topic Re: southwest vs united mileage plus? in Credit Cards

southwest vs united mileage plus?

Anonymous — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 09:49:16 GMT

I'm looking for my second airline credit card. I have the us airways and people say it's good to use it to travel domestically. Should my next card be a chase southwest or united milesage plus if I plan to use it both domestically and internationally? Which has large fuel surcharges?

Re: southwest vs united mileage plus?

Anonymous — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 10:27:23 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I'm looking for my second airline credit card. I have the us airways and people say it's good to use it to travel domestically. Should my next card be a chase southwest or united milesage plus if I plan to use it both domestically and internationally? Which has large fuel surcharges?

Don't get Southwest. There are changes coming to their miles program that is going to make them more difficult to use. I'm not a big fan of airline specific cards, with US Airways (for the bonus miles) and United (for the club passes) being the only two I recommend.

Instead of an airline specific card, have you thought about Chase Sapphire Preferred? If you aren't interested in that one, I say go for Capital One Venture or United,.

Re: southwest vs united mileage plus?

bigbang91 — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 10:49:07 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I'm looking for my second airline credit card. I have the us airways and people say it's good to use it to travel domestically. Should my next card be a chase southwest or united milesage plus if I plan to use it both domestically and internationally? Which has large fuel surcharges?

You should app for citi aa platinum, together with ur Usairways miles which soon be converted to aa miles, you will have 100k points to spend. Another sugesstion is Chase BA, good redemption value for short haul domestic, aa/us airways flights within US and to asia, within Australia, just not good to Europe due to high fuel surcharge.

Re: southwest vs united mileage plus?

Anonymous — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 11:41:38 GMT

@bigbang91 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I'm looking for my second airline credit card. I have the us airways and people say it's good to use it to travel domestically. Should my next card be a chase southwest or united milesage plus if I plan to use it both domestically and internationally? Which has large fuel surcharges?
You should app for citi aa platinum, together with ur Usairways miles which soon be converted to aa miles, you will have 100k points to spend. Another sugesstion is Chase BA, good redemption value for short haul domestic, aa/us airways flights within US and to asia, within Australia, just not good to Europe due to high fuel surcharge.

I actually disagree on getting the Citi AA card. Its features are going to be exactly the same as the soon to be converted AA Aviator cards.

Re: southwest vs united mileage plus?

visorboy1974 — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 12:03:50 GMT

If it's between Southwest and United, go with United. Southwest flies an extremely limited Int'l route to Mexico/Caribbean while United has a pretty extensive Int'l routing.

Re: southwest vs united mileage plus?

bigblue7722 — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 12:25:53 GMT

I would not get either card at the moment. Wait for a better sign up bonus. The US air card is the best deal out there. You just missed the southwest bonus. The united bonus was in aug of last year, my guess is that it will happen around the same time this year.

Re: southwest vs united mileage plus?

visorboy1974 — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 13:09:56 GMT

@bigblue7722 wrote:
I would not get either card at the moment. Wait for a better sign up bonus. The US air card is the best deal out there. You just missed the southwest bonus. The united bonus was in aug of last year, my guess is that it will happen around the same time this year.

If there's a local Chase branch for the OP, they can apply at the branch and ask for the 50K offer. Chase will honor it.

Re: southwest vs united mileage plus?

bigbang91 — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 13:13:15 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@bigbang91 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I'm looking for my second airline credit card. I have the us airways and people say it's good to use it to travel domestically. Should my next card be a chase southwest or united milesage plus if I plan to use it both domestically and internationally? Which has large fuel surcharges?
You should app for citi aa platinum, together with ur Usairways miles which soon be converted to aa miles, you will have 100k points to spend. Another sugesstion is Chase BA, good redemption value for short haul domestic, aa/us airways flights within US and to asia, within Australia, just not good to Europe due to high fuel surcharge.
I actually disagree on getting the Citi AA card. Its features are going to be exactly the same as the soon to be converted AA Aviator cards.

I know,i advise OP apply for the points,AF fee waive for 1st year anw?He can convert it to another no AF card when the AF hit.

Re: southwest vs united mileage plus?

Open123 — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 14:18:57 GMT

Currently, neither.

Unless you can find links to the 50K offers, neither is worth applying for with only a 25k or 30K bonus. Presently, you're better off with US Air 50K + Citi AA 50K to combine 100K when the two programs merge in Q2.

Good luck!

Re: southwest vs united mileage plus?

Anonymous — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 14:42:43 GMT

@Open123 wrote:
Currently, neither.

Unless you can find links to the 50K offers, neither is worth applying for with only a 25k or 30K bonus. Presently, you're better off with US Air 50K + Citi AA 50K to combine 100K when the two programs merge in Q2.

Good luck!

The 50K offer for United is pretty easy to find. I'm pretty sure as long as you are a United Mileage member, 1) you'll get bombarded with mailers for the 50K and 2) it's available online after you sign into your account. The recommendation for the Citi and Barclays cards is a good one. Unique opportunity to get 100K miles for very little spend.

Re: southwest vs united mileage plus?

bigbang91 — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 15:17:23 GMT

Me and my wife together have 100k Us airways miles, 50k AAmiles, 50k BAmiles, 100k Delta miles, enough for a lot of flights....

Re: southwest vs united mileage plus?

USF813 — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 16:00:39 GMT

If I needed additional credit and needed another airline card I'd go with United.

Re: southwest vs united mileage plus?

bigbang91 — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 18:41:15 GMT

I actually gonna PC my UE soon, devaluation+ revenue based earning is not worth it

Re: southwest vs united mileage plus?

