I have been traveling along the NE coast about 2x/month for 18 months out of PHL. Staff is highly encouraged to fnd the cheapest airfare and hotel, and as a result I have miles accumulated small mile piles on 5 airlines: American, Delta, united, Usair, SW (but mostly US) and hotel points split mostly between marriott, hilton and hyatt. For good measure I have a small stack on Amtrak. All of this was paid for with AMEX of which i am getting rewards for.

I would love to pull off a vacation for 2 in november somewhere warm. My hope had been to pull all my points toward US and Marriott, but I am now learning that is not so easy to do! what suggestions does the group have for the unsophisticated newbie in need of a warm beach on the cheap?

Thanks in advance. This forum is unbelievably helpful - I plan on using it to be much more strategic in the future!

I normally offer them 500 PhlyingRPH miles.

Actually, I have given Starbucks giftcards or sweetmeats from my cultural background in the past to hotel staff that I considered friends.

I don't believe you will receive useful replies unless you mention the approximate amount of miles or points you have in each program.

Without knowing much detail,it would be difficult to advise you,but I see from your post that you have miles in both UA and US.In the future,you may want to direct all those miles to one program-in your case it seems you'd prefer US.

Well first off, welcome to FT and also to that same conundrum we all once had and most would never admit...

With airlines, at least, it�s having miles in too many programs you have been flying on for work stuff cuz your company thinks in terms of short money and not long-term results (hehehe - sorry, mine did too once)

Annnnyway,

I'd say to start out getting the credit card(s) that offer bonus sign ups on airlines you think you will use the most that go to destinations you want from where you live with the greatest ease. For example, United does not get me from BOS to NYC but AA does. hence, I applied for and received the AA Mastercard and I use it religiously.

There is a great threads on the visa United credit card sign up right here on the main page and also the thread on this pretty neat citibank 10k AA bonus. Couple that with a AAdvantage credit card, which offers 20k miles on sign up (see the top of their main page at www.citicard.com) and you have nearly enough for a RT econ ticket from an east coast city to the islands of the Caribbean! (you need 35k for this so 20+10 + what you may already have could do it!)

You gotta track everything, print out stuff that's pending so you are sure to get your miles when waiting on promotions that sometimes take time to come thru (the above 10k offer takes like 3 months and the credit card postings for initial bonus are at least 4-6 weeks before you receive miles)

I'd try to stay with one or two--mayyyyyybe three airlines and learn about the partnerships too. Example: if you have us and ua miles, note that you can fly on both airlines and post all miles on ONE. (Again, be sure to print and keep everything including boarding cards and even luggage tags because more times than not, someone forgets to post your miles to the partner airline and you gotta fax in stuff and wait for them to fix it). I keep little files on my mileage activity and can toss them when everything finally posts if I need do.

Sign up for things like dining for miles and online shopping where ever you can (I use Best Buy to buy ink for my printer and I get bonus points at NW airlines and even if want to get things in their stores, one can purchase online and direct the products to be waiting at a nearby store for pick up) I have bought Home Depot gift cards of huge $ amounts to be shipped to my home within days because AA had offers for double miles when buying from them online thru their shopping portal, and then I would go to the store and buy whatever I needed anyway since I am doing tons of home improvement.

Lastly (for now), try to get all accounts to an even number amount... example: If you can, somehow do some of the above stuff to get an account that has say 24,443 miles in it up to 25k even if you may not be using it right away. This is so when you do need to use it, you don�t have to plead with an often �harsh� customer service rep to expedite some missing 600 miles you expected from something you thought would post on time but never did. Same goes for lesser accounts... One never knows when having 10k miles in an airline could be useful... Some airline web sites even allow transfer of miles from members and even if the fees seem high to some to do this, you may have a friend who is willing to do it with you and in return, he or she may book u that ticket to Miami on an airline account that they never use but didn�t want to let go by the wayside. If that person needed your 10k but all you had was say 8,850, then this would not help anyone. Bring those accounts up to whole numbers if you can. having friends willing to do mile stuff with ya is beneficial. Leverage this where possible.

Hotels: Stick with Starwood and maybe sign up for the AMEX SPG card now too. Hands down. Let the others flutter in the wind, I'd say. (but that's maybe just me) Hilton, of course, can be good for some people because if you sign up for mypoints.com, you can transfer points to them for hotel points. They suck tho because they said they never received my last few transfers even though I have printed records of these and so they closed my Hilton account due to too much time of inactivity. I am still battling with them as we speak but I will win because I have printed proof of my mypoints transfers to the hotel awards program. (Oooo that Paris chic is gonna hear from me! hehehe)

I'd start by concentrating on newbie mile management 101 and then in the meantime, get those credit cards and charge EVERYTHING! (just pay 'em off every month on time and in full too, eh?)

