Trina0124

Hi, My name is Trina, I am 44 yrs old and new to the forum, and new to miles and points..My husband works overseas ( live in US ) 28 days there and 28 days home.. He is a mileageplus platinum member.. He only belongs to this program, and has never tried to earn miles, he would rather go fishing then get on a computer.lol
I flew for the first time last year (one of my biggest fears ), He and I went to Jamaica, It was great..So now i am hooked, and want to start earning miles and points for him.
This is my question., We are going to mexico in a few months, he has enough miles for both tickets, but only leaving a few left.. Since I don't know anything about this at all, Can someone help me out....Should we purchase tickets so he keeps his status?
Should i apply for the chase card and purchase tickets and put on there to earn the bonus miles? My brain is all over the place after reading so many different forums and blogs.
any help would be appriciated, and this forum will be my new home. Everyone just seems to be so knowledgeable and kind.. thanks you~ Trina

redtop43

Welcome, Trina. Yes, it can be confusing.

First, your mileage balance has nothing to do with status. Status is based on the number of elite qualifying miles you earned in the last year, and EQM's are almost entirely based on "BIS" (butt-in-seat) miles you flew. You can have a zillion miles saved and if you flew nothing in the past year you will have no status, or you can earn 300,000 EQM's in a year, use them all, and still avhe have Ultimate Global We-Kiss-Thy-Ring status for the next year.

For almost everyone except the super-rich who spend hundreds of thousands a month and the road warriors who fly 100K+ miles a year, the best source of miles is credit card signup bonuses. If your credit is good and you can meet the minimum spending requirements, you could each get a United Mileage Plus Explorer card and a Chase Sapphire Preferred, both of which waive the annual fee for the first year, and you would get about 100K points each. (The MP card would give MP points, CSP gives Ultimate Rewards points which can be converted to United or used in other ways.) You can then potentially cancel the cards and reapply in anywhere from 6 months to two years to get the bonuses all over again.

A few important things to do are:

• Surf the forums to make sure you are getting the best signup deals.
• Note carefully the terms on the signup and get a copy of the screen. It is easy to see a link that offers a great bonus but sign up some other way and not get a bonus at all. (American Express is especially bad about this.)
• Make sure you can meet the minimum spend. There are tips on time-shifting spending as well as "manufacturing" spending on the forums here.

If you are feeling invigorated after this, you could apply for cards from other airlines. Right now one of the better deals is to get USAir cards because they will likely disappear in a year or so, after they merge with American, and USAir points will become American points.

Some people get even deeper into it and try to maximize bonus categories. As an example, if you want to book an airline ticket, you get double points for using a Chase Sapphire Preferred card, and you can get an extra 1X bonus by booking it through their own Ultimate Rewards Travel or 2X by booking through Travelocity after logging into the Ultimate Rewards Mall.

Don't be shy about getting cards, getting the bonuses, then cancelling them.

By using these tricks and others, my wife and I accumulated about a million points in the past 15 months. It's not that hard to do if you have the patience to keep track of all the different cards and programs.

Regarding DH (Dear Husband), I suggest you just get him to buy into the idea that you'll take care of the work, you'll tell him what card to use, and he shouldn't worry his pretty little head. My wife and I have that understanding and all she knows is that we fly all these places for cheap or free and she doesn't have to worry about it.

Trina0124

To RedTop

First, thank you for taking the time to respond.. I love the last part lol, and so will he..

I know he gets about 15,000 miles everytime he flies to work, which is 6 times a year..Can be more if they change countries..
Going to re-read your post and apply for a card...
I think i understand what you mean, but since it is so new to me, i will read and let it sink
I will also Get a Ledger or something to keep track of what i do.. Yes, good credit, and we have no credit cards.. He has been working overseas for many years, can't beleive i am just starting this now...But I was always to scared to fly, so now that i did and took it out my bucket list, I am ready for this ride..lol
thank you again
Trina

redtop43

Something else you should do is manage his travel more carefully, for him not for you. If indeed he flies 90K miles a year, he might get better benefits by manufacturing travel to get him over 100K miles. In particular, he would get some (I don't know how many) international business class upgrades. So if you travel with him, it might sometimes be useful for you to travel on an award ticket and pay for his ticket. (Yes, that means he might get upgraded and not you. Ah the life of a spousal travel manager!) You should concnetrate on the United forum and learn more about their Premier program.

AlohaDaveKennedy

Not everyone running hundreds of thousands a month in spend is necessarily super-rich, however. More like super-crafty when it comes to manufacturing spend. Those Chase cards being recommended to you are very nice for that particular type of spending.

Maz67

From one newbie to another (I have actually been around for almost a year but just registered) welcome!

Just read everything you see over the next month and you will be amazed how much you will learn.

By the way, where in Mexico are you going? Mexico is one of our favorite places on earth!

cda322

If you live in Louisiana, it seems like a waste to me to use miles for tickets to Mexico. I'm just guessing, but you're probably looking at sub-$400 tickets, depending on location and time of year, but no more than $500 each. With some creative routing, you should be able to squeeze a few thousand miles out of the trip, which could make the difference for him getting 1K vs. Plat at the end of the year. The MileagePlus credit card really doesn't offer him any advantages over his PLAT status, but as you have figured out, it will earn 2 miles per $1 spent on United and whatever signup bonus you receive.

