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Putting together an effective points strategy can be a daunting task.  Let me preface all of this this stating I am not the first person to maximize credit card points for free travel.  There are ample blogs out there that are solely dedicated to maximizing credit card points.  I am more focused on helping beginners who are just starting the credit card game and will be presenting you with a series of posts geared towards beginners as a How-To guide to become comfortable and familiar with the topic.  At the end I will provide a list of the travel rewards blogs I follow who can provide much more details on this topic for those who are then ready to move on to more advanced material.

Mastering frequent flyer miles, hotel points, and credit card programs truly is life changing.  Frequent flyer miles from travel credit cards have allowed us to visit over 25 countries, with enough miles left over to go anywhere in the world tomorrow if we wanted to. We currently have over 1,000,000 travel points in our ‘travel bank’.  We pay less for these trips than you probably did for your last vacation.  What’s the catch?  You’ll have to learn a few things and open the right credit cards.  I’m not writing this to brag.  I’m writing because my techniques are very easy to repeat.  And I’m hoping that by the time these series is complete, you too will feel comfortable to dig in and get some steeply discounted trips too!

Today, we are going to focus on the various airline and loyalty programs that exist.

Step One – Research and Learn

The first thing to do is become familiar with the airline and hotel programs and to sign up for their free memberships to collect and use points.  These frequent flier programs are completely free and there’s no reason not to sign up.  Of course, I wouldn’t sign up for every program below, but if there are any airlines below that you normally fly on (be it often or occasionally) there’s no reason not to be a member of their rewards program.  Every time you fly with them, you’ll earn a few miles based on the route.  And of course, if you sign up for a travel rewards credit card, you can then transfer those points to one of their transfer partners (sometimes it happens automatically) – and you’ll need to be signed up with this transfer airline ahead of time to make said transfer.

Below is a list of the top programs for your convenience. Once you sign-up, write down your user name and password for step two.  This list is very extensive so for Americans I would focus on the top three; United, American, and Delta and I would also suggest Southwest, Air Canada, & British Airways.  For Canadians, I would go after this same list but replace WestJet with Southwest.  Alaska can be quite lucrative too for those living on the west coast.

I’d also take note to when their points expire.  Some airlines (Delta, Southwest) never expire while some some airlines have a limited shelf life of inactivity before your miles get wiped away.  It’s important to keep track of your latest activity and when your miles will expire.  The best way to keep and active status is to:

  • Fly on that airline to receive points for miles flow.
  • Put a purchase on a credit card that is directly linked to that frequent flier program.  For example, buy a pack of gum for $1 on your Chase United Explorer card if your United Mileage Plus points are nearing its expiration.  Once the Chase statement has been paid, your United points should transfer over to your Mileage Plus frequent flier program.
  • Transfer points from one of your travel ‘banks’ to the frequent flier program that is nearing expiry.  For example, transfer 1,000 of your Chase Ultimate Rewards points over to your United Mileage Plus account for 1,000 United points to reset the clock.  See below to see which rewards programs partner with certain airlines.

Airline programs (included is also whether that airline is a transfer partner of American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou Rewards, and/or the Marriott Bonvoy programs as those tend to be the most prominent and have the best transfer programs):

Airlines

Hotels

Now seeing this list and hearing that Chase are my favorite points to acquire may not make much sense.  It sure seems like Mariott Bonvoy has a ton more reach.  And they do!  However, as you continue with your learning (I feel like I’m your sensei Splinter from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) you’ll see that most Bonvoy conversions happen at a 3:1 ratio whereas chase is 1:1.  Meaning if you earned 50,000 Bonvoy points, that will only  get you 16,666 United points whereas you’d get the full 50,000 United points with 50,000 Chase points.  So you’d need to find a Bonvoy card offering 150,000 points to compare apples to apples!  Ouch.  Tricky tricky Bonvoy….

Step Two – Manage Your Points

Join an online mileage manager.  I know what you’re thinking… that is WAY too many user names and logins for me to keep track of.  Luckily, you weren’t the first to have the worry so let me next introduce you to Award Wallet.

Award Wallet is a free service that tracks your balance, status, user name, and password in nearly every airline, hotel, credit card, rental car, and loyalty program in one place.  The three big exceptions are United, Delta, and Southwest which have blocked Award Wallet from accessing your account information (you can update these programs manually within Award Wallet).  To see the full list of supported programs, click here.  Not only are your balances now listed in one place, but you can click the ‘Update All’ button to see them all updated in a fraction of the time it would take to go to every program’s site.  Other managers include Usingmiles.com and Tripit.

I’m old school and track everything myself in an excel sheet but Award Wallet is a great place if you want to condense the time it takes to track your balances.

Step Three – Determine The Right Card For You

Choose the right credit card(s).  Having powerful cards with big sign-up bonuses is the easiest way to jumpstart your points strategy.  By the time this series is complete, you should have a good idea of what to look for in a card and how to determine which card is the right one for you.

Determining which credit card is best for your spending patterns and lifestyle can be difficult.  You have to be tracking your expenses each month to know if you can reach some of the cards minimum spend requirements.  You also have to understand what points you will be getting with each card and how best to apply them based off your location and travel plans.

Before you actually apply, I’d recommend getting your free annual credit report and making sure all of your accounts are in good standing. Most banks use FICO scores to determine your creditworthiness.

Closing Thoughts

A lot of people get bogged down in the details of travel hacking, but it honestly doesn’t have to be that difficult! I am 100% convinced that with minimal effort, just about any financially responsible person can take 1-2 nearly free vacations every single year just with this one small, but important life hack.  It will take some reading and education to feel comfortable to dive in, but once you do, you can literally earn a flight in under 15 minutes by signing for the credit card of your choice and spending on it (and setting up auto pay so you never miss a payment) vs your previous payment method.

The next post in this series will go over the various type of rewards cards out there.  Hope you are enjoying this series and is not too complicated to understand in these bite sized posts!

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3 thoughts on “Travel Hacking 101 – Airline and Loyalty Programs”

  1. Stephanie

    I’m excited that you will be tackling travel hacking! This is something I want to start focusing on more, especially once I scale back my work at the end of the year and I have a bit more time. I’ve found most sites covering this to be quite complex, and I also can’t always tell if the recommendations are based on the best cards or the ones that give the website owners the best affiliate rewards. Based on your other posts, I think yours will be more clearly explained!

    Reply
    1. Court and Nic

      Thanks Stephanie! It does take some time and research but once you understand the general concepts and best strategy for you (your origin city, destination city, best airlines to work with your goals) its relatively straightforward. There are TONS of loopholes for those of us wanting to dig into the weeds but definitely not necessary for most to dig into. Many travel only blogs are banking on the affiliate links as a source of income so it can be tricky to tell what’s actually good. But again, after digging into the subject for awhile you start to learn what’s a good deal or not. I’m sure after this intro series is over and you then dig your toes into some of the other blogs out there (which I’ll be providing later) you’ll be hacking your next trip in no time 🙂

      Reply

  2. Pingback: Travel Hacking 101: Understanding Your Credit Score – Loonie.com

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