(Posting today as a request for TDM reader Laura, who wanted to know where to begin!)
I was helping a friend recently plan her upcoming trip to China and while she was frantically taking notes, I realized it might be helpful to create an entry level guide to collecting and using frequent flyer miles and hotel loyalty points. This guide is for the true beginner who wonders if people really travel for free and is stumped by the idea of using points and miles. If you already know to use Air France’s search engine for Delta availability and that you can buy Priority Club points for .7 cents each with a little trick, fell free to skip this post. For really deep knowledge into the subject, I suggest Million Mile Secrets blog, but for this exercise I’ll stick to the basics.
- You may have more miles and points than you think. Your first task should be to check all of the old frequent flyer cards you have lying around. If you have a Delta or Northwest, Congrats! Those points never expire. Northwest was purchased about three years ago by Delta, so you’ll need to go to delta.com to get your new Delta number. The others expire after 18 months of no account usage (not flight, just account usage), but many (USAir for example) can be re-instated for a nominal fee. Lonely Planet reports that $16 BILLION in miles go unused each year, so it’s worth the few minutes to track this stuff down.
- Know where you go before you start to collect. There are three alliances: Star Alliance (United, USAir), Skyteam (Delta, AirFrance), and OneWorld(American, BA Avios). Each partners with airlines throughout the world, but each also covers a specific region best. Dying to get to Central America? Star contains Copa, which is based in Panama City. Trying to get to France? Skyteam is your best bet. Ireland in your plans? You want Avios points. Consider where you travel and where you want to go before starting to collect miles. Wikipedia contains a good listing by airport departure of direct flights: just punch in the three letter code for the airport. And of course, you don’t want points to a hotel chain that doesn’t exist in your destination, a quick glance at the hotel chain’s website will let you know where they are. But, remember that most loyalty programs cover a variety of chains at many price levels: Priority Club, for instance covers all the way from Holiday Inn Express to Intercontinental.
- Getting miles and points is easier than you think. Airlines and hotels give away miles like crazy, but most people don’t know where to look. There are two basic types of giveaways: shopping miles and travel miles. I’ll cover both in later posts, but will give the basics here.
- Find the credit card that tracks best to your travel patterns. Many credit cards give miles (and bonus miles when you sign up). My two favorites are American Express and Chase Ultimate Rewards.
American Express Membership Rewards allow you to redeem points on BA (OneWorld), Delta (Skyteam), and other airlines, and Starwood, Marriott, and other hotel chains. They offer frequent bonuses to help your points go farther: last year I got over 50,000 free points from the transfer bonuses alone! Don’t have an AMEX yet? You can get one here, with bonus point offers. The Rewards Gold is great (with 25K bonus points) if you want a lower annual fee; but if you travel, I’d definitely recommend the Platinum, which is what I carry.Chase Ultimate Rewards is the other program I recommend and use personally. They give 40K bonus points with signup and have a lower annual fee than any of the American Express cards. Their points track to United (Star Alliance) and other airlines, Hyatt and other hotel chains, and you can also use them for travel bookings with a 25% bonus. I also have the Chase Hyatt Visa which gives you two nights anywhere in the world as a sign-up bonus, and the BA Visa, which gives 50k and another 50k with 10,000 in spending.
- Charge EVERYTHING! I’m not recommending you get into debt, but most of your bills can earn you miles! Cable bill? Charge it! Cell phone bill? Car Insurance? Medical Bills? Charge those too! You may be amazed what bills you pay can be taken online, and there’s the added bonus of saving time as your bills are paid automatically. You are literally refusing free money by not doing this!
- Take as much of your purchases online as you can to get bonus points. Airlines and hotel chains all have shopping portals that give bonus miles if you buy through their portal. Before making any major purchase, check to see if your favorite airline or credit card will offer bonus miles.
- Register! Register? Yes, register. As I mentioned, airlines and hotels give away points like crazy, but the hoops you have to jump through to find them can also be crazy. So, if you are planning a hotel stay, renting a car, or even re-financing your mortgage, be sure to check your airline and hotel’s frequent flyer program promo page to see what they have going on, and be sure to REGISTER for the promotion listed. I’ve gotten miles for answering trivia questions, for opening a bank account, for going to restaurants, for buying dog food, and for many other things I would have done anyway. (Well, maybe not the trivia…)
Of course, I’ll be pointing out the absolute must not miss promotions. With these basics, you’ll be flying in no time!
Please let me know your thoughts about this post, your successes (or failures) in getting free travel, and any other topics you’d like to see covered!
