Should You Get an Airline Credit Card? Here's How to Decide

All the major U.S. airlines, including American, Delta, United, and Southwest, offer their own credit cards. If you apply for one, you can start earning miles on your regular expenses. Many airline credit cards also have welcome offers that give you the opportunity to earn bonus miles if you spend enough.

There's a lot to like about these credit cards. You could fly nearly for free using miles and potentially score other useful benefits as well. But airline cards aren't right for everyone. The good news is that there's an easy way to figure out if you should open this type of credit card.

Here's when an airline credit card is right for you

The more you fly with an airline, the more value you'll get out of one of its credit cards. As a general rule, if you fly with an airline at least two or three times per year, an airline credit card is likely a good choice.

You'll be able to earn lots of miles this way. Most airline credit cards earn a base rate of 1 mile per $1, and more in bonus categories. When you fly with an airline regularly, you also won't have any trouble using the miles you earn. Instead of paying cash for three flights per year, you could potentially pay for two in cash and use your miles to cover the third.

Miles are far from the only benefit that airline cards offer. Here are some other benefits you can find with some airline credit cards.

• Free checked baggage
• An annual companion certificate allowing someone to fly with you at a discounted rate
• Access to the airline's airport lounges
• Access to the priority check-in line and priority boarding
• Complimentary upgrades

Airline cards with more expensive annual fees tend to have far more benefits. A no annual fee airline card probably isn't going to get you into any airport lounges. But one that costs $95 per year might include a few lounge passes, and cards that cost $450 to $550 per year often have unlimited lounge access.

If you like flying with an airline, make sure to compare its credit card options. For example, if you fly with Delta all the time, check out the benefits of all the Delta credit cards. See which one best fits your travel habits. If you fly all the time, paying a higher annual fee could be worth it. If not, a less expensive card could be the way to go.

Alternatives to an airline credit card

Airline credit cards can be useful for some people, but they serve a relatively small niche: frequent flyers with a specific airline. They don't work well for people who don't fly often or for travelers who aren't loyal to any particular airline. If either of those apply to you, here are the best alternatives.

• Travel credit cards that aren't tied to an airline: These have more flexible travel benefits, including rewards that you can redeem toward more types of travel. They let you either transfer rewards to a number of airlines and hotels, redeem rewards for travel at a fixed value, or both. You're not limited to only using your rewards with a single airline.
• Cash back credit cards: If you're only an occasional traveler, a travel card may not be worth it. You could get more value from a cash back card. Cash back is easy to use, and many of these cards earn bonus cash in popular spending categories, such as gas and groceries.

There are a lot of great credit card offers to choose from. Airline credit cards can be worth it if you have an airline you really like. If not, a more general travel card or a cash back card is probably the better choice.