Hey Everyone!!

I'm new to the whole travel/frequent flier mile/deals situation. I'm currently in medical school and am hoping to go on a mother/daughter trip to Costa Rica when I graduate (2014). Plus, I'd love to travel just about everywhere after that! I'm pretty frugal and love the idea of flying for cheap/free.

So here's my situation. I've been an AAdvantage member for few years now (with the Citi Mastercard) because AA is the only airline that flies US to Haiti (I've been several times for medical missions!) My current balance is only like 6,000 miles (cashed in on my miles back in November). I'm thinking about setting up accounts with United and Delta as "secondary" miles accounts. Then maybe over (a long) time, those will be lucrative as well.

So what I'm asking is how can I maximize my mile accrual. I don't want to go the credit card route because I've already got student loans out the wazoo and don't want to mess up my credit in the slightest. OTHER THAN credit cards, what are the best deals? I've done some dining/shopping through the AA sites but, again, I'm frugal so my spending is minimal.

Are there any good deals out there? Any advice for a beginner? Where do I look to find new deals?

Applying for credit cards won't adversely affect your credit after the first few months - it will probably increase your score. And it will not affect your existing student loans either.

Applying for cards will be the easiest way to quickly accumulate miles, by far.

Other than credit cards, there aren't a lot of options. Sure, there are the shopping sites, but earning 1 mile/$ is going to take a long time to make anything worthwhile. You'd have to look for any promotions being offered and then stay on top of the site to give you your miles. I'm still arguring with Cartera over an AA shopping purchase back in September. They owe me 3k miles and have yet to do anything about it.

The other options is flying, particularly during promotions, to earn more miles. There are a couple of Double Qualifying, and some double redeemable, miles out there right now. Just have to do research and hope they apply to you.

Good luck!

Of the three you mentioned, AA is far better with award tix. DL and UA have reduced the value of their miles to a point that is ludicrous. If you concentrate on AA, rather then spreading your efforts across many carriers, you'll probably do better.
Of course, with AA in bankruptcy, the situation is subject to change.

Delta is the worst program. I refuse to fly. So they miss out on my 3-5 long haul business class tickets each year.

AA and United are about equal. I give the slight edge to United for being easier to use miles efficiently. AA seems to generally have better flight times/routing to where I want to go.

As far as earning miles. All methods have there place. And all can be used in moderation. That is spend on cc, cc applications, actually flying, misc other methods. If you use a balance of all, you will keep yourself rich in miles without having to go crazy on the cc apps.

As far as credit cards. I agree with your premise. Many on this board will tell you cc's are the way to go. I apply for about 2 per year and my wife does the same. That is enough (with my business miles) to satisfy our free flight/hotel needs (in economy). You are MUCH better to under apply to cc early in life. Some say keep your score above 700. I say 740. And right now I'm at 760-780 as I stopped all cc nonesense as I'm buying a house this summer.

cc's are very useful for miles. But only go for the big offers (if you do). 50k miles minimum. Everything in moderation. Once you get your score above 740 (if its not already), its fine to have a hard pull or 2 a year. (Plus you can spread those around to the 3 different credit reporting companies, but that is probably more info than you care to hear.)

Thanks for all of the help and info!

I know credit cards can bring in a big haul of miles but I'm not willing to do it right now. Just looking for promos, deals, and ideas.

Thanks again!

Promos and deals all cost way more money than applying for credit cards, so it doesn't make sense to chase miles in this fashion when you have so much student loan/medical school debt that you can't even apply for free credit cards. You can't ask for advice about to maximize miles accrual and then say, OH well, I'm not willing to do the one thing I can do on my budget that might actually bring in the miles.

My idea would be to forget about the miles and think of another way to get the trip. Maybe your mom can pay for the mother/daughter trip as a graduation gift since she is the one who gets to brag that her daughter is a doctor, while you're the one who will be swimming in six figure debt for the next few years? It's a thought. Nah, my mom wouldn't go for it either, but a lot of moms would.

I've twice redeemed for first class awards (once for me and my husband, once just for my own solo trip) to Costa Rica on Delta, so you can sometimes redeem contrary to what others report, but you need a lot of flexibility on the dates. But I'm not sure how important your choice of airline is, given that I doubt that this is the right hobby to take up at a time when your finances are fragile. Costa Rica will always be there.

That brings up an interesting question. What is a hard pull worth to you?

For me, it $250. I won't do a hard pull unless I'm getting $250 (conservatively) from the bonus. If a card pulls all 3 reports, then is $750 of value I need.

While most realize that credit is an asset, you also need to assign a value when you purposely impair that asset. Mine is $250 per pull.

+1 Can't answer the OP's main question about non-cc mileage accrual, but AA has by fare the best FF program. Bankruptcy conceivably could change things in this regard, but probably not much.

What sort of promos/deals are you talking about that cost money? I'm thinking of things like signing up for MyPoints (just did this for 750 United miles!) or taking surveys. I know it's going to take a while but I have 2 years! I just need to know about them; hence why I'm asking for help.

I'm not ignoring advice. I know for many people, credit cards are the way to go. I just stated that I wasn't willing to do that...yet. No offense to those who churn cards, I'm just not ready for that albeit minimal risk.

My mom is not in the financial situation to fund the trip I'm planning for us, either. It's either dutch or miles. =) No harm in trying, right? I mean, I've got 2 years. I agree, Costa Rica will always be there. If it doesn't happen at graduation, fine. But I'm gonna try!

As for whether the hobby is the best idea for my financial situation, I feel like it's mostly time that I'm giving up. And no, I don't have much "free time" anymore, but hopefully it could be worth it to devote 30 minutes a weekend to deals.

