Yahoo Finance How To Save Big Money by Using Frequent Flyer Miles
Airline travel took a huge hit during the pandemic, forcing would-be travelers to stay at home and effectively closing the travel and tourism business. As lock downs were lifted, enthusiastic flyers have jumped at the chance to resume air travel despite the heightened expense and increased airline operating difficulties that are now commonplace.
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If you are going to plan time away and pay dearly for it, it’s best to have some help along the way in the form of frequent flyer miles or air travel points. Smart travelers know how to get the most out of every collected mile or point and save big money, even if they rarely step inside an airport.
The key to saving is using every benefit option at your disposal to stack points or miles. That is, using all your program perks, credit cards bonuses and shopping incentives at the same time to earn more. By following these frugal flyer tips, you can become a savvy saver.
Stand by Your Airline
More than ever, you can earn points or miles without actually flying. But if you tend to be loyal to one airline company in particular, immediately sign up to be a frequent flyer account member to receive points and perks specific to that airline and their partners.
Unfortunately, collecting air miles has changed over the years, going from a mile-flown-to-mile-earned system to getting miles depending on what your ticket costs. There are so many third-party booking companies, travel sites and credit cards that offer great bonuses, you might be missing out on rewards by only using airline-affiliated points, according to CNBC Select.
Even if flying doesn’t add up to many miles unless you are constantly traveling, you should still sign up to take advantage of any bonus miles coming to you and see where you can combine benefit opportunities, like transferring miles from another loyalty program and pooling points with family members, per MoneyGeek.
Get It on Credit
Whether you choose a co-branded credit card (associated with a particular airline) or a general travel rewards credit card (no affiliation to an airline and more flexible with redeeming miles or points), credit cards are the best way to obtain air points or miles and save money.
There are many ways you can maximize your rewards by using high-earning credit cards, such as spending on bonus-laden products approved by your card company. But as stated in Forbes, “The opportunity to earn huge welcome bonuses by signing up for credit cards is an important part of any miles and points strategy,” as long as you spend a certain amount of money within the first few months of opening an account.
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However, one should be wary of fees versus perks, and keep an eye out for limited-time offers and promotions that vary from card to card and bank to bank. Also, you’ll need to pay off your balance on time each month or risk cancelling out any bonus you have received. Another thing to keep in mind is your credit score. Taking on and shedding a multitude of credit cards can impact it and potentially bigger item purchases like a car or home down the road.
Seek Out Partners and Portals
Shopping portals are an easy way to earn points because, depending on the site and card, they are giving out extra miles or points for things you might be buying online anyway. Airline, credit card or third-party-run sites partner with a variety of retailers to give you points or miles (or even cash back) when you buy from them (and there are a ton of choices out there).
If you are a frequent flyer, you should be checking your airline’s site for any retail portals that can be used to earn you miles. If you are banking on upping your miles or points, FinanceBuzz suggested browsing a portal aggregator like CashbackMonitor, a site that collects earning info and links so you can quickly compare which portals offer the biggest bonus boost.
Start Stacking
Stacking happens when you earn miles or points using multiple rewards programs. If you are serious about earning frequent flyer miles, opportunities to stack should always be on your mind when you buy anything.
Let’s look at the example that Forbes provided using specific cards and brands: “First, grab your brand new Ink Business Cash Credit Card to help knock out the spending requirement and receive the welcome offer. You’ll earn $750 bonus cash back after spending $6,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. Use your card to make a purchase at Office Depot via MileagePlus Shopping.”
Because the Ink card “earns 5% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at office supply stores and on internet, cable and phone services each account anniversary year and 2% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at gas stations and restaurants each account anniversary year, you’ll earn 1% cash back on all other purchases so you’ll get 5% back when shopping online at Office Depot.”
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Nowadays, you should not only be comparison shopping for your airline ticket, but cognizant of what bonus miles and points you can get when you buy it. Be sure to do a bit of research on every airline and credit card to figure out which program is best for you and your needs — you’ll start racking up those miles in no time.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: How To Save Big Money by Using Frequent Flyer Miles
