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]

\

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.

 

[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.