NejJets Indoc. and Credit

[captain dad]

I got the call to verify the schedules for indoc and sim training. I was told that I needed to pay for everything until I am signed up for reimbursement by the accounting people on the second or third day of indoc.

This is not a problem, I just want to get a credit card that has the best miles program for all airline tickets. Specifically the sky team airlines(NWA, Delta, Etc...) I know there are literally hundreds of choices but can anyone make a suggestion?

Also I was told I will be flying out of my domicile for sim training. Will they switch the return leg to where I want it and I pay the difference like I have been told? If so who do I talk to about arranging that?

Very excited to get started.

 

[FoxJet]

Cc

Your going to hear this a thousand times....Get the HHonors Card. I started out with a Delta Skymiles but once you see how HHonors and Amex work together your going to want it.
As far as your last day of travel don't worry about it right now. When you are finished with the next 2-4 weeks of fun you will call a flight coordinator and they set you up with travel home. At that time you can discuss it with them. Quite honestly it takes about 5 minutes the day you travel.
Congrats and best of luck...

ps- what base and aircraft did you get

 

[old*art]

Watch out for the interest rate on the Hilton AMEX ... if you think you might need to carry a balance initially, you may want to look at something else. If you were military USAA is the only way to go in the interim.

 

[captain dad]

I thought the company does a full reimbursement, so why should I worry about interest rates?

Do they only allow you to use one credit card for company transactions? If so what do you do when someone doesn't take AMEX?

 

[CA1900]

Captain Dad, there are two ways to do things: You can use the company credit card, or you can pay for things yourself and get reimbursed. If you do the latter, it doesn't matter if you use cash, one card, a combination of cards, or whatever -- they don't care.

I decided to try the company credit card, which was in my hands before I even left ground school (so I could put the hotel and rental car on it when I checked out). While it doesn't give the extra Hilton points, it does have a generic airline miles program that, after enough "miles" (dollars), gets you an airline ticket. What's nice is that the reward isn't airline-specific, like regular miles are.

They also put your air travel on the company card if you have it, so you get miles for the dollar value -- if you decide to use your own personal card, the airline flights are direct-billed to the company, so you won't get any benefit other than the actual miles.

I may try the Hilton AmEx card later on once I evaluate which would give me the most benefit, but for now, the company card works well for me, and it doesn't affect my personal credit. You can switch to or from the company card, but you can't do both at the same time -- you have to either be on the company card (with online expense reporting, which I like), or on your personal cards (with paper expense reporting).

Hope that helps.

 

[Twotter76]

They do fully reimburse you but by the time you charge everything you have a good possibility of going past the closing date for that month - hence you would have to pay interest on the balance. I personally use the Hilton AMEX and have been very happy with it. On the off chance you ran into someone that didnt take it then just use another card, you can use whatever you want to pay for the company expenses. I have yet to stay at a hotel that does not accept AMEX. BTW I use my AMEX for all my personal expenses throughout the month and I average about 11k Hilton bonus points each month just from the card. The other bonus is that if you pay off the card each month then it also improves your credit score. Many people will try to sell you on the benefits of the identity theft program on the company card but any major credit card will have the same program. Do a little research and then make your own informed decision. Good luck!

 

[old*art]

Twotter stated it better ..if you pay it off every month the Hilton AMEX is what I would suggest. And I use mine for all personal purchases also and the points really add up in a hurry.

 

[jtf]

The HH cards will get you about an extra 500 points per Hilton property night, maybe a little more over any other card. You'll do at least 50 or 60 nights in Hilton properties per year. You'll get around 300 HH points for all your other hotel stays (most hotels are around $100 a night that we stay at). Your looking at 2 to 3 extra free nights (at places most people actually want to vacation at) in Hilton properties not including any personal expenses you put on the card for points.

If you use the company card you'll get all the points for even your airline tickets (you always get the mileage with any card, but you also get points for the price of the ticket with the company card.) I've had the company card since the middle of March and I just went over 25K on the card- enough for a free airline ticket. You can only get 40K points per year on the card and I'm going at about the rate right now. That's 3 free flights in 2 years, versus 5 or 6 free nights over 2 years if you used the HH Amex. I'm sure the HH points used to be worth a lot more, but everywhere I want to book free hotel nights rarely are at less than 25k per night. Overall the price you would have spent to rent the nice rooms is probably worth more than the price of the airline tickets you can earn with the company card. I'm chosing the company card for now (though I use the HH Amex for all my personal expenses) because I have lots of friends and family around most of the places I wish to fly so I want more free airline tix.

The various airline cards sound like a good deal at first, but they really are the worst deal of the 3 overall. It can be good for the first year with all the bonus miles, but for company business you will probably not spend enough for a free ticket each year since the company direct bills your airline tix unless you use the company card. The first year you may come close to 2 free tix, but it will slow down to less than one after that (from card expenses alone). I guess if you sign up for all the airline cards and get a ton of free miles right away and then cancel them as you get the points for a free ticket you could get a bunch of free tix fast, but you also have to watch out for the yearly fees (though most are waived for the first year right now). I don't know what the cancellation policies are, but a new guy might do well the first year to get them all and then cancel them ASAP before going to the other cards. I'm not sure if you can or if it hurts your credit in any way though.

