I am not the biggest traveler in the world. I am not on the elite status anywhere and I haven’t logged over a million miles. I do travel though and had gotten an AA (American Airlines) credit card a few years back. I had been flying with them quite a bit and thought it would be good to gain from my spending and flying. I gained 50,000 miles quickly and had been trying to use my miles for about a year. There were never seats left when I was trying to fly and I looked in advance. Then last night I was finally able to get two tickets for free (plus tax). I got two tickets to Ecuador for 35,000 miles each. I figure I saved a cool $800 each. I have paid around $700-$1,500 for the flights before.
I am now looking to build up more miles, now that I see that I can actually use them. My credit card limit is low so the typical mindset would say that it would take time to build up the miles. I have a ~$9,000 limit, so I can get 9,000 miles a month. Or if I strategize I can prepay as much as I want on the card at the beginning of the month then spend as much as I want on the card to get the miles I want. Unfortunately the card I have only allows 50,000 miles a year.
This leads me to wanting to be cool and get a Black Card from Amex. I do not spend the $250,000 that I would need to spend to get the card yet, but it is something that I have had in the back of my mind for a long time. The card cost $7,500 a year as well. The benefits and status sound good though. I just need to start flipping more houses and spending more money so that I can get the card. But for now I feel good with my free tickets. I enjoy travel and really like perks.
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January 4th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
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January 8th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
Do we want the “black card” for any particular reason other than status? Look for businesses in the area that give reward miles for shopping with them. Cleaners, some clothing stores, etc… That way, you can “double dip”.
January 8th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
Just status. It is kinda like the Lambo or Ferrari… More of a goal. Not the most practical and probably something I wouldn’t get once I got to that level. It is a goal to aim for, for me.