略，麻烦讲一讲哦。多谢。

d*n2014-05-30 07:05

2 楼

alright I hope you read English, I'm copy pasting this from an entry I wrote
on facebook, most of the links are dead so ask me for new links if you see
one that you wanna apply to.
Don't get intimidated by this whole "airline miles" thing, it's simple,
trust me. So there are a few good options for airline cards:
Southwest
American Airlines
United
US Airways(slightly different, I'll explain later)
If I didn't include it, (for example Delta), that means the card's signup
bonus just isn't good enough. Now all of the following airline cards reward
1 mile/point per dollar spend on purchases, 2 miles/points per dollar spend
on their respective plane tickets, in addition to what I'm describing below.
----------------------
Southwest is basically the best bang for the buck right now if you are only
looking at flying within the US. Each of their points is valued at $0.0167.
And since you get 50,000 points for signing up one of their cards, you will
get an equivalent of $833 in airline credit. Their redemption option is also
the best of all the airlines, since you can buy any normal seat with points
and don't have to go for special "limited availability award seats" like
the others. The catch is that you have to spend $2,000 within 3 months of
card opening, and they are the only card on this document that charges an
annual fee the first year. Oh and they don't provide additionall bonus such
as "first bag free(southwest doesn't have bag fees to begin with)" or "board
before other people"
($99 annual fee)
Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards® Premier Card(No foreign transaction
fee, 6,000 free miles each year on anniversary): http://creditcards.chase.com/a1/southwest/2ffhero
($69 annual fee)
Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards® Plus Card(Has foreign transaction fee
, 3,000 free miles each year on anniversary): https://creditcards.chase.com/
6000276?CELL=66T9&vanity=a1/southwest/2ffhero
Note: Their points are getting devauled by 14% in April, so the 50k points
will be worth $714 then.
----------------------
American Airlines is probably my favorite right now, because I like
traveling internationally and they offer cheaper mile redemption options
during off season travel months. So with the 50k mile signup bonus from the
following card I will have just enough miles for a roundtrip ticket to Japan
or Korea. (If you are more into Europe, the round trip tickets are only 40k
during off seasons) The card also allows first bag free for everybody on
your itinerary and boarding before the regular flyers. The catch is that you
have to spend $3000 within the first 3 months to get the points. Both of
them have $95 annual fee, but it's waived the first year. Card holder and
companions get first checked bag free in addition to boarding before the
normal folks.
http://www.aa.com/pubcontent/en_US/disclaimers/BP-PLATHV.jsp
If you are wondering when is considered "off season," check out their mile
requirement chart here: http://www.aa.com/i18n/disclaimers/free-ticket-award-chart.jsp
I actually just redeemed 50k miles for a trip to Japan next year, and what's
even better is that they gave me 10% of the miles back after redemption, so
the trip only cost 45k effectively.
----------------------
United is hated by many, although I haven't had a bad experience with them
yet. They don't have off season rewards like American Airlines so reward
redemption is limited at first. (For example, going to Japan cost 65k, going
to europe cost 60k, so you'd have to get those extra miles by buying stuff,
flying, or some other methods that I will mention near the end). In
addition, United will devalue their points in February of 2014, so roundtrip
to Japan will cost 70k when you redeem the miles after Feb) I have compiled
a comparison mile requirement chart here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AsEHh_B_
ma9CdG9zOENaTGF5WWR3b2tkQ2NoR212VVE&usp=sharing
Oh also, in order to get to the credit card deal that offers 50k united
miles after $1000 spend in the first 3 months, first year annual fee waived(
$95 value), and $50 statement credit, you will have to use the method on the
top of this following thread, as normal offers are only 30k miles:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/credit-card-programs/1330475-ua-
The card lets you and your flying companions one free checked bag each, and
boarding before the normal folks. Also no foreign transaction fee. After you
get the card and spend more than $50 on it, send Chase a secure message
through the site saying you want the $50 statement credit and they will give
it to you. I just did it two weeks ago.
----------------------
U.S. Airways is old, their planes are old, their flight attendants are old.
But guess what? You only need to make one single purchase(of any value) on
their credit card to get 35k miles. If your spending is not enough to get
all the other cards, then this is the one for you. Annual fee is $89 (waived
for the first year). Now one thing to note is that they are gonna merge
with American Airlines soon so all their miles are gonna get rolled into the
American Airlines miles program at a 1:1 ratio. I treat this as a good way
to get AA miles as I never intend to fly on US Airways. EVER.
https://www.barclaycardus.com/apply/Landing.action?campaignId=1695&
cellNumber=24
----------------------
Besides Airline cards, there are hotel cards. Unfortunately I have no
experience with those, and the best one I heard of, SPG AMEX card, is not
offering the maximum signup bonus, so I will be leaving this section blank
until I actually get one for myself.
----------------------
There are also third party cards such as Chase Sapphire Preferred, which
grants 50k points when you spend $3000 within the first 3 months. In
addition, if you add an authorized user you will get 5000 more points. Those
points can be transferred at a 1:1 ratio to Southwest, United, and a bunch
of other programs. Besides no foreign transaction fee, it offers 2 points
per dollar spend on dining ,which is a big deal for a foodie like me. (Also
2 points per dollar spend on travel tickets such as airline or train) You
also get a 7% points dividend on the miles you earn(not the signup bonus),
so if you earn 4k points in your first year you will get 280 points back.
Warning: Annual fee is $125, highest out of all the cards in this note.
Since the first year fee is waived, I suggest you use it for a year and
cancel before they charge you.
http://creditcards.chase.com/credit-cards/sapphire-preferred-ca

d*n2014-05-30 07:05

3 楼

So basically in the end it comes down to American Airlines vs United. Right
now AA and United cost 70k miles for free round trip to China. AA has 50k
new card signup bonus and United is 55k.
Also it would help to know which airport you like to fly out of and which
city to arrive in.

A*s2014-05-30 07:05

4 楼

非常有帮助，多谢！我仔细读读。

Right

【在 d**********n 的大作中提到】

: So basically in the end it comes down to American Airlines vs United. Right
: now AA and United cost 70k miles for free round trip to China. AA has 50k
: new card signup bonus and United is 55k.
: Also it would help to know which airport you like to fly out of and which
: city to arrive in.