Best Credit Card to Buy Airfare

Award taxes and airfare add up for everyone reading this blog, especially if you book yourself reimbursable tickets for work. What credit card should you use to pay the airfare and award taxes for your travel?

Credit card links have been removed from posts and added to the menu bar at the top of every page of MileValue under the heading Top Travel Credit Cards.
Bonus Spending
Many cards offer bonus points for “airfare” or “travel” purchases.

Tons of Free Nights at Hiltons Around Egypt & the Miles To Get There

The Hilton chain has a large presence in Egypt. There are a number of beautiful Hiltons in interesting places, many of which are classified as Category 1, 2, or 3.

But before I get ahead of myself, let's start with how to get to Egypt--you should always book airline awards first since they are capacity controlled and hotel loyalty programs are not.
How to Get to Egypt With Miles
All Nipon Airways (ANA) and Singapore have some of the cheapest awards to the Northern Africa region.

USA to Europe for 12,250 Miles, Departure Dates All Seasons

For the next 11 months, you can fly from the Eastern United States to London for 13,000 Membership Rewards, Ultimate Rewards, or ThankYou Points plus $135. Or you can fly in Premium Economy that looks a lot like domestic First Class for 20,000 points and $265. From other parts of the country, you’ll pay only a few more miles.

On some routes, award space is WIDE OPEN year round, including the heart of summer. Here is the award space for July 2017 from New York to London.

Starpoints Transfer to 50% More American Airlines Miles Until September 14

You have less than two weeks left to take advantage of this transfer bonus! 

Until September 14, 2016, you can transfer 20,000 SPG Starpoints to 30,000 American Airlines AAdvantage miles.

The State of Retention Bonuses for Citi Cards

As you might already know, the wording of the terms and conditions for Citi credit card sign up offers has changed and now you are only eligible to earn a sign up bonus if you haven’t opened or closed a card from the same type (brand or co-brand) within the last 24 months.

This is significantly different from the prior rule which only restricted you to earning a sign up bonus on a card 24 months after you opened or closed the same card.

In light of this new rule, I thought it would be helpful to know what kind

5 Underpriced Awards on Obscure Award Charts

With the proliferation of transferable points like Chase Ultimate Rewards, American Express Membership Rewards, Citi ThankYou Points, and Starwood Preferred Guest Starpoints, Americans have access to cheap awards through tons of foreign programs.

Here are five underpriced awards on foreign award charts and how to get the miles needed to book the awards.
1. Singapore Awards Between Hawaii and the Americas
Singapore Airlines puts Hawaii and Central America--you know, those two places that are thousands of miles apart--into one region.

Have a Delta Amex Card? Here’s the Benefit You Didn’t Know About

Delta changed the wording on its SkyMiles News & Updates page to include a heavier discount on annual CLEAR memberships for Delta SkyMiles Credit Card Members.

Usually a CLEAR membership costs $179 per year. If you have one of the following Delta co-branded American Express cards (or the small business version) than you (the primary cardholder) get a $100 yearly discount, reducing the cost to $79 per year.

What's CLEAR?
CLEAR is a means of bypassing TSA security lines.

Fly From NYC to Costa Rica for 300 Points + $23

JetBlue is running a Flash Fares sale right now. You can book a one way flight from New York City (JFK) to Liberia, Costa Rica on September 4, 2016 for a ridiculous 300 JetBlue points and $23.25 in taxes.

JetBlue Labor Day Flash Sale: One Ways for $29 or 1,200 TrueBlue Points

If you book by tonight at 11:59 PM ET, you can find JetBlue fares for as little as $29 one way or 1,200 TrueBlue points for flights this labor day weekend, September 3 & 4.

The sale is on select routes only, but there are lots of options to choose from. See the full route list and the rest of the details about the flash sale here.

Up to 30% off American Airlines Domestic Awards

The Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite™ MasterCard® 60,000 mile offer has expired. Check out the current best credit card offers here.

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Every two months, American Airlines publishes a list of new destinations in the United States and Canada eligible for discounted MileSAAver awards.