Hi,

Have been browsing these forums for the last few days after reading about it in a blog. During my first visit I spent almost 5 hours reading, staying up until 4 at night!!

I would like to maximize my miles and get a gold card (in any programme)

I am based in Stockholm, and I fly about 3 times a year to Asia, and 2-3 Domestic/Europe. Always trying to buy the cheapest ticket.

Currently I am a member (at entry level):
Eurobonus: 7,000 points
Finnair Plus: 27,000 points

After browsing the forums, I decided to order a Eurobonus Mastercard which gives me 10 points for every 100SEK spent.

I also registered for Priority Club to get points from my hotel stays.

I prefer flying with Finnair, but living in Sweden I often have no to choice but to fly SAS.

When I fly, I almost always ask for an upgrade, but so far I have had no success. I don't know what Im doing wrong :P When I fly with my dad he is almost always successful, regardless of what status he has with the airline.
Although when I ask at hotels I am more often than not able to get an upgrade.

Do you seasoned travellers think that I have a good foundation with my membership cards? Any strategy ideas for me to reach gold?

Thanks

Welcome to FT

Ask your dad for suggestions on why he is better at it.

Count your miles from your trips. See airlines SAS / Finnair web sites
and see whether you may qualify for Gold if you stick to one option.
If not, fly for no reason than to get status (do mileage runs).

Welcome to Flyertalk!

Thanks for the welcome

I think it is an age, status and personality difference. Feels like they are less likely to upgrade younger people. I have tried to make some basic calculations and since SAS only rewards 25% on the cheaper tickets, it seems unlikely that I will be able to collect enough miles by flying. Mileage runs sound very interesting and fun, but unfortunately at the moment I don't have the money.

Although I think I have found a way to accumulate miles without spending any money, although I am hesitant to do so. I found a large corporation where you can pay using creditcard and get a refund wired to your bank account. Doing this seems morally wrong, and I don't know if there are any legal complications or if it in fact is illegal? Afraid it would be seen as money laundering?

You probably haven't read this long thread yet:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...es-thread.html

Or if you are talking about casino, here are two threads for fun read:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...s-casinos.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...ne-casino.html

It will be easier to just sit down, talk to your old man, then learn his tricks of success. Or just visit FT and read and read. We are open 24/7.

Welcome to FT!

Haha, it seems that my idea was not that creative or innovative. Although I think with the system it would still work. Either way I think I will abandon it.

It seems like one of the best way to get miles without flying is to charge business expenses to your personal credit card, then being reimbursed by the company.

But how do you convince suppliers to let you pay your bills with credit card?

Or if you do not have your own company, you also have to convince your managers? Does anyone have some convincing arguments?

Do you have to use a corporate credit card ? Assume by your post that you do.

Next question, is the corp card billed directly to the corporate account or is it billed to you and you submit expense report and company direct deposits funds to your checking account and you write a check to pay for the monthly bill. If the second scenario is the case, call the corp credit card issuer and ask how do they accept payment for the monthly bill. They may accept your personal credit card instead of your personal check. If this is the case , learn to pay by phone and pay the convenience payment fee 3.00 per month if the miles that month are worth it.

Finnair is a part of the OneWorld Alliance (AA). Look at the AA forum about doing a Gold Challenge. That would give you AA gold and status in the One World Alliance.