Do airline credit card perks fall short for travelers?

For many customers, general-use accounts often have better deals.

A consumer site releases a guide to travel credit cards and says airline-branded cards typically aren’t the best choice.

You’ve heard the pitch on your flights: Apply for an airline’s credit card and get perks like waived bag fees, priority boarding and miles for every dollar you spend.

But what the airlines don’t tell you is that it has become more difficult and more expensive to cash in your miles for upgrades or awards tickets. Those free bags are “free” only after you pay the credit card’s annual fee, which generally starts at around $95.

“The way people talk about it is that it’s a way to avoid these fees, but the fees are only there because of the airline,” said Taylor Tepper, a senior writer at Wirecutter who recently analyzed various airlines’ credit cards. “So the airline then wins, no matter what you do.”

This month, Wirecutter, a consumer advice website owned by The New York Times, released a guide to travel credit cards. Its recommendation? The airline-branded cards typically aren’t the best choice.

Tepper said that for many travelers, general-use credit cards like the American Express Platinum or Chase Sapphire Reserve were much better options. While their annual fees are high — $550 for the American Express card and $450 for the Chase card — they provide hefty credits that can be used with any airline to cover expenses like checked bags and in-flight purchases, along with other benefits like access to airport lounges.

Travelers must ultimately consider which benefits matter most to them. An airline-specific credit card could be the right choice if priority boarding and a free checked bag are primary concerns. But Tepper cautioned not to expect much else, even from a top-tier airline card.

“When it comes to getting elite status, you’re not really going to

get that with a credit card,” he said. “If you are on an American flight three times a week and you’re going all over the place, you’re probably getting that elite status all by yourself.”

And elite frequent flyers will usually get access to airline lounges and free checked bags whether or not they have the airline’s credit card.

It is possible to get elite status with some airline cards if you spend enough money, but the threshold is high — $25,000 a year on Delta and United Airlines, for example. Otherwise, airlines require a minimum amount of flying each year to achieve frequent-flyer status.

Most travelers will have to pay for a top-tier credit card if they want to maximize their benefits.

Like the American Express and Chase Sapphire cards, the airlines’ top cards usually cost at least $450 annually, and even the most expensive cards are rarely enough to bolster frequent-flyer standing by themselves. So don’t expect free upgrades to first class. Without frequent-flyer status, you’ll still have to use miles or pay cash for that bigger, more comfortable seat.

Prospects are even dimmer with airline credit cards that have lower annual fees. “You’re not going to get elite status with these middle-tier cards,” Tepper said.

Many travelers think it makes sense to use one airline’s credit card if they fly mostly with that airline.

“Delta flights, Delta credit cards, life is simple,” Tepper said. But, he said, “those people would benefit more, on the whole, with the American Express Platinum Card.”

He added, though, that airline-branded cards still had perks.

“You will benefit if you have a Delta card that gets you free checked bags,” Tepper said. “If you travel twice, it will more than pay for your annual fee, so the loss is an opportunity cost.”

Wirecutter found that the cards from some carriers, particularly Southwest Airlines, JetBlue and Alaska Airlines, offered better benefits to loyal flyers than other airline cards.

New Southwest cardholders who enroll before Feb. 11 and spend $4,000 in the first three months will earn a companion pass, which allows them to choose one person to fly with them on any of their flights free for the rest of the year. But the pass will not be renewed next year, and there’s a high point threshold to earn it again.

When comparing airline cards, travelers need to remember that the value of an earned mile isn’t constant, either between carriers or over time, said Jay Sorensen, president of IdeaWorksCompany, a consulting firm that focuses on the airline industry.

His company estimated, for example, that an award mile was worth 1.4 cents on Southwest Airlines in 2018 and 0.7 cents on American. That meant a traveler would have to spend 7,579 points for an average round-trip economy ticket on Southwest and 25,000 for a similar ticket on American.

Sorensen said he never spent miles on domestic economy tickets. He redeems his points only for international business class when the price is right.

Tepper agreed with that strategy. Miles, he said, are aspirational.

“It’s getting something that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford,” he said. “If you redeem the points for a domestic flight, you’re getting less value than you would if you redeem them for an international business flight.”

General-use cards are more likely than airline cards to maximize the value of your points when you redeem them, Tepper said.

“The value proposition of that is so great that you overcome the downside of missing out on some benefits of getting the airline card,” he said.