Buy Plane Tickets with Credit Card

If there's any lesson to be learned about Aloha Airlines wrapping up business and shuttering operations, it's that you should buy your tickets with a credit card.  Why?

Let's say you paid cash, check, or debit for your ticket.  Your money is gone - out of your bank account forever... at least until you file your claim with bankruptcy court.  So maybe a year later you might get your money back... or maybe just a portion of it depending on how the repayment proceedings go.

Now a credit card... all you have to do is contact your credit card company and voila.  You get a credit on your statement.  The credit card company now has to file in bankruptcy court to get their money back, but YOU don't have to worry about a thing.

Quick Tips to Save MONEY, the environment, and your credit rating!

1. Need to find a phone number or get listings?  Call 1-800-GOOG-411 for FREE!  It's Google's no cost info line.


2. Buy a powerstrip for items that draw power all the time even when not used (TV/Cable/VCR or Microwave/Coffeemaker) and cut power on the strip when not using them.  You can save 10% of your electricity which could be a savings of $100 a year for some people.


3. Make the switch to CFL lightbulbs.  They use 75% less energy and last up to 10 times longer.  A six pack will run you about $20 but I recently picked up a bunch of 4 packs at Big Lots for $2.


4. Has it been a while since you've asked for an increase on your credit card's limit?  Applying for new credit lowers your score while having more credit open to you raises your score.  Increasing the limit on cards you already have boost your score without hurting it first.


5. Europeans have long known 10 euro or 10 pound flights, but Columbus, OH based SkyBus will be bringnig $10 fares (plus fees and taxes) to the US.  Every flight will have a minimum of 10 $10 seats.  All flights fly between some location and Columbus so from Burbank to Boston will cost you $20.  Hopefully this works out, but budget airline travel lacks a good track record.


6. Speaking of airlines, Yapta (Your Amazing Personal Travel Assistant) looks like just another price tracker for air fare.  But if you already bought your ticket you can enter your confirmation code and Yapta will tell you if that fare drops.  You have to buy your ticket from the airline directly for this to work, but if your fare does drop, you're entitled to a refund or travel credit for the difference.  Most airlines give you the travel credit.  As of now, this works on Alaska, America West, American, Continental, Delta, Northwest, Southwest, and US Airways.

Keep Your Miles From Expiring

By Kate Ashford, Money Magazine Staff Reporter
May Issue (Volume 35 Number 5)

NEW YORK (Money Magazine) — Cashing in miles has gone from hard to harder. In the past six months several carriers have shortened the time you can go between trips (and other mile-earning activities) before your points expire. United and US Airways went from three years to 18 months, and Delta from three years to two. Bad news if you don’t regularly patronize one airline. But you can keep your points in play says Randy Petersen of InsideFlyer.com. You don’t even have to enroll in an airline credit card to do it.

SPEND A FEW BUCKS Buy something you need from one of the airline’s partners. For example, United’s Mileage Plus Mall (mponlinemall.com) is a gateway to the websites of retailers from Apple to FTD. You pay what you would if you went to the store’s site directly, and you earn miles. Find similar deals on other carrier’s sites. You can also earn miles flying with partner airlines – like Continental for Delta.

SPEND A FEW MILES Use a negligible amount of points to buy something other than a plane fare – it will still count as activity. Magazine subscriptions (hint, hint) often cost less than 1,000 miles.

SPEND A FEW MINUTES Respond to a survey at e-miles.com and earn points with Continental, Delta, Northwest or US Airways. The miles aren’t substantial, but they’ll keep your account from going the way of TWA.

ABOUT AIRLINE CREDIT CARDS Unless you find yourself always traveling the same airline (or its partners) a credit card that works on all airlines might be of benefit. Be sure to compare all the different types of cards before settling down on one. They all have different rules and restrictions. Also keep in mind that some airline mileage program cards might give you special benefits that you may not want to give up.

If you choose this route, make sure to check out your credit union for their airline cards. They often give you better deals than the major banks. Also keep in mind that the annual fee (if you get a general mileage card from a bank, try to find one without an annual fee) will eat away at any savings you may generate.

AIRLINE CARDS MIGHT NOT BE THE BEST WAY If you travel occasionally or like to use online travel booking sites to make your reservation on the cheapest airline, you may actually be better off with a regular or flexible rewards card. It really all depends on how often, how far, and the class of tickets you fly. I personally use the search site Kayak.com to do my airline searches.

Kayak.com includes results directly from each airline’s website and also includes the prices from Orbitz.com and Cheaptickets.com. The site has some of the best advanced search features around. Kayak cannot find Southwest fares since they do not let ANYONE search their fares except their own site; however, Kayak is one of the few sites listing JetBlue fares. Kayak is purely a search engine, and you purchase your tickets through the airline itself or Orbitz.com or Cheaptickets.com