Airline affiliated cards.

If you buy a plane ticket using the airline’s affiliated credit card, you usually get some special benefits on that particular flight. Maybe you get bonus miles, or an extra free checked bag.

If you cancel the ticket and it’s non-refundable then sometimes you get a “credit” certificate to use for purchasing a new flight. Not an open ticket, but just a cash equivalent for any itinerary. So I mean when you cancel the ticket, not just the reservation.

When you use that voucher, that originated with the credit card, do the benefits come among with it? Do I get a free extra bag on the new flight, for example?

If not, it’s a major disincentive that undoes what the airline is trying to accomplish by permitting the cancel-for-credit.

Because I don’t want a bunch of my future flights to be without the benefit of the card.

It can sometimes make more sense to use another card. There is an opportunity cost in not using the other card, and that isn’t always outweighed. For example, I have a card on one airline where the money spent accrues point to use only on that airline. And another card where if spent on air fare (with anyone) gets me cash back. Sometimes the cash back is worth more than the marginal value of extra points. Alaska is a good example, because for instance I think they rejiggered their point system last year and some the three-cents-a-point international benefits don’t exist anymore.

They use a zoning method that average is the same or better than before but some edge case good deals went away. So if you’ve got a million points with them already, or whatever, maybe now you’d rather get the cash back.