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Cards That Add Free Miles Might Not Be Worth It

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Nov 21, 2008 10:00 pm US/Mountain

Cards That Add Free Miles Might Not Be Worth It

Written by CBS4 special projects producer Vicki Hildner

Reporting
Jim Benemann
DENVER (CBS4) ― Odds are pretty good that in your wallet right now you are carrying a card that builds up airline miles towards free flights.

Americans are currently holding about 45 million of those miles reward cards. But are they still worth it during tough economic times when we might be spending less and airlines might be reducing flights?

For the traveler who flew first class to Italy on his miles, the answer would be yes.

But aviation consultant Mike Boyd has a different perspective.

"It's not free flying by any means," says Boyd. "You want to cash in the miles, you make a reservation, you finally find a seat to wherever you're going and then -- if you have to cancel it -- there's a fee to put the miles back in your account."

If you're wondering if it's worth it to continue to use your airline credit card, ask yourself a few questions.

Can you be flexible in your flight plans? If not, earning more and more miles may never pay off.

"These seats are getting less and less available," explains Boyd.

Do you carry a balance on the card and pay monthly interest?

If you do, you should drop your mileage cards.

Why? Well, add up the fee for the card, the interest you have paid in the past year, the fees to book your flight and you will see pretty quickly that you can probably get a better deal by shopping around for a low fare.

Finally, do you spend enough on the card -- either business or personal expenses? If you don't, the card probably isn't worth it.

But if you're a big-spending flexible traveler who pays that balance off every month, you can learn how to make the card work for you.

"Normally the poeple that use them are people who are very erudite travelers," says Boyd. "You"re not dealing with amateurs."

And some of those expert travelers are now switching to a card that gives them cash instead of miles.

(© MMIX CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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