I have a United Mileage Plus Visa. It's $60 a year and I generally get 1 mile per dollar. I hate the fee, but as others have said, depending on what you buy with the card, you can "negate" the fee. For example, I'm getting married soon and the majority of my wedding payments (up in the thousands) are going on the card. I already have 47,000 racked up in the past year, so by the time my payments are done, I will hopefully have plenty enough for our honeymoon.
Now, I didn't spend $47,000 in the past year. But I also took advantage of certain promotions. Like the restaurant down the block that gives me 10 miles to the dollar - when 4 of us go out to dinner and spend $120, that's 1200 miles right there. I do as much shopping as possible through their affiliate program (if only they took Amazon!).
So if you use it enough (and of course, this is all assuming you can pay your bill on time), and you have a goal in mind (even if that goal is "I want to fly somewhere for free"), then it can be worth it. It works for me. Your mileage may vary. Hahahahha, I made a joke.
