Whilst there are bountiful offers in the USA for Credit Cards and Current Accounts that give you 25,000 miles on signup, the picture is a little different over here, as in most current accounts tend to be service driven, with the user paying for extra services to be bundled into the account.
However, there is a veritable feast of miles for grabs out there in case you’re on the hunt to top off your account
Miles bearing accounts:
| Card Name | Sponsoring Programme | Issuer | Type | Fee | APR | Signup bonus | Earn Methods |
| BMI Amex | BMI Diamond Club | MBNA | American Express | Nil | 15.9% | 20,000 | 3 miles/pound on BMI Spend, 1.5 miles/pound on all other spend |
| BMI Plus Amex | BMI Diamond Club | MBNA | American Express | £60 | 17% (27.1) |
24,000 + BMI Blue+ or 3000 Status Miles | 4 miles/pound on BMI Spend, 2 miles/pound on all other spend |
| BA Amex | British Airways Executive Club | American Express | American Express | Nil | 19.9% | 1000 | 1 mile / Pound with Companion voucher over £20k spend |
| BA Amex + | British Airways Executive Club | American Express | American Express | £150 | 20.1% (46.1%) |
6,000 | 1.5miles/Pound with Companion voucher over £10k spend |
| Miles and More | Lufthansa Miles and More | MBNA | American Express | Nil | 15.9 | 6,000 (M&M; miles now no longer expire) | 3 miles/Pound first 6 months 2 miles/Pound thereafter. |
| Virgin Atlantic White | Virgin Atlantic Flyign Club | MBNA | American Express | Nil | 17.9 | 3,000 | 2 miles/ Pound on VS, Virgin Holidays 1 mile / Pound on other spend |
| Virgin Atlantic Black | Virgin Atlantic Flyign Club | MBNA | American Express | £115 | 18.9 (37.1) |
6,000 | 4 miles/ Pound on VS, Virgin Holidays 2 miles/Pound on other spend |
| United | United Mileage Plus | MBNA | American Express | Nil | 15.9 | None | 1 mile/Pound |
Ok, Lets do some weeding. The Virgin cards whilst attractive are very poor value for money unless you’re after a specific award. In addition the £115 fee for a card does take the biscuit. The United card is also really isn’t worth a lot in terms of gifts.
For Lufthansa/Austrian/Swiss/LOT fliers then the Miles and More Card will be very attractive – least for its signup bonus (which isn’t too shabby) but for the non-expiry of miles which towards an end of year – could be very important.
Now the BA Credit Cards with the 20k/10k “241” vouchers. Depending how you use this, could be good value. The core thing to remember that booking these into World Traveller/World Traveller is a waste of cash, and should be used for longhaul Club World and First tickets to achieve maximum value.
And Finally – the BMI/BMI Plus Credit cards. As can visibly seen, the highest miles giveaway (20k on the basic card), and if you go with the Plus version – elevation of status or 3000 status miles). You can waste these on a shorthaul return, or if you’re creative, how does Russia in business class sound with Cash and Miles? Another 17500 miles, and its a cash+miles return to the USA…
If you’ve noted above, MBNA are the major issuers of credit cards for travelling with, so if you have an MBNA card – be prepared for a low limit or refuseal.
It REALLY helps to understand the program you’re signed up to – or considering signing up to to see if you can exploit
Next time: LCC Credit cards – use them and cancel them or keep?
