Getting the most out of your frequent flyer & travel rewards programs
 

I started a new job in September that is 100% travel. The first thing I did was get frequent flyer numbers for all the airlines, Hertz, and all of the major hotel chains. I'd never participated in any frequent traveler programs before this.

I’ve been using a personal credit card for my reimbursable expenses that are not covered by corporate travel expense card. I get no rewards points from either my corporate card or my personal card. Even though I’m being reimbursed for every dollar I spend on the road, I feel like I could be getting more out of the experience. My travel expenses are reimbursed 100%, so I want to start using a credit card that earns miles or points. What’s the best program out there?

AMEX? Diners Club? What about these credit cards that the airlines & hotels are offering with 15000 bonus points on the first purchase and triple points spent for every dollar spent at one of their locations? I'm not the type that believes in 'free rides', but those seem like easy points.

I’ve been able to focus on racking up the miles and points for Marriott and Northwest for the duration of this project, but it’s totally possible that next project will put me on a weekly American flight staying in a Hilton. Is there any benefit to using the airline and hotel sponsored VISAs short term for the bonus points, or is there a penalty for canceling the card before you cash the points in? Will I lose the bonus points if I bounce around between the credit card companies as my flight and hotel schedules change with project assignments, etc?

I expect to fly 200+ segments and stay in hotels 200+ nights a year with this job. Flights will be somewhat out of my control due to my home location. It’s easy enough to find a Marriott or a Hilton in just about every city I will work in, so I’m okay there. What is the best rewards program out there for my reimbursable out of pocket expenses?

TIA

Got any kids? Nieces/nephews, etc? Sign up for uPromise - any card, any dollar spent earns points towards a college education for the child of your choice. Then worry about what kinds of bonuses the cards themselves give you.

Trip Rewards is an excellent program. Covering 9 hotel chains and many, many other partners. Hotels you'd probably like are Wingate and some of the Ramada limiteds. Wingate was voted the #1 Midscale hotel chain in the country and the #3 overall...which includes the luxury segment. So successful that the mother company is struggling to build more.

This is an interesting thread. I've often given some thought to getting a credit card that gives miles and then using it for everything and pay it off every month.

That's what AMEX does for me.

Anytime we have a significant bill or deposit etc. that needs to be paid, I always try to use the Discover Card first - Cash Back baby! The Discover Card is not always accepted, but I always try it first. I think I got $100-150 in real cash back money last year.

I read an interesting article in the Economist a couple of years ago. Basically, they compared mileage "points" to currency devaluation. Airlines, credit cards and all their associated partners are issuing points at a rate they will never be able to redeem. So the likely scenario is that, over time, miles become harder and harder to use (blackout dates, limited seats available, etc.). Or the rewards will cost substantially more points in the future than they do now, like inflation.

So you best strategy is to spend the miles as you get them...don't hoard or stockpile points because they will lose value quickly over time.

Anyway, my wife and I use Mileage Plus visa for all home and business expenses and we take almost all our flights on United (because we live in Denver, not because United is superior to other airlines). The combination of credit card and flight miles combined into one account allows my wife and I to take all our vacation flights pretty much for free. We try to use all the miles we earn each year.

Oh, I wont be stockpiling anything. I will almost have a free week in Hawaii based on my airline miles alone by the end of this year. Another week in Hawaii in Marriott points. Ive never been to Hawaii :)

One of the guys I work with is out of Colorado Springs and flys United exclusively for the same reason. Im limited to Northwest, Delta, Continental, or American. Northwest, Delta, and Continental are all partners, so I just use my Northwest FF number whenever I fly with any of them.

Shuie,

Did the same as you for 5 years. Ended up with over 500,000 miles on AA as well as Delta. Still working with the miles when I take a trip. Also used a AmEx card and you can shuttle the miles to any of the frequent flier program you like.

We still travel a lot and use Marriott and Hilton. Once you get to be Platinum the benefits are very nice, so its worth sticking to one or two hotels.

Hertz is very good and now that I am in the presidents club I get a free rental chit every few months. Thats nice for the vacations!

JoeA

Build up your status on one airline and one hotel. When you have to switch airlines/hotels, call the new one and have them reciprociate your status.

Ask nicely and they will always do it. Getting higher status gets you all kinds of convinent privaliges and racks up miles faster. ex Gold on NWA gets you a 100% bonus on miles earned and you get to use the short lines.

alf

Could a person pay their mortgage payment every month on a credit card? Seems like you would add up points fast that way.

Go to the flyertalk.com forums. You'll quickly learn the ins and outs of earning the most miles possible.

If you fly that much, many airlines will comp you to their elite levels with either a quick phone call or allow you to achieve a certain status by flying 10k miles within 3 months.

ok, thanks guys.

I should have know there was a forum for this stuff :)

those guys are friggin serious about their points. The first post I saw was someone getting 4500pts for every $10k on $400k line of credit from CHASE :D

I use the AMEX rewards and have used it for free tickets for travel for airlines I don't use much. American Airlines has a pretty cool "sticker" program that allows for upgrades to FC - takes 3 stickers = 1500 miles flown.

Also - look into Merrill Lynch's Signature Rewards and also Total Merrill. I have used the points to buy a buch of presents over the past few years. They have a better cat than AMEX and seem to have more bang for the $$$ spent.

Thought I would chime in as somebody who does this all the time. I have all my expenses shared over two credit cards. One is for AA miles and the other is for Sony. I receive rewards in the form of miles (travel) and electronics for my Sony habit. American Airlines has one of the better programs out there. I like them because of first their accuracy and second because of the additional opportunites you have to earn miles. I also use their Hotel and Dining program, free enrollment in this and everytime you eat at a specific restaurant you get at least 5 miles for every dollar spent. So imagine you are out with friends and the bar tab is $150, the mileage you receive is 750 miles plus the additional 150 for the original charge so now you have 900 miles from one transaction. For a free flight, it is 25,000 miles anywhere in the continental USA so 10-15 bar tabs and your flying somewhere round trip.

this is treated like a "cash advance" (according to my bank). Therefore you will pay interest - probably not cost beneficial.

ive read a couple of the fine print sections of the applications for CHASE sponsored hotel and airline VISA cards that cash advances dont get you any points. Ive also been unable to find a card that would allow me to tranfer an existing balance from one of current personal cards over.

I went ahead and applied for one of them. When it comes in I'll test it out on a set of SSIs or something :) I'll use it for the duartion of this project then cancel it if I change hotels on the next one.

hey shuie i sent you an e-mail.

I am a Million Miler on American, I don't travel as much, but I am life time gold. What does that get, early boarding, and annual discount to Admirals Club.

In 2003 we went to Europe First Class ( Sleeper Seats ) 23 nights, and only paid for two hotel rooms. It pays to be loyal. I figure if I paid the rates listed on the airline and hotel, we saved about $35,000.

Michael

Micheal, how long did it take you to get million miler status? I worked with a guy who flew 6 legs a week on United and was able to do it over the course of a 5 year project. Is there a set time that you have to do the million miles in or is it over your lieftime?