Observation 1 about the survey is that people like beginner posts and love the original content. So what blogger am I? And in thinking about it a while ago, I want to be an “A to Z” blogger. I started doing complete guides and infographics for this reason.
It makes sense, how can anyone understand a complex routing rules post if they don’t at all understand how to even get the miles. Therefore I wanted to start creating “resource” content. I know that it’s typical to blog about the same thing a year later, but my goal is not to spend all my time writing to beginners but to have on-site resources. Kind of like, “before you can follow my train of thought here, hop on the train back at the beginning”.
So there are a ton of things that are just confusing starting out, or even when learning a new type of thing. For example, even if you’ve been doing this a long time, if you go for airline status for the first time, it’s a new beast.
What are the new beasts you’re trying to figure out?
Think of it from my point of view with trying to create resources. In this case the questions that feel like “dumb” questions are exactly what I want! “When does Hyatt status end or begin if I get it now?” is exactly the kind of thing that’s a concept that if you’re struggling with, I guarantee a lot of other people are too.
Ask away!
What’s going to happen is I’m going to look for what seems to be a “frequently asked question” in concepts. Honestly, once I hear it, I’ll probably remember wondering the same thing years ago.
Then I’ll make posts based on some of the questions. This will be a kind of series right now. But then I’ll also create an “FAQ” category to browse. Beginners will be able to see that, but best of all I’ll be able to link from my complicated posts to these FAQs. This will allow me to teach the concept without spending half of every complicated post explaining something.
Hopefully this will create lot of resource content and less sensationalist seeming content. Again, I want my site to be full of “resources” and concepts and not “right now” “buy miles half off”. There’s a need for that, and that need is being met.
Help me create resources by asking your most embarrasing questions. Everyone’s thinking it, so be the one to ask, even if you have to create an alias. 😀
What are your frequent flyer mile questions?
Looking to fly from Phoenix to Maui is there any first-class flight worth using the extra miles for? Is there any flight that has lay flat beds leaving Phoenix or LAX?
No and no.
(I should be a blogger!)
No — but AA operates OGG-DFW with a international business class so if you’d be willing to start out in the wrong direction I think that’s the closest one near you.
1) Could you write more about European hotels? How to pick them? How to gain points for them? etc.
2) How do you keep track of your miles and CC’s? Can you share your (excel spreadsheet?)?
This kind of addresses the earning points for hotels in Europe:
http://travelisfree.com/2014/10/18/how-we-did-a-year-of-hotel-stays-at-19night-without-credit-cards/
Although, I’d say Hyatt is no good in Europe, and Club Carlson is best in Europe. Like the Radisson Blu in Budapest for 15k is golden. So the Club Carlson card is something to add to that post.
Also, I plan to eventually share my magic spreadsheet, but I want to polish up something. So not to sure when it will be out. Depends on how picky I want to be.
Hey Drew, thanks for all your detail in outlining resources and how to book more complicated flights. Since this often involves a variety of airline programs and each of them has different requirements–is there a resource anywhere that lists the airlines with each of their specific requirements, ie how often activity has to occur to keep accounts active, available opportunities to earn or transfer miles into the programs, etc? Thanks for all of your great insight!
In regards to transfers and miles earning; this post has all the transfer info.
http://travelisfree.com/2014/10/07/faq-what-credit-cards-earntransfer-to-frequent-flyer-miles/
I think this coupled with the cheapest miles series would be a good combo. http://travelisfree.com/category/cheapest-miles/ category.
But I’m curious what other details you’d like to see. Transfer data, transfers in and out… what else? Maybe that would make one good table.
A chart of activity requirements is a good idea anyways.
This might be more complicated than the questions you were searching for, but it’d be great if you could post some additional articles that talk generally about linking two award redemptions to provide greater value. Specifically I am interested in United redemptions leaving from places outside of the US. It’s always interesting to read your thoughts on more specific destination options and what epic tickets you uncover.
