The Battle of the Hotel Credit Cards proved to be a popular and helpful post with many people asking about a similar post for airline credit cards. While I had mentioned in the previous post that airline credit cards are pretty straightforward, they do present some different features beyond the usual sign-up bonus. So, this informative guide will give you the information you need for airline credit cards.
The Battle of Airline Credit Cards
Which airline credit cards are best for you?
In this guide, we will look at the consumer versions of airline cards to see what they offer and how they stack up against each other, even within the same airline family (some airlines, like Delta, offer several different cards).
There are some airline cards, like the somewhat laughable JAL and ANA cards, that I am not including in this post since those are not even close to being the best airline cards/options for the majority of American travelers.
Sign-up Bonus
The first thing that many of us look at when we talk credit cards is what is the sign-up bonus for that card? That is the part that draws us to the card so it is natural for us to look at this part first.
[table “” not found /]There are sign-up bonuses on many of these cards that fluctuate from time to time to better offers (or, in some cases, worse offers). There are also bonuses that are targeted to various accounts. So, use this as a guide but always check my credit card tab for the best offer or login to your account to see if you have been targeted.
Annual Fee
Another thing that many travelers wonder about is the annual fee on the cards. Here is a breakdown on what cards have annual fees and which annual fees are waived the first year.
[table “” not found /]Elite Miles/Points
Unlike the hotel cards, airline credit cards do not give elite status, even low tier. But, some of the higher end cards do offer the ability to earn elite miles/points through spending.
[table “” not found /]In the table above, when it references a X? figure, that is how many times of that amount they can earn. The spending is required in a calendar year to earn the bonuses.
Card Perks And Benefits
Airline credit cards can give you free baggage on your next flight
Airline credit cards offer some very general perks while other benefits are more exact depending on the annual fee of the card. This table will list some of the general benefits as well as the more exact ones.
For the baggage column, the number in parenthesis is the number of passengers on the same reservation that will also get the free bag benefit.
[table “” not found /]There are some exceptions on the list. For example, with the Delta Gold and Platinum cards, you do not get free club access but you do receive it at a reduced rate of $29 (instead of $50). With the United MileagePlus Explorer card, you do not receive free club membership but you do receive 2 free club passes each member year.
With baggage, Southwest does not include that benefit because you always get 2 free bags on Southwest no matter what anyway. But, they do offer the invaluable Companion Pass for earning 110,000 points in a year. You do not need to redeem those points for the Pass but once you earn that many points in a calendar year, you will have also earned the Companion Pass.
Anniversary Bonus
Many airline credit cards give you a bonus each year on the card anniversary
Unlike hotel credit cards, airline credit cards and their anniversary bonuses are not quite as cut-and-dried. There is a general offering of some type of companion ticket but that is not across all the cards. Here is what the cards offer for an anniversary bonus.
[table “” not found /]As you can see, there are not as many companion tickets as one might think. Delta offers the strongest companion ticket offer but the fees are high. Probably the best card on the list for the companion ticket when it comes to cost is the Alaska Airlines card. The fee is $75 and you need to pay $99+taxes, but that still comes out lower than the Delta cards and you only spend that $99 if you want the ticket.
The Southwest card has a decent offer since you are basically paying the redemption value of the points in the annual fee. The United card is the most surprising by only offering the club passes. But, this is a good lesson to take with all cards with annual fees – you can always call in and ask about some type of statement credit, etc. With the United card, they will just about always give you a statement credit of $100 that will wipe out your annual fee and you get the 2 free club passes.
Spending And Earning
Airline credit cards offer bonus miles on airline spending but not much else.
This is another area that is important with these cards. Of course, each airline is going to want you to use their card when purchasing tickets with them. That means they bump up the earnings a bit with that. But, remember that many cards will give you those bonuses on airline purchases and allow the flexibility of transfer partners (Chase Sapphire Preferred, for example).
[table “” not found /]Unlike most cards, airline credit cards do not offer much in the way of category bonuses. Most of these cards are not that good for daily spending. The only real reasons you would want to put a lot of spending on an airline card is if you are trying to earn some of the threshold bonuses for elite miles.
One card that offers something a little different from others is the United Club card. It offers 1.5 United miles on all spending. That is a nice way to generate United miles on spending that does not fit in bonus categories with Ultimate Reward cards (which could be transferred to United).
Summary
Airline credit cards are pretty standard but they also have little bits that try to set them apart from their competitors. For the most part, airline credit cards are great to get for the bonuses but they may not be the best cards to keep for spending or for year after year ownership.
There are other cards that give better bonuses for spending, but if you want things like the free bags, the cards can easily pay for their annual fee with that benefit alone.
If you are interested in applying for any of these cards, check out my Airline Credit Card page for all of the offers.
