Re: Recommendations for best milage credit cards

>Is there an airline mileage travel credit card that is recognized as
>just about the best deal??

No.

>I am interested in a card which earns a mile for each dollar spent.
>Also that allows the use of accumulated mileage for redemption with
>several airlines with reasonable expiration dates.

If you do a fair amount of travelling on one airline, it usually makes
sense to get that line's card so all your miles go to the same place.

If you want multiple airlines, Diner's Club lets you transfer your
miles to the most airlines, but the card's kind of pricey and almost
nobody outside the travel industry takes it any more.  American
Express has a complex Membership Rewards program that can transfer
miles to a long list of airline and other programs including Delta,
Continental, Southwest, US Air, and Hawaiian.  (If you can find a
ticket to some place for under $300, you may well be better off using
your points to pay for hotel rooms.)

There's also a bunch of independent programs where they just buy you a
ticket.  Orbitz' is typical, you get a point per dollar, two points
per dollar for purchases on Orbitz.  For 7500 points you get $100 off
a ticket, for 20,000 points they'll buy you a ticket worth up to $400.

In most point programs, the points expire after three years, but if
you don't spend enough to get a ticket in three years, it's not worth
the trouble.  Also remember that if you don't pay your balance in full
every month the interest you pay will be far more than the value of
the points you get.  Most cards have an annual fee, so again be sure
that you're likely to charge enough per year to be worth what the fee
costs.  For example, I have a US Air card that costs $100/yr, but I
charge most of my business expenses on it so I get over 30,000 points
a year which is definitely worth it.