After this years Citi AA Exec points extravaganza, I will be flying to Asia for 3 weeks next June (not the prime season I know, but that’s when we have vacation time). I’ve booked two AA one-ways, into Phuket, and then out of Taipei. The middle of the trip is something I am still working on maximizing. United is pricing HKT-PEK-ITM, (Bullet train from Osaka or another city to Tokyo) NRT-TPE as a south Asia round trip (Beijing for a three day transit visa). Any suggestions for improving that ticket?
I’d love to learn more about manufactured spending. I’m not asking to divulge any secrets, but there are some big questions I’d love to hear more about such as “How much manufactured spending raises a red flag?” or “If Wal-Mart and Kroger disappeared tomorrow, how would anyone liquidate gift cards?”
I second this request and would like to know if you primarily MS for miles or cash and why?
I’d like to also hear how you try out different avenues for MS (what do you look for?) and what you do when they don’t work out?
This is a bad angle — don’t take it
There are plenty of MS blogs available, plus the sister site (Freakin Flyers) shows that the points are coming from spending way in the past, and not from current MS. If you don’t MS, there’s no need to write about it, and if you do, then there’s little need to go beyond what you can find on the FT MS forum.
Also MS is very localized. What works for some may not be available to others if they live in a different place. e.g. there was a post about $0 ms at rite aid but I have no rite aids anywhere near me. So I usually just find my spots by driving around and hitting the types of places that I get multiple x at and seeing if they have anything interesting and if so if the clerk/computer will let me buy it. But even then it can be hit or miss cause you find something then next time you go they say no.
Hi Drew,
I’d love to see a post about “sweet spots” on different award charts from different airlines and tell people what’s the best way to use miles to experience the best airlines out there (cathay, Singapore, Ana, etc). Both economy and business class. My favorite post from your site is the Master chart to avoiding fuel surcharges. I love it and use it all the time! I started collecting miles about a year ago and now that I’ve ranked up a good amount of American, United and AMEX miles/points I’d love to see that chart expanded to cover more transfer partners and see what I can do to get the most out of my miles.
Totally agreed — but don’t mention using Alitalia miles as they add significant fuel surcharges to ALL bookings
Great idea, now I’ve come back here, I realized that I even stole the name “sweet spots” from your suggestion. Should hat tipped?
Anyways, thanks for the question and here’s the long post on “sweet spots”.
http://travelisfree.com/2014/11/25/the-best-use-or-sweet-spots-for-11-airline-miles-programs/
I’ve been in the game a year and have earned quite a few points along with my wife. So far we’ve only needed to book trips using southwest and hotel points- all super easy. Really struggling to figure out the booking process when you’re transferring points around, searching for award space ect.
One concrete example: My wife and I fly into DPS December 29th but haven’t booked the trip home. The goal is to transfer AA to Cathay Pacific and route through Hong Kong to take the first class flight all the way back to NY (this is going to be the only time we splurge for first) . Based on what I’ve read, we’re going to have to 1) call AA to have them set it up over the phone and 2) we have to wait until kinda last minute to be able to book because award space doesn’t open up until a handful of days ahead of time. And there’s a fee for booking within 7 days someone said. So we have to kinda pray we’re going to get some service while there to be able to call and book our first award ticket on our own once the space opens up. So i’m thinking we’d call around Jan 1 to get a flight home between the 9th-11th. We’re going to go for it but does that above logic work?
I’m flying Cathay through HKG myself, found 5 biz seats! The simplest way that I know to search for availability is to look at what is available for Avios bookings through British Airways award program.
Just search your flight segment by segment and you can see what is available, if it is available to them, then it is available to AA. It would save you from having to call and inquire.
JAL is more accurate when searching for CX, but their website is a bit tricky sometimes. There’s also a problem with phantom award space on BA, whereby the AAgents can’t see the BA availability, and can’t book it.
I think you’ll find it really difficult to find award space so close-in. I know CX releases space a year out, and about 14 days close-in, but those seats will go extremely quickly, especially to NY. You’ll also pay the phone fee (as a non-elite) when booking CX through AA, I think $35. I just booked ORD-HKG on CX F about two weeks ago.
How do you find mistake fares for airlines and hotels?