I'm not sure how he pays for his business travel or who is responsible for booking it, but again, with some creative routing, it shouldn't cost much, if any, more than it currently does and will garner more miles and segments. It may be worth him getting a MileagePlus Business Explorer card, if he is reimbursed for travel. If that's not an option, then as someone mentioned, it may be worth it to him to fly on his own dime, to achieve 1K status. 1K will undoubtedly make all of his international travel much more comfortable.

This forum is a great place for advice and without it, I would have enjoyed nowhere near as many travel perks or have so many miles.

cda322

Agreed. Averaged out, I only spend a few hundred $$$ a month for work, but f I could be reimbursed for work expenses instead of having to use a company card, my miles/points situation would significantly improve. As it stands, it's almost impossible for me to make a $3k, let alone $5k spend, without making ridiculously unnecessary purchases.

Trina0124

Thanks for all who responded.. I still am confused, I went into his milageplus accout, and added up miles. Since we will be short by 2,000 miles, Do I buy my ticket? And use it as a purchase on new card to get more miles?
Redtop- I see he does have 2 upgrades, I am more then happy to let him relax there, since he works so hard, all i did on my first flight was stare and pray to myself, so it wasn't like he had someone to talk too. LOL
I am going to read as much as i can, I surely hope I catch on to this..
Maz67- I don't know the place, he did book that as a surprise for our anniversary, But as soon as i know i will let you know. He just has no interist in searching online when he is home to earn miles. But i also have 4 kids oldest is 26 and would love for all of them to fly with us too, so that is why i am working hard on this. )
First time i Flew last year was to jamacia and we stayed at the Sandals Whitehouse, I give it 5 stars.. It was so Great, that we are going again in october..
Thanks again, ya'll are GREAT!!
Trina

mia

Welcome to FlyerTalk.

I have transferred your thread from the general MilesBuzz! forum to the dedicated United Airlines MileagePlus forum where you may receive more specific answers. I have also edited the title of the thread to more specifically describe your request.

To decide whether to redeem miles for a specific trip you need to know what it would cost to purchase the tickets with money, and how many new miles you would earn. Compare that information to the number of miles required for award tickets to decide if the redemption would be a good value.

cda322

I don't quite understand how many tickets you need or what you've already booked, but if you are going to use miles and still have to purchase a ticket outright, it should be his ticket, so that he receives the miles towards elite status.

Also, who will be using the credit card and whose United account will it be linked to? If it's for you and your account, then purchase his ticket on your card, as you'll still get 2 miles/$1 and the amount will go towards whatever you need to spend to get the signup bonus, while the actual flight miles will post to his account. Use the card to pay any fees for the award tickets, too.

Again, I can't emphasize enough that if money isn't a huge issue, you would be better off paying for the tickets, rather than using miles. Your husband flies enough that those miles will add up quickly and allow you to fly in a premium cabin or allow him to upgrade on flights for work.

redtop43

While many people here could nitpick at what I'm about to say, as a general rule I would say:

• If you will get less than 1cpm (cent per mile) value of an award ticket, don't even think of booking an award - pay cash.
• As you get up toward 1.5cpm, you might consider using an award, depending on what other uses you have for the miles.
• Once you get over 2cpm, it's probably worth using miles, unless you are saving the miles for an international premium cabin award

If you are going to pay for one ticket and use an award for the other, definitely pay for his and use miles for yours. You should also review the rules for upgrades on the United site.

It wasn't clear if your "2000 miles short" means for you and DH, or including the kids. Most airlines will sell you miles. They are pricey (usually 2.9-3.5 cents per) but can be worthwhile if you need just a few to top off an award.

Also, note the nature of the upgrades in his account. Sometimes it's just not worth using upgrade certificates for a short flight, if you might be able to use them for a longer one. Also, he may be eligible for a free upgrade, and possibly you also if you are on the same passenger record.

Something you might do is, look at the flights you have your eye on. Check his upgrade window - I think for a Plat on United it is 72 hours. Let's say you are flying on a Friday. On a Monday and a Tuesday, go to www.flightstats.com and look at availability. If you see (say) F7 on Monday and F4 on Tuesday, it means that there were 7 first-class seats available on Monday and 4 on Tuesday, so most likely 3 Plat members got upgraded at the 72-hour window and there were still F seats left. If you see F1 on Monday and F0 on Tuesday, it means your chances of getting upgraded for free would not be good. Anyway, my point is that as a Platinum elite, you might get first class for the price of coach. But I don't know how United upgrades elites on award tickets. Usually it is easier to get upgraded on a paid ticket.

I'm not an expert on United, but a lot of people in this forum are. If you can be really specific, people can give you some really detailed help.

FlyOverVille

I'd help with some funds, if you had an uncle in Nigeria to wire it to - oh well.

mariof

some great advice already, but I'd like to reiterate something already mentioned: make sure you find the best offer available before signing up for the credit card. For example, I'm looking at an add on this very page for 30k signup bonus, but if I log into my account on united.com I can see a 50k bonus point offer. Pretty big difference.

Also, you said he had two upgrades on his account. As he's platinum those must be regional upgrades (usable only on domestic routes). united.com is, actually, a good source of information on the details of the program.

Trina0124

Thanks to everyone so kind enough to give me advice.. Sorry i havn't replied back , was having computer issues, that just got fixed.
okay NEW update.. My husband has to work over for the date we were to go on trip.. He still wants me to go, so me and my sister are going to go..
And then me and him plan on going back to jamica in october and that will be our anniversary get away,
my new question is, since i don't want to use his milageplus miles, should i
1..Just purchase our tickets at 470$ each
2..Apply for the credit card, and use that to buy our tickets, so he can get more united air miles?
thanks to everyone again
Trina