Travelling with Credit Card Points – How can you do it without Hassles?
We all know someone that has used their credit card points to buy air plane tickets. These days, we can buy almost anything with reward points (from lattes to Canada Wonderland tickets!). However, the most popular reason people use their credit card points is still to travel. Air miles and Aeroplan have signed numerous partnerships with well known companies in order to boost their reward programs’ popularity. While Air Miles has teamed up with BMO – MasterCard, Aeroplan decided to go with the CIBC Visa. However, both reward programs have many similar flaws:
Reward Miles doesn’t cover the entire cost of travelling
When I tried to purchase my very first tickets with my Air Miles, I was surprised to see some “hidden fees”. My credit card points didn’t cover GST taxes or the airport fees. So, my trip wasn’t entirely free.
Reward Miles can expire
While this is not the case for Air Miles, Aeroplan points do expire! This means that if you don’t redeem points from your account regularly, your mileage points may expire without further notice. What can be more frustrating than using your reward points credit card faithfully for years in order to take your family to Walt Disney World only to realize that you can’t take them on a trip, not even to a Disney movie, because your point balance is a big fat 0!
Seat restrictions
This is another point that upset me. If you want to redeem your credit card points to buy airplane tickets, you are subject to seat restrictions. Both Air Miles and Aeroplan “reserve” a specific amount of seats on each plane and they can’t provide an additional spot if you book too late. The last time I have tried to book a ticket with my points, I couldn’t get a spot on a Vancouver – Kelowna flight 3 weeks in advance. Thx to Air Miles, I have had to pay the full amount even though I had 5,000 air miles in my account! A reader had a similar experience with Aeroplan, he had to redeem 150% of the normal points to fly Montreal – Halifax even when booking six months in advance because all available seats were taken, yeah right.
Airline company limitations
Depending on the reward program you chose, you might be limited to a few airline companies. Therefore, you won’t be able to select the airline you want unless it is part of their reward program.
Travelling with Credit Card Points – Are there any solutions?
There is a much better way to use your credit card points to travel for free. Select a credit card that gives you a cash reimbursement upon the purchase of an airplane ticket. This can be done in 3 easy steps:
#1 You book your air fare (online, with a travel agency or through the airline directly).
#2 You pay with your credit card.
#3 You redeem your credit card points online or by phone to get for your air fare reimbursed.
Using this method;
- You get full reimbursement for your travel (including taxes).
- You are not limited to specific seats.
- You are not limited to specific airlines.
- And your points never expire!
Where can I get such great credit card with no hassle rewards?
There are a few credit cards offering cash for credit card points upon purchases. One of them is the Miles Plus Platinum MasterCard by Capital One. They include No Hassle Rewards such as:
- No Hidden Fees,
- Reward miles covering the entire cost of your travel
- Reward miles that don’t expire
- No seat / airline restriction
- Redeem your points online or by phone
image source: caribb
October 17th, 2009 at 5:45 am
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October 17th, 2009 at 9:08 am
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