Miles program for the beginner?
 

I usually fly Southwest, so I am a Rapid Rewards member. It's a good program, but I always disliked that they didn't partner with the hotel chains I frequented so those stays always seemed wasted. Lately I have been getting more interested in travel to other destinations. I earned some points this year on Hawaiian and British Air and I realized that maybe I should try to focus on one program for all my non-SW travel and for my hotel stays and other mile-earning activities. I would still be doing most of my travel with SW, so is there a good program for an infrequent, leisure traveller like me? Maybe one with a lot of non-flight earning opportunites? I don't know if I would like having to focus on one airline, since I tend to look for the best deal. Can I pool miles from different sources? Are the miles that I earned this year wasted because I didn't think of this earlier? Is there a good website that I could go to that details these kinds of thing for newbies? Thanks.

BTW, I usually fly out of Ontario, Ca. or San Diego, Ca. I don't really have a goal in mind, though I would love to get a free ticket to somewhere in Europe in the future. I've never flown anything but coach, so I don't really care about upgrades. I'm happy going anywhere and I'm okay with travelling by myself so I wouldn't be opposed to doing mileage runs.

Howdy,

I am only familiar with American Airlines AAdvantage program. Also - I do not fit your profile at all, I fly a lot on business and fly mostly majors.

Based on your post - it might be a good fit for you.

1. They have a fair amount of 'net saver' (deeply discounted - last minute fares - good for mileage runs if you like to travel).

2. They fly to a lot of destinations, as do their partners. With OneWorld you have a very wide variety of redemption possiblities.

3. They offer miles for credit cards, phone service, gifts - pretty much the same as most carriers; one significant different is that all miles earned (bonus miles, credit card, etc...) all count torword lifetime status (1MM for Gold, 2MM for Platinum).

Good luck, and let us know how it turns out.

Keep the faith,

Pakse

I, too, use WN as my primary airline. As far as hotels go, you can always "double dip" as a member of Hilton Hhonors. They give you 1/2 credit on WN in addition to the hotel points that you earn. If you are trying to continue to earn free tix with WN, remember that their points expire after one yr -- not that commom of a restriction on major airlines.

In addition to whatever else you choose to do, I have seen it recommended elsewhere on this site, that you get the Starwood AmEx card. You use this card to earn points towards free nights at *wood hotels, but you can also transfer miles to almost any airline. Further, if you transfer in increments of 20,000, you get a 5,000 point bonus. This is another pretty good deal for someone who does not travel all that often, as it allows you to continue to earn points/miles even when you are not travelling.

Regards,
stevekoe

I'll second Pakse: if you want a catch-all program with lots of earning opportunities and redemption destinations, AA is your best single choice.

They have More Room Throughout Coach on most of their planes, so flying Y as a non-elite isn't too painful. They probably have the greatest number of partners of any single program in the world, so you can ALWAYS find ways to earn miles from your "normal" day-to-day activities.

They also have elite status challenges (Fly X miles/points in 90 days, get elite status). If you ever do take a mileage run, you might be able to structure it to hit an elite level (Gold or Platinum) on 1 trip. (Read the AA board for more details.)

Once you hit elite and start qualifying for upgrades, you might change your opinion about flying coach. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Do you mean the miles you earned on other airlines or those you could have earned from your hotel stays? Are you a member of any frequent stay programs already? I think that's the key to getting credit for past stays and turning them into mileage. Of course, you could keep the hotel points and turn them into free night, too. Without prior membership, I don't think you'll have much luck.

I second AA, although I don't fly them often. And by all means, join Hilton, *wood, Holiday Inn and anywhere else you're likely to sleep. In your profile at the hotel chain website, you'll ID an airline and you FF# to convert stays to miles.

Good luck and have fun.

Edited for (less?) clarity.

[This message has been edited by BamaVol (edited Mar 03, 2004).]

Thanks for you replies. You guys are great.

Well, I took your advice and signed up with Aadvantage. It does seem to have a lot of non-travel earning opportunities. The Idine looks great since I eat out a lot.

I decided to sign up with Sprint to push my Hawaiian miles over 10000. I'll get an interisland R/T then at least those miles won't be wasted. I only need the amount of miles that you get after the first bill, so in two months I'll probably switch to AT&T and Aadvantage.

Now, if only I could figure out something to do with 12000 British miles. Maybe I'll do both for now.

I've gotta say, this site is so addictive. You guys really know your stuff. I've spent many hours reading it over the past week or so. You guys really make me want to get out and travel. I'm really tempted to do fly twice to NYC so I can get my free ticket through AA. I'd love to use it to go to the Caribbean. Too bad most of my friends aren't that interested in travelling. Oh well, I should probably not get too carried away at first.

One thing that I have been having trouble with is all the acronyms. I've seen the glossary, but I still don't get the references to the all the different fare classes and how you figure out which fare you're on. Is there someplace I can look that up?

Thanks again.

Can you specify which hotel chains you frequent? Southwest is partnered with HHonors (Hilton Garden Inn and Hampton among others) and Choice (Comfort, Sleep, Quality, etc) among others. And, in fact, at Hampton Inn Southwest is the ONLY airline it makes sense to earn with (since with all other airlines you get only 100 miles, but you still get the same 0.5 credits at Hampton that you get at all other HHonors properties which otherwise give 500 miles per stay).

If you frequent Priority Club (Holiday Inn, Express, Crowne Plaza, etc), then indeed you can't do Southwest, and the airlines you earn fastest with there (on short stays at least) are BA or some other foreign-based ones (only if you earn directly to miles) and AA (only if you earn points first and then transfer only after 67k points = 25k miles or more).

Stefan,
I'm not really loyal to a particular hotel brand. Lately, it seems I have been doing Radisson, Sheraton, and Wyndham mostly.

I'm with stevekoe...the SPG Amex is the best bet. With the transfer of 20,000 points into miles, getting the 5,000 bonus miles is a domestic ticket. In addition, whereever your leisure travel has taken you, the miles can be combined with the account that is most advantageous.

Well, of course, if you're not going to be loyal and you don't care much which brand you stay in and you're not going to earn miles anyway, that would seem to make you the ideal candidate for saving money instead (rather than earning miles) by booking through a blind site like Hotwire or Priceline. Most hotels don't let you get miles or points when you book through such blind sites, but if you're not going to be consistent enough to get miles or points anyway, there may not be any downside for you.