Hi all,
This might be blasphemy around here but I generally find frequent flyer program so confusing and complex and have always just stuck with a cash back cc and forgot about getting miles.

I'm about to have to start traveling for work frequently though. Like I said, the complexity here is mind-blowing to me and I think I'd like to focus on earning miles in one program. The only airlines that fly my frequent route (MCI-DCA) are US Airways and Frontier.

I'd be saving up miles mainly for future domestic trips (maybe an Alaska jaunt) and a someday (20 years from now) trip to Australia.

I hate all things United so am wary of getting locked in to the StarAlliance. Frontier doesn't seem to offer much though.

I hardly ever stay at hotels but am thinking Starwoods might be the best program for me because it provides the flexibility.

What do you think?

Thanks!

I think you have to decide what you want from a hotel and what class of hotel you are willing to stay in.
Low end as in Wyndham
or high end as in Marriott or other high end brands.

Where will you be traveling for work and what brand of hotels are in the area or does your corporate specify where you will stay and how much you will be reimbursed.
Are you looking for amenities or points/miles in a hotel program and will you be traveling enough to make elite and obtain the perks if any

IHG priority club points never expire others expire after a certain period.
Will you be able to use them before they expire is another question to ask yourself.

I understand Hyatt is good about outbound transfers of points and some programs are not.
You have a lot of hotel thinking to do and I feel the hotel is more important to your well being than an airline unless you are doing frequent longhauls

Hi, welcome to FT.

I know starting with the whole frequent flyer thing seems daunting, but every one of us knew nothing when we started.

If you really want to maximize your earning potential, you should start with the various Blogs that cover this stuff. I'll pitch my own of course (Onlinetravelreview.com), but you'll learn tons reading View from the Wing, One Mile at a Time and The Points Guy (and others, which you'll discover as you start this process).

It's always good to set a trip goal for yourself, so you feel like you've accomplished something.

You'll want to decide if your credit can handle opening credit cards for the miles. There's a ton of resources on those blogs about this, but in short if you have the credit that allows you to open a few credit cards, you can earn 100,000 American Airlines miles pretty quickly by opening 2 of their credit cards. That'd be a good start. There's a ton of other ways to approach the credit card issue -- once you get those AA cards, people have been very happy with the Chase Sapphire card because it earns double points on Travel purchases, and those points can be transferred to a number of different programs (including United, Continental, Hyatt and more). Plus the signup bonus is 50,000 points. I'm a fan of the Starwood Amex as my everyday card because I like the flexibility of the points transfers to many different airlines.

As for your choice of airline: It's going to depend on how much you're traveling. There's no scenario where I would go with Frontier. Republic announced they were spinning them off, which means they may not be long for this world. Plus, you cannot compete with the benefits of being in Star Alliance.

If you're just making a few trips a year, you may want to fly US Airways and credit the first couple of trips to Aegean Airlines. I know that makes no sense if you're reading about this for the first time, but here's why: Aegean is part of Star Alliance. After only 3,000 miles (well, they give you 1,000 miles for signing up, then you have to fly 3,000 miles) they give you Silver Status, which is good on all Star carriers. So, you'll get free checked bags and early boarding. Better than having to wait til you've flown 25,000 miles on US Airways to earn that.

Once you've hit that threshold, I would credit the US Airways points to US Airways (I was torn about telling you to credit them to Continental, and I suppose that's not a bad option either). I know you say you want to avoid United, but let's be honest -- at worst, it's no worse than any other airline out there. At best, the unlimited upgrades, lie flat seats on Continental's 757s and Economy Plus are pretty good reasons to fly with them. You'll have plenty of flexibility to use those miles later on.

I'm a Starwood guy, so I'm going to suggest staying with them. The annoying thing is that you actually don't earn a ton of points when you stay with them -- you'll really rack up the points thru the Starwood Amex. Part of the reason I suggested crediting the US Airways miles to US Airways (and not Continental) is because Starwood points transfer into US Airways at a 1:1 ratio (while Continental/United is 2:1 - ie, half a mile for every point).

