Questions and Answers

Hi Everyone,

New here. When I first started several months ago, I got several credit cards. Among those cards is the Miles&More card. Having it for several months, I got my bonus and don’t use it anymore for several reasons (chief among them low credit limit).

First, should I try to use it more often? I tend to put most of my expenses on higher limit cards like the Chase Sapphire, SPG Amex, and Citi Prestige/Premier. I can technically apply for a credit limit increase, but I’m unsure if that’s the right solution here.

Second, I will make the second stage of Miles&More (frequent traveller) before the end of this year and will be at a marginal 100k of points. I travel for work a lot and I’ve only recently been diverting all of my United miles toward the Miles&More program. I used to travel to Germany a lot so that is why I started with Miles&More, but perhaps I am making a mistake and should instead focus on United MilesPlus program. Any advice here would be appreciated as well.

Third, if I should give it up, do I cancel before the New Year? If not cancel, do I try to switch to another card within the network? Or should I negotiate another “no annual fee”?

Thanks for your help!

SF

[USER=1184]@SanF[/USER] Welcome. It really depends on what your goals are for your Miles and More balance. I know that LH and Swiss will only allow certain redemptions for their own members. Is that why you decided to build your balance there? If you are aiming for a particular figure and need to quickly pad your balance then by all means you can put your spend on the card but the best way to earn LH miles is through your SPG card where you’ll earn 1.25 mile/$ when you transfer in chunks of 20,000 starpoints.
Now, while spending on the card may not be the best move for miles earning, it might make strategic sense for the future. Barclays can get cranky about approving new cards if you are not using the ones you have so it wouldn’t hurt to put a few small charges on the card every billing cycle just to show some activity.

In terms of program you’ll really have to look at your travel goals and see what makes sense. UA after the recent devaluation has relatively higher prices but no surcharges. With Miles & More you might need fewer miles but will pay more in cash depending on what routes and metal you are flying.

Re: canceling the card, I’d probably wait until close to the anniversary. If you are looking at another Barclays card you could apply for that one and ask them to close out the M&M card. I don’t know if they have a no-fee version but you could also close it at that time. I believe Barclays gives you 60 days after your annual fee posts to cancel the card and get a full refund. Hope this helps.

Thanks Gaurav! I just wanted to get frequent traveller and get a few flights on LOT which is the cheap option to get to Germany. I didn’t even think of the SPG transfer…but it sounds like a way better deal.

Most of my points are earned by flights for business travel (though I chiefly fly economy). The good thing is that I can choose any airline I’d like when flying. I was loyal to United so that I can earn Miles and More points to get the frequent traveller status before the year ends. Now that I will have it, I am unsure whether plowing more into them makes any sense. I could probably get to Germany on a cheaper flight through UnitedMileagePlus or any other vendor. (Miles&More seems to have a predilection for EU travelers…meaning I don’t think I can compete with EU business folk who fly short Lufthansa segments at least twice every week.) Any thoughts on this would be much appreciated (including loyalty to United Mileage Plus or other programs).

Is there any knowledge out there about how much a cancellation affects your credit score?

[QUOTE=”Gaurav, post: 10049, member: 79″][USER=1184]@SanF[/USER] Welcome. It really depends on what your goals are for your Miles and More balance. I know that LH and Swiss will only allow certain redemptions for their own members. Is that why you decided to build your balance there? If you are aiming for a particular figure and need to quickly pad your balance then by all means you can put your spend on the card but the best way to earn LH miles is through your SPG card where you’ll earn 1.25 mile/$ when you transfer in chunks of 20,000 starpoints.
Now, while spending on the card may not be the best move for miles earning, it might make strategic sense for the future. Barclays can get cranky about approving new cards if you are not using the ones you have so it wouldn’t hurt to put a few small charges on the card every billing cycle just to show some activity.

In terms of program you’ll really have to look at your travel goals and see what makes sense. UA after the recent devaluation has relatively higher prices but no surcharges. With Miles & More you might need fewer miles but will pay more in cash depending on what routes and metal you are flying.

Re: canceling the card, I’d probably wait until close to the anniversary. If you are looking at another Barclays card you could apply for that one and ask them to close out the M&M card. I don’t know if they have a no-fee version but you could also close it at that time. I believe Barclays gives you 60 days after your annual fee posts to cancel the card and get a full refund. Hope this helps.[/QUOTE]