If you currently have a Northwest Airmile Credit Card you will want to link your account over to a Delta SkyMiles account before March 15th to receive a one time 500 point bonus. For those who do not do it before March 15th, Delta will do it for you without the bonus.

The Delta SkyMiles program is going to be the one that survives this transition as the NWA World Perks Credit Card program  will be scrapped. To start making the transition yourself you will want to log into your respective online account and start transferring your airline miles over. Go to www.nwa.com/worldperks for NWA and www.delta.com/skymiles for Delta. After both companies have successfully merged accounts together, those who have a NWA airline mile credit card should receive a Delta credit card in the mail.

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Delta And Northwest Airlines Merge Airline Miles Accounts

Atlanta-based Delta said that effective immediately, for traffic on or after Dec. 5, customers flying within the U.S. will be charged $15 for the first checked bag and $25 for the second checked bag when traveling domestically, consistent with Northwest’s existing policies.

Customers who purchased Delta tickets on or before Wednesday, and who are traveling on or after Dec. 5, will be charged $50 for a second bag, but will be permitted to check their first bag without charge based on Delta’s previous policy. Customers flying in first or business class, including SkyMiles Medallion members and WorldPerks Elite members, will be able to check up to three bags, up to 70 pounds each, for free, Delta said.

Delta also said it is eliminating SkyMiles and WorldPerks award ticket surcharges, reducing reservation sales direct ticketing charges and eliminating curbside check-in administrative fees.

Effective immediately, Delta will eliminate the $25 to $100 fuel surcharges assessed for SkyMiles and WorldPerks award ticket travel originating from the U.S. and Canada. The surcharges were instituted earlier this year by both airlines due to high fuel prices, which have declined significantly since their record level in July.

As of Thursday, Delta will reduce the fee assessed for tickets purchased over the phone from a reservations sales representative from $25 to $20, consistent with Northwest’s policy. Delta will also reduce the fee collected when customers redeem either SkyMiles or WorldPerks award travel over the phone with a reservations sales representative from $25 to $20. There is no charge for customers who book tickets and redeem award travel online at Delta’s Web site or Northwest’s Web site.

As for curbside check-in, Delta said that, effective Dec. 5, it will drop the $3 fee it has been charging.

Delta also said that last week it began offering coach customers on certain flights the ability to purchase a better seat assignment in their cabin for $5 to $25, depending on distance traveled and seat location. The so-called “coach choice seats” represent less than 10% of all seat assignments available on Delta-operated flights, the airline said.

Most other Northwest baggage policies and fees will be aligned to Delta’s structure, effective Dec. 5, Delta said. Travel on Delta and Northwest tickets purchased prior to the announcement of the changes will continue to be governed by prior Delta and Northwest policies.

Delta completed its $2.8 billion stock-swap acquisition of Eagan, Minn.-based Northwest on Oct. 29, creating the world’s biggest carrier in terms of traffic. The operations of Northwest, which is now a Delta subsidiary, will be integrated with Delta’s over the next one to two years. The company keeps Delta’s name, its Atlanta headquarters, and chief executive Richard Anderson, who used to run Northwest.

At least its nice to see they are protecting their airline mile credit card holders by lowering some fees on their airline tickets.

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Delta adds $15 checked-bag fee

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Continental Airlines Gets Rid Of Baggage Fees

With how easy it is to pay for bills nowadays online you really need to have everything automaticlly paid for with your credit card. Of course you need to make sure you can pay the full balance off every month or other wise it does not make any sense to even use the credit card. No reason to pay some bank 15% interest on something you cannot afford.

Depending on the airline mile credit card you choose the air miles can really start to add up. All of your nomal bills you have to pay off every month like you car payment and mortgage payment can now start earning you free miles. Why not use your credit card to pay those? This way you can earn the free air miles and now you delay transferring over the money you have in your checking or savings account another month while you wait to get your credit card statement. You effectively would earn two months worth of interest in your savings account instead of just one for the item you were going to pay cash for. Now you earned the air miles and interest on your money in your savings account. Its your way of working the system in your favor. Again, this will only work if you pay the full credit card balance every month.

Get in the habit of using your airline mile credit card for everything. Your annual vacation or trip will be that much cheaper for you when it comes time to purchase your air fare. For some people it is a habit many people say not to do. These are the people who cut up all of their credit cards or put them in the freezer so they cannot get to them. As long as you know ahead time you can pay cash for what you are buying then you are okay. Automatic payments online will make your spending habits a lot easier and more rewarding. make the system work in your favor instead of the banks.

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Pay All Of Your Bills With Your Airline Mile Credit Card

If you are a frequent flyer you have probably asked yourself whether or not you should use your airline miles every time you fly or save them for one big trip. The easiest way to come to an answer on this is do you like the feeling of having one free trip or a bunch of discounted trips.

If you are a frequent flyer you probably are going through plane tickets every couple weeks. Business class flyers probably travel on a weekly or even daily basis. The air miles you get can rack up pretty fast. If you have your air mile credit card with the airline you fly every time the airline will probably want to see you use them one time instead of all the time. If you use you air miles one time they would have been able to collect more money from you during the time you were saving them up. The money you were paying them goes into a savings account in which they earn interest off of you.

