Maximizing Free Airline Tickets

[imacdog]

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.

When arranging your own travel at the end of a trip, does the company tell you how much the ticket back to your domicile costs for you to compare your own ticket with?

 

[Twotter76]

Yes they will send you a dummy brief that shows what the ticket back to your domicle would have cost them. You can spend more than that if you like but they will onyl reimburse you up to that value. Be aware however that if you buy the ticket home the night before (end of day 6) it most likely is not refundable and the company can change their plans for you on the last day so you might end up eating the cost. I don't personally know anyone this has happened to but you should be aware of the risks.

 

[Humphreybogart]

I use the Capital One No Hassle Miles Ultra card. I get 2 points for every dollar spent and no blackout times. Free tix start at 15,000 points, but they are the cheap fare and hard to find. The way it works, purchase the ticket on your Capital One card and they'll deduct from your point balance and credit the money back to your card. I heard some negative about Capital One, but I have nothing but good things to say about them.
What's in your wallet?

 

[Guitar rocker]

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/?????

And I love it how when I call DAL to redeem my miles to go somewhere, they say...Oh, looks like we dont have the sky saver avilable but we do have the sky choice award available. And sometimes the reservation agent wont even look to see what NWA or CAL has to offer unless you ask. I always ask and have gotten the 25K reward on NWA/CAL when DAL only had the 50K reward left. Sneaky Delta folks......

 

[AirBear8]

I strongly suggest using the company card if you want to max out free airline tickets. That's the only way you'll get anything for the money spent on all your tickets. The monthly Mastercard statements are broken down by airline/hotel and I'm running twice as much spent on airlines as hotels. There's no problem maxing out the 40,000 points per year. That's 3 tickets every 2 years on any airline and I don't think there's any blackout dates.

AirBear

 

[psysicx]

deleted.

 

[andpcl]

Using F/F Miles

Try Expertflyer.com

Works great for using upgrades, etc.

Subscriber fee's but minimal cost; 5 day free trial

http://www.expertflyer.com/

 

[MSNFlier]

Another pimp for FlyerTalk....

Now that you're going to be on the "other" side of the 121 cockpit all the time, so to speak, you definitely want to register (free) at www.flyertalk.com. I know, I know, there are some serious airline passenger geeks on there and, I suspect, you might find yourself getting quite impatient with some of the regular posters, but there's no question you'll learn all there is to know about a certain airline's FF program (DL's in your case, it appears).

One other idea for you, as I understand it if you pay for your car rental using a Diner's Club card DC provides your primary insurance on the rental vehicle, including liability, unintentional property damage, etc. DC does have an annual fee (not sure what it is), so that is a downside. Speaking as an attorney, if DC is continuing to offer that deal and you're renting cars regularly - even if work is paying for it - I think it's worth it to use the DC card if for no other reason than if something happens it will likely be in another state so it should eliminate most, if not all, of the hassle. Do a search on FT for DC and car rental and you should be able to find the information and a number of posts from people who unfortunately got in accidents and had to take advantage of the insurance. Other cards may offer insurance, too, but my understanding is that they're all secondary to your primary auto insurance.

Good luck in your new job!

 

[Daytonaflyer]

If you plan on flying Southwest Airlines a lot, be sure to get all the credits you can.
Each of the following companies give you 0.5 SWA points each time you use them:

Hilton properties...you get 0.5 SWA points plus Hilton points
Marriott properties...you get 0.5 SWA points, not including Fairfield Inns or Ritz Carlton hotels
Hyatt properties...0.5 SWA points
La Quinta properties...0.5 SWA points
Holiday Inn (Intercontinental hotels)...0.5 SWA points
Choice Hotels...0.5 SWA points

Rental car companies:
Hertz...0.5 SWA points
Dollar...0.5 SWA points
Budget...0.5 SWA points
Alamo...0.5 SWA points

Airlines:
ATA Airlines...1 SWA point for each one way ticket
Soutwest Airlines...1 SWA point for each one way ticket

Also if you get a credit card that will give you airline points, Frontier Airlines seems to be the easiest and best company to get a free rountrip ticket. They only require 15,000 points to get a free roundtrip ticket. You can call the airline directly, reserve the seat, then transfer the points from your credit card company, and book the flight right away. The transfer happens almost instantly; there is no waiting.

Using these tips, I currently average one free roundtrip Southwest Airlines ticket approximately every 3 months, and one free roundtrip Frontier Airlines ticket every 4 months. That's 7 free confirmed roundtrip airline tickets every year. Of course I typically cannot use that many airline tickets, so I usually just let my credit card points build up.

 

[drseuss05]

Just wondering if you can combine your points on airlines in the same alliance. For instance, if I have 20K on USairways, and 30K on united, can I get a ticket on either airline for 50K miles if I combine the two accounts? Or do I have to ensure that the miles get in the correct account first? Since I am based out of LAX, they tend to airline me on just about everyone. Should I just try to stick with AA, UA, and DL miles, and try to get all my miles from the other airlines into those two if possible? I would prefer not to use SW, since those tickets are cheap enough to buy. I'd rather use my miles for some heafty priced tickets, maybe go on an international trip somewhere once or twice a year using miles. Thanks for the tips.