You’re going to be reading about this one on many of the BoardingArea blogs.
BoardingArea and the American Express Premier Rewards Gold Card are sponsoring a giveaway — a trip for two to Australia’s Gold Coast including air and seven nights hotel (all mileage-earning), meals even, and cash and gift cards as a kick-in to cover taxes on a trip that’s otherwise valued at over $10,000.
Each of 20 participating BoardingArea blogs will be able to select one reader for the final drawing. By reading several of the blogs you have more chances to win and by being selected on one of the blogs you have about a 1 in 20 chance of winning the grand prize.
The contest is only open to those 18 years of age and older and to US residents only, not to our friendly Canadians or to residents of U.S. Territories.
Here’s how you enter. Leave a comment to this post answering the question:
What’s your top tip for travelers who want to earn and use their loyalty points?
I will select at random a tip from among those that meets, in my sole discretion, a minimum standard of usefulness.
In other words, your tip doesn’t have to be the single greatest one ever. It just has to be useful or thoughtful to some. I don’t want blank entries here, or “I’m in!” as a comment, that won’t get you an entry. But anyone with a reasonable tip about something they’ve found useful in earning or burning points gets you an entry.
And I don’t want to get into the game of selecting what’s the best, the winner from my blog will be selected at random (via random.org).
That winner will be selected based on comments received by noon eastern time on March 28. They’ll be forwarded to BoardingArea as one of ~ 20 finalists who will go on to be selected to win the trip!
More details on the contest can be found at contest page, along with a full list of the twenty or so participating blogs where you can leave similar tips and gain additional entries into the giveaway!
Questions? Shoot those over to me by email rather than in the comments to this post, the comments here are tips about earning and burning points in order to enter to win a truly amazing trip!
Check out how easy it is to redeem airline miles for actual seats! I have found it far easier to redeem points with Continental and Alaska Airlines than with many of the other mileage programs.
Just read the flyertalk forums and the boardingarea blogs!
Get yourself a credit card that helps you earn miles on your airline/alliance of choice, then use it for everything!
I use Google’s intext notification service for free mileage deals, and use my preferred airline’s shopping site to always purchase any online purchases before I buy.
A little research goes a long way–think outside the box and find your way with miles to the destination of your choice!
on staralliance awards it appears some award partners allow combination of classes at one way prices while others don’t.
I’m a novice at accumulating miles, not ever having traveled enough to accrue a lot of miles. However, last year I did more travel for work and ended up achieving elite status for this year. One key was being signed up for emails from the mileage program and actually paying attention to them. The winner for me last year was the one that had me register for double credit toward elite status. That’s what put me over the top and is making my travel this year a bit more comfortable. Now I’m looking forward to having enough miles to actually do something fun in a couple of years.
Suppose you need to fly from Cleveland to Venice. Never ask whether award seats are available from Cleveland to Venice. Instead, start with the hub-to-hub routes flown by the carriers in your alliance. Say it’s the Star Alliance: Look for availability on flights from Chicago, Newark, Philadelphia, Toronto, or Washington, D.C. (hubs for Star Alliance partners Continental, United, US Airways, and Air Canada) to Frankfurt, Vienna, Munich, or Copenhagen. That gives you more than 20 possibilities. Once you’ve found a hub-to-hub flight with award seats, tack on the short-haul spoke-to-hub or hub-to-spoke options (Cleveland to Chicago or Dulles, for example, and Frankfurt or Vienna to Venice).
I only use my amex card for purchases and earn miles by flying and promos on airlines that i can transfer rewards points to. that maximizes my options since we’ve stopped flying like we used to.
Read the newsletter and the website for your program — there are TONS of bonus and partner programs. We get miles for Netflix, our electric bill, sending flowers (including paying for wedding flowers when our son got married last year), our cell phones, and nearly everything we buy — and we usually get double or triple miles from the partners and promotional opportunities that show up (free) in our email box. Also, we dump all our points for every credit card, every debit card, into ONE frequent flier mile account instead of splitting my points and my husband’s points. Makes a HUGE difference — and who cares whose name is on the “award certificate” if you are both flying first class for free?
My tip is to plan early and be persistent. In order to maximize your points, you have to be patient and organized.
Use ITA Software’s site (http://matrix.itasoftware.com/cvg/dispatch/ , log in as guest) to search for flights and routes which fit your criteria and the conditions of award fare in your reward program.
Set up a Google Alert for a specific web search related to your awards program so you get notified of offers automatically (for example, set up a phrase like “miles and more bonus miles”)
BEST WAY
BEST WAY to earn and burn is to spread out to every program you can find without trashing your credit. Work every angle, and avoid fees like the devil. Sometimes is just cheap to PAY to fly and earn rewards too. I have earned over 2 million miles with very litle cash out of pocket. Miliage runs are just for FREQUENT fliers, not the average joe. Enjoy
Trying get to get the best deals, be very flexible.
