Orbitz Mastercard - Earn Airline Discounts with Orbitz

Orbitz now has a MasterCard, with which you can earn airline discounts when purchasing through their website. First of all, let me admit that I wasn’t entirely right when I told you last week that Travelocity was the only online travel site with a miles program. Sorry about that. But in my defense, I’m pretty sure this is a new deal from Orbitz. I just received the junk mail yesterday.

The Orbitz MasterCard lets you earn 1 point per dollar spent, which is pretty standard. When you use the card to make AIRLINE purchases through orbitz.com, you’ll earn 2 points per dollar spent. And that’s pretty much it. You get a bonus for your first use and 1 point per dollar for balance transfers, but those are one time deals.

The reward? For 10,000 points you get a $100.00 discount on airfare purchased through Orbitz. So for the standard 25,000 miles you’d earn with an airline credit card (which would get you a free ticket), you’d only get a $200.00 discount. No thank you.

All in all, I think this is probably the crappiest rewards program going. I mean, I only earn 1 mile per dollar with my NWA MasterCard, but I have LOADS of other earning options and I can get free tickets not just some lame-o discount. While Travelocity’s rewards program isn’t going to lure me away from my standard airline miles, it’s far better than the Orbitz deal.