Good luck, mate!

MM

Thanks! Here you go:
american 11,000
delta 3000
united 9500 (I will now post all united to US!!)
US 20,000 (just flew for free)
SW 30 credits
Amtrak 3000
Hitlon 9000
Hyatt unsure
Marriott 21000
amex 30,000

Tx Marathon Man. I'm looking into credit cards deals now, but am afraid I need to deal with the balances before I get the deals. All the same, I want to look into the ones mentioned. Starwood sounds interesting, but since I mainly use my Amex corp card, will it be of much use? I mean can I somehow make my corp card a Starwood card?

i love the idea of leveraging miles with friends. I h a few have people that probably have miles with other airlines, so that should be great. But I am hoping to expand my circle of leverage!

I also have not been very good about tracking everything, but am feeling inspired.

I have signed up for usair reward network, and will be buying all my books online now. This will be the area that I need to work on the most, after getting miles on only select airlines. Marathon Man, is this the man way you get your accounts to an even number?

k,

Do get the credit cards, be not afraid... just wise. As for tracking things, well, unless you WANT marketing companies to scheme ya cuz they know 90% of people forget to track things as a cultural fact that plays in their favor (think rebate scams) then you must become the uber project manager of your own rewards starting now.

And yes, buying things is one of the best ways to bring accounts up to par, I find. I use it whenever I can and so you must plan things accordingly. for example, last month I forgot to buy ink online so I ran out and had to get it in the store right away. Well i earned miles cuz I used my CC but I could have earned more had I done it thru an earning portal. *kicks self* boo hoo! (I buy lots of ink as I work out of my home currently, but no, I don't print these posts cuz I'd totally run out! lol)

AA: I find them the easiest to redeem in many things... def get the card and sign up for that citi offer for 10k more... look for that thread in this forum. It�s current. You will have at least 41k by a couple months from now and that�s nice

Delta: buy magazines with it. Some airlines have mag for miles offers. If not, try a site called magazines4miles. I think its still around. I got an offer in the mail though... it was to redeem my paltry 1,500 delta miles for mags. So I got maxim and one other. woo hoo.


United: Like I said earlier, try and bring it to 10 first. Then be done for now. To do this with ease, consider dining for miles just for now... to do that, check their site on ways to redeem miles, sign up (free) and set any current debit or credit card to your FF number with united. When you eat at a restaurant, you get miles on top of what you spent so you do not need a UA credit card to do this. Maybe get some gift certs from your fav. eatery and have them available to use or give to someone as a gift but then the payment in itself will earn you the miles. Then later, go back in and change your stuff once you hit 10k. Remember you need whole numbers, for easiest usage when it matters!

Now, united also has an online shopping mall portal but I have had bad experiences with its posting on time. If you do it, track everything and be prepared to wait a lot.

US, SW and Amtrack, keep �em going. Thats fine.

A sign up with Mypoints will get you many points fast... (you get their many emails in your inbox and when you open the email you get 5 points just for that, so it totally adds up) and then put the points (in increments of 1000) into hilton. 10k hilton gets you their bare bones minimum stay.

Marriot? ok you have pointage. Let that grow too then.

Amex: I think your current corp card sounds ok... I am assuming it gives you AMEX's membership reward points? Well those are fine... they can transfer to airline miles or buy gifts with them but if you ever were to consider exchanging them for starwood points, I think the rate is 3:1 and yet sometimes in here you can hear about promos where it's 2:1 so its best to check that out first. Keep the amex then. Good that your company seems to let you use it and get to keep your own points too! I guess look into the AMEX forums on here about that stuff. All I know about it is Starwood stuff.

And so, in the end, it seems your main airlines are US and AA with some use on SW.

go forth my friend and enjoy!

MM

I'm assuming you just got a domestic r/t.

The consensus seems to be that spending your miles on domestic flights is a poor return on your investment. 25,000 (or often 50,000) miles to get a "free" ticket that you could buy for $150 is not a smart way to go.

A reasonable goal is premium seating on international flights. With US, I believe it's still 80,000 miles for Envoy class to Europe, or use them miles for upgrading cheaper coach tickets. My wife and I just returned from Europe in Envoy, and the tickets cost ~$750 + 20,000 miles. Big bang for the buck. And we got miles for the trip, too.

In addition to all the great insight provided by Marathon Man (and don't get him started on gift cards ), if you're getting serious it's often best to make some goals and shoot for them, rather than just will-nilly collecting miles. You can lay out plans, track progress, and so on. It makes the game almmost fun!

Welcome to the club and good luck.

