By Wendy Perrin

A reader who saw my entry about squeezing more free flights out of frequent-flier miles posted this question:  Are there credit cards that let you accrue miles that can be used on a wide selection of flights and airlines with available award seats?

Yes.  Credit cards such as Capital One and American Express' Blue Sky let you redeem your points for any flight on any airline, any time.  But, as I wrote in my "Credit Card Makeover" column, these programs have a drawback:  The number of miles needed for a free ticket is based on the cost of the flight.  Say the domestic flight you want costs $400. This flight would cost you 25,000 miles through traditional mileage programs, but it would cost 60,000 miles through Capital One and 30,000 through Blue Sky.

My favorite mileage-earning card is the Starwood Preferred Guest American Express card.  You can use your miles on any of 30 airlines (including all the major U.S. carriers).  There is certainly no guarantee that award seats will be available on the flight you want, but chances are you'll have enough airline and flight choices that you can find something that works.  PLUS you earn the equivalent of 1.25 miles per dollar spent.  AmEx gives you 1 point for each dollar, but when you go to Starwood to redeem your points for miles, Starwood throws in an extra 5,000 points for each 20,000 you redeem.  In other words, you get a 25,000-mile domestic roundtrip for only 20,000 points.