Why You Should NOT Get an Airline Credit Card

Transferrable Points Are Flexible

Getting a credit card not only means looking at the cost/benefit of the card perks and annual fee, but also means analyzing the opportunity cost of missing out on other cards. There is a reason that Chase, Amex, Capital One, Citi, and now Wells Fargo are popular among travel hackers. They have the ability to get transferrable points, which means you can transfer them out to different airline and hotel partners. The nature of flexibility lends itself naturally to a strong case for these cards as a start, middle, and end game. For example, Chase Ultimate Reward points can be earned through a myriad of different cards that can combine and then be transferred out to Southwest for domestic flights, Hyatt hotels for stays, or Air France for European destinations. That flexibility is key when starting out in the travel hacking journey. 

Airline Alliances Exist

Probably the biggest misconception in travel hacking is the idea that you need a specific airline's miles to book that flight. One couldn't be more wrong about this. There is a reason Delta points are nicknamed "Sky Pesos" because of how many points you have to use to redeem for a short domestic flight. So how to travel hackers still fly on Delta and access Delta One? It's by booking through Delta's partners on Skyteam. Just because you're looking to fly on a Delta flight, doesn't mean you book through Delta. Partners like Virgin Atlantic and Air France can book Delta flights, for a fraction of the miles it would cost on Delta. If you only had Delta cards and not any of the transferrable points above, you would be stuck with high point fares. 

Another example is from my own Brussels Trip a few months ago. 

I was flying United Polaris business class and for the same flight, I found different prices on Star Alliance partners. 

• United: 80,000 points and $5.90 per person

• Air Canada: 60,000 points and $119 per person

• Turkish Airlines: 45,000 points and $5.90 per person 

As you can see, just because I wanted to fly United, doesn't mean I book through United. Getting an airline credit card locks you in to the airline and redemption rates, so it may not be the wisest decision. 

How Much Are You Actually Flying? 

The average person likely doesn't travel enough to even warrant an airline credit card anyways. Even for consultants who are flying every week, it's probably better to get a premium travel credit card for the transferrable points explained above, the insurance and protections, and likely the same or better earn rate. For example, the American Express Platinum is 5x on flight booked directly with the airline. United's best card only offers 4x on United purchase. 

So while the airline credit cards do offer nice perks and bonuses while flying with them, it's likely the cost/benefit analysis weigh more towards getting other cards first. 

Other Options Exhausted

One reason to start getting airline credit cards is simply because you've exhausted all the other options of transferrable currencies. Now, it may make sense to get miles in areas that you need to build back up for future trips. However, this doesn't mean you apply willy nilly or to the airline you fly the most. For example, it may make sense to get the Iberia, Aer Lingus, and British Airways credit cards first since they all combine into Avios that can be used to book domestic American Airlines flights. 

Checked Bags

A strong perk of most airline credit cards is the free checked bag for you and likely at least one other companion. If you're someone that travels a decent amount on one airline and checks bags frequently, then getting an airline credit card solely for this reason could help save a lot of money. The key here is to incorporate the card into a behavior you already have. If you suddenly start checking bags more simply because you received this benefit, whereas previously you would not, you're likely just raising your own cost of living. 

Chasing Status

Some airline credit cards allow you to spend towards status fully, or partially.   This beats having to actually fly the number of required miles or spend X amount on flights. Airline status provides priority boarding, lounge access, and potential upgrades to business or first class. Most of the time, I personally don't think it's worth spending so much money to achieve some of these perks, especially considering that you're not flying enough to get the status organically. However, if you have a lot of spend, it may be helpful to spend toward status instead of multiple new credit cards.  

American Airlines

American Airlines could potentially be an exception to the rule of airline credit cards. Since no other bank transfers to AA, getting AA miles is harder. However, there are still ways to get AA miles like through their shopping portal and Bask Bank. And you can still find domestic AA award flights on British Airways and other partners.  If you are in a AA hub, it may be more top of the list to get the AA cards, especially the business versions from Citi and Barclays since they don't count to 5/24 and give you big bonuses for little spend. 

Southwest Companion Pass

Southwest Airlines has a very lucrative deal where if you get a certain amount of points with them, you can get a free companion pass. That means whenever you fly with this companion, the fare for the companion is free (you still pay taxes and fees).  When you obtain this threshold you get the companion pass for the remainder of the year and the following year, so most people get it in early January to get the pass for virtually 2 years. 

While you can earn Southwest points by flying Southwest a lot, what most credit card hackers do is open two Southwest credit cards (one person, one business) to get the sign-up bonuses on both cards to put them over the threshold to obatining companion pass. If you fly Southwest a lot as a couple, this can be a huge money-saver and important place in your credit card strategy.