Getting Credit for Flights Booked on Internet Site

Airline-owned Internet travel seller www.orbitz.com is offering a credit card that earns points redeemable for airline tickets.

The MasterCard, issued by Juniper Bank, awards two points for every dollar cardholders charge on Orbitz and one point for every dollar spent elsewhere. It takes 20,000 points to earn a round-trip domestic coach ticket worth up to $400. The points are not redeemable for other products Orbitz sells, such as international travel, packages, car rentals and hotel stays. Customers sign up on the Web site.

Although the program may sound similar to airlines' frequent-flier awards, it can be harder to earn a ticket with Orbitz. To earn one round-trip ticket you would need to buy 25 round trips if each costs $400--more if the trips cost less, fewer if they cost more. You would need a little more than seven Chicago-LAX round trips on American Airlines, at 3,490 miles each, to reach the 25,000 miles needed for a free round-trip domestic ticket under that airline's frequent-flier program.