Thanks for the question, here’s my basic reply.
http://travelisfree.com/2014/10/15/find-mistake-fares/
I realize I’m in the minority here, but being based out of the US I’d love to see more discussion on redemptions and *programs* that are a great value for somebody in Europe or Middle East or Central Asia or whatever. Any time a devaluation happens or really anytime a major airline ff program is discussed it seems to be mostly from the US-based perspective, and while I of course look for outsized value based on my own needs I’m sure there are things I’m missing.
Those LH Oceania-hopper and KE Indonesia were exactly what I’m talking about – now what magic can we make happen with Turkish and S7 and the other airlines and routes that nobody thinks about?
+1 for this one
Which card in your opinion is the most worthy for the trouble of MSing for miles and points? (excluding the old Amex blue 5x)
Anything that’s 5x or 5% in value. Otherwise I can’t bother. The Wells Fargo is the most tempting.
I use this page when I need a new one:
frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/2012/11/09/best-category-bonuses/
Hi Drew,
The following is a previously asked question that didn’t get answered, I am hoping that you can help in this Q&A session:
We are planning a trip from San Francisco to Hong Kong next June. (6 people). Obviously I am trying to reduce the number of points required to book award travel but still have a decent chance of finding award seats – which is the best airline award program should I use? (any tips or tricks that I should be aware of?) I do have about 200k points in each of the UR, Amex, SPG and Citi that I can transfer to various airlines. I also have some points (150k) in AA.
Thanks in advance for your help,
– See more at: http://travelisfree.com/2014/09/16/drews-guide-to-southeast-asia-on-miles-points/#comments
I really like AA to Asia, especially Hong Kong simply because they have the best prices, no fuel surcharges, and Cathay is a good airline.
However, 150k isn’t going to be enough for 6. So if you have a chance to add the AA biz card, or maybe with a different version, if you don’t already have the Mastercard. Or transfer from SPG 20,000:25,000 AA miles.
What you could do is use AA there and United back. You’ll still need some more miles, but perhaps someone else can pitch in some miles?
I like the technical posts the best. I’d like to hear more about ticket point-of-sale; routing rules, both for awards and revenue tickets, such as for Skymiles and Aadvantage; stopover rules on revenue tickets; and so on. Thanks! Keep up the good work.
Unfortunately, 1) I don’t know too much about revenue tickets, as I try to avoid paying cash for tickets… at all. and 2) Generally a stopover is tied to the price of a ticket. So you can manually add a stop, but you just have to pay for it. So I’m not too sure I would have much to add. However, I should actually mention Skymiles at least once in my life.
I’d be interested to hear insights, tricks, or even unproven ideas about MSing for Americans living abroad. For example, there is the extra steps of sending new cards to a US address then activating them with a US-based phone number. What other extra obstacles are there? How do you avoid being red flagged with the majority of the transactions being foreign? Best practices for applying for business cards (for US-based businesses) when any bank’s financial review will reveal that the owner lives abroad? etc, etc. I think there are more people interested in this living-abroad angle than you may realize.
-Can you apply for airline cards for husband and wife to post to the same frequent flyer number to pool them instead of being spread across two accounts? (i.e. citi exec or citi plat cards for husband and wife but give same ff#)
-what are the shortest time intervals between credit card applications that you have done? 3 months? 1 month? 1 week? If you did an app for 3 cards on one day (excellent credit >800), how low long would you wait before more apps?
– If I book flights for others and am not present myself, do they still get any of the elite/platinum/priority benefits in regard to boarding and free bags?
– You talk about stopovers at great length, which is great, but I never see much in the way of domestic stopovers. I know for AA and UA for instance it’s not allowed, are there any loopholes? For instance, going from JFK-SEA-HNL or BOS-ORD-LAX, things like that.
– In that vein, I guess I’m curious to see specific examples of very complicated routings you yourself have done. Maybe what cards you used for accrual, the points used, and the booking process.
– Also since you guys are constantly on the go, I’m curious how much in advance you book flights and hotels and if there is a sweet spot? I know for things such as Pointbreaks you only have about 2 month’s notice, but for flights it’s recommended to book 6+ months in advance. How do you guys go about it?
