Category: Airline Programs

How I am earning 15,000 American Advantage miles making my Mom and girlfriend happy!

First post in a while but this seemed like a great deal so here it is! American Airlines is having a promotion where if you perform 4 transactions with 4 of their miles earning partners then you can score a cool 10K bonus AAdvantage miles. Since this coincides with Mother’s Day it is a great time to consider it. Here is the bonus offer.

Now – June 15 you can earn bonus miles when you transact with more than 1 of our participating partners:

  • 2 partners, earn 2,000 bonus miles
  • 3 partners, earn 5,000 bonus miles
  • All 4 partners, earn 10,000 bonus miles

Here are the 4 partners you have to make purchases with.  Click on the icon to be redirected to the right site with the promotion code prefilled.
1.

30 Miles per dollar at 1-800-Flowers

2.

Get 6 bottles of wine and 3,000 miles!

3.

Shop at one of almost 1000 online stores and earn even more miles!

4.

Earn miles by eating! What a deal!

I think I’m going to take advantage of all 4 by getting some wine for my girlfriend, some flowers for Mom, going out for a nice meal, then doing some online shopping.  I’ll get 3,000 for the wine, 2000 for the flowers, 100 for the meal and 500 for the online shopping, then another 10,000 bonus miles for completing all 4 offers!

6000 Bonus United Miles for shopping online!

This time of year brings a bunch of holiday shopping promotions where you can earn tons of extra miles!  United MileagePlus Shopping just announced a promotion where you can get up to 6000 bonus miles on top of what you would normally receive.United MileagePlus Shopping 6000 Bonus  If you have never shopped online and earned miles then check out this article on Online Shopping for Mega Miles.  Here are the details on this promotion.

  • Spend $150+ : 500 Bonus Miles
  • Spend $350+ : 1500 Bonus Miles
  • Spend $650+ : 3000 Bonus Miles
  • Spend $1250+ : 6000 Bonus Miles

This offer is cumulative which means you can get the bonus even if you shop over different orders and different merchants.  The offer is valid from November 6th – 24th.  This is a great time to get some Christmas shopping done and make a bunch of extra miles doing it!  If you stack this with some of their current specials such as Nordstrom’s for 12 miles per dollar, then you could get 21,000 miles for $1250 in spending which is just about enough for a free ticket anywhere in the US!

Note, I don’t see a splash screen when I click on the link so here are the terms and conditions that were contained in the email I received. This offer is automatically applied to all purchases during the promo period so just shop through the portal and you are all set!

As always, reply with any questions and follow me on Google+, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to make sure you don’t miss any great info!  And don’t forget to share this article with anyone who might be interested using the handy social share buttons right below this post!

“*During the “Holiday Early Access” bonus campaign, which runs from November 6, 2015 through November 24, 2015 at 11:59:59 pm ET (the “Bonus Period”), Member will receive a one-time bonus of up to 6,000 bonus award miles on qualifying purchases, in addition to the standard miles earned from shopping online through MileagePlus® Shopping. Bonus miles will be issued based on Member’s cumulative qualifying purchases made during the Bonus Period: 500 bonus miles for qualifying purchases of at least $150; 1,500 bonus miles for qualifying purchases of at least $350; 3,000 bonus miles for qualifying purchases of at least $650; or 6,000 bonus miles for qualifying purchases of $1,250 or more. Returns, cancellations, shipping and handling, taxes, gift card or other cash equivalent purchases, and certain products are not included in the bonus award miles eligibility calculation; please see the MileagePlus Shopping site for details on product eligibility and/or any coupon code details or other usage restrictions. Please allow 8-10 weeks after the Bonus Period for bonus award miles to post to your MileagePlus Shopping account. The maximum number of bonus award miles that will be awarded to an eligible MileagePlus Shopping account through the “Holiday Early Access” bonus campaign is 6,000 bonus award miles. This offer cannot be combined with other offers or promotions. Please check the MileagePlus Shopping site daily for updates to increased earning opportunities. Void where prohibited by law. “

The easiest 1000 AA Miles you will ever make!

Every once in a while a promotion comes up that is so easy it is crazy!  How about a completely free 1000 American miles for 2 minutes of your time?  All you need for this promotion is a free American Airlines AAdvantage account.  No credit cards, no purchase, no muss, no fuss! This promotion is available from now to June 12, 2015 but do it right now so you don’t forget!

AA Plane LinkClick here to get easy free miles!

To show you exactly how easy it is we took a video and it took us a little over 2 minutes.  That is 500 miles a minute or 30,000 miles per hour! 🙂

Are these the easiest miles you have ever earned?  Let us know in the comments!

How I am flying to Chicago for just $11 and 5800 points!

This is another post in the How I am Series of articles that show you the nuts and bolts of how I play the free travel game.Chicago Bean Link

They say luck is when preparation meets opportunity and I am a very lucky guy.  When I saw that my friend and Incorrect Records label boss Anthony Attalla was spinning at a birthday party at Spybar in Chicago in May, I was on the lookout for a deal on award tickets.  I just scored round trip airfare for just $11 and 5800 Southwest points which is a steal! I’m going to do this one a bit differently and break this deal down backwards. Continue reading “How I am flying to Chicago for just $11 and 5800 points!”

