k,

Do get the credit cards, be not afraid... just wise. As for tracking things, well, unless you WANT marketing companies to scheme ya cuz they know 90% of people forget to track things as a cultural fact that plays in their favor (think rebate scams) then you must become the uber project manager of your own rewards starting now.

And yes, buying things is one of the best ways to bring accounts up to par, I find. I use it whenever I can and so you must plan things accordingly. for example, last month I forgot to buy ink online so I ran out and had to get it in the store right away. Well i earned miles cuz I used my CC but I could have earned more had I done it thru an earning portal. *kicks self* boo hoo! (I buy lots of ink as I work out of my home currently, but no, I don't print these posts cuz I'd totally run out! lol)

AA: I find them the easiest to redeem in many things... def get the card and sign up for that citi offer for 10k more... look for that thread in this forum. It’s current. You will have at least 41k by a couple months from now and that’s nice

Delta: buy magazines with it. Some airlines have mag for miles offers. If not, try a site called magazines4miles. I think its still around. I got an offer in the mail though... it was to redeem my paltry 1,500 delta miles for mags. So I got maxim and one other. woo hoo.


United: Like I said earlier, try and bring it to 10 first. Then be done for now. To do this with ease, consider dining for miles just for now... to do that, check their site on ways to redeem miles, sign up (free) and set any current debit or credit card to your FF number with united. When you eat at a restaurant, you get miles on top of what you spent so you do not need a UA credit card to do this. Maybe get some gift certs from your fav. eatery and have them available to use or give to someone as a gift but then the payment in itself will earn you the miles. Then later, go back in and change your stuff once you hit 10k. Remember you need whole numbers, for easiest usage when it matters!

Now, united also has an online shopping mall portal but I have had bad experiences with its posting on time. If you do it, track everything and be prepared to wait a lot.

US, SW and Amtrack, keep ‘em going. Thats fine.

A sign up with Mypoints will get you many points fast... (you get their many emails in your inbox and when you open the email you get 5 points just for that, so it totally adds up) and then put the points (in increments of 1000) into hilton. 10k hilton gets you their bare bones minimum stay.

Marriot? ok you have pointage. Let that grow too then.

Amex: I think your current corp card sounds ok... I am assuming it gives you AMEX's membership reward points? Well those are fine... they can transfer to airline miles or buy gifts with them but if you ever were to consider exchanging them for starwood points, I think the rate is 3:1 and yet sometimes in here you can hear about promos where it's 2:1 so its best to check that out first. Keep the amex then. Good that your company seems to let you use it and get to keep your own points too! I guess look into the AMEX forums on here about that stuff. All I know about it is Starwood stuff.

And so, in the end, it seems your main airlines are US and AA with some use on SW.

go forth my friend and enjoy!

MM