This is for Mareh and PltPrincess and all the other leisure travelers who want to travel the world far and wide without spending a fortune.
I'm a youthful sixtyish grandma, retired, who absolutely loves traveling, (I get a high just from being in an airport) I only buy a ticket if it makes sense because of the low price. I primarily use miles, sometimes even in a market where I could get a good price but using the miles gives me the convenience of last minute travel, stopovers on the way, itineraries that would not be possible at the low price and, at least in the case of AA, holding a reservation for months without ticketing until I make up my mind as to the final routing.
When I add up all my miles I have about 1.4 million, the major ones being 130,000 on AA, 190,000 on BA, 50,000 on Air Canada, 160,000 on DL, 130,000 on US, 50,000 on TW, 55,000 on NW, 15,000 on UA, 100,000 on Hilton and 430,000 on Marriott. I keep a bank of miles in Diners and Starwood, plus credits at Southwest. The rest are in an assortment of airlines and hotels. I belong to every program because you never know when you will be able to move miles from one program into another. And by the way, I've never bought a ticket on AC,NW or BA yet my combined mileage on these is about 300,000.
Some of these miles and points were holdovers from working days, especially the Marriott ones. (I'll be turning these in for a 714 in July) But mostly I keep replenishing my miles annually. No matter how often I use them I seem to find that I can add them right back on without having to buy a ticket. Now of course this means that I do not get to elite status but since my goal is to travel a lot, as reasonably as possible, I can manage without the elite. (We will be going to Thailand on a tour this year and our air on UA is included. I think I read somehwere on this board that one such trip brings you fairly close to Premier. Is this actually so?)
This past year I calculate that I have added about 150,000 miles without counting the miles from my credit card purchases which themselves are a substantial amount since we put everything, but everything, on credit cards.
Where do the miles come from? Sure there are surveys and insurance quotes and on line statement bonuses etc., but those are only the tip of the iceberg. And of course, on the occasional time that I buy tickets, doing so online gives a bonus as well.
The big mile accumulations without actually buying tickets come from a variety of sources:
Telephone - we have two phone lines and change the carrier often, this year getting 40,000, last year 50,000 miles.
Credit card sign on bonuses - DL Optima 10,000, BA Chase 5000, Marriott Platimum 10,000, Hilton Optima 7,500, Hilton Platinum Visa, 7,500 and on and on. And that's just this year. They are all free cards for at least the first year. Use it once, then you can cancel, wait a while, sign up again. I just got something in the mail today for a free NW card but only 3,000 bonus points. I'll call them to see if they can do better before I sign up.
Special promotions - NW recent 10,000 promotion was a cinch. We registered our credit cards, went to 5 restaurants, asked for separate checks and ended up with 20,000 points in no time.The AA 20,000 promo is not going to be as simple and I think I may have to pass on that one.
Diners - I put everything that I can on Diners, leave the points banked until they come up with their annual double miles promo and transfer everything over. The only time I convert Diners is during the double promo.
Also, there is the Diners retention bonus which I just learned about thanks to Flyer Talk. One call and I have another 10,000 points.
Starwood - I have the old Sheraton Optima which is free. This is my second favorite card since when I transfer 20,000 they throw in a bonus 5,000. I only transfer 20,000 Starwood at a time to get this bonus.
Hilton update - this is a great deal. We each have a Hilton account. That's 16,000 points a year just for updating our accounts.
I' sure I have forgotten a few but these are some of the highlights.
I hope this has been helpful and if I have missed any other major way to accumulate points without buying a ticket or filling my garage with cereal, please let me know. I'm always grateful for new ideas.
We're off next month to Switzerland and Norway on AA and SR. Our reservation has been held and changed by AA for months while we worked on the itinerary. Now we have decided to also include a stopover in NYC. I just couldn't do this with a purchased ticket without incurring fees. Nor could I do a stopover both domestic and international without it having become an expensive ticket. That's what I love about flying on miles.