Why would you ever want to give a company your money up front to get something in the future? You wouldn’t. The best thing to do would be to use your airline miles every time you fly. It does not matter if the rewards you earned pay for 8% or 12% of the ticket. What you did was save yourself money out of your pocket. By doing so you can now put that 8% -12% you saved off of air fare and put it in your savings account. Airline miles should be treated just lock buying stock in a company. The air miles are not worth anything until you cash them in. So you better start getting in the habit of cashing them in every time you buy a plane ticket. Do not wait until you save up enough so you have a free ticket. During that time you could have been putting all of that extra money into a savings account earning you more interest.

Hopefully you are in a good habit of paying off your entire credit card balance every month. If you do not then those airline miles are wasted. Most airline credit cards come with interest rates in the 12% to 22% range. You earn one point or 1 mile for every dollar you spend. What’s the point about getting excited about earning air miles if you are paying so much more for them in interest. Its almost like you paid 10% more for that “free air fare” your air miles earned you.

Once you understand how important it is to cash them in every time you will be one step ahead of everybody. The airlines hope you keep on banking them away for your yearly vacation. Little did you know the airlines can tell you when and where you can use your airline miles. If you can use them now, then use them. It would be a real pain in the butt to see those air miles get thrown to the wayside if the airline says you can’t use them when you want to. What happens if that annual vacation gets passed up on this year. Work gets in the way or you just can’t make it. Some airlines have restrictions as to how long you can save them for. Most major airlines will only let you save airline miles up for two years. After that time it becomes a “use them or lose them” guideline.

There is an old saying that is commonly used to describe a situation like when to use you air miles. “One in the hand is better than two in the bush.” You should use this mentality when you travel. If you have the air miles and plane to fly, then you need to use the air miles every time. Not using them until you earned enough for a free ticket is silly.

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Should I Save My Air Miles For A Big Trip Or Use Them Everytime?

Many people who have a airline mile credit card will tell you that having a credit card from a bank is a much better move than having one from a airline. Why is that? Isn’t it the airlines who are they to make sure you are getting on their planes. Don’t the airlines need passengers to stay in business?

Of course the airlines need passengers to stay in business. Without passengers they are nothing. So why does it benefit you to own a airline mile credit card from a bank instead of the airline directly? You have probably heard all of the changes going on inside of the airline industry. There are major layoffs happening on all of the major airlines. In 2008 two well known airlines, ATA and Aloha Airlines have gone bankrupt.

CNN reported that the major airlines are cutting capacity to save on costs. What this means is the days off having low cost fares are gone. The airlines cannot keep flying jets that are half full. Many smaller local routes are going to be the first ones to go. You can expect to see much fuller flights from this point on. It really is a good thing if you think about it. Airplanes burn so much jet fuel when in flight. With the cost of oil rising over the past couple of months (even though its lower right now) it is more than likely to go back up.

So why does this affect you and where you get your airline mile credit card? Let’s say you get a credit card from Northwest Airlines. You use the credit card for everything. You pump your gas, buy groceries, use it a restaurants, and pay your bills with it to earn your rewards. You accumulate a bunch of airline miles. Northwest Airlines has the right to tell you when and where you can use your air miles. The choice is not yours. Northwest has the ability to put you on unfavoarble flights just because they can. Northwest Airlines does not have to tell you this directly because its bad for business. If they did tell everybody, nobody would apply for the Northwest World Perks Visa Card. You have to think about it from Northwests point of view. Why would they want to give a free seat away to one of their air mile passengers when they can charge $500 for the same seat to somebody who does not have a NWA World Perks Credit Card? Northwest wants the $500 from the person paying full price. The seat is too valuable.

The airlines started instituting “black out dates.” United Airlines has a great example of what dates they use. During these days you cannot use your air miles. Isn’t it kind of funny how all of the black out dates fall around the holidays? Coincidence? I think not. The airlines know you want to travel on those days and people who want to travel to see family and friends or go on a vacation are willing to pay more. You, the air mile reward earner are going to have to pay full price like everybody else with what ever airline you have your credit card from.

What if you get a air mile credit card from a bank? How is this better? This is the best part of it. The banks are the ones that handle all of the transactions for the airlines anyways. Visa, Mastercard, American Express, etc., all have deals with the airlines. Of course the airlines want you to get their airline credit card because it forces you to fly with them. The airline will probably also earn interest on any balances you keep on your credit card.

When you get a air mile credit card from a bank you do not have the restrictions you would have by getting a credit card from a airline. How it works is that most banks will offer you the similar type of rewards the airlines do. You accumulate “air miles” or “points” for every time you use your credit card. You have a running balance which can be used at anytime. Let’s say you want to go and see your relatives who live in another state and you must fly. The air miles you have earned can be used now because you are not restricted to one airline. All you need to do is call up the bank who issued you the airline credit card and have them reserve a ticket for you. The bank will book your ticket with your credit card and credit the miles you have earned. This way it makes for a easy transaction. The best part is that there are no black out dates with bank credit cards. You have full control to pick what airline to redeem them with. Your bank does not care either way.

Take time when selecting the best airline mile credit card. There are a couple banks who have great air rewards programs. Discover is a top program who has great customer service and can help with any travel questions you have. Discover can also help you out with travel arrangements including car rental and hotel accomadations.

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Why Are Airline Mile Credit Cards From Banks Better?