Thanks! Could you tell me why you think it's the best program? I'm not sure what the differences are...

I'm not entirely sure what you're talking about. Are you assigning a monetary value to the effect credit card applications have on your credit? And how do you know if they're pulling 3 reports vs. 2 or 1?

Maybe down the road I'll venture into this territory of credit cards.

From the sound of things, AA is your best bet. Unless you're flying a bunch of long-haul trips a year, then spreading your miles over multiple carriers isn't a good strategy. Basically just start flying. Take advantage of the great shopping deals when they come up - e.g. a boatload of miles per dollar spent. You also might want to look at picking up the BA Chase card. They're giving away 50K Avios with your first spend - any amount. This will help, not hurt your credit and Avios can be redeemed at a good rate for domestic AA tickets now. Good value there. I figured my 50K Avios will get me at least 4 domestic coach tickets. Good value when you consider those tickets are generally a couple hundred bucks RT each time.

Here are the six concepts I'd look at. First, keep in mind that both United and AA offer one-way award travel at half the cost of a RT award--Delta charges the same amount for a RT or one-way ticket. Given the slow rate at which you will accumulate miles, you may find it best to accumulate on both AA and UA, assuming those two airlines will fly the route you want, so that the small totals you accumulate may buy you one-way on one airline and one-way on another coming back (I'm assuming for the moment you and your mom will want to fly together!). There are not many 500-1000 mile offers for free, like the MyPoints deal, but you'll find that some of these tend to repeat themselves across airlines (Netflix has a deal for bonus miles for signing up for a one-month trial with UA, DL, and AA).

Second, I'm assuming you still have the Citi Mastercard you took earlier. Although Citi's rate of earning AA miles is pitiful, if this is going to be the only credit card arrow in your quiver for the time being, use it to the fullest. As much as you can, run every piece of daily spending through it. Gas, groceries, cell phone bill, insurance payments (especially if no "convenience" fee is charged)--all of it has to go through your card. Scrutinize your budget, be aware of every penny you spend, and realize you need to pay any and all bills, expenses, and no-thinking spending (Coffee at Starbucks? On the card. Buying a magazine? On the card. Putting tires on your car? On the card.) with your card, if possible.

Third, surveys and sites like emiles and erewards, similar to MyPoints, will also offer some small, incremental earnings that might turn into a decent pile in two years. I know UA participates; I'm not so sure AA does. The surveys can be time consuming, but if you have time more than money, this is a no-cost way of getting miles.

Fourth, make sure you maximize your dining program participation. From your comments, I'm assuming you're a member of the AAdvantage dining program. UA has a similar program, and I believe is still running a 1000-miles signup bonus. I understand you're frugal, but if you are going to get to your goal, you'll have to take advantage of spending you already do. So, no dining out should occur that doesn't occur at a program restaurant. If that means you can't go to your old favorite restaurants, find new favorite restaurants within the program. Make sure you're signed up for their emails (takes you from 1 mile per dollar spent to 3) and try to get to 12 dines per year (takes you from 3 to 5). To get to 12 quickly, find the cheapest place in your dining programs near you and hit them for a coffee 12 times so that you can qualify for the highest earning ratio. Assuming you have trustworthy friends, be their banker when you go to a program restaurant--if they pay you cash and you pay the entire bill by credit card, you can get a pop of 500-1000 miles in one sitting while maybe spending $30-40 of your own money.

Fifth, look at the shopping sites and promos for good cost-efficient methods of earning miles. See the Netflix offer above. Take the offer, earn the miles, cancel after a month. The AAdvantage shopping mall offers 1761 miles for a 90-day subscription to the NYTimes. You don't have to order delivery every day; take the Sunday Times at $3.90/week and cancel after 90 days. And then, 90-100 days after that, do it again, as allowed by the T&Cs. And, if your mom likes the Sunday Times or Netflix, do the same thing for her. There are other similar offers so spend some time looking for methods of earning that will get you 1000 or so at a time. Get familiar with the offers. That way you'll be prepared to take advantage of a future situation that might earn miles (looking to change cellphone plans in six months? AT&T will give you 1258 miles for a new phone and two-year plan).

Sixth (and I know somewhat at odds with your current desires), consider a strategic application for a credit card or two in the winter of 2013-14, especially if UA or AA have a pending offer for a first-purchase bonus, even if it's smaller than a bonus connected with a significant spending requirement. Neither have that card in the stable right now, but last May, I took a Chase Continental One Pass card that gave me 50K miles after the first purchase. Even if you can get a card for 25K, that one application might prove to be the boost that puts your pot of miles over the top.

Fortunately, you have a narrowly defined goal and several years to achieve it. Use the resources you've found here at FT to stay on top of deals--the MilesBuzz forum is great for this, but I'd also take a quick look at the UA and AA forums as well as the credit card and S.P.A.M. forums here to see if there are any changes in offers. Keep in mind, however, that you probably don't have two years to build your miles, but more like 18 months. Award availability can be tough as you get closer to the dates of your trip so it's best to have the necessary mileage in hand well before the dates of your trip or, at least, to be flexible about when you might travel. That's another supporting reason for taking a credit card towards the end of this period--graduation will be in sight and you'll perhaps be able to overcome your understandable reluctance to take out cards, given that you should start earning money as you move from school to internships/residency.

Good luck!

All three of the airlines you are considering offer a dining for miles program which typically gives you 3-5 miles per $ when you use a registered credit card at participating restaurants. They also off a 1,000 miles sign-up bonus under certain conditions. You won't gain large amounts of miles, but no fees are involved, and it's an easy way to keep your mileage accounts active without flying.