To get free tix through mileage fastest (which also leads to elite status and mileage bonuses) you pick one airline from the alliances to pool all you points into. I put all my NW, Delta, and Continental miles into my Continental account by having them change it at the gate before I board the first flight. I've got very few miles on Delta and NW, but almost 30k on Continental and now I get a 50 percent mileage bonus for every mile I fly as I get them into my Continental account. I have 25k on United since I pool all my USAir miles into the United account also. The double dip at Hilton is also great for free tix. The fastest free tix are if you choose Southwest since you get a half credit per stay (32 nights for a free SW ticket) versus 500 miles per stay for most other airlines (50 nights for a free ticket). Hope this all helps and makes some sense.

 

[Mach92]

Starwood AMEX best card out there. 1:1 on airline miles for 20,000 starwood they give you 5,000 =25,000 miles to any airline. HH amex is great IF you only want Hilton points. Company card forget about it!

 

[captain dad]

I am trying to accumulate the most airline miles for free tickets down the road. Are you saying that for 5000 Starwood points I get 25000 airline miles on any airline? What is the uper limit for getting multiple tickets? I want to get it setup right from the get go so I don't waste points figuring it out.

 

[jonjuan]

Everything you ever wanted to know...

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=338088 For SPG

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=462994 For HHonors

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=499672 Comparing the two

 

[jtf]

He was saying if you trade in 20000 points they will give you 25000 miles. That is a good deal, but you still have to spend nearly $20000 (we don't stay at very many Starwood properties for the point multiplier to help much- I've done 5 nights this year in Starwoods vs over 60 in Hilton properties). I believe they are offering 10K free sign up points if you get a new Starwood Amex. You'll probably put on between 15 and 20K points a year on it for company business. If you spend about $1700 a month for personal expenses on the card (should be possible for a family with gas, groceries, cell phones, cable, home phone, gifts, entertainment, car repairs, etc...) you should be able to turn 20K into 25K points for a free airline ticket. A side business, mortgage payments (I've heard of it but I don't think most mortgage bankers allow it), or college tuition payments for kids could also really boost things up. That would be one ticket for work expenses and at least one for personal expenses every year.

Using the company Mastercard should be able to get you 3 airline tix every 2 years on work expenses alone since the airline tix for work are put on the company card, but direct billed if you are using your own card. The Starwood card would then be a good personal card if you are going to spend at least 20K a year on a personal card. This would get you about one more free airline ticket every 2 years than using the Starwood card for everything.

 

[SafetyTheSeat]

Say what you want about the stupid points... You better worry about credit card fraud and the like.. you will travel to allot of locations at NetJets... You will put taxis, food, everything on that credit card... I use the company card, having been double charged and rip off in restaurants with my personal card made me a believer in the company card... Its on the company's back not mine... Another point look at 3500 dollars a month on your card and the checks don't come fast enough to keep the interest off your back... Just some thoughts for you guys... You will do about 35000 a year in charges, the guys in South America love gringo cards... The company card I have has been replaced 4 times due to fraud and you no what? It will happen to your personal card also...

Think about it..

PS Points don't compensate for the hassles with your personal card... Just wait to the point hounds speak up- its only a matter of time- pionts are everything to some of these dips...

 

[captain dad]

THANKS FOR THE INPUT. IT IS SOMETHING I HAVEN'T REALLY CONSIDERED. i HAVE BEEN FLYING COMMERCIALLY FOR TEN YEARS AND HAVE NEVER HAD A PROBLEM.

HAS ANYONE ELSE HAD IDENT. THEFT ISSUES OR ANY OTHER PROBLEMS?

I DO LIKE THE IDEA OF GETTING SOME FREE AIRLINE TICKETS BUT GETTING RIPPED OFF OR LETTING SOMEONE INTO MY PERSONAL ACCOUNTS WOULD BE A BAD THING, TO PUT IT LIGHTLY.

 

[JustInfo]

HHonors Amex gets you a lot of points, but you will need them to get anything with Hilton. I would have to agree with the idea of not putting your personal card out there. I had fraudulent charges show up twice on my card before I switched to the company card. The upstanding employee of a gas station (filling a rental car) decided to copy my card numbers and use them. I never found out where, just what state the other happened in when a bunch of 1-900-hornyman numbers showed up on my statement. Both were reimbursed and fairly minor, but that is enough for me. Also, with the company card you get to see and collect points for all the airlines and hotel rooms they book for you that you never use!

 

[Rev]

I have no problem handing the company credit card to the seedy cab driver.

 

[CA1900]

Regarding the company card, is it kosher to use it to buy dinner or something on an overnight, and just mark it "personal" so they don't reimburse?

 

[Fozzy]

HAS ANYONE ELSE HAD IDENT. THEFT ISSUES OR ANY OTHER PROBLEMS?

In my last indoc class of about 40 or so I would say that 10 said they have had identy theft. No chit. That is why I went to the company card. One guy said he caught a waiter taking a digital pic of his card. Blew him in.

Watch it out there.

 

[Ultra Grump]

Regarding the company card, is it kosher to use it to buy dinner or something on an overnight, and just mark it "personal" so they don't reimburse?

Yes................

 

[ozpilot]

I put all my NW, Delta, and Continental miles into my Continental account by having them change it at the gate before I board the first flight.

Even better - call travel and get them to assign your Continental FF number to NW and Delta when they book you a ticket on those airlines.