I am a first time user of flyertalk and I have no frequent flyer miles at all. I read the story about puddingman and I thought this would be a great way to fly back home(from Colorado to Chicago) whenever I needed to. What is the best way for me to start with a frequent flyer plan and are there any great deals out there now like puddingman had gotten? Thanks for the help.
Scott

Welcome to another Coloradoan. First step is to pick the right program. To help with that we'll need more info. Where do you fly most often and do you prefer COS or DEN?

Scott e-mailed me and indicated that he can fly from either COS or DEN and usually flies to Chicago. I thought I would go ahead and post my suggestions and perhaps others would disagree/agree or have additional ideas. As far as a program to join, I would suggest Northwest Worldperks. Frequently NW has some good fares detween DEN and CHI (both airports). These will involve connections in MSP, but will build miles quickly. Plus, my most recent statement indicates that they continue to give 500 extra miles for connx in MSP, DTW, and MEM. If you call and enroll quickly, you can get the 1,000 mile bonus for updating your e-mail address on their website. Recently, I changed my long distance service to Sprint for 2,000 NW miles upfront plus 1,000 miles per month for a year. Worldperks Visa has ongoing offers ranging from 2,500 to 5,000 miles for sign-up, plus the usual 1 mile/dollar. If you enroll and buy your first ticket soon at nwa.com, you will get 4,000 bonus miles for first purchase. All this info is available at their site. Hope this helps.

Yes, but perhaps checking out the NWA threads before doing so is a good idea!!!

Canalways do CO too.

Scott,
You may want to check out Vanguard Airlines. First of all, they usually have some cheap flights (current prices are $89 each way from Denver to Chicago Midway, but prior to the gas hike I was seeing promo fares for almost half that). In addition, for booking online (flyvanguard.com), you can earn a free ticket on Vangard (they also go to KC, Myrtle Beach, ATL, PIT, Buffalo, DallasFW and CIN.) after only four round-trips. They fly Boeing 737s.

If you're looking for free flights without travelling, try the MCI and Sprint offers (go to the respective forums on this site and check the last 10-20 days) and/or do credit card promos, which can net you 5,000-10,000 miles for Amex/Visa, and up to 24,000 miles for Diners [$80 fee, 12,000 miles without double promos). The closest thing running to the pudding scene is Diet Coke (dietcokerewards.com), which can allow you to rack up to 25,000 miles on Delta (this may expire in April) for consuming 67 cases of diet coke. Through the credit card, phone and mypoints deals, I've accumulated approx. 150,000 miles on various airlines while flying only about 5,000