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I can’t believe I’m almost 40 years old, and I’ve never earned a single mile or point…ha! I think I found my new hobby 😀 thanks so much!
Don’t worry…I feel like I was late to the game as well. Warning, though, it can get addictive!
One quick question… I notice you like Amazon. How do you get the most points through Amazon? I’m also a huge “Ebayer”!
Some use the Hawaiian airlines portal to get a small bonus, but I don’t bother…if the item is that much cheaper, I just use one of my points earning cards.
My success story: TDM gave me enough points collection/redemption tips to go to a cousin’s wedding in Maui for only a fraction of my original budget. In a nutshell, my flight and car rental were free (would have been $900+ and $100+ respectively) and the hotel was under $600 (would have been $1200, even with the wedding group discount). The best part? During my stay I actually EARNED points for future travel!
The points collecting IS addictive! TDM, I’m ready for some of those shopping portal tips – normally I just head over to AmEx Membership Rewards portal, but now I’m looking for alternatives while that portal is down. I’m most interested in collecting points that can transfer to Delta or Starwood, but am also open to diversifying. Most of my online shopping has been at soap.com and buy.com (they both have their own points rewards systems built in, as well), but I’m open to switching those up if you know of better sites for prices/points earnings. I’ve been thinking I might need to build some sort of matrix for maximizing points earning on the various programs, but feel free to pass on any advice — you’re the master!!!
Thanks…and reminder that I want to tag you for a full post! Drugstore.com is another good one. If you’re ready to branch out to a new card, I would pick up the Chase Ultimate Rewards…they go mostly to United and Hyatt, but the UR portal is GREAT, and you can also book travel using points at a 25% discount.
re: my Maui success story, I should also mention that TDM introduced me to the wonderful world of lounge access. If you’ve never experienced this, you should! Wow, wow, wow, what a difference it made toward making the layover experience much less stressful!
TDM, Thank you!!!!
And yes…lounges are my fav also! However, lounge access can lead to unintentionally entitled kids. When Deal Kid proclaimed that the Delta lounge in Memphis “sucked”, a serious reality check was in order!
Well the reason I’m so miles/points ignorant is that I’m a flight attendant…and my mother was a flight attendant, so I’ve always flown for free! (please don’t hate me!!!) But times have changed and it’s getting harder to get a family of 4 anywhere on stand-by. And I had no idea you could get points towards hotels!
Count me as newly obsessed! …I’ve never been in an airport lounge either; only crew rooms which I have a feeling are much less luxurious 😉 I’d love to hear how that works.
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If I have picked up a new charge card for points to pay for a hotel stay can I cancel the card before the annual fee becomes due? Also, how soon after acquiring a card can you cancel it and keep the points? Lastly, can I apply for a charge card and put my husband’s reward number on the application so that all of the points go to his which would make reservations convenient since he already has his own card and reward number from that chain. Thank you. I am a very newbie.
Hi Gail,
11 months is plenty of time to keep a card, but many (such as the Hyatt) offer a free night or other points bonus with annual renewal so it may make sense to pay the fee. There’s no hard and fast rule as to how long to keep a card, but I don’t see a reason to cancel before renewal as it doesn’t cost you anything. As for the spouse question, your best bet would be to have him get the account and add you as a (usually free) authorized user with your own card, then your earnings would track to his account. Hope this helps!
I am trying to get the second card so that we can pay for second 3 of the 6 days of our New York stay. He has already gotten his new card so that his enrollment points will pay for the first 3 days of the 6 days total. That way we should be able to use all of our enrollment points together to cover 6 days, but we do not see needing the charge card on a regular basis and paying the $95 annual fee for both cards. I guess it would be safer to just get my own reward number and then apply for my own charge card. That way we can guarantee getting enough points for New York. It’s way too expensive out of pocket! This move if it works will save over $2000! Thank you for such a great reply! Have a great night!
This makes me happy. Which hotel are you choosing for New York? Are you doing the Hyatt? We loved the Lex48 and at 15,000 points it’s a steal.
We are staying at the Staybridge Suites so that we can have a full kitchen and free laundry, as well as being on 40th. We are using our Hilton points to stay 4 nights at the Hilton Times Square too. Also a big save in the middle of everything without paying the huge prices. I am so glad that you have this site to keep me up to date and motivated to keep looking for the deals out there. I can’t say a big enough Mahalo to you! Have a great rest of your week!
I’m a big fan of Priority Club. If you don’t already have the Priority Club Visa from Chase (which comes with bonus points), you can also buy points for .7 cents each using the little trick outlined by Million mile secrets. I’ve done it numerous times.