I might repeat myself with these tips but just to recap:
If you have a cash-back or points card like Capital One/Discovery/etc... you are wasting your time & money. At any time these Banks can change their redemption program (Capital One just recently did by downgrading the point worth).
It is highly advisable to be a member of every airline program you can think of - joining a program doesn't cost any money - just 2 minutes to fill out the registration on the airline's website and then they will send you your membership number (keep an Excel spreadsheet for easy management).
Determine where you want to travel to. Living in San Francsico Bay Area - your best bet is to be a United Mileage Plus member (SFO is a United Hub). In LA it would be advisable to mainly acquire American Airlines AAdvantage miles (LAX is a AA Hub)....and so on...nevertheless, we are members of many different airlines so you have to keep your options open.
You want to get to Europe for free (almost free, you always have to pay taxes/airport fees and the like - roughly $100 per ticket) then UNITED is nice from SFO because it code-shares with Lufthansa. You want to go to London? American Airlines miles can be used for British Airways flights....
Want to sip some wine in Paris - then Delta miles, which can be used with Air France are for you....
These are all code-share/partner airlines. There are 3 major partnerships: Star Alliance (United, Continental, US Airways, Lufthansa, etc...), One World (American Airlines, British Airways, Aeroflot, etc..) and Skyteam (Delta, Air France, etc..) - there are so many options out there....go grab the opportunity.
How do I earn miles?
1) by flying the airline and showing/submitting your membership number pre-flight during booking or check-in.
2) By using a co-branded credit card (United Chase Visa Signature Card for example) and earning 1mile or 2miles/dollar spent. AND you receive HUGE sign-up bonuses for getting the card and using it following all instructions to get 20000, 250000, 300000, 350000 or even 50000 miles after first using your card by buying a stick of gum or by spending a minimum amount in the first few months of owning the card....this is how we get most of our miles - it's a real gold rush and who knows how long that lasts - so get in on it!!!
3) By using a credit card for dining (participating restaurants - see rewardsnetwork) you can earn up to 10 miles/dollar ( $80 dinner=800 miles, that's more than what you would earn for a flight from SFO-LAX).
4) By using the online shopping portal of an airline. Shoebuy 6miles/dollar, Macy's 2miles/dollar....whenever you buy anything online - you could probably earn miles by doing so.
5) Renting a car - some car rental companies give you a bonus & discount by renting through the airline website or using special discount coupons offered quite widely by airlines (20% or 1000 mile bonus are common)
6) participate in promotions (check your emails closely) - sometimes you get an email announcement by an airline that state that for the next 4 weeks, if you fly between SFO and JFK and you register for the promotion, you will earn 25000 bonus points....there's a lot of fine print involved but this is potentially very lucrative for miles.
7) by following this or other blogs - there are deals and promotions all the time. Some are really small (100 points for filling out a survey) some are huge. To maximize your miles you have to follow a blog. The best message board is flyertalk.com.
How do I use my miles?
Well, first congratulations for having this luxury. You are now member of an exclusive club of people that can get a ticket for almost nothing.
However, getting those tickets is not easy - there's high demand so PLAN, PLAN, PLAN AHEAD!!
If you wait 1 month before takeoff to get your ticket you may very well be out of luck. 6 months, your chances are good, 12 months you almost certainly will be successful. The more flexibility you have the better of course.
For us the thinking goes: Where do we want to go & when? E.g.: Hawaii (Kauai)- labor day weekend
Who flies there? (United, Hawaiian Airlines, etc...)
Do we have enough miles for a free ticket? (yes on United, no on Hawaiian Airlines)
Do we want to use our United miles or save them for a Europe flight? (save them....get Hawaiian Airline miles)
How many Hawaiian Airlines miles do we need? (at least 17500 each for one-way, most likely 25000 one way each)
How do we get that much together fast? Answer: credit card sign up bonuses. Hawaiian Airlines issues 2 credit cards, one with Bank of America, one with Bank of Hawaii. each have a $50 annual fee but give you 20000 Hawaiian miles after first use. That's 40000 miles total.
Is that enough? yep, there's a sale so flying to Kauai and back (stopover in honolulu) "costs" only 17500 miles one-way - 35000miles total. So we have 5000 miles to spare.
What are the next steps? Both of us sign up for both cards. They arrive in about 10-14 days. Buy something small (stick of gum) right away. Wait for next statement...about 3 weeks. all miles should post then. Go to Hawaiian Airlines website and purchase tickets. Total price to go to Hawaii per person: 2x $50 annual fee + $10 airline fee/taxes = $110 roundtrip SFO - KAUAI per person (planning started in Feb/March - tickets purchased end of April - trip is in September)
That's just a short example of how you could be doing this.....same applies to go to the Carribbean, Europ, Africa, Australia....just have a plan, figure out who you want to fly with preferably and see if it's possible to get the miles together cheaply so you don't have to fork out $500 to $1000 each......
Just ask me and I'll get you on the right track.
What about my CREDIT SCORE, won't all this credit card applications hurt my score?
Welcome to Mythville, where myths are spread without connection to reality. Yes your score is important and I always advise people that they have to be careful and responsible with their credit.
However, my score has recently gone UP by doing all this I just described (I have applied to approx. 6 credit cards in the past 4 weeks - my score went up 13 points),sometimes it may drop a ridiculous amount for 3 months (3 points or so) but there's not big hit or drop.
Remember, you can have 30 credit cards with no problem if you pay your balances in full. And that's certainly easy if you get a card, buy chewing gum and pay the bill when it comes in. Let's say you have 10 credit cards (all airline or hotel related) - each card has a credit limit of 5000 dollars. Your personal access to credit is 50000 dollars. What's your balance: 0 to 200 dollars perhaps at any given time. The credit bureaus calculate the ratio between how much credit you have and how much you use. Using 200 bucks out of 50000 is not bad so you are not a risky person to the credit bureaus. So, don't worry about your score too much. Make sure you don't spend uncontrollable. Pay off your balance in full, don't miss payments, etc...
You should get a free credit report online (remember is has to be FREE by law) and maybe check your score at myfico.com (sign up for trial period, cancel right away so you won't be charged after the trial ends) so you have an idea where your score is. If you are at 700 or higher you won't have too much trouble getting a credit card....and that's it....
Finally..... ENJOY YOUR BONUS MILES & FREE FLIGHT! :) And think of us when you enjoy your complimentary nuts & beverages on your way to .........(fill in the blank)!!
