100k AA miles sign up bonus!

David's last post described the thought process in choosing the right card(s) to get you that trip you've always wanted. It was thorough, detailed—and let's face it—didn't answer the question you asked in the first place: Which card should you get?

I'll cut to the chase I am telling you exactly which card to sign up for.

5 Questions You Need to Ask Yourself Before Getting a Card

"What card should I get?" That's the wrong first question.

We get this question a lot, which makes sense. There are countless options with various perks and bonuses for various airlines, hotels and travel companies. Our short answer is always the same: it depends.

Before you even consider a card, you need to answer:

1. Where do you want to go?
2. What can you get?
3. How soon do you want to get there?
4. How do you want to get there (economy, business or first class)?
5. What cards are available?

How you answer is important because not all points are created equal. Take Southwest Airlines for example. Both Goo and I are fans of it, because we fly domestically along the west coast a lot. Southwest is great for that, but it's useless for hopping oceans.

And it just so happens, we love hopping oceans.

Here's my thought process two years ago on choosing the cards that eventually helped me book a three week trip later this year that will span four countries, seven flights and all three flight classes (economy, business and first) for just $147.32.

Isn't it beautiful?

American Airlines 50k sign up bonus

The Citi American Airlines World Mastercard is now offering 50k AA miles after $3,000 in spend in 3 months with the first year fee waived ($95). Gone are the days of 75k bonus', so a 50k bonus for a card is definitely worth considering.

• First checked bag free for you and up to 4 companions on the same ticket
• Group 1 boarding
• 1 point per dollar spent on everything
• 2x pointson American Airlines purchases
• 10% back on redeemed award flights 

But why stop at one card when you can get two?

Daft Trip Around the World! How this Punk did it!

One of my dreams was to fly first class on an international flight. I did it last year.

Now, I'm completing my next dream of going around the world in First/Business for less than the cost of an economy ticket to Asia or Europe.

Do we have your attention yet?

Redeeming Your Points (Part 2): Partner and Alliance Networks

In Part 1 of my Redeeming Your Points post, I talked about putting your points to use and how straightforward it can be to redeem them (some more so than others, of course). But here's an important thing to know when you want to redeem your miles: you're not limited strictly to that airline.

Let's say you have racked up an envious amount of Avios points (the reward points for British Airways) and you want to fly from Los Angeles to Hong Kong. It doesn't mean you HAVE to fly British Airways (BA). If you were to fly strictly BA, you would first have to fly east to London before continuing onto Hong Kong. Two precious days of your vacation time will be devoted completely to traveling—one way.

But luckily for all of us, most airlines aren't this guy:

Learn more about Partner and Alliance networks and how it's getting easier to use them after the jump.