ok... I am a complete beginner
 

Hi Everyone! I just found this forum and I can see there is just so much information on here its hard to take in. I like to travel and I have just recently realized how many points and potential rewards I could have gotten if only I signed up sooner. I just have a couple of questions, and I really appreciate it if anyone could advise and answer, or at least direct to where I can read more information in order to learn!

Right now I'm signed up for Virgin Flyer and United's flyer program, I have 0 miles. I have traveled to places like johannesburg south africa, hong kong, london, and guam/hawaii, and japan. In the future I will probably be travelling to africa a lot, and within africa.

In the next couple of months I'm going to be traveling more in the US, so I'm trying to capitalize on earning miles that I can redeem with partners like South African airways. In terms of ease of earning points and redeeming for flights, what are some of the better flyer programs out there? With credit card programs, it looks like most are specific to the airline (I applied for a Virgin card but was declined). Are there credit cards you can sign up for that let you transfer the points you earn into miles with a number of different airlines to choose from?

When miles are earned say, with one airline, is it possible to transfer them to another airline flyer program? When redeeming miles for a flight, can you buy a flight for another person but using your miles? Also, If I purchase a roundtrip ticket that is say 6 months apart from departing and returning, do I only earn miles after the whole flight is over?

If anyone has any more tips for earning a lot of miles in a short time, it would be greatly appreciated. In the mean time I will keep looking over the forums. Thanks!

Welcome to FT.

Miles from one airline program usually cannot be transferred to another airline program. However the miles can usually be used for any airline within the same alliance.
Yes, you can get a flight for someone else.
You earn after flying each segment.


As for credit cards, perhaps try Amex for ability to transfer to multiple programs.

First, welcome to FT!

Tell us your home base/airport so folks can give you better advice on which airlines/alliance to fly.

Before you do, read the following recent newbie thread that has covered most of the basics: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...yone-help.html

If you plan to use miles on South Africa Airlines (SAA), it seems logical to built your miles with Star Alliance partners. Just credit all your activities to a single one FFP so your miles won't be scattered and useless.

You are talking about redeeming your miles in someone else's name. It's perfectly OK to gift award tickets to others.

I believe mostly airlines credit miles to your frequent flyer account once the segments are flown.

Some credit cards run referral bonuses (could be ongoing or special promo). You may check out our SPAM Forum and post there to ask for referrals. However, if you are having difficulty getting new credit card, this may not be the best route for you.


ETA:
Here's one thread you can start for cc discussion: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...edit-card.html

With zero mile in your FFPs, you are basically starting from scratch. Read the stickies on top of each forum. There are quite a few must-knows for newbies.

1. You can't generally* transfer miles from one program to another after you earn them. However, you can, within an alliance, (a) decide in advance which alliance member you earn miles with, even if you fly with another; and (b) having earned miles in one member's program, redeem them for flights on another. Since South African Airways is a member of Star Alliance (*A for short), you can (a) choose to credit your SA flights to UA, and (b) redeem UA miles for flights on SA.

Caveats: (a) a given flight may earn different numbers of miles when credited to two programs; and (b) a given award may require different numbers of miles when purchased through different programs. You have to check the Web sites of the two airlines in question to work out which is the better program for you to use.

2. Yes, you can redeem miles for an award ticket for someone else. It makes a nice present.

3. You get credit for each flight as it's flown. In your example, you'd get credit for one direction right away, the other direction six months later.

______________________________
*There are sometimes ways to "launder" miles from one program to another. One method is to transfer them into the Hilton Hotels program, then to the second airline. Even when something like this is possible, the ratios are not favorable; you lose much or most of the miles' value in the process.

Welcome! I, too, was a complete beginner once. So I know that it's kind of overwhelming.

Someone else has already suggested that you should start concentrating in *A because that will allow you redeem on your preferred airline. And if your preferred airline is that important to you, then do it.

However, when I started out, I worked with a much different philosophy. I booked the cheapest/most convenient flights for me, and then I figured out (BEFORE the flight) where I could stash those miles. If I didn't already have an account where I could put them, I opened another one. And while I wasn't able to use all of them right away, I don't think I've ever lost any to expiration and I eventually was able to build them up to usable levels.

As I've learned more (mainly by hanging about the FT forums), I have fine tuned my philosophy, but I find this concept of finding THE right airline right off the bat when you're a beginner to be really hard.

Welcome. You don't say where you are based, but planning trips to South Africa, Japan, Hong Kong... you should be able to rackup miles rapidly. As others mention, *Alliance seems most logical and you have a Milage Plus account, so why not consentrate there. Chase has a debit which awards 1 mile per dollar: it has a $65 annual fee. This might work.