[To see all four sections of our coverage on frequent flier miles, visit the "Before You Go/Airfare" index of articles by clicking here.]
Shopping for Miles
Hey, you're going to spend the money anyway--why not get the miles? The American, Continental, US Airways, Northwest, and United frequent-flier programs have deals with online retailers so people who buy through a particular link earn miles. Check on your frequent-flier program's Web site. Bonuses range from 1 to 5 miles per dollar spent. Dozens of retailers participate; here are the affiliations of some stores you may be familiar with:
- Ashford: Northwest, Continental
- Eddie Bauer: US Airways, United, American
- FTD.com: Northwest
- Godiva: Continental
- J. Crew: Continental, US Airways
- Lands' End: American, US Airways
- Magellan's: US Airways
- MarthaStewart.com: US Airways
- OfficeMax: American
- Spiegel: American, United, US Airways
Shopping and playing online games on MileSource (www.milesource.com) can eventually earn $25 discount gift certificates on various airlines. (MileSource uses its own mileage currency, not airline miles.) They've got an especially excellent list of partners, including Barnes & Noble, The Gap, Staples, and Tower Records. If possible, it's still better to shop directly through your airline's program, as the miles you earn there are more flexible.
MileSpree.com (www.milespree.com) also promotes its own "currency." Twenty-five thousand MileSpree miles can be traded for one domestic ticket worth up to $350 on any airline, though you have to buy 30 days in advance through MileSpree's travel agent. The site offers 3,000 MileSpree miles for signing up and completing a profile, plus at least 5 miles per dollar for most shopping partners, so it's a pretty good deal. It also solves the problem of Priceline tickets not earning frequent-flier miles by giving 1 mile per dollar for purchases at Priceline.
Earn Miles on the Road
All the major car-rental companies and hotel chains offer frequent-flier mileage if you provide your frequent-flier number when booking and when you arrive at the check-in counter.
For car rentals, awards are generally handed out per rental, per dollar spent, or per days traveled, rather than per miles traveled. A few companies require you to rent a vehicle for 2 days or longer, and sometimes credit is available only when the rental is in conjunction with a flight.
In a rare instance where leisure travelers are favored over business travelers, corporate, government, or other contract rates as a general rule yield almost half as many award miles as personal rentals.
Hotel chains generally award a fixed number of miles per stay, no matter how much you pay (as long as you didn't book the hotel through Priceline or a similar service), though a few (notably Marriott and Holiday Inn) award miles per dollar spent. You'll have to choose between dumping your stay into your hotel frequent-stay account or your airline's mileage account unless you're staying at a Hilton, in which case you can "double-dip" and get points for both accounts.
Major Hotel Chains & Their U.S. Frequent-flier Partners
Best Western (www.bestwestern.com)
Choice Hotels (www.choicehotels.com)
Hilton (www.hilton.com)
Airline Partners: Alaska, America West, American, Continental, Delta, Hawaiian, Midwest Express, Northwest, Southwest, United, US Airways
Hyatt (www.hyatt.com)
Marriott (www.marriott.com)
Airline Partners: Alaska, American, Continental, Delta, Northwest, Southwest, United, US Airways
Ramada (www.ramada.com)
Six Continents (www.sixcontinentshotels.com)
Starwood (www.starwood.com)
Associated Brands: Four Points, Sheraton, St. Regis, Westin, WAirline Partners: Alaska, America West, American, Continental, Delta, Northwest, United, US Airways
Car Rental Companies and their Frequent-flier Partners
Alamo (www.alamo.com)
Avis (www.avis.com)
Budget (www.budget.com)
Dollar (www.dollar.com)
Hertz (www.hertz.com)
National (www.nationalcar.com)
Thrifty(www.thrifty.com)
Dialing & Surfing for Miles
Long-Distance Plans--The following is a list of the frequent-flier benefits offered by the major long-distance companies. Some fliers have reported being able to get mileage on their existing long-distance plan as if they're new customers. Call your phone company, explain that you're considering switching companies for the miles, and see if they can serve up their new-subscriber mileage bonus to make you stay.