I’m a total newb and probably have way more questions, but I love your blog and use your affiliate links whenever possible! Keep up the great work!
The last two questions are very good, especially because we know you pay cash for the occasional trip. What’s your cash vs points decision point?
1) No. Elite benefits are on the person with airlines. Hotels sometimes don’t notice that you aren’t checking in and can be a little different.
2) I wrote a post that mentions basically the only way, which is ending soon. ANA miles.
http://travelisfree.com/2014/11/19/best-miles-for-free-flights-within-the-usa/
ANA allows 4 stopovers. But BA Avios are kind of unlimited stopovers since you pay per segment.
3) Stopover tickets we’ve done.
http://travelisfree.com/2014/12/17/what-stopover-tickets-have-we-personally-booked/
I forgot to come reply here after writing it. Oops.
I almost always use Chase points to use United, and have never used United miles for anything except economy. So we always have enough for these.
4) There’s nothing consistent about how far in advance we book, but it is RARELY ahead of time. I have what we call “purchasers paralysis”. I just don’t want a better deal to come along.
So the only time I book ahead is a BIG deal, like a mistake fare.
Are there any decent ways to use american express reward points for travel on Star Alliance? Seems like primary options (Krisflyer and Aeroplan) typically result in high fuel surcharges. It’d be great to get some insights there.
I’ll try to do a best use of Amex soon! Thanks for the idea.
But Aeroplan isn’t as bad as you think. http://travelisfree.com/2014/04/15/master-charts-to-avoiding-fuel-surcharges-yq/
Being that you’re abroad most of the time, could you give some tips on MSing while abroad?
I hit REALLY hard when I’m in the US and don’t do much abroad. But it depends. Like the boys and girls club was good, but got shut down recently.
This is one of the best ideas for this site. I’m really new to this, but excited to learn. In the past it’s been a little overwhelming with all the things that most travel blogs assume you know when you are in this game. The FAQ and resource material would be so valuable.
I have a pretty simple question but I think it qualifies as a FAQ:
If there are several different programs that partner with a specific airline, will they all have access to the same inventory on that airline? Or do airlines play favorites with some partners over others?
For example: Aer Lingus partners with Cathay Pacific, British Airways, and United Airlines. If I mainly have ThankYou points to redeem, will Asia Miles give me access to all of the seats I could access with Avios and Mileage Plus?
Drew,
Thank you for the original, unbiased posts. You’re the best in business! I especially appreciate the technical and complicated posts on routing rules and concepts.
You’ve written much about United awards, but here’s a question I couldn’t find the answer to…
If I flew round trip from mainland U.S. to Europe, can I add a free oneway to Asia? (I’ve been able to see the free one way to many places in North America or South America.)
Or this similar question:
If I flew round trip from mainland U.S. to Asia, can I add a free oneway to Europe? (Again, I’ve been able to see the free one way to various places North America or South America. You had a great post about open-jaws, including Hawaii and Asia, but that routing doesn’t work for me.)
Thanks a bunch.
Hi Drew, need your opinion, which one you think is more worthed in redeeming the Hyatt 2 free nights certificate: at Park Hyatt Tokyo or Hyatt Regency Hakone? I have a upcoming trip to Hakone and Tokyo as well. I am new to miles and points and I just want to make sure I maximize the value of the free nights certificate.
Also, to redeem the free night certificate (not the anniversaryy certificate), can we book the hotel using it by online or it has to be by phone?
Love your site and keep up a good work! will use your affiliate links to apply for my credit cards.
Honestly, I don’t tend to worry about “best value” and all that. Sorry, don’t have much of an opinion, but don’t worry about it too much, You’ll love Japan regardless of the hotel I imagine.
Here’s a post on how to book it, but you can call or do it online.
http://travelisfree.com/2014/12/11/how-to-book-your-free-night-with-ihg-hilton-and-hyatt/
hi Drew
I wanted to get your insight on a situation I recently encountered and wondered what a more experienced traveler might do.
