First AirMiles Rewards Card Review – 2x Points, 10k Bonus & No Annual Fee

A few readers have let me know that they were sent a targeted offer by First National Bank of Omaha for a new credit card called ‘First AirMiles Rewards American Express Card’. This card isn’t available for publication applications yet (FNBO usually does this with new products), you need to have received an invitation. I thought since there isn’t much information about this card, it was time for a review!

Card Basics

  • No annual fee
  • 10,000 bonus points after $1,000 in purchases within the first three statement cycles
  • Card earns 2x points on all purchases
  • Free FICO Score

first airmiles credit card

How Much Are Points Worth

Points can be redeemed for airfare, hotel rooms, gift cards, cash back & statement credit. FNBO doesn’t let us know the redemption rates until you log into the service center, which requires opening the card to see (this really should be illegal, it’s very frustrating). There are two versions of this card, one is an American Express (the offer we have listed above) and the other is a Visa card.

American Express Card

According to reader, Dave who has the card you can redeem points for 0.5¢ each towards cash back or gift cards and 1¢ each when redeeming for hotels or airfare. They also charge a fee of 1,500 – 3,000 points.

Visa Card

But I was able to find information regarding airfare redemption. Basically there are three levels and each level lets you book tickets up to a maximum price for travel within certain areas. Their full chart can be found here, but I’ve also copied it below in case they take it down:

  • Level 1 — 25,000 First AirMiles miles for a ticket valued at not more than $360.00 (including taxes and destination charges) for travel within one of these flight zones:
    • Zone 1 (Eastern U.S.): ME, VT, NH, MA, RI, CT, NY, NJ, PA, DE, MD, VA, WV, NC, SC, TN, GA, FL, DC.
    • Zone 2 (Central U.S.): MI, WI, MN, IA, IL, IN, OH, KY, MO, AR, NE, KS, OK, TX, MS, AL, LA.
    • Zone 3 (Western U.S.): WA, ID, MT, ND, SD, WY, OR, NV, UT, CO, NM, AZ, CA.
  • Level 2 — 35,000 First AirMiles miles for a ticket valued at not more than $500.00 (including taxes and destination charges) for travel within the contiguous U.S. (excluding Alaska and Hawaii).
  • Level 3 — 55,000 First AirMiles miles for ticket valued at not more than $800.00 (including taxes and destination charges) for travel within the contiguous U.S., Alaska, Hawaii, Mexico, Canada, and the Caribbean.

This means points have a maximum value as follows:

  • Level 1: 1.44¢ per point
  • Level 2: 1.43¢ per point
  • Level 3: 1.45¢ per point

Basically points are worth 1.4¢ per point when redeeming for airfare. FNBO usually gives you a 1¢ per point redemption rate when redeeming for cash back.

Our Verdict

The American Express card isn’t very attractive, as you can earn a flat 2% cash back on all purchases. The Visa card would be a bit more interesting if you can work out how to max out your redemption (similar to the FlexPerks program).

If anybody has any personal experience with this card, please share in the comments below.

 

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18 Comments
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Dave
Dave (@guest_221322)
January 31, 2016 15:16

I applied and received the Amex version of this card with no AF. The points are worth 0.5c each towards cash back or gift cards.
Also the poster above is incorrect, I looked at booking flights and hotels on their travel marketplace and it looks like the points are worth 1c each towards those (when comparing with google flights) + there is an added 1500-3000 pts in the total which I guess is their fee.

There are definitely no levels to the redemptions. I was not getting any round numbers but values like: 38,053 or 94,586, etc..

Jason d
Jason d (@guest_221324)
January 31, 2016 15:25

Dave so sounds like this is a no go card then. Sounds like even the barclayscard arrival with no af would be better.

Jason d
Jason d (@guest_221326)
January 31, 2016 15:29

So they are more at a. 89 redemption rate which is basically their fee. Penfed does the same thing with their travel rewards program.

Golden
Golden (@guest_218332)
January 18, 2016 19:40

Got the same flyer in the mail

wondering if I should be applying

ENOTTY
ENOTTY (@guest_217631)
January 14, 2016 23:37

I called the offer line at 1-866-391-3626. The representative sounded Indian. They were unable to find information about the rewards program and told me to call customer service at 1-800-818-3626. This representative claimed to be from South Dakota and sounded American.

According to her, I could redeem for merchandise, gift certificates, and air travel.

The chart looked like this:

up to $200 – 16,000
up to $250 – 20,000
up to $300 – 24,000
up to $350 – 28,000
up to $400 – 32,000
up to $450 – 36,000
up to $500 – 40,000
up to $600 – 48,000
up to $700 – 56,000
up to $800 – 64,000
up to $900 – 72,000
up to $1000 – 80,000

All 1.25 cpp.

I could only book non-refundable, round trip tickets with the return date within 30 days of the original departure date. Tickets can be purchased in anyone’s name but the tickets would be sent to the cardholder’s address.

She also gave me the phone number of the rewards program customer service line: 1-888-502-0437, but nobody picked up.

Jason d
Jason d (@guest_217635)
January 14, 2016 23:49

Thanks enotty. 1.25 is not terrible early 2 points per dollar. I have a card that gives me 1.50 on airfare but 3,2,1 bonus structure.

Jason d
Jason d (@guest_218121)
January 17, 2016 23:09

Could be the same. Just choice of brands. Would like to know however as I have this card offer on my desk. Wonder if I should just keep my arrival plus and pay the annual fee since I get thr benefits until September

Skye
Skye (@guest_217628)
January 14, 2016 23:19

Mine says no annual fee

Jason d
Jason d (@guest_217626)
January 14, 2016 23:07

Yup got the invite today too for the Amex. Free first year them $59.

Dcatast
Dcatast (@guest_217583)
January 14, 2016 21:09

The offer with $59 AF waived for the first year is the Amex card, seems like the visa doesn’t have the fee.

Jags4186
Jags4186 (@guest_217504)
January 14, 2016 14:53

Interesting. I received this offer today EXCEPT it has $0 intro fee, $59 a year afterwards. No thanks

Raj
Raj (@guest_217575)
January 14, 2016 20:52

Same here. Only First year free. $59 afterwards.

Dan
Dan (@guest_217433)
January 14, 2016 11:04

Are people getting offers for the Platinum Visa mentioned in the chart? I got the offer for the Amex.

ENOTTY
ENOTTY (@guest_217423)
January 14, 2016 10:25

Hrmm, nothing about international tickets?

I found this really old PDF (looks like it dates to 2005) that discusses the AirMiles program. https://www.1stnationalbank.com/common/shared/creditcards/rewards2/firstairmiles.pdf

Dan
Dan (@guest_217451)
January 14, 2016 11:42

Circuit City sighting!