Maximizing Free Airline Tickets

[BeechScrub]

I'm giving up my nonrev benefits and starting at NJA soon and would like to solicit suggestions on how to maximize the free airline tickets you receive. I did search the forum and found great info on the Hilton AMEX card, but not much specific airline programs.

Which airlines have the best mileage programs? What about the mileage partnerships, which partner do you keep your miles in? When you stay at hotels with NJA, do you pay with a credit card or is it direct bill? What about double dipping at Hilton Hotels?

Any insight you guys have would be great. Thanks.

 

[Twotter76]

Allow me to lay out some basics for you. All hotel stays are paid by credit card, either your own, which is then reimbursed, or the company card if you choose that route. If you are looking to maximize free tickets then I would say your best bet is to get whatever airline's credit card and use it for EVERYTHING (not only work but as much as you can put on it, pay it off each month). This will guarantee a steady stream of miles. As far as the double dip goes you probably want variable points and fixed miles as that will give you 500 miles per stay at most Hilton properties.

All (most) airlines codeshare so the trick is to pick one or two and have all your miles deposited into those accounts. As an example whenever I fly NWA or CAL those miles go into my Delta account since they are all part of the Skyteam alliance. Same thing with US Air, those end up in my UAL account. This way you can concentrate your focus on two airlines rather than throwing them all over the place. Free tickets accure much faster this way. Also be sure to check the airlines webpages regularly, they always have specials where they give out bonus miles for flying certain routes or buying certain classes of tickets. I got an extra 15k UAL miles last year doing this.

As to what airlines have the best FF programs it really depends on where you live. Personally I really like UAL but then I live in DEN, if you live in ATL it might not make much sense to use them as your primary. I have not been real impressed with DAL's FF program but their route structure suits me better than NWA or CAL so I stick with them.

Good luck and welcome aboard, there are many of us here who are willing to help you, all you got to do is ask. Also be sure to get on the union boards as soon as you can, lots of excellent info there...

Twotter76

 

[JustInfo]

If you live in a Southwest Airlines city and you can stand riding in the cattle car then they have the quickest rewards I have found. Each double dipping Hilton stay will give you .5 credit toward the 16 required for a free ticket. 32 stays and you have a free ticket.

If you use the company credit card you get a free ticket for 25,000 points on any airline. You get one point per dollar charged to the card. You can get more points per dollar spent with the Delta skymiles card, but they are skymiles which are getting more and more worthless. It is almost impossible to get a ticket for their 25,000 point rate anymore, plan on 50,000 per ticket.

 

[Thedude]

Go to www.flyertalk.com. Those people know everything about freq flyer miles and hotel points.

 

[jtf]

The Delta Amex is the best of the airline specific cards since you get double points for a lot of things and they run double or triple point specials from time to time. I believe you can also use your skymiles points for seats on any of the different Skyteam partners.

Starwood will give you 25000 miles when you trade in 20000 points. There is a Starwood Amex to get this one going. As with most, if not all, of the Amex cards there will be double or triple points on some purchases and from time to time for all purchases. We rarely stay at Starwood properties so you won't get many points from that to trade into airline miles, but it's a good deal anyway. You will spend at least 15K for hotels a year and if you use it to pay for your cell phone, homephone, cable, satellite, groceries, and whatever else you normally buy, you will rack up a lot of points.

If you use the company card you will probably be putting on from 30 to 40K per year (40K point limit per year with a roundtrip at 25K). The company card is the only one you get the airline tickets paid on for those points (at least as much on airlines as you spend on hotels). You'll probably be able to get 3 roundtrips every 2 years with this one and if it gets stolen the company is taking care of the bill- not you.

I've heard that the United Chase Visas are good for getting the 20 to 25K miles free with for each one and they waive the fee the first year. They have a few different cards so you can get a personal and a business (your own sole propietorship or a real business if you have one) to get a load of points. Then after 6 months you cancel them and apply again after a while to get the points again. Chase may have figured this out recently, but it has worked for many before. Amex doesn't fall for this ever so don't cancel an Amex and then get the same one again and expect the freebees twice.

As JustInfo said the SouthWest double dip at Hiltons (at least half your nights at NetJets) will get you tickets fastest (50 nights for any other airline versus the 32 for SouthWest).

Another way to get your tickets faster is to put all of your Skyteam miles into one account so it builds faster and gets elite status faster (mileage bonus per mile elite status). Continental, Delta, and Northwest can all be put into one of the accounts as long as the tickets are either booked with the account number you want to use or as long as you switch it at the gate before the first leg of your flight. Continental has the best Silver level point bonus- 50% versus 25% for all the others at the first elite level. You can also put all your USAir and United miles into either account. I suggest putting all you USAir miles into United even if you live in a USAir hub since United points are easier to use.

While lots of free airline tickets are good, airlines are still typically cheaper than hotel rooms for a longer stay so a lot of guys try to maximize their hotel points more than the airline points. If you plan on airlining to see family and friends then go for airline points, if you plan on airlining for vacation destinations, you might want to do the best you can for hotel points.

 

[BeechScrub]

Thanks for the info. At this point, the airline tickets are definitely more important for me. I live in SLC so I applied for the Southwest card and I guess I'll put all my SkyTeam miles into Delta.

I have a few more potentially stupid questions: If I elect to use my own credit card instead of the company card, are my airline tickets direct billed? This still allows me to keep the miles, right?

At the end of my tour, if I elect to go home instead of my domocile, does the company book that ticket or do I book it?

Thanks again.

 

[Fozzy]

All (most) airlines codeshare so the trick is to pick one or two and have all your miles deposited into those accounts.

How do you set that up. I fly DAL all the time, but do not want to fly them with the family. How do you get DAL's miles to go to CAL/?????

 

[Twotter76]

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I have a few more potentially stupid questions: If I elect to use my own credit card instead of the company card, are my airline tickets direct billed? This still allows me to keep the miles, right?

At the end of my tour, if I elect to go home instead of my domocile, does the company book that ticket or do I book it?

Thanks again.

If you use your own card the company pays for the tickets, however you still get the miles. At the end of a tour you will have to book and pay for the ticket yourself and expense it. The company will reimburse you up to what it would have cost them to get you to your domicle.

 

[Twotter76]

How do you set that up. I fly DAL all the time, but do not want to fly them with the family. How do you get DAL's miles to go to CAL/?????

When you check in just give them your CAL number instead of your DAL FF #. You can usually change it yourself on the airlines website when you check in but failing that just have the agent do it. You can even have travel change your default FF # for DAL to your CAL number that way you won't have to change it each time. Of course this only works with airlines that codeshare.

 

[Fozzy]

thanks.