Your first mile credit card – Mile Cards 101

This is part of a series helping those of you new to mile credit card rewards maximize value and earn better than a standard 1-2% cash back return. See Part 1: The Goal: You Deserve better than a 1-2% cash back return.

If you’re interested in pursuing rewards higher than the 1-2% return of basic cash back or travel rebate credit cards, then your first mile credit card should be at least one of the following:

• Chase Sapphire Preferred
• Starwood Preferred Guest American Express (Starwood is the program of Sheraton, Westin, W, St. Regis, and Le Meridien hotels)

If you’re not interested in travel rewards, then stick with a good cash rebate card like the Blue Cash Preferred from American Express.

• They’re both backed by the best airline *and* hotel programs. Chase lets you transfer points directly 1:1 into anyone’s United / Continental Airlines mile account — they are the most reliable airlines for finding good worldwide award availability. You can also transfer to Hyatt and Marriott Hotels.
• The Starwood program offers some of the easiest high value rewards out there for hotel stays, particularly its ‘cash and points‘ hotel night redemptions that can offer 5%+ return on your spend. It also has mile transfer — to 20+ airlines at 1:1 and lets you redeem for hotel stays at Sheraton, Westin, W, and Le Meridien hotels for as little as 3,000 points/night.
• They have intro bonuses worth $500+. The 40,000 point intro bonus on the Sapphire Preferred is almost enough for 2 domestic flights, 2 nights at the most lavish of Hyatt properties, or 4 nights at its more budget locations, all $500-$1000+ in total value.
• The Starwood American Express offers 25,000 points as an intro. That may appear to be less than the Chase Sapphire, but that’s enough for 2-3 nights free at most of their properties, which can be a $500-$1000 in value.
• Points are not trapped – you can build on your existing balances in both hotels and airlines. Both of these cards have the ability to transfer points 1:1 or better to other mileage programs. The Sapphire Preferred transfers to anyone’s United/Continental, Hyatt, Marriott, Priority Club, British Airways, Korean Airlines, and Amtrak accounts. Click here to see how it works.
• The Starwood card offers transfer to 20+ airlines at 1:1 including American, Delta, US Airways, and more (Southwest and United/Continental are exceptions)
• If you ‘give up’ on travel rewards, points are good as cash. If for some reason you decide you don’t want to pursue travel rewards, both cards let you use the points for cash value items. The Sapphire Preferred lest you use the points for statement credit at a 1% cash back rate. You can also purchase gift cards from dozens of merchants. The Starwood American Express offers dozens of gift card merchants as well.

Point partner lists — use points directly with any of these

• Sapphire Preferred airline partners: United / Continental (its partners include US Airways, Lufthansa, Air Canada), British Airways (its partners include American, Alaska, Qantas), Korean Airlines (its partners include Delta, Air France, KLM, Alitalia)
• Sapphire Preferred hotel partners: Hyatt, Marriott (generally only useful if you already have Marriott points), Priority Club
• Starwood airline partners: American, Alaska, Air Canada, Alitalia, Air France, British Airways, Delta, US Airways, Virgin Atlantic, and several more.
• Starwood hotel partners: Sheraton, W, Westin, Le Meridien, Four Points, Aloft, St. Regis

Which to choose first?

• If you have United / Continental mile balances already, then it’s a no brainer — start with the Sapphire Preferred’s 50,000 point bonus and build on what you have. United / Continental is our favorite airline for accruing miles because they are so flexible and independent studies have shown they are among the easiest to redeem at ‘low’ levels. The Hyatt point transfer option is also quite lucrative.
• If you fly Delta or American somewhat often, then you may want to start with the Starwood Preferred Guest to take advantage of having the flexibility to transfer points there, though the hotel rewards are so valuable you may want to just keep them in Starwood.
• My personal strategy is to carry both cards. I keep a balance of 25-50,000 Starwood points handy for a free night or two. Then once that’s set, I use the Sapphire Preferred for the remainder of spending because of the 2x points on dining and travel, no foreign transaction fees, and my preference for United miles.

Want to apply?

• Chase Sapphire Preferred secure link to Chase for application and details
• Starwood Preferred Guest secure link to American Express for application and details

Want to dig further?

• Chase Sapphire Preferred review
• Starwood Preferred Guest American Express review
• Mile Credit Card Comparison Calculator to factor all of the above and input your personal spending habits to see which card is most valuable
• How Chase Sapphire Preferred mile transfer works
• How Starwood Preferred Guest mile transfer works
• Best airlines for reward redemption (points only useful if you can actually find a flight to redeem them at high value)