I have many posts on how to get a free trip to Asia, Europe or other places by taking the advantage of Citi thankyou network and American Airline aadvantage program. (post 1, post 2 and post 3) Actually, the free airline ticket is one of the most popular incentives used by credit card companies to attract more applications. With the skyrocket high oil prices, the cost of airfares is going up steadily. This post is trying to list a bunch of credit cards that offer free points, miles or other bonuses that can be used to help you get a free plane ticket. Most of them are airline affinity credit cards, but they include general reward cards as well.
I should also point out that essentially all of them require annual fees but some of them waive the fees for the first year. When you get the promotion points, miles or other bonuses, please close those credit card account immediately. Usually, the rewards account is isolated from the credit card account. So it’s very safe to close the credit card account and sometimes you can even get better offers (A trick credit card companies often imply).
| Card Name | Annual Fee | Note |
| Citi PremierPass Card Elite Level | $70 | 20,000 bonus points after $600 in purchases made within 3 months of account opening |
| The Gold Card from American Express | $125 (waived 1st year) | 25,000 bonus points after $1,000 in purchases made before 10/31/2008 |
| Starwood Preferred Guest Card from American Express | $45 (waived 1st year) | 10,000 bonus points after first purchase which can be transferred to other airline miles |
| Citi PremierPass Card | $0 | 10,000 bonus points after $300 in purchases made within 3 months of account opening |
| Citi Business Card with ThankYou Network | $0 | 15,000 bonus points after $250 in purchases (5,000 points appears in a pop-up window) |
| Citi Professional Card with ThankYou Network | $0 | 10,000 bonus points after $250 in purchases |
| Starwood Preferred Guest Business Card from American Express | $45 (waived 1st year) | 10,000 bonus points after first purchase which can be transferred to other airline miles |
| Discover Miles Card | $0 | 12,000 bonus miles after first purchase |
Airline affinity credit cards
| Card Name | Annual Fee | Note |
| Citi Platinum Select AAdvantage World MasterCard | $75 (waived 1st year) | 25,000 bonus miles after $750 in purchases made within 4 months of account opening |
| Citi Gold AAdvantage World MasterCard | $50 (waived 1st year) | 15,000 bonus miles after $750 in purchases made within 4 months of account opening |
| Gold Delta SkyMiles Credit Card | $95 (waived 1st year) | 20,000 delta skymiles after first purchase, 5,000 more for adding two authorized users |
| Gold Delta SkyMiles Business Credit Card | $95 (waived 1st year) | 20,000 delta skymiles after first purchase, 5,000 more for adding two authorized users |
| Platinum Delta SkyMiles Credit Card | $150 | 20,000 delta skymiles after first purchase, 2,500 more for adding an authorized users |
| JetBlue Card from American Express | $40 | receive 50 TrueBlue points with your first purchase, that’s halfway to an Award Flight |
| JetBlue Business Card from American Express | $40 | receive 50 TrueBlue points with your first purchase, that’s halfway to an Award Flight |
| Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Visa Card | $59 or $39 | 16 Rapid Rewards credits after first use, that’s a free roundtrip award |
| British Airways Visa Signature Card | $75 | 20,000 bonus BA Miles after your first purchase or balance transfer |
| United Milage Plus Visa Card | $60 (waived 1st year) | 20,000 bonus miles after first purchase and 10,000 bonus miles after your first anniversary |
| Continental Airlines World MasterCard | $85 | 21,000 OnePass bonus miles after your first purchase |
| US Airways Visa Card | $90 | 25,000 bonus miles with first purchase |
| Alaska Airlines Visa Signature Card | $75 | 20,000 bonus miles valid for a round trip coach saver award ticket in the continental U.S, Alaska or Canada on Alaska Airlines |
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