guv1976

Here's a link to Aegean Air's Miles & Bonus accrual chart for flights taken on Aegean, as well as on partner carriers:

http://en.aegeanair.com/milesandbonu...px?code=winFly

I have no idea how long the relatively low mileage needed for Star Alliance elite status with Aegean will last. Carpe diem.

Counsellor

Check out this thread for reports of successes using the SPG 50. In some cases, the savings was relatively minor, but in some cases the savings was in the range of €200 per night. Needless to say, the greatest savings seems to come in properties with high rates and few specials/discounts, so 50% off the "Rack rate" is significant.

Over the years, I've used them a number of times, with good savings. Usually outside the US (in Germany, Italy, and South Africa) but some folks report success with US properties as well.

More experiences, both inside and outside the US, are mentioned in this thread and this one.

gardengirl

Thank you.

That will keep me busy for a while. It's 29 pages long. . .

gardengirl

What I really thought I was doing was working 2 programs (for the most part) MR and AA. When I scaled back to 2 cards instead of the 4 I kept the spg instead of the AA since it was a lower annual fee and still gave me 1mpd, but unlike the AA card, I could choose what airline the miles went into (sometimes we use Delta). The spg was basically for the miles I could get but it did come in handy last year when we took a trip to Italy. We got a beautiful room in Florence with points & $$ and a suite at the Westin in Rome for points. Both hotels treated us like we were special. Our son was with us and we had a grand time. That time, using the spg points worked out to be a better deal than using MR. I'll have to look seriously at the thread about the spg card now that the fee has gone up.

We're doing some home improvement this year which has helped (???) with spending and racking up points. We were deciding on one last project to reside part of the house. The builder called back to say he really wanted the work and would lower his cost. I said I really wanted AA Lifetime Gold and need credit card spending. Asked him if I could purchase the materials from the lumber yard and put it on my credit card. They came back and said I could put the whole project on the card

I am very disappointed at the removal of AA from the Marriott partners. We get about 1 of those MR travel packages a year where I deposit 120,000 miles into an airline account. Besides AA we've flown Aer Lingus and Iberia through OneWorld. I think someone on TUG said Marriott was still partners with BA and if you deposited miles in BA you might still be able to use OneWorld. I haven't done the homework on that one yet.

Thanks, this was helpful.

Thank you, it was very nice of you to say that.

geepmaley

I agree with the others posted here. Sign up for all the FF programs out there. They are free, so no reason not to. Just remember that each has different rules as to when miles expire, how often you need to have activity, etc.

I've lost points at Hilton and Miles (kids accounts) on AA because of lack of activity. Good news is, most plans offer alternative use of the points/miles which qualify as activity. Magazine subscriptions, etc.

starflyer

I think Southwest has a special program for college students where they receive double points for all travel. Skimmed many posts, but didn't read in detail, so I don't know if this was already mentioned.

godlovesugly

And if you do that, sign up for a site like Awardwallet or another site that lets you track your point accumulation and expiration dates.

mbreuer

Also - with respect to Airlines focus on alliances not individual carriers. Pick one per alliance and use that for accumulation.

sbm12

I'm not sure that anyone recommended signing up for all of them, and generally speaking it is actually a bad idea, not a good one. Where possible consolidating to a single program per alliance/partnership is a MUCH better idea for a host of reasons.

Really almost not worth the effort if you're just going to redeem for magazine subscriptions.

Keyser

i think what geepmaley is trying to say is that he can earn points from things like magazine subscriptions which will make sure his miles don't expire....

Counsellor

Or, if you can't earn points for magazine subscriptions (or don't want to pay for the magazines), sometimes you can redeem a few miles for the subscription and that redemption will count as "activity" to extend the life of the rest of the miles in your account.

Keyser

with aa you can also earn miles through the aadvantage eshopping mall....

PixieGal

I must have missed a step when signing up for this site... I thought I'd be notified of any new posts in this thread via email. Obviously over a month has gone by, but I had some extra time tonight and thought I'd try and find the site again (honestly, I didn't remember the name). I'm not all the way through all your replies yet, but I've learned more than I ever dreamed! LOL

Thank you, in advance, to everyone who replied. It definitely got lengthy, but wow you guys sure did a LOT of "leg"work for me, haha. Not to take sides, but so far, the SWA rapid rewards sounds like the best deal for us. We're not gonna' get any huge rewards, but we'll be earning something on cheap flights, not just getting the cheapest flights. In its most simplistic stating, I think this sums it up for us, lol.

My boys are actually booking their Christmas flights within the next day or two, so I guess we better get on it pretty fast. That Citi 75K deal for signing up sure is tempting... but I'm afraid if I wait and do more research, we'll miss the first flight! On SWA RR, does each son sign up or do I sign up for one account? And I totally agree with one of the posters (sorry, no way to keep up with who all said what) that it will work much better if I manage the account(S) and harp on the boys nonstop to make sure they use their RR number when they book.

Pix

PS, below this box, under thread subscription notifications, I have Instant email notification highlighted. I wonder why I'm not getting any email notifications??

PixieGal

[QUOTE=gardengirl;14622107]Wouldn't that be more of .007cpm since he revised it to say he actually only spent an extra $70 for the ticket?


Haha gardengirl, how close you are! More like getting myself acclimated to a near-empty nest, lol, but still no free or spare time to kill! Worst of both worlds!

Pix

PixieGal

Aaaannndddd she nails it!
LOL Thanks for sharing my pain, gardengirl! Obviously you've had a similar scenario?

Pix