MilesBuzz! - Differences in rewards (by airline, by hotel, by car rental)

Hi all,

I'm a new aspiring mileage traveler and I have a upcoming trip that I'll like to take an advantage of.

I'll be flying Delta, renting a car from Hertz and staying at one of the Marriott hotels.

My question is, is it better to sign up for rewards using each of the companies above or does it work better if I redeem mileage afterwards by faxing the airline my invoice?

My background:

2-3/year domestic traveler
Recently acquired 30,000 Delta SkyMiles by singing up with SkyMiles Amex Credit Card
Have about 7,000 AA advantage miles


If there is a guide online on how to start my journey please feel free to link to it. Also let me know if I should keep working on building my delta miles or build my AA miles (or is it possible to request mileage credit from both airlines?)

Thank you for your time

Welcome to FT.

You definitely want to sign up with each individual affinity program and use your account number when you make reservations. If you forget or don't have a number yet, make sure you give them the number when you check in. You really don't want request miles/points afterward, just more work for you.

As for which program, the best place to start is to read up on the stickies in each of the forums. Peruse threads and starting read those that are of interest to you or kinda matches your needs. Keep reading and things will become more clear. Even those of us that have been here for years, read threads from beginning to end. you never know what golden nugget you may find.

When starting off I found it good to balance where I want to go with what I have/can get.

Set some places you want to go to, and get familiar with the award charts:

dmn.delta.com/skymiles/direct/charts/index.shtml

http://www.aa.com/i18n/disclaimers/free-ticket-award-chart.jsp

Each program has their own award chart. You must obey these charts. Whatever program you have miles in is the award chart that is your rulebook. So if you fly with DL Miles on another airline you still must play by DL's rules.

Set goals along the way as well, once you have those set you will find it easier to reach those goals, and you will feel that you have accomplished something.

Finally: you will be tempted by programs you have little or no miles in. Decide whether you will go for maximum miles in as many programs or focus on one or two programs. Some of this decision should revolve around where you live geographically (for example if you are in a small market you might want to stick with the main carrier there).

An example of this is in the shopping portals. I go for maximum miles, simply looking at what airline has the most, and buying through that portal. In your case there may be no use for 4 US air miles per dollar, vs 2 delta miles per dollar.

Also PM me if you have questions, and welcome.