This is a new bi-weekly feature about travel hacking. The purpose is to keep you up to date on chances to earn frequent flyer miles.
Since I read, The Frequent Flyer Master, which I highly recommend to anyone interested in the subject, I’ve earned over 150,000 miles. My goal is to accumulate enough to fly free to Peru in November and New Zealand in 2012. Of course, all while keeping my credit score high, which I’ll update you on.
Earning 150,000 miles wasn’t hard. I was able to earn 100,000 by applying to the British Airways Visa. Unfortunately, this offer just expired on May 5th (That’s why I’m going to start writing about travel hacking more often, as there are many limited time opportunities).
Another card that I applied for and love, is The Starwood American Express Card. The card only earns you 10,000 miles unless you spend $15,000 in 6 months (I’m not interested in spending that much. Although, some people buy coins via credit card then deposit).
However, the Starwoods rewards program for flyers is one the most flexible. You can transfer miles on up to 30 airlines. Plus, you get a 5,000 mile bonus each time you transfer 20,000 Starwood points.
I track everything via Google Docs. Here’s a download in Excel format, of a template I use to track frequent flyer miles.
I’ll be writing more about this subject in the future. I’ll keep things short because my main goal with Gen Y Wealth is to educate on the fundamentals of personal finance. However, earning frequent flyer miles can be a fun break from compound interest and Roth IRA rules. (:
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Great start RJ. Keep watch for an offer from American Express for 50k Membership Rewards points for signing up. The AmEx program is really flexible.
I’m also a huge fan of AwardWallet, it is an aggregator for all of our frequent flyer miles. It also allows me to keep tabs on my wife’s accounts too. We’re at about 850k miles and points (almost 500k of those are Marriott points from several years of loyalty and using our Marriott Rewards Visa extensively) but I love the service for keeping me up to date easily. It’s really inexpensive and worthwhile, IMHO. I love my weekly email updates with new balances!
Thanks Jude. 850,000 is impressive. I’ll have to check out AwardWallet. The more accounts I have, the harder it is to keep track of. The template I devised is simple, but has its limits.