Almost a year ago, my wife and I signed up for United Airlines credit cards because they were offering 50,000 miles each as an incentive to get their card. We did not hesitate as it easily meant two domestic trips each or one trip to Hawaii. It was a no-brainer at the time, and neither of us took a hit on our credit reports for opening the new lines of credit.

Ever since opening the accounts and making our initial purchases to get the bonus miles, the credit cards have been sitting in a safe. The annual fee will get charged to the accounts on May 1, 2011, so we have been holding off on canceling the cards in the hopes that we can sell our home to avoid any negative impact on our credit scores. Well this week we received an offer from United to register for Netflix and receive 4,000 airline miles (2,000 from Netflix and an additional 2,000 miles for placing your subscription on your United credit card). We have never had Netflix subscriptions before.

Well last night we decided to take the plunge after looking over the cards and pulling them out of the safe. I signed each of us for new accounts and paid with our United credit cards. Since I signed my wife up with our home address, I had to use an alternative address to qualify. Our plan is to try the first month ($7.99 each) and see if we like Netflix. I am not to worried about the monthly fee showing up on the credit card before the May 1, 2011 cancellation of the cards. What I am worried about though is that the 4,000 miles show up in each of our accounts before we cancel the credit cards. If I end up having to cancel before the annual fee kicks in, I am concerned I might have to make some calls to United to argue for giving us our miles.

My biggest hope is that hopefully when I go to cancel the credit cards, I can get them to waive the annual fees so I can avoid shutting them down and possibly negatively effect our credit scores. Until then, we will enjoy our month of Netflix and 4,000 miles each. At less than $0.002 per mile, it was well worth signing up.