We’ve been getting so many questions that I’ve decided to lump a few here (at least the ones that did not require extensive answers. Anyway keep the questions coming.

Question from Abraham : I have a Bank America American Express Credit Card. How many points are needed for domestic travel and what airlines can I book for travel?

Answer : Abraham – You need 25,000 points for a Continental US (roundtrip) for up to $400 in ticket value. Or you can use their Flex Air Program. The way it works is that you can book own flights and use your points – 100 pts for $1 in travel cost. You do have to use BOA’s travel agent.

Question from Ms Arla Simon : I’m searching for a mileage credit that I can use for ALL purchases all the while building up miles for travel on more then one airline. I had Bank of America building up Alaska miles but B of A is not meeting my expectations any longer so I’m looking to switch. Any suggestions regarding mileage cards would be helpful.

Answer : Arla – 2 cards that I would suggest. First card to consider is the Discover Escape card. This card allows you to earn 2 miles for every dollar you spend on all purchases. You can book with your own travel agent and therefore get the best deal. The annual fee is $60. If you do not want to pay the annual fee, Discover has another card called the Discover Miles card which is essentially the same card but has no annual fee and you earn one mile for every dollar you spend on the card.

good luck

Question from Yuquan – The American Express Blue Cash card – Confused on the $6500 spending

Is $6500 an accumulated number over many months or it is for Every month or for that year? If that is for a month, then this is not a card we want if it is for a year, then would you start from $0 every year? If that is the case, then probably this card is also not for us, added the facts that it doesn’t pay 5% on everything.

We only spend on average around $2000/month.

Thanks

Answer – Yuquan – The $6,500 is an annual threshold which starts on your anniversary year (which depends on when you actually get the card). Best way to find out if the card is right for you is to use our cash back credit card calculator.

Question from Seth – Mr. Credit Card – I agree whole heartedly with a lot of your recommendations regarding Blue and a number of other AMEX based credit cards. I have Blue and love it, with the only problem being that there are still a large number of vendors — domestically and more internationally — that do not accept AMEX. Do you have a recommendation for VISA or Master Card?

I’m looking for a new VISA, but one with either a good cash-back option or reward travel would be preferred. In the end, I’ll be keeping my Blue card as my primary, but I would like that extra money I spend on my VISA to actually work for me.

Thanks!

–Seth

Answer – Seth – I would actually suggest the Discover More card for earning rebates. Reason being that the best cash back cards are from Amex – Blue Cash and Costco. But since you already have an Amex, my suggestion is that you get the Discover More Card. Reason : they have about 100 online retail partners where you can earn between 5% to 20% if you go to their site from Discover and use their card. If you really insist on a Visa, I suggest you get a basic Visa as a back up in case Amex is not accepted and use the Discover Card to earn rebates.

I would suggest against getting another Visa or Mastercard card for earning rewards because these days, only a handful of places do not accept Amex. Secondly, I myself have many cards and it is very difficult to split earning rewards with different cards. So focus your spending on your Blue Amex for rewards and use the Discover to shop online and earn 5% to 20% rebates. They will be complimentary.

Question from Sandy Lambert – What is the best card (debit or credit) to use for overseas travel. We will be traveling to Israel in May. We want a card that will be accepted most everywhere that will not hit us with transactions and other fees. We would also need to use the card as an ATM card for cash (shekels). We need to obtain the best exchange rate when using the card. Any suggestions?

Answer – Sandy – Capital One is probably the best bet. They have no foreign transaction fees.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 11th, 2009 at 11:52 and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.