I had a family member’s wedding scheduled for Sunday in India (I live in MA). Tickets at this time of the year are fairly expensive and award availability is usually abyssmal so I was not expecting to be able to travel. However, I was tracking award availability online just in case something opened up. Lo and behold, on Friday, a business class seat opened up on LH from BOS-DEL. I put it on hold using the browser trick and then spent sometime trying to finagle a return. Once I had that in place, I threw some stuff together and headed straight to the airport. I decided to wait to ticket the award until I got to the airport since I live about an hour and half away and the flight was scheduled for 820PM giving me about 2hrs15mins to get there and I wanted to make sure that I was actually able to get there.
After parking, I ticketed the flight on my phone as I went into the terminal, no problem. I received my reservation email at 7:38 and my eticket confirmation at 7:42. I went to the LH counter to check in only to find it completely unattended. A Swiss rep sent me over to a lone LH rep who was sitting at a ticket desk. When I asked him how I could check in and get to my flight he laughed and shook his head in disbelief and said that the flight was completely sold out and he couldn’t believe United had issued a ticket. He said there was no way to check me in because he had absolutely no space. He suggested I go to United ticketing (change of terminals in BOS) and try my luck. By the time I made it there, they were closed for the night at 8PM. I called the service center and they could do nothing. They canceled the ticket and said I should see a refund soon (the miles are back in my account, the taxes and fees have yet to be credited). I ended up just driving back home.
Is there anything you might have done differently in this situation? Are there any protections due to a traveler who finds themself in this situation? Compensation? Any feedback/suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.
Hi Drew, I really appreciate the amount of useful information provided here. It’s one of the more pragmatic travel blogs out there. 🙂
I have a question about how to start planning for an award booking. I have some miles, I know where I’m leaving from, and where I want to go. But there seems to be a lot of possibilities in between using stop-overs, open-jaws, or routing rules that can take you across continents. How do you start filling the blanks in an attempt to fully utilize the miles? Thanks!
Hi Drew,
Joined the hobby a few months back, and you quickly became my favorite blogger. Thanks for all the great content, and I’ll be sure to use your links in my next round of apps.
My question is about award travel for big families. Our fourth child is due in a few months (it’s actually the astronomical travel costs that were the trigger for my research and eventual discovery of this hobby), and from what I read finding award travel beyond 1-2 tickets together is an ordeal. I know that this doesn’t apply to you and your wife (yet?), but I’d really appreciate some advice/tips as far as earning and redeeming at least 4+ tickets per flight.
Thankfully, I freelance and am therefore extremely flexible with schedule.
Thanks in advance!
Mark
Hi drew, I’m planning to use bogo cert for 2 night stay at IC Seoul, and then another 3nights using points, do you know if u book a junior suite with the bogo, would the hotel make us change room for the remaining 3 nights since we books with points for standard room? Thanks
Hi Drew. Really digging the blog. I’ve dabbled in travel hacking for a little bit but never have been able to get seriously into it. I think I’ve narrowed my hesitation down to two things (assuming that the majority of one’s points come from credit card point/mileage bonuses):
1. After applying for credit cards and receiving the bonuses, how do you utilize the bonuses again in the future? There are only so many travel cards (Chase UR Family, United Mileage, Citi AA, etc) and once you’ve received the bonuses for those cards and cashed them in for a trip, how do you get the bonuses again to take another trip? It just seems like you would run out of options for new cards after about a year or two, especially with the 24 month waiting period before you can apply and get the bonus again. How do you sustainably get points/miles from card bonuses?
2. How do you meet the spend requirements for the new cards? If my wife and I want to apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred and the Ink Bold cards each, we’d have to spend $18,000 in three months. We just don’t make and definitely don’t spend that much money.
I appreciate you taking the time to help me out!
Hi Drew!
question about cards. I have never signed up for a credit card before and find it quite scary. Can i cancel whenever i want? I was thinking about 2 cards:
1) the hyatt card to get the 2 free nights for my stay in muscat later this year.
2) the david jones amex card
can i use these to get the 2 free nights for the hyatt card and the bonus points for the david jones card and then cancel them before the year is up? Thanks!