Air miles credit cards is one of the best saving cards for regular travelers, because they could cut cost of your travels by using a credit card that lets you to earn points that you exchange for flights. AirMiles credit cards offer some great benefits, but they are not exact for everyone.

What are AirMiles?

The Airmiles Travel Company is a loyalty program which offers customers points in exchange for spending. If you connected to the scheme, or using your Airmiles credit cards, then points can be gained by shopping at certain places. You can exchange points for rewards, which may include free flights, hotels, car hire and cinema tickets. In most cases, you can use your points or miles to get a free airline ticket to travel to a destination of your choice. There are a lot of companies out there that offer air mile cards.

There are three main air miles schemes:

Airmiles run by Lloyds TSB

UK's most popular travel loyalty scheme Air miles is run by Lloyds TSB. They have been satisfying their customers with Airmiles for their everyday spending for over 20 years.

You will get two pieces of plastic, an Amex and a Mastercard, if you apply for Lloyds Airmiles. The Amex card gives 1 Airmile for every £10 spend and MasterCard gives 1 Airmile for every £50 spent on the card.

For Airmiles, you can exchange Tesco Clubcard vouchers, which gives you 60 Airmiles for £2.50 spent. You can earn more Airmiles by shopping online with eStore, recycling your mobile phone, filling up with petrol at a Shell service station and shopping at selected car hire and holiday parking firms.

Recently you can get a 1,500 mile voucher by successfully applying for the Lloyds TSB Airmiles Duo Credit Card Account through Airmiles by 30 June 2010 and spend £10* by 31 August 2010.

Features of Air mile credit cards

• Collect miles on your Credit Cards - 1 mile for every £10 or £50 spent*
• 0% interest on balance transfers for 6 months† 3% fee applies. Minimum spend of £100 in the first 3 months applies. (Get 150 miles for every £1,000 transferred)
• Double miles when you use your Credit Cards abroad
• No annual fee

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

Virgin Atlantic credit cards offers flying club miles for every £1 you spend. The miles depend on which card you hold. Virgin Atlantic Flying Club offers two air miles cards White Card and black card. White card gives you 1 Flying Club mile for every £1 spent and Black Card gives you 2 Flying Club miles for every £1 you spend. The black card comes with an annual fee of £115 and an APR of 37.1% compared to the fee-free White Card which has an APR of 17.9%. You can be spent Flying Club miles Virgin Atlantic and bmi flights, Eurostar and Virgin Holidays.

British Airways American Express Card

You can earn BA (British Airways) miles every time, if you have a BA AMEX Credit Card or Platinum card. BA AMEX Credit card gives 1 BA Miles for every £1 spent and Platinum card gives 1.5 BA Miles for every £1 you spent on the card. Platinum card comes with annual fee of £150 and APR of 46% compared to the fee-free Credit Card which has a lower APR of 19.9%.

You can redeem BA Miles on BA flights. You can 9,000 BA Miles will get you to Europe “zone 1” but you will need 15,000 BA Miles plus to get further field in Europe or 40,000 miles or more to get to Asia or Africa.

How to collect Airmiles?

Collect Airmiles on almost everything you buy, from groceries to petrol, because they have more than 200 online partners. If you collect more airmiles, then you can use more and also you can be able to fly. Collect miles from below items:

• Groceries
• Credit card spend
• Mortgages
• Travel shopping
• Petrol
• Online shopping

Using Airmiles

When you are collecting miles on your everyday shopping, you can use them for free flights, with airline taxes, fees and surcharges included. Their flights are stays in 7 easy zones, so it is easy to see where your miles can take you. You can Use miles for below things:

• Worldwide flights in 7 easy zones
• Thousands of worldwide hotels
• Brochure holidays from the UK’s leading companies
• Specialist getaways – like cruise, ski and snow
• UK days out and activities
• Even wine cases

Air miles cards advantages:

• Use more your card and earn more miles. The best way to profit from frequent-flyer and Airmile reward schemes is to to use your credit card for as many transactions as possible each month, while having a direct debit set up to pay the balance in full.
• Some cards also offer discounts at partner stores.
• Gives insurance like Lost or delayed luggage insurance, Travel and/or hotel saving,        
• Flight delay or cancellation insurance and Worldwide travel insurance.
• Free card protection, Internet fraud protection

Air miles cards Disadvantages:

• Hidden charges: One of the main complaints was the fact that there are often hidden costs when claiming “free” flights. This occurs when the flight itself is free, but any applicable taxes, fees and surcharges are on top.
• Not all spending on the card will earn you Airmiles
• Fees: The cards offering the most Airmiles tend to have an annual fee.
• Being loyal: You should also look into their loyalty system. Some cards give you more points if you spend your money in certain shops, encouraging you to spend with them.

You Might Also Like :

• Airmiles UK Account Login Guide
• Citibank Commercial Credit Cards at Home.cards.citidirect.com
• American Express: Student Credit Cards Review
• New IDBI Magic Debit/Credit Card : Features
• Manage your CitiBank Credit Card
• Westpac Earth Platinum Credit Card: Review & Features