Use Airline Credit Cards & Frequent Flyer Programs For Frugal Travel

December 13, 2009 by Guest Blogger

Here’s one more budget travel tip: maximize your mileage points!

Have you heard of the movie “Up In The Air”? George Clooney plays a man who, in addition to flying around the country firing people, has an obsession to earn ten million frequent flier points and to become a member of an elite, small group that has done so.

While that goal is a little lofty, I can identify with the desire to collect points. In any year, I only fly four or five times, but over the course of 15 years I’ve earned enough points to fly overseas four times (three trips to Spain and one to The Czech Republic) in addition to getting a free rental car on one of the trips.

How did I do it?

Airline Credit Cards & Frequent Flyer Programs: Tips For Frugal Travel

1. I opened a credit card that gave me points (one point for every dollar put on the card) toward one of the airlines I used, and also signed up for an American Express card that gave me points (again one point for every dollar charged) that I could use with any airline. Here’s a list of airline credit cards that offer rewards that you can use towards your travels:

Credit Card
 Rewards Type
 Notes
Chase Sapphire Card Air Miles 10,000 bonus points, Premier travel, No annual fee
American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Air Miles 10,000 membership points, $125 annual fee
Discover Miles Credit Card Air Miles 12,000 bonus miles, No annual fee
Escape By Discover Card Air Miles Unlimited double miles, $60 annual fee
Citi PremierPass Elite Level Air Miles Top pick by Kiplinger’s, $75 annual fee
Platinum Delta SkyMiles Frequent Flyer 20,000 bonus miles, $150 annual fee
Delta Reserve Credit Card Frequent Flyer Bonus miles, $450 annual fee
Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card Best Hotel Rewards Up to 6 free nights, No annual fee for first year, $45 thereafter

2. Early on, I took advantage of a program with American Airlines that — if I flew on their airline before a certain date — would triple my miles on every flight with them for the next year. I also kept my eyes open for any other special promotions that would increase point levels.

3. I signed up for various frequent flyer (flier?) programs and made sure that I plugged in my frequent flyer number when I bought my tickets.

4. I kept track of when my points expired so as to not lose them. When I went to Prague, it was in the middle of my third year of law school, and this was in February, so it was not the best time to travel. But my points were expiring the following June, and they had an open seat for a free ticket for a frequent flyer in February, so away I went. Sometimes, it’s all about the timing.

5. I decided to use my points only for overseas travel, rather than domestic flights; I also used points to upgrade my flights from coach to business or first class. This made the points something special and a goal to really work toward.

Building Up My Frequent Flyer Points

Unbelievably, my trip to Prague used up all of my frequent flier points. Being in school and studying for the bar exam the last five years, I haven’t had time to fly and accumulate more points. So I am starting over. I am flying twice in the next month, so I will get my balances started again. I discovered a great website: frequentflier.com that discusses all aspects of frequent flying and how to get points.

Frequentflier.com has a newsletter that can tell you about the latest promotions that are available, and they also have a forum, where like-minded frequent fliers can talk to each other. I doubt I will ever make that ten million mark, but I am sure to get enough to take a few more trips overseas.

 
Contributing Writer: BEM

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