Credit Card for miles?

tlbattaglia · September 2010

I bought the Grooms Guide book for my FI...and he actually looked at it!

Well, one thing he read was getting a credit card to pay for wedding things that gives you miles we could use for the honeymoon. Has anyone done this? We have the money to pay for everything...but we'd just charge it, and then pay it right away. Any good card recommendations?

waltzingmatilda13 · September 2010

Would you actually spend enough to earn miles to get anywhere? It typically takes about 25,000 thousand points to earn any kind of travel and they have lots of blackout dates and you have to book in advance. And they charge annual fees just for having the card. Just keep all that in mind when you start looking at cards and compare to see who offers the most for the least effort.

vegasgroom · September 2010

Yeah I don't think that would work, most 'miles' cards have a gap between what you've spent and when those rewards become available, and I've never seen it be less than a month after the close of the statement period, while most of the big wedding expenses don't occur until the month of the wedding, or don't have to be paid for until that time I mean.

VESmith25 · September 2010

My husband and I did this to cover one ticket for the honeymoon but I already had enough miles to cover one ticket plus an additional 10k. He opened the Delta AmEx which gives you 25k after you make your first purchase. I then transferred him 10K and we had two free tickets to the Caribbean. We planned ahead, however, and redeemed our miles in October for our July wedding.

Depending on where you go you and when you will need a minimum of 25k per ticket. It really does depend on where and when you plan to take your honeymoon. If you are leaving right after your wedding I don't think this option will work for you. There just isn't enough time to earn the miles and redeem them. It is also best to redeem miles very early and be flexible because there are only limited seats available for purchase using miles. We have booked tickets using miles many times but usually book right when the tickets become available in order to get our preferred dates and be able to book for the least amount of miles.

tlbattaglia · September 2010

We haven't paid for anything but a $600 thus far for the wedding. Our wedding is in Vegas in May 2011. We're not looking to honeymoon for at least 6 months after that. I have found some that have annual fees and things like that. I was just wondering if anyone had done this. I figured if it was an idea from a book on ways to save...so I believe that somehow it works for at least some people.

emilyinchile · September 2010

If you travel a fair amount anyway, this is a really good idea. However, since most cards do have annual fees, I wouldn't do it just for one trip.

bfernz · September 2010

I had the American Advantage card and used my miles to pay for our RT airfare to California from N.Y. However, they are miles I had accumulated over years, and was unable to use because of so many restrictions or not having enough for other trips. Not sure if you can rack up enough points in time for HM, though. Some vendors don't take CC.

If you can use CC though, and will not pay interest by paying it right away, why not get some points.

caseyandlizzie · September 2010

We have the AmEx with Delta miles and have been paying for wedding stuff on it and paying it off each month. We travel a lot anyway and its definitely worth it for us. While we've been saving up points for our honeymoon, we've also been able to cash in points here and there for other trips we've had in the past year. I agree that if you're going to pay it off every month it is worth it, but if you don't have the cash, don't do it....you don't want debt going into a marriage.

evilstepmom · October 2010

My fiance and I both did this. We now pay all our monthly expenses on the card, then pay off the card. Combine that with the fact that most cards give you 10k-25k miles just for opening the card, and it was totally worth it. We both already had miles saved up for the airline (USAirways) but we're going to Bora Bora so those flights take a TON of miles. These cards will easily put us over what we need by the time we have to book the flights. The annual fee is about $50, but considering those flights would easily be $1500 each, it's worth it.

Beachy730 · October 2010

I know this thread is old but I didn't see my card on it so I thought I'd add to it. I opened a Discover Miles card before the wedding to save up points. I got 6 months interest free, so I put as much as i could for the wedding on it. I had planned on asking for a credit limit raise to put the reception balance on it, but I needed to have the card for 6 months before they would increase it. We still used it for most of the other wedding things, and paid it off immediately. The difference with the Miles card is that you don't need a set amount of points for tickets or anything. You just book a flight or whatever on your card, and theu can apply the miles to any travel purchases within the past so many months (can't remember for sure). I just booked my flight home for Christmas, which was over $400, and I'll be able to take about $120 off of it on my card.

tlbattaglia · October 2010

That sounds like a good deal on a card. Thanks for the advice.

Credit Card for miles?

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