Best Airline Credit Card For Multiple Frequent Flyer Members

Airline consolidation has brought more pricing power to the operators and has resulted in devaluations of frequent flyer points. The latest trend involves airlines award more miles based on ticket prices rather than distance of flights. It is becoming increasing difficult to take advantage of loopholes without being a true frequent flyer. This is the reason why the Barclays Arrival Plus^TM Elite World MasterCard® is our of favorite cards for airline travel. You earn double miles, pay no foreign transaction fees and even get 5% bonus for the points you use. You also get your FICO score for free as a card member.

This is the no annual fee version of their Arrival card. Instead of earning 2X points on everything, you only earn 2X on travel and dining. You still get a 5% bonus on the points you use for travel. You will be pleased to know that there is no foreign transaction fee and you also get your free FICO scores complimentary of Barclays.

Almost all dedicated airline affinity cards charge an annual fee. If you are hesitant to pay any fees for your card and you are not hung up over earning miles from a particular program, then this card may just be for you.

Like the Barclays Arrival, you can earn double points on everything with this card. It also has no foreign transaction fees which makes it very suitable for international travel. Once again, if you are tired of frequent flyer devaluations or simply have no affinity to any airlines, then this is another great option to consider. If you put a decent amount on the card each month, double points gets you a long way.

If you are new to the miles game, it may shock you that a hotel affinity card is on our recommended airline card list. But those who are familiar will know that Starwood has more airline partners than either Membership Rewards or the Ultimate Rewards program. The transfer ratio to most programs are at 1:1. If you like the option to transferring points to the best Alliances and getting the best award deals, then this card certainly belongs in your wallet.

This card will work for you if you really fly a lot. That is because you can earn triple points when you use the card to buy airline tickets with the card. But in addition to that, you can also earn double points for standalone supermarket and gasoline expenses. The one thing we like about Membership Rewards is that they run occasional transfer bonuses where you get bonus miles for transferring points to certain airlines. If you are a member of a couple of their airline partner programs, this would be a very good choice.

Chases' Ultimate Reward program is a direct competitor to both Amex and Starwood in the sense that you can transfer points to their airline and hotel partners. The reason why this card on on our list is because they really do have some unique partners which others do not have. For example, they are partners with United Continental, SouthWest (and AIrTran), Korea Skypass, Hyatt, Ritz Carlton. If you are a member of their partners, this would be a great card to get. In addition, you also earn earn double points for travel and dining, which makes it easier to rack up your points.