Anyway, that's a starting point. You'll find that folks on the board are happy to answer your questions.

I would recommend PriorityClub (IHG, Holiday Inn..) as I've had a good experience with it.. Generally 15,000 or 20,000 points get you a free night, and you receive 10 points for every dollar spent at base membership.. You can get upgraded levels if you hit a promo, and earn more points.. To keep it simple, PriorityClub you can use your points on promo "PointsBreak" to get a free night on 5,000 points depending on hotel and dates availability.. So that's a free night on a $500 spend at base level.. We were able to stay in a suite on the PointBreaks 5,000 point redemption as well..

Generally, if you're flying.. start with the general basics.. 15,000 points for a shorthaul, 25,000 points for the rest of continental USA, and branch from there.. I would go with the airline you're flying with most and consider that first.. do some research and ask some questions on the various forums on FlyerTalk, to see if the program meets your needs..

And obviously to get some ideas.. look at MileBuzz.. If you see a bonus of 75,000 points/miles, that means signing up, you get 5 short haul, or 3 flights accross continental USA roughly.. score!

Took me a second to get this, but bravo!

To the OP: I really think when first starting out, you should concentrate on just 1-3 hotel and FF programs in total, with the CC's to match. For instance, if you're going to be flying US Air quite a bit, you should focus on trying to maximize the value out of each flight. Perhaps open up a US Air Dividend Miles miles account and use the US Air credit card to pay for the flights (if that's how your company's policy works). Or focus on crediting your miles to another *A carrier that provides an award you want to achieve.

For hotels, follow the same pattern. When I travel, there's almost always a Hilton property nearby, so I'm part of HHonors and have the Hilton Amex for hotel spend. If you'll have Starwood properties near the places you're traveling (wish I did), you can get a TON of value out of the SPG Amex. When starting from scratch, do your best to stick to one program until you gain some decent status, then you can begin to split loyalty.

In short, I've found the best way to start is by working with your travel patterns. Once you've seen how your points are growing and begin figuring out what you want to do with them, you can then branch out and find other ways of generating points or start working with other programs.

Lastly, keep reading as much as you can into this world of loyalty programs. As you've no doubt figured out, FT is a fantastic resource, though it can get a little overwhelming at times. Start with MilesBuzz! and the subforums for the programs you choose. I also HIGHLY recommend the blogs jblankoh pointed out, along with Frugal Travel Guy and Million Mile Secrets. These blogs are all great resources and most have areas for beginners.

Welcome to FT and best of luck!

thanks everyone--this is all very helpful!

Welcome to FT!

Please don't judge the entire StarAlliance by United's domestic service. You do say you are mostly saving for domestic travel but once you try the top notch StarAlliance international carriers you'll be hooked. Singapore Air, Lufthansa, Thai Airways come to my mind as some of the best.

Since you want to keep it simple, then just start with the USAir credit card:
http://www.mostmiles.com/apply/Landi...cellNumber=163

You will get 40,000 miles plus all these benefits:
# Up to two $99 companion tickets annually
# Preferred check-In
# Preferred Zone 2 boarding
# One complimentary US Airways Club day pass annually
# Discount on annual US Airways Club membership
# Exceptional travel benefits
# Preferred dining and entertainment experiences
# World MasterCard Price Protection and Zero Fraud Liability

If you want to go farther, then take the time to do some research and find what works best for you. As others have noted, there are many opportunities

By all means sign up for the Frontier and US Airways frequent flyer programs and credit cards. Frontier's credit card sign on bonus will give you a free flight and US Airways also has a sign on bonus and an annual promotion that can boost frequent flyer miles.

As for the hotel programs, it really depends on where you are partial to staying.

