Best Method to Accumulate AA & Delta Points
 

Greetings! I'm brand new to Flyer Talk so please forgive me if I'm posting on the wrong board. Here's my question: My husband and I have FF points with Delta and American. What is the best method to accumulate points in these two programs? Is there a program we need to enter? Any tips?

I'll start off with a few quick things I've done to help accumulate points with both programs.

American Airlines

opinionplace.com - has given me 75-250 miles for doing surveys
erewards.com - collect points and turn them into 2000 AA miles
citi credit cards - 25K miles(give or take) and they seem to allow churning of cards if you want to try it.
SPG points transfer - Transfer 20K starwood points for 25K miles...or after our Capetown stay, we turned in 60K starwood points for free nights plus 50K AA miles.

Delta
Erewards.com - same as above
SPG - same as above
Delta AMEX - Various miles, 25K(give or take) special bonuses
Bonuses..bonuses... Watch Delta for partner bonuses, transfer bonuses, etc. Last December turned in 20K Starwood points and my wife ended up with 62,500 delta miles. Car rental bonuses and promotions. Watch flyertalk for various options.

Hopefully a good start to more ideas...

Not any more (since June 2008).

Read this discussion thread: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/s-p-m...s-program.html

Please be advised: If you enroll e-Rewards via Delta invite (currently I don't think there's any through), the only airline you can redeem is Delta. Read this thread for more details:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/s-p-m...ough-them.html

If OP's interested in earning miles through alternative programs/channels, S.P.A.M. Forum (Sites with Points and Alternative Miles) is where to look up for other opportunities.

If OP wants to earn miles by credit cards, remember to check out Credit Card Programs/Partners Forums.

If there's any huge or good promotions going on, you usually will see them in MilesBuzz! Forum. Having said that, if you are looking for miles earning opportunities for any specific FFPs (in your case, AA and Delta), you should always visit and check out each individual airline forum. Links to AA Forum: here & Delta Forum: here

Welcome to FT!

Wow! Thanks for the info! I'm new and wasn't sure where to post my question. I will look at those other forums. I did not know that SPAM stood for anything other than SPAM email. Forgive me! While I'm posting, the other tip given that is unclear to me is the "SPG". What is "SPG"? Thanks for the help!

One more dumb question...what is "churning" of cards?

FTers use code words all the time. You better learn how to decode soon. :D

A good place to start (at the very top of every FT page): Help > Glossary

http://www.flyertalk.com/glossary/

SPG: Starwood Preferred Guest

Also read the sticky threads at the top of every forum. That's the best way for newbies to get started.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/other...-churning.html

Welcome to our "FT secret society!"

I see those links now. I will read first and then post. Thanks!
P.S. Secret society? Is there a secret handshake or a secret knock?

museum.....why don't you go thru 10 to 20 pages of the miles buzz, aa, & dl forums....i suspect you will find some helpful info.....also the stickies....

you will probably see some out of date info but may find a jewel or two....good luck...

Thanks to everyone who has posted. I have now spent about 3 hours reading the glossary, milesbuzz, and other forums and I know a lot more now than before. Thanks for helping me get started! I do have one question that was not fully answered in my research and it concerns the concept of "churning" which is new to me. Here's the question: Doesn't churning eventually impact your credit score?

re credit score....there is mixed info posted on ft that i have seen....it is possible that card cancellation can affect it.....one idea is that at renewal, call to cancel and the cc co will waive the fee.for the next year....i have no idea where to find the threads, nor do i understand why reducing one's credit line would lower one's credit rating....good luck...

The people who assign credit ratings are quite arbitrary in some cases. However, their explanation for this is the following - if you cancel a card, then you are reducing your available credit. If you keep outstanding balances the same, you are then using a bigger % of your available credit, and that lowers your credit score, especially if it puts you over 20%..

It's not just that cancelling a card can affect it, but also that taking out a new one (essential to the game, since if you don't do it you don't get a bonus) will affect it. Every inquiry for purposes of extending credit has a small negative effect for a while. If I were about to apply for anything important (home mortgage, some jobs, etc.), and had even the slightest concern about my score, I'd pass on the potential miles.

We're looking to buy a house. I hate passing up all of the free points from churning, but this advice is spot on.

Mike

Also regular AMEX Membership Rewards points -- these also frequently have 20-30% transfer bonuses. I find its the best way to top off my DL account because SPG are so much more versatile than that.

The OP doesn't indicate if they are shooting for a threshhold, or diving into the deep end. What their goal is will help with recommendations.

For AA, I'd always suggest credit cards. For DL... just breath. You'll get some RDMs. :)