30000 Miles United Business Card

For the second or third time this month, I received the "30000 Miles United Business Card" offer from Chase. For the second or third time this month, the credit card offer went into the shredder.

I like Airmiles credit cards, but they take a long time to accumulate enough miles to get any form of frequent flier benefits. Even though the first year's annual fee is waived, the $75 recurring fee real eats into your profit.

Just to break even on the next year, you would have to spend $7,500 on the United Business Card. That same amount charged on your Discover would saved you at least $75.

By the 5th year rolls around, the initial 30000 miles was paid for by you so it's not really free after all. After that, Chase is making a nice tidy profit of $75/year by collecting annual fees from you.

Sure, you can cancel the card, but how often do you cancel credit lines? I can't even remember the last time I canceled a card.

So, for now, they'll keep sending in the "30000 mile" offer and I'll keep shredding them because it's all about saving money whenever possible and I'll use my Discover Card to precisely do that.

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.