Miles are the only benefit
Written: Jan 19 '00 (Updated Jan 19 '00)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Each purchase adds to my supply of miles
Cons: High interest rates, no other services
|
|
|
| Wovoka's Full Review: United Airlines Mileage Plus Visa(First USA) |
I've been a Mileage Plus Visa cardholder for several years now and would only recommend it to those individuals who have a nice little nest egg of miles with United Airlines and want to continue to add to it. For each dollar charged with the card you receive one mile credited to your United Mileage Plus account.
Many merchants and restaurants prefer Visa to American Express and the more obscure (unless you hold corporate credit cards) Diners Club. I've found I've used my card to charge nearly all of my purchases, from gas to groceries to dining to a shopping splurge.
However, the card and services has its downfalls:
(1) $60 annual fee. C'mon. It doesn't cost too much to tell United how much to add to my mileage each month. There is such competition in the credit card space that I'm surprised (at myself, primarily) that I still fork over the cash. But, I've received a tremendous number of miles over the past year that I just suck it up.
(2) High interest rates. I'm actually one of those folks who pays my bills in full each month, but the 17.9% is pretty steep. Again, with competition, there are other cards with lower rates if you do carry a balance.
(3) Card Services. There are a few in particular that bother me: (a) Lack of year-end account summaries. This I would classify as "bang for the annual fee buck." Several years ago, I had an American Express Gold Card (high annual fee) and one of its best services was the year-end summary of purchases. It was certainly an eye-opener for me to see the graphical depictions of my spending habits! But, geesch, I'm paying for using the card - gimmee something in return! (b) Other services, like travel insurance, rental car insurance, quick card replacement, etc. I guess it's my fault for not reading the fine print, so perhaps this card has these features, but I don't TRUST them. American Express has done a super job with building the awareness and reliability around these services, that I TRUST American Express hands down over any other card for these services. I know that I can go to an American Express office in nearly every major city in the world and receive not only assistance with card services, but also travelers check purchase and redemption and even my mail. Will First USA Bank be in Rio when I need them?
(4) Customer service. I HATE receiving those pre-printed checks and I never use them. I've called customer service numerous times to ask them to stop sending me these things, but they still come each month.
Why don't I cancel this card? Overall, if I didn't have so many miles racked up with United already with actual flights and other incentive programs, I'd probably use another card. However, it's easier to add to an existing stash than try to build one with another airline.
Recommended:
No
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
Wovoka
|
|
Reviews written: 10
Trusted by: 16 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.