I heard about all these bonus mileges when you sign up for a credit card. I didnt really cared about those stuffs. It was partly becuase I didnt know how those stuffs works. But now after in depth research and careful consideration, I think it can be very rewarding to have those cards. Any body here uses any mileage cards ? airline loyalty cards?

 kaila

the card may be used for any general purchase like gas and groceries. the original poster is not implying that he has 20k saved up and he is going to spend the cash instead of using the card!

just checked, the downside is $95 annual fee for this card.

How many miles would BA require to make a roundtrip to Nepal from the US?

Biwash,
Delta requires 80k and american airlines 90k for round trip. American and British are partners. Usually the annual fee is waived for first year so ppl like me who cant spend lot of money can cancel the card with in a year after claiming the bonus. Lot of ppl are scared to cancel a credit card but it doesnot affect the score in the long run (it might for couple of months but not any kind of derogatory effects)

www.britishairways.com/travel/credit-cards/public/en_us


At time of this publication all reward flights and travel together tickets are subject to taxes, fees and carrier charges of approximately $650 per person in economy or $1,100 in business class based on travel from New York to London.

Tax nai average 650 raichha......even if one manages to earn enough points for free flights to nepal then the flight will be like 50% discount (considering round trip ticket to nepal bought from travel agent at $1400).

Has anyone used AA miles for Nepal trip. When i look it online it looks like they do not have tickets all the way to Nepal. I found India destinations but not Nepal and even for India the savers 45K each way ticket are so hard to find. Never works for the normal holidays.

 @sidster: AA Advantage Program is one of the best of its kind in the market that allows you to save a lot of money doing something you normally do anyways. It is specially beneficially to those people who travel more than average, and to benefit from such travel reward programs, you got to really research and follow where to gain or redeem miles as there are new companies or deals added to the list all the time, as u might also be aware. It allowed me to save a lot of money when I bought my car through Toyota - being an AA Advantage member, it helped me qualify for a huge discount as the dealership is one of the participating vendors accepting/honoring AA Advantage members. 

For travel to Nepal, you can talk to AA agent by calling the toll free number and they can assit you in getting the reward tickets all the way to Nepal. 

 Biwash,
The charges by British Airways is significantly high so most ppl just redeem the miles with BA but with its partner airlines. One more good thing about the milegae program is it will cost the same money to fly from any US airport to any particular destinations. If you look at the AA milegae chart, it will takes 45k miles for a one way trip from any airport in US to any airports in South Asia. 
If you are interested about the mileage programs and stuffs go through the link below. These are some of the people who have used these cards and programs for free airtravel.  
<hackthesystem.com/>
<theblondeabroad.com/2012/10/23/the-best-travel-rewards-credit-card/>
<hackthesystem.com/wordpress/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Take%20Advantage%20Of%20The%20System.pdf>

p.s You can get a free domestic one way ticket for 12k .

I usually fly United (I am in Houston). I have points collected from couple of flights which I am planningto use this year.
Last time, when my wife flwo to Nepal, she used Singapore airlines for which we got points for United (Partner airline). 

 I just bought ticket to NewZealand paying $64.00. Rest, i used 75,000 mile on my City bank A'Advantage Milage Card. :) . It works. 

Lot of folks are using the miles just by signing up for credit cards and cancelling after you claim the bonus miles. I havent used yet but I am loking forward to it. Here is the another link for the folks that are interested.
<thepointsguy.com/top-deals/>

Chinday, How long have you been using Citi's AA mileage card?

What was the line of credit handed out to you guys when you signed up for a mileage program? 

It was 3k for me

Isn't that kinda low, though? I've heard of people applying to similar programs w/ a credit limit of 12-15k. But, you're required to have excellent credit scores (above 770). 

Also, I was oblivious about how redeeming points for airmiles might be a better option than redeeming it for cash. For Eg: I just looked up tickets from SFO - Kathmandu for September w/ a return date in October and I was given an option of either paying $1,029 or using my balance of 56k points plus 300 bucks. If I' were to redeem 56k points for cash, I'd only receive 560 bucks meaning, I'd have to cough up another 169 bucks plus 300 to match the asking price. You learn something new everyday, I suppose. 

From what I hear, Capital One's Venture Rewards and Chase Sapphire Preferred Card are the best. 

Riddle, Yeah I know ppl get started with a big limit but I was not among those. For most of the these cards to get approved they advise to have a FICO score of at least 700. 
If you can get a ticket for around $1000, I wouldn't buy it.  But what happens to the price if you have to travel at peak season? from a regional or smaller airport? You will be using the same miles to go to KTM from any airports in US (as long as the airlines serves the particular airport). 
BTW, which airlines card do you have?

 I don't have an airlines card but rather a card issued by a Bank. I'm not sure if I follow what you're trying to say "If you can get a ticket for around $1000, I wouldn't buy it.  But what happens to the price if you have to travel at peak season? from a regional or smaller airport?"

I mean, I looked up tickets on the rewards program website and I was quoted $1029 from my nearest airport. I could've used my available points, 56k (remember, I'd only receive 560 bucks if I were to redeem it for cash) and pay additional 300 bucks for the tickets. 

Well what I meant was, you airfare is coming cheap mostly for two reasons: off season travel and larger airport departure. So, the milegae redeem could be a good deal if you were travelling on a peak season and leaving from a smaller airport.

Since you dont have an airline credit card, why dont you apply for one where u can transfer your bank card miles. That way you will earn at least 30k bonus miles in addition to your 56k. That should earn u a free round trip ticket to ktm from any airports in US

 My current card is a card that allows me to convert my points for airmiles that can be redeemed for various commodities. Applying a specific frequent flier card would be as insignificant as someone applying for an airline card despite already having one. It'll lower the credit and most of them come with an annual fee. (Canceling credit cards prior to completion of one year period to 'save' annual fee will lower your credit score). 

Do you know why credit score decreases when you cancel your credit card? Yes it does decrease but not for long time. If you are one of those ppl who doesnot carry a balance, you will be fine. When u have an extra credit card, your credit utilization percent decreases so after canceling the card, credit utilization increases little bit. So, credit score goes down for some months. This is just temporary and you will never have a some sort of derogatory effect. If you are applying for a mortgage loan or any sort of loan with in couple of months I wouldnot advise it. If not, apply for a credit card with an airline enjoy the benefit of priority boarding, use of lounges on your way to KTM and cancel when u get bk.

BTW, most of those airlines card doesnot have any foreign transaction fee which could be a plus.

can we use mileage for duty free shopping?

You can use those cards for any kind of shopping but u have to see the terms and conditions to find out if you can pay with mileage.