I’m guessing that every single person reading this post has received one of the tantalizing mileage credit card offers. Oh you the ones . . . sign up and get 250 million miles for free. And if you transfer a balance, there’s another gazillion miles for you. But are these really good deals?

Upgrade: Travel Better has a great primer on the different types of cards out there today. I’d recommend having a look if you’re at all interested in the subject.

As for me, I’m a quite happy Starwood Preferred Guest Amex holder. Everyone gets obsessed with airline miles, but hotels can cost you a lot more on a trip. Think about it. You and your husband/girlfriend/pet/whatever decide to head to Hawai’i from the west coast. Even if you pay $500 a ticket, that’s only $1,000 out of pocket. If you go for a week, you’ll easily exceed that amount on your hotel bill. So definitely consider a hotel card before you get sucked in to the airline mileage cards.