Of all the long-distance carriers, MCI WorldCom (tel. 800/513-4090; www.mci.com) has the most extensive program. MCI offers frequent-flier miles for members of their "seven cent anytime" plan (there's a $3.95 monthly fee). Partners are American, America West, China Airlines, Delta, Hawaiian, Korean Air, Southwest, United, and US Airways. Members earn 5 miles for every dollar spent on MCI and a 3,000-mile bonus for joining. (Southwest fliers get three Rapid Rewards credits for joining, plus one credit per $150 spent with MCI.) Frequent fliers also receive a discount on Internet service.
Sprint (tel. 800/877-4040; www.sprint.com) offers mileage on Alaska, Northwest, Midwest Express, and Virgin Atlantic. New members get 5,000 bonus miles (4,000 miles on Midwest Express) for staying with the company for 6 months, plus 5 miles for each dollar they spend on various Sprint long-distance plans.
AT&T (tel. 800/222-0300; www.attconsumer.com) delivers 5,000 Continental OnePass miles for new customers who stay for 5 months, 1,000 Continental miles for signing up for online billing, and 5 miles for each dollar spent.
Internet & Wireless Plans--If you're willing to change your e-mail address, you can get frequent-flier bonuses with Internet service providers. Earthlink offers 5,000 Delta SkyMiles on sign-up; Northwest fliers get 5,000 miles plus 5 miles per dollar spent. MSN gives United fliers 1,000 miles on sign-up, plus 500 miles per month. New AT&T WorldNet subscribers (download.att.net/continental) get 2,000 Continental OnePass miles.
Wireless phone companies are also big bonus partners. New Nextel customers get 5,000 Delta, United, or US Airways miles. Continental has partnered with VoiceStream with a 4,000-mile bonus for new subscribers.
With all of these offers, you won't get them unless you ask--so ask.
Buying a Car
Really big purchases can earn the biggest mileage bonuses. American's AAdvantage Auto & Recreational Program (tel. 888/289-2359; www.aabuy2fly.com) awards 1 mile per $4 of your car's purchase price--but you have to buy from participating dealers. United offers 10,000 miles for buying a new vehicle (tel. 800/733-2062; www.vehiclemiles.com).
Alaska, American, Continental, Delta, Northwest, US Airways, and United all participate in another car buyers' program called DealerMiles (www.dealermiles.com). It's clunky--miles take up to 10 weeks to be added to your account, and as there are no fixed awards, the miles become another bargaining chip between you and the dealer. DealerMiles CEO Jim Burness said awards range from 1,000 to 40,000 miles for a new car purchase, with the average award around 5,000 miles.
Buying a House
Most major programs also give huge mileage bonuses for taking out a mortgage or for buying or selling a home through a real estate partner. Northwest, for example, will pony up 50,000 miles for a $200,000 home sold through GMAC or Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate. United offers 1 mile per $10 on mortgages through North American Mortgage Company.
On major investments like these, mileage bonuses will rarely outweigh better deals found elsewhere, but they're worth keeping in mind.
Dining for Miles
Alaska, America West, American, Continental, Northwest, Delta, and United all offer 10 frequent-flier miles per dollar spent while eating at more than 7,000 restaurants nationwide. All share one list of restaurants as partners of iDine (www.idine.com), a subsidiary of dining rewards company Transmedia. Alaska Airlines has a second program, DineAir (www.dineair.com), with extra restaurants west of the Rockies that reward fliers at a rate of 3 miles per dollar.
Some of these restaurants may be near you; you'll probably have more options if you live in a major city. iDine lists 37 restaurants in Chicago's hot River North district, 33 in Indianapolis's Broad Ripple neighborhood, and 12 in central Beverly Hills, for example. Sign up for these programs on the airlines' Web sites.
If you prefer to cook for yourself, you can use your Safeway, Von's, Pak n' Save, Genuardi's, Pavilions, or Dominick's supermarket club card and garner 125 United Airlines miles for each $250 spent.
Miles Earned for... Junk Mail?
MyPoints (www.mypoints.com) gives 1,000 Alaska Airlines miles for every 2,200 "points" earned through reading their targeted spam e-mails, taking marketing surveys, and visiting partner Web sites. You end up on a wide variety of junk mailing lists, but at least you don't have to buy anything. E-Rewards (www.e-rewards.com) works similarly; reading junk mail, visiting Web sites, and answering surveys through E-Rewards earns Delta and United discount certificates (though not miles per se).