Hi,

What is the best rewards program as far as quickest to earning free flights???

As you get information on this subject, remember that free flight the quickest is not the only factor to answer your question. Delta airline FF program is referred to often on this board as skypesos, because you can accumulate a lot of miles, but never find flights to use them on. United is pushing their program as "wanting you to use your miles." This implies that they are friendly to using miles, and I would probably agree with United having a good program. Also look at what airlines service the cities you would use the flights for- important if you have a free flight, but it doesn't go where you want. Hope this helps a little

Welcome to FlyerTalk, CaliforniaInvestor!

Since you asked this very general question in Mileage Run Deals, a forum just for posting/sharing deals, you did get some responses and advice from FTers here.

I've deleted some of the forum-specific replies (replies given since you posted in a 'Deals' forum rather than a discussion forum) now that your question has been moved to an appropriate, general, non-airline/region/airport/country-specific discussion forum.

The sticky thread at the top of Mileage Run Deals is a helpful link to assist your understanding of what makes a Mileage Run and how to find and use the wealth of expertise and info already in the Mileage Run forums.

Airline-specific frequent flyer forums might also be helpful soon, but the responses you get in MilesBuzz might be a better start. Then you can focus on something that best suits your needs.

The best way to get the most out of the forums is to read and use a lot of the information already here and then ask specific questions to tailor that info or advice to your present needs.

There are a lot of different forums in FlyerTalk and you will quickly discover that there are many ways to your goal.

Good luck with the frequent flyer research!

Just to add: many FTers supplement flying ('BIS miles' ) with non-FF programs, e.g. various Amex, other CC, hotel programs and other products which earn miles or points with purchase; that might help get you more miles (but not status, which is what most FFPs seek, for benefits!).

Regards,
BiziBB, Moderator Mileage Run

That depends on a lot of things:

Where do you want to fly to/from? You're in California: within the U.S., to Asia, elsewhere?

How do you want to accumulate miles toward those award flights? From other flying? In that case, which airlines serve the routes you'll fly on, and in which class do you expect to fly?

Do you hope to earn a significant number of miles from credit card spending, hotel stays, and other non-flight activity? In that case, what kind, and what can you tell us about your spending/usage patterns in those areas?

Bottom line is that this simple question has no simple answer. If there was a simple answer, everyone would join that program and fly that airline. Other airlines would see this and modify their programs to compete. As soon as that happened, the answer wouldn't be simple any more.

(BTW, in some cases the answer is "no program at all." Some people are better served by using a cash-back card and buying tickets with the money they save. It all depends.)

Are you interested in credit cards, hotel programs or airline programs?
How often do you fly? In which cabin?
How many nights do you stay at hotels?
What's your spending pattern?
Free flights, where to?
....

As Efrem had pointed it out, you need to give as much specifics as you can so fellow FTers can work with you.