MM has kindly provided you with a good directional map-I'm sure many others will also benefit from his suggestions.I'd also add that if you rent cars,it is a good way to bring some of those accounts up to usable levels.Currently I am getting 2RR credits from WN for each Hertz rental of 2 days or more.It is easy to direct points to different reward programs with each rental,based on the promotion that works for you.

Good luck-you will be enjoying the results of your work in no time!

hehehehe BigLar you GOT me hahaha

annnyway, yes the big scores are often the way to go but 35k miles on AA will get you to islands that often can run you up to $400 RT so hey, unless you have coin, I'd say use the more free mile route for even that type of trip.

speaking of long hauls, United goes from LA to Australia and I think you can still get a ticket for 60k so hey, there's a case to KEEP the UAL account goin... and when you wanna go Boston to Aspen, CO, that normally $600-700 RT ticket in mid winter ski season is best obtained using the 25k award if you can get one! 25k for me is about $300+ so if I find my flight is going to cost less then yes, I use money instead. Of course, my wife, mother and brother always chat about who has what and if one of us has ONLY 25k on one airline account, why not use it and empty the account instead of spending good drinkin money?
hehehe

as for GCs, BigLar... oh dear me... he's only in his first semester! That's advanced graduate program material and besides, you gotta be sick in the head to go there. Wait, some say I am! lol (in a good way)

MM

Given his restrictions (cheapest airfare and hotel), SPG might not be the way to go. He'll probably have difficulty finding an SPG property within his bidget.

OTOH, there's almost always a Hampton Inn (and sometimes Garden Inns) or a Fairfield Inn around. Getting status in these programs is fairly easy, too.

For myself, I use the Marriott card for Marriott stays, and the Hilton AMEX for about everything else. Both chains have very nice properties in the locations I like to visit (London, Paris, Rome, etc.) and the points from these cards come in hot and heavy.

I know the deal with SPG, but given his situation he may find it difficult to accumulate significant points.

To the OP: I was where you are a couple of years ago -- little knowledge and a few miles here and there, never heard of hotel loyalty programs.

Since then (2002 when I discovered FT), we've been to Europe four times (always in First Class), and stayed in five-star hotels. It's been a fun trip.

If I understand correctly you want to redeem for a trip next month. Here are some things you could consider that could be beneficial in the short run, but DO NOT TRANSFER between programs until you have verified that a suitable award is available:

1. Convert 10,000 of your AAdvantage miles into 20,000 Hilton HHonors points here ...

https://redeemaamiles.points.com/home.jsp

... this would increase Hilton balance to 29,000 and pretty much deplete your AAdvantage account ($25 processing charge).

2. The American Express Membership Rewards points could be transferred 1:1 to Delta, but with Delta's poor award availability and only 3,000 DL miles it might be better to again convert to Hilton.

If you transfer directly from Membership Rewards to Hilton the rate is 1:1.3, meaning 30,000 MR points will become 39,000 HHonors points. If you did this your new HHonors balance would be 29+39=68,000.

However, if you first transfer to Hawaiian Airlines...

http://www.hawaiianair.com/hawaiianmiles/

...you can do better: 30,000 > 30,000 > 60,000. The tradeoff is that it takes extra time to perform the double transfer, but your new balance would be 29+60=89,000 HHonors points. (If you are still short of the amount required for a Hilton award stay you can purchase up to 40,000 points for about $0.01 each.)

3. Not normally good value but you could redeem 20,000 Marriott points for 5,000 US Air miles if that's what you need to secure an award ticket, but I would compare this to any mileage purchase program that US Airways offers.

On Southwest, shouldn't the 30 credits have been turned into one domestic-US (excluding Hawaii) award and 14 credits automatically? Don't forget the expiration date of the award. Two more credits (one round trip on Southwest, or four car rentals or hotel stays, should do it) will get you a second award. Then you may want to decide whether you want to continue to use Southwest, or concentrate flying on another airline. Southwest is good for collecting domestic-US award flights from short flights and short car rentals, but does not offer status or upgrades or international flights, and its one point per flight system is not very good for long flights.

UA and US are in a single alliance (Star Alliance), so concentrating mileage from both on one program makes sense.

DL has NW and CO in its alliance (Sky Team). AA is in the OneWorld alliance. The only way to collect future mileage from these four into one program is to do it on an airline that has mileage partnerships with all of them, such as AS (but you'd have to give up collecting on the existing programs).

MM,

As you mentioned, you have earned 2x/3x miles by purchasing gift cards. I have read small prints at some sites and said the gift card purchases are not be qualified for this extra miles. It seems like not true. Can you explain since you are the expert?

Thanks.