Adding an authorized user to your credit card can be a win-win situation.

You’ll rack up points and earn welcome bonuses faster, while they’ll build their credit history, enjoy cardholder perks and pay a much-reduced annual fee (if any!).

Yet, just as choosing the right credit card for yourself can be challenging, so too can identifying the best card for you and an authorized user. Not every card offers the same benefits to the authorized user as it does the primary cardholder.

LifeMiles is a frequent flyer program of Avianca, Colombia’s biggest and oldest airline. Avianca is one of the Star Alliance member airlines so when you earn or redeem LifeMiles, you have access to the biggest airline alliance in the world and its extensive networks. Theoretically, you can get anywhere in the world with LifeMiles. 

The program has lots of fans, but it’s not the easiest to use. Airlines don’t grant all of their partners the same access to award space, and LifeMiles’ website also leaves a lot to be desired.

If you’re looking for a solid, do it all travel card, then The Platinum Card® from American Express should be on your radar. This one card brings you great airport lounge access, hotel status, and more.

Let’s keep it short, because there’s a lot to get into with this great card and we’re going to take a deep dive into everything you need to know about the Amex Platinum.

The Basics of The Platinum Card from American Express

Before we dive deep into the perks of the Amex Platinum, we need to go over all the basics.

As awesome as using points and miles are to book flights, sometimes you have to pay cash for your flights. Whether you found a great deal on airfare, or there just isn’t award availability and you’re absolutely itching to take a trip, sometimes paying for flights just works better. When you’re looking to buy a flight, you should be using the best credit card to buy a flight.

Even when you are booking an award flight, there are inevitable taxes and fees that you just can’t avoid.

But that’s easier said than done.

If you’ve been following the news in our hobby, you’ve probably already heard of the “enhancements” recently added to The Platinum Card® from American Express: 

Annual fee is now $695 (Rates & Fees) for new accounts opened on or after July 1, 2021 

For existing cardmembers, the new annual fee will take effect on the annual renewal date on or after Jan.

Many travelers have Australia on their bucket list. There really is something for everyone, from the snorkeling and diving at the Great Barrier Reef to wineries, cool cities and spectacular beaches. 

The competition for the very limited number of award seats to get there, however, is fierce. Airlines’ frequent miler programs certainly don’t make it easy and finding award space on the nonstop flights from the U.S. could be quite a challenge.

If I had to choose just one card to use for all of my points earnings, I am fairly confident that I would choose the American Express® Gold Card. There’s a lot of compelling reasons why I’d choose the Amex Gold over others.

This workhorse has some of the best earning rates on common spending categories, along with good usable credits.

In this three-part series, we are looking at the basics of the cheapest domestic awards. This encompasses frequent flyer programs spanning all three alliances:

Oneworld – British Airways, Iberia, and American Airlines

Star Alliance – Avianca, Turkish Airlines, and United

SkyTeam – Air France/KLM and Delta (this post)

SkyTeam is one of the smaller airline alliances but that doesn't mean there aren't good options to book domestic awards.

In this article, we'll look at how we can use Air France/KLM Flying Blue and Korean Air SKYPASS programs to book domestic award flights on SkyTeam's U.S.

The Chase Sapphire Reserve®, the Citi Prestige, and the The Platinum Card® from American Express card are premium credit cards with huge benefits and high annual fees to match.

The first year, these are fantastic cards. The second year, the value is less certain. We'll look at canceling and downgrading options in this post.

The First Year

Many people are scared off by that annual fee, which makes sense at a superficial level. We all got interested in miles and points to save money, not spend it.

This limited time offer EXPIRES TOMORROW June 22, 2016. Apply today to qualify for the 75,000 Membership Reward bonus! 

Through June 22, 2016, there is a publicly available offer for 75,000 bonus Membership Rewards after spending $3,000 on the Platinum Card from American Express Exclusively for Mercedes-Benz. Despite the name, the card is available to everyone, not just Mercedes-Benz customers.

I value those points at about $1,500.

Membership Rewards transfer to around 20 hotel and airline programs including Delta, Singapore, and British Airways.

The card has a $475 annual fee in the first year.