The best credit cards for collecting miles in 2024!

Today there are many ways to make affordable travel a reality. However, the easiest way to reduce your travel costs is by collecting points and miles! For years, many frequent travellers have been taking advantage of the miles collection programmes offered by various cards, securing better prices for their flight tickets.

If you aren't doing this, you're missing out on a great opportunity and paying more for your trips than you should. By collecting points and miles, you can enjoy free flights, hotel stays, upgrades, lounge access, and much more – all simply by using your vouchers!

One of the main tools to help you achieve this is airline credit cards that earn points.

Airline credit cards are quite simple: they are co-branded cards designed to keep users loyal to a specific airline. They give you extra points when you use your card for purchases, as well as bonuses when you hit certain spending thresholds, as airlines want you to use their card as often as possible.

Another easy way to save money on your flight tickets is to search on travelo.gr. On the platform, you will find all available flight tickets for your desired destination.

There are two rules you need to know when choosing an airline credit card: firstly, always get the card for the airline you fly with most often. You always want the perks that come with it. Secondly, when looking for a new card, choose the biggest bonus. Once you have your favourite airline's card, when you want another, find one with a big bonus, as you're only using it for the points for a free flight, not out of loyalty.

See below for all credit cards that offer benefits for purchasing airline tickets, as well as those with miles collection programmes!

Alpha Bank

Aegean Bonus Visa cards offer all the benefits of Alpha Bank's Bonus Rewards Programme and Miles+Bonus, as well as various advantages.

Aegean Bonus Visa Debit

For every €1 spent, you earn 4 points, which correspond to 2 miles. Upon activating the card, you earn 3,000 welcome miles! The annual fee for the card is €20 and includes free travel insurance, as well as the AlphaAlerts service, which informs you via Viber/SMS/email about every transaction you make.

Aegean Bonus Visa

With this card, again for every euro you charge, you earn 4 points, which correspond to 4 miles. Upon activating the card, you will see 5,000 welcome miles and again you are entitled to free travel insurance and the Alpha Alerts service. The annual fee for the card costs €40. The additional benefits offered by the Aegean Bonus Visa are 2 vouchers for an extra 23 kg baggage allowance on domestic flights, 2 vouchers for the fast track baggage check service, and an additional €20 discount for one ticket. 

Aegean Bonus Visa Premium

With this card, for every euro you charge, you earn 4 points, which correspond to 4 miles. Upon activating the card, you will see 8,000 welcome miles and again you are entitled to free travel insurance and the Alpha Alerts service. The annual cost of the card is €80 and the additional benefits (beyond those available in the previous two categories) include 1 voucher for purchasing 2 tickets for the price of one, and two vouchers for upfront seat selection!

Piraeus

Mastercard® credit card with the benefits of the Miles & More programme. Available in two types: 

Miles & More World Mastercard®

3,000 welcome miles for Miles & More World Mastercard® holders 

Free annual fee for the first year

Miles & More World Mastercard® Gold

5,000 welcome miles for Miles & More World Mastercard® Gold holders

This specific card offers a free annual fee for the first year.

With the Miles & More World Mastercard® credit card from Piraeus Bank, you earn miles with unlimited validity:

• 1 free mile for every €1 of purchases you make with the card.
• Additional free miles by transferring the balance of another credit card from a Greek bank (excluding Piraeus Bank) to your Miles & More World Mastercard®.
• Specifically for transactions involving the payment of the holder's obligations to the State via their card, the holder receives 1 mile for every €10 of transactions.
• Your miles do not expire as long as you have the Miles & More World Mastercard® credit card for at least 3 months and make at least one transaction per month.

Offers, benefits, and gifts 

By redeeming the miles you accumulate with the Miles & More credit card, you can benefit from:

• Tickets with Star Alliance airlines (Lufthansa, Aegean, Swiss, etc.).
• Branded gifts from Lufthansa's online shop.
• Gift vouchers at partner merchants.
• Special prices on hotels and car rentals worldwide.

Insurance Coverage

• Free insurance for purchases made with your card in Greece
• Free travel insurance for trips paid for with your card
• Insurance for the account balance in case of death or permanent total disability due to an accident.

Eurobank

Within the framework of the new partnership, Eurobank credit and debit cardholders who collect euros with the Return programme, have the ability to redeem them for AEGEAN ticket purchases through the €pistrofi (Return) programme. Indicatively, for domestic flights, they can redeem €25 in €pistrofi, for flights to nearby international destinations, €40 in €pistrofi, and for flights to distant international destinations, €60 in €pistrofi. The aforementioned amounts, as applicable, include one piece of luggage per passenger. Taxes, fees, and other charges imposed on air ticket purchases, the amounts of which are borne by the customer, are not included.

Furthermore, for every ticket purchase from the AEGEAN and Olympic Air network, using Eurobank cards participating in the €pistrofi programme, cardholders earn 3% €pistrofi on the total amount charged to their card.

If you make bookings with Sky Express, you will receive a 10% discount on all direct domestic and international flights for bookings up to 4 people, with one of the Eurobank My Advantage Banking programme packages in the Economy fare category: joy, joy+, enjoy.

You can use your personal electronic code up to 3 times for bookings of up to 4 people to travel until 31.12.2024 on direct one-way or return flights. The discount applies to all tickets in the booking.

How to redeem your benefits with SKY express

You get the exclusive discount when you use your personal electronic code during the purchase of your ticket. 

One thing to remember is that there isn't one card for all occasions. Each card has its own advantages, so you will use them according to your needs and expenses. This way you will always get the most points possible for every euro you spend. So, if you're looking for a travel credit card, choose one of the above.