Airline Credit Cards-"The Travel Addiction"

by Michele Cheplic | More from this Blogger

23 Jun 2006 11:11 AM

I live in the Wisconsin. My parents live in Hawaii. Needless to say, we do a lot of flying back and forth to see each other. (They like to see my 2-year-old daughter as much as possible.) So, after about a dozen offers to apply for an airline credit card (generally you earn one mile for every dollar you charge), I broke down, applied and received my new American Airlines platinum card in the mail. I couldn't wait to break it in.

I received the card a few weeks before Christmas. Just in time to have it accompany me on my gift gathering adventures (a.k.a. shopping sprees). I used the card for all of my purchases. My rationale: friends and family members got wonderful gifts meanwhile, I had already accumulated enough frequent flier miles to get half way to Hawaii. When January rolled around my husband suggested that "we" ease up on the card use. Perhaps, I did go a bit overboard. But, the idea that I was "earning" all these miles and would soon see my daughter frolic on the beach with her grandparents once again, fueled my charging.

And I am not alone. In fact, I found that my addiction to accumulating miles paled in comparison to others. SUVs. Mortgages. College tuition. Those are just some of the big-ticket items that frequent-fliers are charging to their airline credit cards. And why not? These days the market is saturated with airline-related credit card options. So it should come as no surprise that many frequent-fliers are taking their spending to new levels in an effort to boost their mileage balances. Here are some of the more extreme examples as reported by some not-so shy frequent-fliers:

· A Maryland lawyer charged the $9,000 bill for her father's funeral to her US Airways Visa card.

· A man received 20,000 Continental miles by using his card to pay for his wife's facelift.

· A woman racked up 40,000 United miles paying for her home's new bathroom.

Of course, there is a downside to the "reward" miles. Most airline credit cards charge annual fees of up to $85. In addition, the interest rates on these cards are generally much higher than non-airline credit cards. Finally, with so many frequent-fliers accumulating miles on these cards it has become practically impossible to redeem "reward" miles for free airline tickets, especially to destinations like... Hawaii.

Related Articles:

· Selecting A Frequent-Flyer Program

· Hawaii or a Plasma TV

· Teacher + Desire for Free Airline Ticket=Suspension

Learn more about Michele Cheplic

Michele Cheplic was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, but now lives in Wisconsin. Michele graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Journalism.

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