Air miles

Hi Tommie Kelly

I use United's Mileage Plus Card. I get 1.5 miles per every dollar spent. Some airline credit cards will offer introductory rates when you sign up, i.e the United Explorer Card usually offer 30k miles after 1k spent. My husband and I put all of our monthly expenses on our credit card and pay it off at the end of the month. As long as you're responsible and truly pay off the balance, its a great way to earn miles. I also look at the Mileage Plus store and see what miles I can get for particular stores. I recently signed up for a wine club through United and got 7k miles up front. I had to do at least 2 shipments of wine, but the cost was about $160 for 12 bottles. So to me, the 7k miles was worth paying just $160.

Also, with the Mileage Plus card, it allows us into Airport Lounges (either United or Star Alliance), which is nice as you get free snacks and drinks. Sometimes they are nice to use to get away from the chaos that you find in airport terminals.

We use our miles to upgrade, although I've never flown a different carrier under the program other than United when flying international, so I can't help you too much on that front.

Hope this helps :)

We use Capital one. There are several plans. 2 miles for every dollar spent if you pay a yearly fee. 1 1/2 miles for every dollar spent without yearly fee. It can be used on any airline and never expires. Can be transferred. I usually get my husband's miles and combine with mine when planning a trip. Can be used for more than airfare.

I use the AA Advantage card. Received 50,000 miles to sign up for the Citibank card and my husband got his own and received 40,000 miles. In 2 years we have over 250,000 miles and are flying first class to Spain on American and British Airways (a one world partner) next August/September. I put everything I can on the cards and pay them in full each month including water bill, cable, auto insurance, property taxes and all purchases including groceries. The cost of our airfare would be over $16,000 when pricing our airfare. The card also allows early boarding and one checked bag for free. They are in the process of adding the US Airways benefits which will make the card even more beneficial since the two airlines have merged.

Probably most airline cards/benefits are pretty comparable. Are there more flight options for a particular airline at your home airport? What city do you generally fly out of when you go abroad? Most airlines have "hub" cities and they more have flexibility with flights out of those cities.

In general,whenever you pick your airline, be loyal! My airline of choice is American. Their flights may not always be the cheapest or most convenient (although they are usually comparable) but it is worth it to me to get all of my miles on one airline. Also, sometimes the "full fare" or even "business class" is not that much more than the discount fare. I have no idea why- maybe it's time of day or day of week. But American gives you 1.5 miles per mile in these cases so sometimes will pay the extra 100 knowing I am getting more miles.

Finally, try to get to an elite status with whatever airline you pick. For American, that is 25,000 miles. They start giving you bonus miles for your flights, have sales on purchasing extra miles, etc.

I follow a blog that is dedicated to building miles and strategies for redeeming them. It's called weflyfree.com. Browse the site and then click on the "Beginner's Guide" link at the top. You will be surprised how far you can take this. I was. I have a US Airways credit card (40,000 bonus miles and one mile per dollar spent except 2 miles per dollar on US purchases) and an American Airlines card (50,000 bonus miles plus one mile per dollar except 2 miles per dollar on AA purchases). Just getting the bonus miles is enough for 2 coach tickets to Europe for the annual card fee. Also, I get an annual companion pass on US Airways that get two companions a ticket for $99 each.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred card will let you transfer points 1:1 to a several airlines and hotel chains. You can find out more at https://creditcards.chase.com/credit-cards/sapphire-preferred-card.aspx?fcsplit=2

Also, many rewards cards have their own rewards shopping malls where you go, click on a link to a retailer, and shop through that link and get extra points for your purchase. So, for online purchase you plan to make anyway, it can pay to check and see if you can get extra points for those purchases.

The Chase Sapphire offers flexibility to use the points through several airlines, and then partner airlines of those, but it doesn't offer free checked bags, priority boarding, or lounge access, which some of the airline-specific cards do. So, if you frequently fly the same airline, springing for an airline-specific card can be helpful, and even pay for its own annual fee with a few trips' worth of free checked bags.

Also, depending on your credit score and your willingness to get more credit ( many folks are skittish about this because it requires a lot of discipline to stay on budget), both you and your husband can apply for cards with bonus miles to get a leg up on accumulating miles. I had my wife get the US Airways card separately for another 40,000 miles and am seriously considering having her get the AA card as well. If she does get the AA card, that will be 180,000 mile for getting the cards. The annual fees are around $89 per card.

Another method of getting miles is buying/sharing miles. I am US Airways Gold status and I get offers for additional miles every month or two. Sharing miles is cheapest. For example, I can share 50,000 miles with my wife and she gets 100,000 mile for a cost of about $530. She then shares miles with me and we end up with 100,000 miles for about $1,060. You can use those miles for a business class ticket to Europe (cost would be about $5000). If you buy miles during the bonus offer, 100k miles will run about $1,850. Again, you would pay this amount and use the miles for a business class ticket to Europe or even Asia. Depending on the airline/alliance, you may be able to get first class to Australia for 110,000 miles. Well worth it!

Good way to earn a lot of frequent flyer miles is to fly a lot. You get miles for the distance of the flight. When you fly enough, you gain elite status. This can get you bonus miles. Like 100% bonus at the right levels. Just do this a lot. For a long time. You'll have a pile of them.

I have 2 United cards and one USAirways ( back of the wallet), along with Marriott and Hilton cards for hotel points. I use the United Mastercard until I reach the bonus ( usually mid-year) then switch to the other one, a VISA and spend to get the extra 10,000 miles on each. Staying in the same hotel chains will earn you some free nights.Scan the websites and other frequent flyer consumer-written sites for bonus offers and register for those you will use. Earning free travel requires the ability to pay off all purchases every month or else the interest/fees will eat into the "free travel" aspect we value.