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Why ticket fare from Airline website is higher than that of Travel websites like yatra, makemytrip.com?

Do you have to pay full fare to redeem credit card miles?

  • I am trying to decide on what type of rewards credit card to get. I've narrowed down the two airfare miles cards to the Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier ($99 annual fee) and the Capital One Venture card ($59 annual fee.) The Chase/Southwest card is only good on Southwest (and maybe AirTran, which SWA just bought.) The Capital One card is good for any airline and there are no blackout dates (at least none imposed by Capital One.) The Chase/Southwest card gives a 25,000 mile (about $480 towards the price of a ticket) bonus after the first purchase and the Capital One card gives only 10,000 miles ($100). The Capital One card gives 2 miles for every dollar spent, and the Chase card gives only 1 mile for every dollar spent, unless it is on Southwest airfare or other travel with one of Southwest's partners. The Southwest card also gives 6,000 ($100) bonus miles on every anniversary of receiving the card. However, the Southwest miles expire after two years, and the Capital One miles have no expiration date. For the Chase card, the miles convert to dollars at a ratio of 60 to 1. So, for every 60 miles, it is worth $1.00 towards the price of the ticket. For the Capital One card, it is one percent, so you have to spend 100 miles to get $1.00 towards the price of the ticket. Since you get 2 miles for every dollar on the Venture card, it is actually a 50 to 1 ratio in terms of dollars spent to cash back. My title question is really for the Capital One Venture card as it does not apply to Southwest Airlines: In order for me to redeem those miles, would I have to purchase a full fare ticket, or can I buy a ticket via a travel website like Expedia? I don't travel for business, so the only trips I take are personal vacations. Should I just skip airline miles rewards cards completely and just go for a cash back (or points) card like the Citi Thank You card? Thanks.

  • Answer:

    When you redeem credit card miles, they are the same as normal miles and there is no concept of "fare".

cynic777... at Yahoo! Answers Visit the source

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Skip airmiles. Article after article I read on these miles states that you are better off with a 1% cash back card. I have Capital One Rewards. 1.5% cash back. With those airline miles you can't go to sites like Expedia or Travelocity. You have to pay THEIR fare price, which you already know is going to be double. And, you can't get certain dates (even though commercials state you can). Leave the airline miles for those that can't save for their own vacations. The subprimers. Did you know that 90% of these miles go unused? One late payment, and the miles go away. Also very hard to redeem. And people usually don't like to travel alone. You would have to pay that nasty full fare for your "girl/boy friend".

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