Make an extra 2250 AA miles by shopping online!

If you don’t know about the magic of shopping portals and how they can make you tons of miles then check out our article on How to Use Shopping Portals for Mega Miles.

American Airlines Shopping just announced a bonus from now until April 29 for up to 2250 bonus miles on top of your normal shopping earnings.AA Shopping Bonus 2250The first level is 250 miles for $125 spend, and it goes up to 2250 miles for $700 in spending.  The spending thresholds are cumulative which means you can spend the amounts at different merchants throughout the month and still get the bonus.  This represents an extra 2X or 3X on your spending which is great for stuff that you would shop for anyways.

An example:

You buy $300 worth of clothes at Macy’s which is currently paying 6 miles / $1 spent.  You will not only get the 1800 normal miles ($300 * 6) but will also get the 1000 bonus miles for a total of 2800 AA miles on only $300 in spending.  And this of course is on top of whatever miles or points you get for using your credit card such as the 1 Ultimate Rewards point you get for every dollar you spend with the Chase Sapphire Preferred card.

Shopping online is one of the best ways to turbocharge your miles earning and one that should be part of everyone’s strategy.

As always, reply with any questions and follow me on Google+, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to make sure you don’t miss any great info!  And don’t forget to share this article with anyone who might be interested using the handy social share buttons right below this post!

US Airways American Airlines Merger March 28, 2015

American Airlines sent out an email this morning stating that existing US Airways Dividend Rewards accounts will be merged into the AAdvantage program on March 28.  We previously showed you how to make sure your American and US Airways accounts were linked together which will make sure that the miles get put into the right account. If you have done that you are all set!

Anything else I should do before this happens?

I have been telling everyone that opening a US Airways MasterCard before the merger finalizes is a great idea.  USAirFirst off, the offer is a great one, 50K miles after the first purchase!  Second, this card is eventually going away and is being transitioned into a new American Airlines card.  By getting the US Airways card now, you are still eligible to get the new card too when it is released (along with any bonus that it offers) Third, you can get both the 50K US Airways bonus, the 50K American Platinum Visa bonus (both are part of our Easy Quarter Million program) and once they combine the programs you will have a cool 100K miles all in one account which is enough to go anywhere in the world!

As always, reply with any questions and follow me on Google+, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to make sure you don’t miss any great info!  And don’t forget to share this article with anyone who might be interested using the handy social share buttons right below this post!

How I’m going to Movement in Detroit for $11.60

The Movement Festival in Detroit is one of my favorites each year.  Experiencing Techno where a lot of it began is a great experience and the fact that it is dirt cheap as well doesn’t hurt!

Old Miami Detroit
Old Miami in Detroit

Continue reading “How I’m going to Movement in Detroit for $11.60”

Bad changes coming to BA Avios and why I don’t care.

British Airways just announced changes to their Avios Frequent Flyer program that are largely negative that take effect April 28, 2015.  At the same time, the changes really won’t effect me with my Avios usage pattern.  Let me explain:

The Changes

  • Changes to the amount of Avios you earn when you credit flights to BA (specifically 25% or 50% instead of 100% for cheap coach fares but more for business and first class)Avios Changes 1
  • Changes to the amount of Avios you spend when you fly Oneworld Partners in business or first class (specifically first class goes from 200% of coach cost to 300% and business goes from 150% to 250%)
  • Introducing peak and off peak award pricing when redeeming miles on BA operated flights (but all partner award flights will be booked at the peak rates)Avios Changes 2

Why I Don’t Care

I mainly use BA Avios to book American short haul flights.  For example, Miami to Cancun for $72 and 9000 Avios, Costa Rica for $45 and 15,000 Avios, Panama for $62.50 and 20,000 Avios, and Chicago for $5 and 15,000 Avios.  Since all of these flights are less than 3 hours, I usually just book coach and save my miles for the long haul flights to Europe and beyond.  Well, none of these redemptions will change one bit with the announced changes! I just returned from the BPM Festival in Mexico and I will be able to buy the same cheap seat after these changes take place that I purchased before for just 9000 miles! So for me, the 50,000 sign up bonus for the BA Visa card is just as valuable as it was before this announcement.

I know some people liked the 50K round trip business class fares from Boston to Dublin and the 50K round trip business class from NYC to LA, those weren’t something that I used so it isn’t something that I will miss. If those bookings interest you then make sure to make them before April 28, 2015 to take advantage of the old prices.

While I hate seeing any negative changes at all, this is how the game is played and you are forever shooting at a moving target.  That is why my advice to everyone is to earn miles as fast as you can, then burn them just as fast.  See the world for free while you can because we never know what is around the next bend.  But if you like to fly last minute like I do, don’t mind coach for short flights and are looking to travel around the Americas for a song, then in my opinion little has changed with this announcement.

As always, reply with any questions and follow me on Google+, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to make sure you don’t miss any great info!  And don’t forget to share this article with anyone who might be interested using the handy social share buttons right below this post!