For a credit card newbie, this is probably one of the most common questions. Air miles credit cards seem better for travelholics, but a free flight ticket isn’t necessarily “free” - you still need to pay for a mileage conversion fee, a fuel surcharge, and other additional fees. If you’re looking for flight tickets in peak season, you may need to reserve it one year ahead. Have no preference for airlines? Cashback credit cards are actually way more cost-effective than air miles on buying flight tickets. Cashback is the best for you if you like instant rewards or don’t spend a lot. Cashback credit cards are simpler – all eligible spending is calculated using a cashback rate. Banks credit the rebate amount directly into your credit card account, and you can choose to deduct the bill amount to get a discount. Some banks link the cashbacks to their reward point scheme. Take Hang Seng as an example, they offer you Cash Dollars as cashback, and you can redeem coupons or use as cash at selected merchants.

Airline or air miles co-branded credit cards will automatically transfer the earned miles into your air miles account. For other credit cards, you need to transfer reward points into air miles yourself via e-banking or by calling the customer service hotline. Some credit cards may set an expiry date for reward points from 1-5 years (usually 2-3 years). But there are a few credit cards have no expiry date on the points, such as DBS Black World Mastercard and American Express credit cards, giving you more time on earning points for flight tickets.

Banks usually charge you a handling fee for mileage conversion. The fee ranges from HK$100-300/conversion. Some airline or frequent-flyer co-branded credit cards, such as BEA Flyer World Mastercard and Citi PremierMiles Card, may offer a handling fee waiver.

Besides the handling fees, banks usually set a minimum amount on converting air miles (mostly 1,000 miles). After converting a certain amount of air miles, banks start charging a fixed handling fee until you reach the cap.

The prices of flight tickets under miles redemption programs don’t include taxes and other fees, including the Air Passenger Departure Tax, the Passenger Security Charge, terminal building charges, and the Airport Construction Fee.The final price of a redeemed flight ticket will be adjusted based on your travel destination. The relevant extra costs will be deducted from your credit card. Note that some air miles programs (e.g. Avios and ANA) will set flight ticket prices based on seasons and charge you different amounts of air miles.