Credit Card for traveling, earning miles HELP!

[Anonymous]

Hello, I am fairly new into the credit card world. I have a BOA secured card for $500 and balance 0 (in may will become unsecured) and I have with local credit union limit of 1000.00 but I always pay in full every month. I get so many card offers in the mail and all of them say I earn some bonus points... I always shred them because I have no interest in getting so many credit cards but since I am traveling every year USA-Eastern Europe, me and my husband cross lot's of miles... My question is is there a credit card that for example if I use it so many times and get miles after so many I get a free flight? Or how that works? I try googleing different companies but none of the websites give you nice explanations. 

Thank you so much for any help because I am really confused!!!! 

[snowangel]

A lot of cards are offering nice sign up bonuses (miles/points) that should get you a free flight.  It's a matter of finding one that fits your spending.  I don't know of any though that will give you a free flights after using it "x" amount of times.  There are a lot of frequent flyer forums out there that can help you with this.

[Walt_K]

Try reading the following: thepointsguy.com, frugaltravelguy.com, millionmilesecrets.com, boardingarea.com/blogs/viewfromthewing, boardingarea.com/blogs/mommypoints, boardingarea.com/blogs/onemileatatime, milepoint.com, flyertalk.com.

It may still be confusing, but those should help.  Unfortunately, the programs are all rather complex with their own redemption rules and policies, and the program websites are buggy/broken, so it can be a pain sometimes to redeem your miles, but if you have the patience to figure it all out, it's worth it.  No one card or program is perfect.

[2NE1]

I wonder if you do qualify for those type of CCs since you're new to credit.

[frogfan12]

Which airline will you be flying? That would determine which card you need to look at. 

[Anonymous]

Either Virgin Atlantic or Lufthansa

[Walt_K]

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@frogfan12 wrote:

Which airline will you be flying? That would determine which card you need to look at. 

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Not necessarily true.  Amex PRG earns 3x points for all airfare, which is usually better than what the airline branded card would offer.  Chase Sapphire Preferred offers 2x on airfare, and if you book through Chase's travel site, I belive you get 3x. 

[Anonymous]

My advice, go for the capital one Venture card. However it is quite hard to get so with your score and limited history you won't get it until you build your credit. In the meantime go for a good cashback card or cards. Get the Chase Freedom and/or Discover more and use them for bonus categories, then use the capital one green cash card for everything else and also it has no foreign transaction fees which makes it a great foreign travel card.

Your credit may still be a little too thin for those cards as well but just giving you an idea, go for the best cashback cards you can get.

If you go for airline miles or points in Virgin atlantic or lufthansa both those airlines charge fuel surcharges on award tickets, so your "free" flight to europe will cost several hundreds of dollars. It will still be cheaper than purchasing a flight outright, but not by much which esentially makes those airline miles worthless. The American carriers (United, American, Delta, and US airways) don't have fuel surcharges so if you do want an airline miles card, go with one of them. You can redeem United miles on Lufthansa.