TrueGeminiNC — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 18:48:50 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I'm looking for my second airline credit card. I have the us airways and people say it's good to use it to travel domestically. Should my next card be a chase southwest or united milesage plus if I plan to use it both domestically and internationally? Which has large fuel surcharges?

I would not recommend either card. There are alot of options out there that provide more flexibility. Depending on where you live, fares are relatively cheap; especially if there are low cost carrier options i.e. Spirit, Frontier. Thereby, it is not worth redeeming miles for an inexpenive ticket. Also, be mindful of the $75 fee United charges if you redeem for award travel less than 21 days prior to travel.

I love the AMEX PRG card and the flexibility to redeem MR points for airline travel, hotels, etc.

Re: southwest vs united mileage plus?

TrueGeminiNC — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 18:51:16 GMT

@bigbang91 wrote:
I actually gonna PC my UE soon, devaluation+ revenue based earning is not worth it

Good point. I forgot both Delta and United have changed the way you earn miles. The new programs are designed to reward the more lucrative customers or business travelers who purchase full fare tickets vs. inexpensive sale fare.

Re: southwest vs united mileage plus?

Anonymous — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 18:52:39 GMT

I think most of the people that say they don't think airline cards are worth it don't live in the PNW. The BoA AK Air Signature Card has tremendous value due to the $99 companion fare you get annually. That alone pays for the AF and saves you hundreds of dollars on a second ticket for traveling.

Out of the cards you are looking at IMO the United is the way to go. Great signup bonus as well as free checked bags. Also I would look at CSP for a more general spend travel card.

Re: southwest vs united mileage plus?

TrueGeminiNC — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 19:04:32 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I think most of the people that say they don't think airline cards are worth it don't live in the PNW. The BoA AK Air Signature Card has tremendous value due to the $99 companion fare you get annually. That alone pays for the AF and saves you hundreds of dollars on a second ticket for traveling.

Out of the cards you are looking at IMO the United is the way to go. Great signup bonus as well as free checked bags. Also I would look at CSP for a more general spend travel card.

Agree. Everyone's situation will be different and it will depend on a number of variables. In my situation, Spirit & Frontier have added a lot of pressure and prices have fallen in my area. Coast-to-Coast fares are as low as $237.00 roundtrip where they were as much as +$500. WIth these new low fares, I would never use award miles for such cheap fares.

Also, in regards to baggage fees - I have the $250 annual airline credit on my Citi Prestige card. Also, AMEX is suppose to be adding a $100.00 travel credit in the near future.

Re: southwest vs united mileage plus?

Anonymous — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 19:08:02 GMT

AMEX just had to add that credit. I'm canceling my Green Card in May before the AF hits and was not going to get the PRG because I recently got the CSP but man, it'll be hard to say no to that now.

Re: southwest vs united mileage plus?

bigbang91 — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 19:56:52 GMT

@TrueGeminiNC wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I think most of the people that say they don't think airline cards are worth it don't live in the PNW. The BoA AK Air Signature Card has tremendous value due to the $99 companion fare you get annually. That alone pays for the AF and saves you hundreds of dollars on a second ticket for traveling.

Out of the cards you are looking at IMO the United is the way to go. Great signup bonus as well as free checked bags. Also I would look at CSP for a more general spend travel card.

Agree. Everyone's situation will be different and it will depend on a number of variables. In my situation, Spirit & Frontier have added a lot of pressure and prices have fallen in my area. Coast-to-Coast fares are as low as $237.00 roundtrip where they were as much as +$500. WIth these new low fares, I would never use award miles for such cheap fares.

Also, in regards to baggage fees - I have the $250 annual airline credit on my Citi Prestige card. Also, AMEX is suppose to be adding a $100.00 travel credit in the near future.

loving my prestige after only 2 days,still drooling over its enormous benefit for 100$ AF.BTW when did you receive ur priority pass??

Re: southwest vs united mileage plus?

TrueGeminiNC — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 20:48:44 GMT

@bigbang91 wrote:
@TrueGeminiNC wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I think most of the people that say they don't think airline cards are worth it don't live in the PNW. The BoA AK Air Signature Card has tremendous value due to the $99 companion fare you get annually. That alone pays for the AF and saves you hundreds of dollars on a second ticket for traveling.

Out of the cards you are looking at IMO the United is the way to go. Great signup bonus as well as free checked bags. Also I would look at CSP for a more general spend travel card.

Agree. Everyone's situation will be different and it will depend on a number of variables. In my situation, Spirit & Frontier have added a lot of pressure and prices have fallen in my area. Coast-to-Coast fares are as low as $237.00 roundtrip where they were as much as +$500. WIth these new low fares, I would never use award miles for such cheap fares.

Also, in regards to baggage fees - I have the $250 annual airline credit on my Citi Prestige card. Also, AMEX is suppose to be adding a $100.00 travel credit in the near future.

loving my prestige after only 2 days,still drooling over its enormous benefit for 100$ AF.BTW when did you receive ur priority pass??

I haven't really explored the priority pass feature. I currently have access to the United Club for the next year. However, I rarely use the club. With Global Entry/TSA Pre-Check I zip through the security lines. Thereby, I arrive at the airport within minutes of departure time with no time to enter the club.

In my opinion, the club (specifically United Club) isn't worth the cost. The only reason that I have it is because it was free.

Notably, I will say that I wish AMEX would add their Centurion lounges as a perk to the PRG. I heard their lounges were really nice inclusive of real food. If I ever visit an airport with a Centurion lounge, I would probably go to the airport early simply to visit the lounge.