Here's another Way to Save with Credit Cards

My wife received a really good credit card offer from American Express today. The Blue Sky is cash back rewards card where you accumulate one bonus point for each dollar you spend.

After you spend your first $500, American Express gives you 7,500 bonus points. This is equivalent to $100 off any airline ticket, hotel stay, and car rental or travel package. You must redeem the bonus points in blocks of 7,500.

Unlike Discover, you’re limited to the travel industry. But American Express pays you 1.3% ($100/$7,500) instead of 1% for Discover purchases.

Blue Sky has no annual fees; the APR for the first 6 months is 0%! Zero-percent loans are nice to have even if it’s only for 6 months. Just set aside what you spend and pay it off before they jack up the rate.

After six months, the rate goes up — at least in my wife’s case — to 12.24%. Your rate maybe higher or lower depending on your credit score. Since I pay off all my balances, I never get charged interest. But still, it’s nice to know that it’s a fairly reasonable rate as far as credit cards go.

Another thing I like about this card is that you’re not tied to any specific airline. I use my United Card to keep my miles alive, but I can’t even remember flying United. We mostly fly Delta or Alaska, so it’s a waste to carry the card and use it to save money. I would like to get Blue Sky, but I already have two American Express Cards, one for personal and one for business expenses.

Since my wife doesn’t have an American Express Card, this is the one she should apply for in her name to help her maintain her credit history. Plus, we can use the $100 American Express hands out to help offset the cost of our vacation next year!

Alaska Air – My Favorite Airline but not my Favorite Credit Card

Alaska Air ranks up there as one of my all time favorite airline carriers. Considering that I’ve racked up over 100,000 frequently flyer miles, my guess is that I’ve flown Alaska more than 50 times.

Despite the frequency, it takes a long time to accumulate miles since they pretty much dominate the LA/Seattle market and those are 2,000 round-trip miles.

Since it takes 20,000 miles to get a first class upgrade, I’ve been saving upgrades for longer flights. That is, vacation to Alaska where the 3,500 mile trip can take up to 7 hours of flight time with a stop in Seattle.

So does it make sense to get the Alaska Air Credit Card? The answer is yes if you live on the west coast and fly between Portland, Los Angeles or Seattle and take frequent trips between these cities. The benefits of moving up to first class are well worth the annual card fee.

If you’re planning to take a vacation or fishing trip to Alaska, and I highly recommend that you do, it’s worth enrolling in Alaska’s frequent flyer program to offset the first class ticket price. (It’s a long flight to Alaska, and believe me, you want to fly first class.)

With the miles you accumulate from your credit card purchases and enrollment bonuses, you should get enough to cover your vacation trip.

Other than frequent business use or one or two vacation trips to Alaska, I would not recommend the Alaska Air Credit Card.