This is (IMO) the best way to handle it. Do a little research on locations of where your most frequent travel will be. Then figure out what rewards plans work for you (IE, will you be having multiple "stays" or "nights"; as for airlines I would recommend any major program over Frontier, especially if you want long haul rewards later)

Also if your travel plans are going to increase very quickly early next year, you should definitely look to see if there are any "challenges" you can do to achieve status faster. This will allow you to get benefits sooner, and more points as well.

Finally, remember that you�re never locked into any decision, if you choose a program then go to your most frequent travel location and find that the hotel or airline just doesn't work for you. Change it. Just make sure you check that out before you sign up for the credit card and start spending on it.

Good Luck.

ps - Never Ever let people give you crap for your impending point gathering obsession. Remember that there are thousand's here on FT that are way more addicted than you!

Welcome to FT!

OK, let's keep this simple. If you think FF programs are confusing and/or daunting, pick one FF, one hotel, and one rental car program as your go-to programs and use them whenever you have the choice. US Airways seems like the obvious FF program based on your preferred route and interest in domestic awards.

Get the 40K US Airways card from Barclays (as noted above). Look at the Grand Slam promotion in the US Airways forum and gear up for next year. Consider churning the Barclay's card. You can probably get 200K+ US Airways miles a year without a lot of effort and without stepping on a plane. Figure out how you can get status on US Airways so that it makes your flying more comfortable.

I've always been fond of Hilton and their program has a lot of properties in a variety of styles and price ranges. Marriott, Starwood, Radisson, Hyatt, and IHG all have good programs and depending on where you stay pick which seems to best meet your needs. Pick up one or more of their CCs.

I really like Hertz, you can get #1 Gold for free. Or go with National or Enterprise if you prefer.

Go to the individual forums for your preferred airline, hotel, rental car and read up on what can be done. You DO NOT need to do everything at once or try to score every possible deal. Start small and see how quickly the miles and points flow in. Once you become more comfortable, look at joining other programs, working Alliance partners, etc.

Ike, are you saying you can basically cancel the US Airways Barclays card as soon as you hit the minimum spend? At 200K+/yr, you're talking about churning the card every 75 days if not sooner...

From what I have heard, you do not have to cancel it. However, the 200K+ is not wholly bonuses but Bonuses, spend, and Grand Slam, plus any partner miles you get in the process. I just got my first US 40K card, so I don't know how quickly they can be turned over.

Great, thanks everyone.

Sounds like I'm going to get in bed with US Airways.

To be clear, I don't stay at hotels, even when traveling for business, so a hotel card might not be right for me. I like the flexibility of the Starwoods card (and I vastly prefer AMEX to the other cards) but wouldn't actually stay at their properties. Sounds like the US Airways card is best for me?

Seriously, thanks so much!

I commuted for several years MCI-DCA weekly and always used US Airways. The operation at MCI is small...the people there seem to know their regulars and are a pleasant bunch to work with. (At least it was a few years ago...)

Although you may not love UA, having access to them in a pinch is handy from MCI because they get you nonstop into all of the various *A hubs. When it's Australia time, your trip will likely begin with MCI-SFO on UA.

You also have MCI-IAD as a backup on UA if you can't get your normal MCI-DCA flight.

Have you selected your housing yet for the DC work? I didn't stay in hotels there either: we had a contract with Execustay by Marriott. If you have a choice, take a look at them - when I was there they had tons of units both in DC and right outside DC in VA and MD. I ended up in a place right in Rosslyn - far, far better than dealing with hotels, even with all of the points and the status that come with hotels. (I was given smallish lump sums of MR points every quarter plus Gold status. This was before Execustay was formally/globally included in Marriott Rewards.)

SPG Amex is an excellent credit card in general. Even relatively small amounts of Starwood points become valuable as "Cash & Points" rewards. With either the Marriott or HHonors programs, it's a long, long haul to reach the high award levels where meaningful value is achieved. And that's hard to do off of the CC alone...