what's your favorite rewards program?

[cheapie]

in my job, i travel semi-frequently (2 times/month) and have the opportunity to build up miles/points/etc.

i currently have:
nwa credit card for personal use
amex rewards for work
hilton honors

through the nwa visa and by flying nwa, i've got 4 ff tickets this year so far. through amex, i've got enough points for $100 gc for dell, and tons of others. i have a free stay at hilton already. i'm looking for the best possible combination.


what cc/hotel/airline programs offer you the best payback?

[whitak24]

imo, amex's rewards points suck big-time. they can't be transferred to nearly enough FF programs, and the rewards that you can buy aren't that great (and aren't super good deals). i much prefer diners club points.

HHonors is great - when i was traveling we used mostly marriott and marriott rewards is a crap program. on the other hand, HHonors is really good and extremely generous, particularly when they run "double-dip" programs with NWA (where you get both NWA miles and HHonors points for the same stay).

/me waits for psycho- to preach the merits of united's FF program :P

[Jeffbx]

Used to be that the GM card had the best program - 5% of all purchases can go toward a new GM car or truck. I must have redeemed about $6000 over the life of that program. They apparently were losing their shirt on the deal, because they recently cut it back to like 1 or 2%, so I cancelled my card.

I like the Amex membership rewards program - I have my corporate card tied into my Blue card, which apparently you're not supposed to be able to do, but both cards are going into the same account. I got $400 in Crate & Barrel GCs for my wife last year, so she was a happy camper about that.

[bachviet]

I use my Chase Freedom MasterCard, which gives me 5% back from gasoline purchase and 1% back from everything else.

[InfiniteNothing]

Amex blue in the money flavor gives you up to 5% back. It's actually only 3% if you always pay your bill off on time and that's only on like the supermarket, gas, and some other stuff, otherwise it's like 1%

[cheapie]

it's nice using the miles, rooms, etc. when i go on vacation.

i also earn miles through hertz. they add up very slowly.

[Airencracken]

I don't have a credit card. I need one. But I'm not sure if I could get one or which one I should get. Any opinions?

[Jeffbx]

If you're a student, you probably see ads all over campus for credit cards - go with one of those to start with. As long as you're enrolled in a university, they don't look as closely at your credit rating. The credit limit is usually pretty low to start with ($500 or so), but it'll grow quickly as long as you're never late with any payments.

As soon as you turn 18 you should ALWAYS get yourself a credit card (doesn't matter which one - Visa or MC are the most widely accepted). Don't buy anything that you can't pay off every month (don't carry a balance), and it will do wonders for your credit rating. Even if you only use it once a month to buy something you already have money for, the impact on your credit will be great.

[attgig]

I got sony card...

kinda blows, but put so much money through it already,...that i gotta finish spending my points..

but yeah...points just ain't all that worth it unless it's paid for by your company.

[Jihforce]

got the sony card as well. i think its ok. I can order a movie and they pay for shipping and there are not taxes to pay either. So it kinda beats cash back in my opinion.
I also use Amex Rewards to get car rental coupons and other types of GCs. I can also transfer my points to my Delta Skymiles. What sucks is that it costs double the points to transfer to Skymiles. But its better than nothing.

[psycho-]

UAL Mileage Plus Visa card
UAL Mileage Plus
AAdvantage
AMEX Points

State Farm, keeping my points low is a reward in itself

[Apex]

The best thing about the amex blue points?

http://www.membershiprewards.com/ProductDetail.aspx?clgid=3&catid=160&scatid=178&aid=55370

http://www.membershiprewards.com/ProductDetail.aspx?clgid=3&catid=160&scatid=178&aid=51630

Still, I'd rather take cash. Nothing beats 1.5%. :)