Many semi-frequent flyers don’t realize that they can often credit their flown miles to a different airline miles program within an alliance or through other reciprocal agreements. Doing so can keep all your miles in one place (or at least just a few places), with a potentially significant impact on how soon you’ll have enough miles for award travel.
Transfer AMEX Points to ANA for low mileage premium awards from the East Coast of US to Europe on great carriers like Virgin Atlantic.
Earning miles quickly is much easier than you think! Every time you have to pay for something, think of gaining mileage points. Get a credit card (like AmEx) that gives the most mileage points for your favorite airline every time you use the card; I use that one card for just about everything. Then, check out what companies your airline partners with and shop through them (for i.e. hotel stays, car rentals, and even for significant things like home loans, larger purchases, loans, insurance and even home purchases). Many airlines have “dining for miles” programs (linked up to your credit card). You can also shop at your regular stores online but go through mall sites (like Delta’s SkyMall) where you get points for money spent (that’s in addition to the miles your credit card will give). You can also rack up the points by completing online surveys for companies linked up to your airline (like erewards.com for Delta miles). Also, check your airline’s frequent flier webpage every now and then for specials offering points. It all adds up quickly!
Once you have enough miles on an airline, plan to use them, but do your planning well in advance, like making reservations 2 months early, to ensure availability of your preferred travel dates. Remember: once made, the reservations cannot be changed. Lastly, make your hard-earned $$ work for you and enjoy your free reward trip to the max!
read boarding area blogs; browse flyertalk discussions; use Starwood Preferred Guest Card from America Express.
[Full Disclaimer: I am one of the founders of the site, so consider this a shameless self-promotion!]
My hint is to use Grativis.com to manage all your frequent flyer program information – it’s like Mint.com for points.
It will pull in all of your points (flights, hotels, car, and others) and show it to you in a 1-page dashboard, while also showing the detailed information just 1 click away. What makes it different (and better) than other point management sites is that, in addition to showing your points, it will show what you can buy (eg “how many round trip coach tickets to Europe can I buy?”) with your points!
It’s in private beta right now, but I’ve set up 100 invites for BoardingArea.com users so that they can test it out themselves and see how it makes managing points easier than anything else out there.
To Sign Up:
https://www.grativis.com/index.php?step=newuser
Referral Code: BOARDINGAREA-FRIENDS
Thanks for a great site!
Michael Komarnitsky
Grativis.com
My two power strategies are to select a few travel partners and be loyal to them to maximize your benefits. Secondly, use a single credit card with a good reward program for everyting. Yes I mean everything. You should have heard me and the Acura salesman negotiating over a $42,000 purchase being put on my American Express card!
As for the travel partners, I have a friend who has used Hyatt hotels exclusively for 25 years. He hasn’t paid for an exotic luxury hotel detstination vacation in 12 years and he can get a great room at any Hyatt anytime – they never tell him they are sold out!
If you get an agent that is unhelpful – hang up and call back until you get an agent who is knowledgeable and willing to help. Be nice to the rep – that goes a long way.
The best idea is to read this blog at least once a day.
My top tip for using airline points is to be ready to plan several months in advance, be flexible and pick a few dates and surrounding airports to chose to fly into, and if you’re unable to find a flight by yourself online, try calling a points representative. You may have to pay a small fee but often they are able to search with partner airlines and get you where you want to go! You may want to check back a few times if you aren’t able to get it on the first try, as sometimes ther is an extra special agent that will go out of their way to help you a litte more. Be nice!
If you are just starting, focus on one or 2 programs to learn the tips and tricks as well as building points or miles.
My miles-earning tip is to frequently try to use the shopping portals offered through airline and hotel sites (for example, Mileage Plus Mall for United Airlines, or Priority Club Shopping for Priority Club Rewards) to buy things that I need. Not only do I earn miles on my airline or hotel affiliated credit card, but also an additional minimum of 1 mile per $1 spent. Even better though is when you come across an item that you might not particularly need, but after the free shipping and mail-in rebate, the item is free. I then immediately post it on ebay and walk away with more money in my pocket that I started with, and a bunch of miles or points.
Sign up for your airline’s Dining Rewards program and sign up for every bonus there. It’s an easy way to make miles on stuff you’d do anyway. Always offer to pay the bill, you’ll look like a nice guy and get the miles, you can double dip if you have a mileage earning credit card.
Try to consolidate travel and therefore mileage earning into one airline program and make sure that the airline is convenient to your home location. That way elite status is more within reach.
Establish a habit to check flyertalk.com at least Twice a day!
Details, details, check the details!
Sign up for every hotel/airline/train loyalty program out there. Just because you think that you aren’t going to actually fly on a particular airline or stay in a particular hotel chain, does not mean that’s a reason not to sign up for these programs. After that, make sure that you participate in every bonus, sign-up promo or opt-in promo available (think Continental’s frequent 100 mile promos). You never know when those couple hundred miles or points will come in handy for a larger promotion that is being offered. Often you can transfer points or miles to other programs via points.com to get that last necessary partner participation.
