I'm new here and overwhelmed how I should begin to accumulate all the miles. I'm not an elite member of any airlines yet. Any suggestions?

Thanks.

Hi elzny, welcome to FT!!!

I am no expert, but to give the true experts something to work with, you may want to add some info on your travel habits:
- do you fly for business or pleasure
- what airlines
-what destinations (I am assumming from Philly)
- how many trips per year
- where do you WANT to go

Chuckles

Just start by joining every program you think you might need. Most all of them have web sites that let you sign up. check their partners as well and sign up for everything. When you travel, fly, rent cars etc. make sure you get some credit. also, don't forget that credit card. I don't know about most people, but I have one program I try to get everything into so I can maximize my miles. Good luck.

Listen to Chuckles. You're usually much better off concentrating on a single carrier )and hotel chain). Decide where you want to go, and who is more convenient. Develop a strategy. Learn about mileage runs - not that you'd necessarily make them, but get a feel for the issues involved. Learn the difference between status miles, award miles, segments. Set a goal or two. Work out what you'd need to get there.

Keep reading here (or Inside Flyer magazine). Don't be afraid to ask questions - try to keep them specific; several questions "to the point" are much preferable to general ones.

You've just got to climb the learning curve - it's not that hard, but it will take time. And it's worth it! As an example, see how I did it.

And welcome to FlyerTalk!

Welcome to Flyertalk, elzny!

Ask yourself the questions above - what airline - where do I go (or want to go) - what's my reason for flying - my dime or the companie's dime - what kind of benefits do I want, etc, etc.

Since you're from the DC area - if you'd like to join us on March 4th for the monthly Happy Hour, please feel free to.

Here's the information:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum95/HTML/003784.html

I think the How to Begin page of my web site below would be helpful to you.

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Free Frequent Flyer Miles

I haven�t been online in quite awhile but I used to go to a web sight that gave you all the latest promotions to get miles without flying. I can�t seem to remember where it was though. Maybe someone can help with the web address. I was thinking it might have been �Miles Makeover� but you didn�t need to sign in on the sight I used to go to.

Despite some of the advice above, I suggest that you don't let miles rule your decisions. Some people get a big kick out of playing endless games with airlines and their frequent flier partners, and that's okay. In fact, it can be fun to try and bend the rules in ways the sponsors never intended.

But rabid mile collecting isn't for everyone. Also, miles aren't worth as much as we sometimes think. You might consider that spending a half-hour with an online survey for 300 miles is time well spent, until you realize you only got roughly $6 worth of non-transferable miles for your trouble.

My advice is to simply fly the way you've always flown before and simply collect the miles as you go. It's as simple as signing up at each airline's website. Then as you purchase tickets and check-in for each flight, just make sure you supply your FF# and don't give it another thought. IMO the more time you spend focusing on miles, the less they're worth.

Time = Money

One reason to concentrate miles and points is if you travel enough to make elite status. Of course, the holy grail is upgrades, but expedited check-in, special boarding, etc. are nothing to sneeze at if you travel a lot. Time IS money and these things save time.

That being said, there's a difference between being smart and being obsessed. I have a preferred airline (C0) and hotel program (HH). These are based on my travel patterns and preferences. If they are close on price, I'll use them, if not then I use something else. That's my $.02.

I am able to take 4 trips to Europe a year while using miles and cheap, cheap fares.

One strategy is to check Virgin Atlantic to London on a daily basis. I have had very good luck with getting fares of between $300-$370 spring and fall by doing this. Once I also got a fare of $300 in July, but that was a few years ago.

On the miles front, I am now using a Starwood American Express card since the points accumulated can be transferred to just about every airline FF program. Then, I charge everything I can possibly charge, (including my father's funeral, but that's another story) to get 'free seats'. In quotes because there is a fee for the credit card, and tax to pay on the ticket. And, I also travel for business, although not so much as I used to, and accumulate those miles courtesy of my company. If you don't travel a lot and are thus not accumulating real miles, the credit cards like Bank One could be good since they require fewer miles for a trip, but you can't add real miles traveled to your account.

Is it an obsession for me? You bet it is. I need to have those trips dangling in front of me for something to look forward to. It's also a game to see how many ways I can get my trips. I must say, it's getting more difficult to get the free trips, but still somewhat doable. There is also the 'book 331 days ahead of your trip' to get the seats. Even that is harder. I am now trying to get a ticket for the Caribbean on American for next January. I booked at 2am, 331 days out to get the outbound flight, but am having difficulty getting the return as the free seats aren't posted yet. That's a work in progress.

I hope this helps to get you started.