One of the must-haves for a frequent air traveller is an airline credit card. You can earn many benefits with different airline credit cards. You should try going for the card which offers the maximum benefits for the airline you travel with mostly. Different banks have partnered with different airlines and are offering a variety of benefits. You can sign up for one or more of them and enjoy the perks. So how do you choose the best credit card for yourself, because one airline might have different cards associated with it. Keep reading ahead to find out.
Air Miles Worth in Terms of Actual Currency
One of the most important factors while choosing from different airline cards is to choose the one which provides the maximum value with their reward points. Whenever you make purchases with your credit card, you earn points against the total amount of your transaction and those points are converted into air miles with airline credit cards. Air miles have a certain value against a particular currency. If you are going for a card associated with an Indian airline and bank, the naturally the air miles will be convertible against India’s currency — Rupee. Likely, for the U.S., the currency will be in dollars. But the catch here is, every bank and airline have different policies for the air miles values. So you should go with the card which helps you in earning points which contain a high value in terms of actual currency.
Are Airline Credit Cards better than General Travel Cards?
Airline credit cards are much better than the general travel credit cards if you particularly travel with one or two airlines. Having the airline cards for your preferred air carriers will help you earn maximum benefits from making transactions with them. General cards don’t offer many benefits tied to a single airline so that can be a loss for you if you only travel with one or two airlines. So the more you fly with a single airline using the credit card associated with them, the more points and benefits you will be able to earn.
Consider a Card with No Annual Fee
There are two types of card that you will find — ones with no fee and the others with an annual fee. For the airline credit cards with no fee, you just have to meet the eligibility criteria of the bank for a successful application. But the cards which come with an annual fee requires a payment to be done to access the benefits of the card. The latter should be avoided in case there is a good airline card without any fee offering tons of benefits. But that doesn’t rule out the fact that some of the best airline credit cards come with an annual fee. In case you can avoid a card with an annual fee, that’s just a bonus for you in earning benefits.
Making the Most out of Your Card
For making the most of your online credit card, you just need to do one simple thing — spend more using the card. That’s it! To earn benefits, bonuses, and reward points, you need to keep spending money from your card. Be sure that you are aware of all the benefits and perks that the card offers apart from benefits that come with booking flights. Some of the good credit cards also offer airport lounge access and free bag check-in and much more. Check with the bank about all the policies revolving around your credit card so that you don’t get penalised over late payments or anything else.