One tip that has served me well: be aware of opportunities to transfer miles/points from one program to another for free without devaluation.
A good one is Amtrak Guest Rewards -> Continental OnePass. Limit of 50K per year – and even that might only be for Amtrak elite pax. It’s a steal. Eg right now there’s an offer for the co-branded Chase MC that yields 18K Amtrak points upon activation and another 18K with $2K spend. Easiest 36K Continental miles I’ve every heard of.
Similarly know how much the miles/points are worth to you so you know when to earn and when to burn.
Join Thanks Again and become their friend on Facebook. Every few days or so, they post something that gives you an easy way to get 100 miles, like naming your favorite football teams.
NEVER use your miles for domestic travel!
Set up a Google Alert with keywords for your favorite airline’s name and something like “frequent flier miles” or “miles promotion”–go crazy and do all the combinations–it costs nothing and can help make sure you don’t miss out on an opportunity you might not have otherwise noticed.
“What’s your top tip for travelers who want to earn and use their loyalty points?”
Think again.
Sticking to the same airline and flying often pay back, most practically and enjoyable in the form of class upgrades especially for long-haul flights, while a few do manage to earn free short trips.
Now in today’s progressively cost- and, hence, benefit-cutting economy, non-business travelers could discover more flexibility, savings and peace of mind running conglomerate search for low-cost flights, and finally say good bye to the stack of frequent flier cards hiding out between their desk and wallet, barely ever in use.
Always be sure to keep up to date with promotions and special offers of your favorite loyalty programs. These promotions allow you to earn points, miles, and rewards at greatly accelerated rates. Read the T&C’s carefully and be sure to follow up with Customer Service if any bonuses do not post.
Try to be rational on *both* ends of the mileage/points equation. It is easy to be rational when it comes to redemption: miles and points often allow us to travel to places we would never go in a style we would never personally pay for. But when it comes to earning points, being rational is even more important. It is all too easy to get caught up increasing a miles/points balance while indulging in irrational exuberance. While flying IAD-JFK on United will net you 500 miles, sometimes it just is not worth paying $200 more than JetBlue on that route. 🙂
Get multiple debit and credit cards for members of the family — teenagers, college students, both spouses — that all credit points to the SAME frequent flier account. Not just the same airline, the exact same account. That way, every dollar every person spends with plastic earns points on ONE account. I was amazed how fast this added up.
We also use our American Express card for really large payments and purchases — from the mortgage on our vacation home to car repairs to college tuition — and earn miles on that, too. It costs us nothing except the annual fee, because we pay the balance promptly, but it earns a LOT of points.
Enjoy reward flights sooner with a Household Account.
You and up to six other members of your household, including children, can earn and spend British Airways Miles together. Each member has an individual account, which is linked with the others so you can pool BA Miles, making it easier to take reward flights sooner.
Jumpstart your miles by getting status on one airline. AA offers a Platinum challenge that can help you get status very quickly. Once you have status with AA, many other airlines are willing to match it. When you fly with status, you get more miles. Now you just have to earn it the hard way next year. 😉
When trying to redeem miles for an award ticket plan on doing all the leg work yourself – most airline phone agents will search the simplest routings, find no availability, and stop. Know all your airline’s partners (both in and outside the alliance) and all hub and gateway cities, and tell the agent exactly what you want.
For example, Delta had no availability for a West Coast to Israel award. But the agent only checked Delta flights. By knowing ahead of time that Air France serves Seattle, SFO, and LAX, and that Alaska serves my city and the AF gateways, I got the outbound on the exact dates I wanted.
Similarly, secure the international flight first. There is only one SEA-CDG flight a day. Find availability for that, then work on getting to SEA – there’s likely many more options for the domestic flight. Many agents will not even search the international flight on a particular day if your first domestic segment doesn’t appear to be available.
Bring your own entertainment. Although hillarious, the same episode of 30 Rock gets old after teh 5th viewing in 3 weeks.
Keep a spreadsheet to track stays/flights/car rentals and anticipated points/bonuses. It really helps when doing a lot of travelling over a short period of time and assists with follow-up, when required.
Keep an eye on the rail awards. Amtrak has double and triple points promotion now and it has a good redeem rate. Their credit card usually has a good offer.
Earn- Sign up for a credit card affiliated with miles,(if possible CHURN!), always makes sure that your hard earned miles actually post, travel when double miles are being offered, and look around at boardingarea.com, and FT, for the many bonuses out there.
Spend- If you’ve got the miles, USE AND ENJOY THEM, unless the price to pay is the same value as the points or cheaper, when then you might as well save your miles for a different occasion, and actually earn miles on your current fly or stay.
certain travel days such as a monday, tuesday or thrusday are cheaper to travel than say friday, saturday, sunday!
My #1 tip is to really BE loyal to a single coalition program that lets you use miles on multiple airlines. Combine that with a high-limit American Express card you can use for spending on everything from cars to college tuition and paying utility bills, and it’s easy to rack up points on stuff you buy or pay every day.