Five good reasons to screw up your frequent flier mile strategy

by Tom Johansmeyer on

There isn’t much that’s precious to a business traveler (except time off the road) – at least not that you can touch. Maybe that’s why road warriors find frequent flier miles to be so important. They are at once a visible reward for suffering the slings and arrows of business travel, an indicator of class in an implicitly hierarchical community and a ticket to leisure travel later. If they accumulate in one place, they can become pretty useful … which is why they white collar travel folks make the flying decisions they do.

Mileage balances can influence decisions about airlines, flight times and payment methods. They can make a three-hour layover seem worthwhile. They can lead to absurd decisions which, at the moment of purchase, appear to be completely rational.

So, when decisions that run counter to this mileage-accumulation philosophy become necessary, the questions from other business travelers can be swift and judgmental. For the past two years, my miles have landed all over the place, and now that business travel is again a part of my life, that trend seems likely to continue – a prospect that would have horrified me back in 2002.

Why the change of heart? Here are five reasons I’ve abandoned the traditional business traveler’s frequent flier mileage strategy:1. Business comes first: if I can maximize my time at my destination, get better flights or use a more convenient airport, I get more out of my trip (from a business perspective). That’s what matters most to me. Period.

2. Status benefits really aren’t worth it: the time and discomfort associated with adjusting my schedule to accumulate miles, I’ve found, is ultimately more painful than flying coach from New York to London on a crowded flight. The eventual upgrade cure is far worse than the inconvenient and uncomfortable air travel disease.

3. Price matters: nothing is more important than getting to the right place at the right time, but price comes next. Travel expenses aren’t like billable hours or closed deals: they don’t benefit me or my business. Is it really worth paying extra to score some extra miles?

4. Stress sucks: after business objectives and price, I tend to value the path of least resistance. Working on the road is hard enough: making it worse to attain platinum status sooner isn’t sufficient reward for the necessary sacrifices.

5. Loyalty shouldn’t be displaced: obviously, frequent flier programs are brand loyalty plays. Like other business travelers, though, I have other loyalty considerations, such as my business and the people important to me back home. Some things are more important than early boarding.

Traxo: all-in-one mileage, points and status tracker

by Scott Carmichael on

Last week, we took a look at ten ways to prevent your hard earned miles and points from expiring. From that article, we received a tip to check out another new online mileage tracker – Traxo.

Traxo describes itself as “an automatic, intelligent new system for organizing, managing and sharing all of your trip details”. What this means to us travelers, is that the site automatically monitors your miles and points on over 40 different sites. The system knows how to access almost every major airline, hotel chain, online travel agency, rental car company and credit card reward program – and once entered into their site, you’ll have a single point of reference for all your accounts.

Best of all, the site does more than just display your account balances – it also tracks your current membership status, informing you how far you are from the next tier. It also collects all your (upcoming) trips, and its social features can share (parts of) these trips with authorized friends and family members. Other handy features can alert you when miles or points are going to expire, giving you plenty of time to find a quick way to add some new activity.

Of course, as with all sites that “scrape” from your accounts, you need to be well aware that there may be risks involved, but the Traxo privacy policy seems quite adequate.

The site is easy to navigate and accounts can be added very quickly. Best of all, the service is free of charge. To take it for a spin, head on over to Traxo.com.

Ask Gadling: How do I get more miles for an airline ticket?

by Grant Martin on

You’re almost there. Seventeen years of flying from Orlando to Detroit in an aluminum tube with no legroom, incessant fees, unruly flight attendants and sky high fares and you’ve finally reached 24,4486 miles. You’ve only got 514 left to go before you reach Eden -that holy, hallowed ground where you turn in those miles for a free ticket to anywhere the airline flies. Oh, the possibilities that await.

But wait! The next flight that you have isn’t scheduled for another three months out and you really want to use those hot fresh miles in your account! Fear not, brave traveler, for there are plenty of ways to earn miles without setting a foot near an airport or even thinking about air travel. We’re talking, of course, about partner mileage credit, the commercial transactions you do in everyday life that can potentially earn you bucketsfull of miles.

Lets start at the top, though. The easiest way to earn a few extra miles is obviously to buy them. Any carrier looking to make a few extra dollars hosts the option to simply buy a few extra miles to top off your account. They’re not cheap, mind you (Delta currently sells 2,000 miles for $56 before fees and taxes), but if you need them in a pinch, they’re available.

Really though, who wants to buy miles when you can earn them by buying something else? Many airlines partner with numerous online retailers who will reward you with miles for purchasing the same old things that you’d normally buy. Netflix, for example, will give you 1500 miles on some carriers for simply joining their service.

View more Ask Gadling: Travel Advice from an Expert or send your question to ask [at] gadling [dot] com.

The most lucrative vendors are among the flower industry, where sites like 1800flowers will reward you with 20 or even 30 miles per dollar spent on flowers. Send your loved ones a $40 bouquet and you’ve got yourself 1200 miles in the bank.

And don’t forget vendors in the travel industry such as hotels or car rental companies, each of which will give you piles of miles per reservation (Hint: look for partner redemptions when you sign up for their loyalty programs).

We should also take a moment to mention mileage credit cards. Most airlines and banks offer credit cards that return one or two miles for every dollar you spend. Depending on your credit and the economy they’ll often offer hefty incentives for enrolling, sometimes up to 100,000 miles per card. Bear in mind, however, that many of these cards come with an annual fee and that interest can quickly offset any miles earned.

All too much investment for a few measly miles? Then check out e-rewards, and myriad other points sites where taking numerous surveys, filling out questionnaires and participating in consumer panels can earn you virtual points good for redemption towards frequent flyer miles. Just make sure that you know how many points you need before you sign up, some of the surveys can be a time consuming endeavor.

And if that’s not enough, keep your eyes on the points hoarding blogs out on the web. Two of my favorites are The Points Guy and View From the Wing where a long lunch session of reading and arm-gnawing will get you a few free miles (and info on how to finagle a few free more). With enough patience, the miles will be flowing in before you know it.

Earn elite qualifying miles on Delta with Hilton stays

by Grant Martin on

It’s pretty common in the travel world to see alliances between airlines and hotels when it comes to earning miles and points; a few points exchanged here and there among giants is an easy way to keep brand loyalty and momentum among the masses.

Normal earnings, however, are almost always limited to redeemable miles — that is, mileage earned won’t count towards elite status or any tiered thresholds that the airline or hotel measures you against over the course of the year.

With this new promotion between Delta and Hilton, however, that’s different. Now, any stay at a Hilton property will earn the traveler upwards of 1000 Elite Qualifying Miles (EQM), which means that you can earn part of your elite status on Delta without even flying. While these miles are only limited to 10k over the promotion period, this could be a good way to top up a few extra miles to reach 25k or 50k miles before year’s end — and you can do it without suffering the loss of leg room.

Sign up for the promo over at Hilton and don’t forget to make Delta your earnings partner.

[via Gary at View from the Wing]