5 things newbies should know about points, miles, and free travel

If you’re new to the world of points and miles, you’re probably overwhelmed by all the information available. It seems like everyone in this game is speaking a different language and nobody is stopping to translate for you. I was in your shoes a few years ago, and look at me now doling out advice with the best of them. 😉

Follow these tips and I’ll have you talking the talk, booking award tickets, flying in First, and coming up with your own point-generating schemes in no time.

Points and Miles Lingo

You’ve heard these terms being thrown around and you’ve probably done the occasional Google search or checked Urban Dictionary for their definitions. Here is your very own compact points and miles dictionary:

App Party

When hackers apply for several cards at once. App parties should be held every 3 months.

Bump the Bonus

Bump the bonus refers to asking the credit card company for a higher sign-up bonus. This can be done either before or after applying for the card. Before is always preferred..

Credit Card Churning

Credit card churning is applying for several cards over and over again, in order to get the bonus multiple times. Not all credit cards are churnable. We will go over the ones that are in detail.

Double Dipping

Double dipping in involves purchasing gift cards through a shopping portal to earn points, then using the gift card to purchase items from the same portal to earn double the points.

Mattress Run

Mattress running is when you book a hotel to earn a lucrative bonus or earn elite status. This doesn’t always involve staying at the hotel. Sometimes people book hotels and check in remotely. Be sure to read up on how to book cheap mattress runs.

An example of an excellent mattress running opportunity is the Club Carlson Big Night Getaway (50,000 points for a Radisson stay), Stay One Get One (44,000 at Country Inn & Suites), One Plus One (44,000 at Park Inn), and Ultimate Night Giveaway (50,000 at Park Plaza).

All of these hotels were priced well under $100. The points earned from each promotion could be used for 1-6 nights at any of Club Carlson’s top tier hotels throughout the world, some of which go for upwards of $400 per night. Some managed to receive the points without actually staying at the hotel.

Mileage Run

Mileage running is flying for the sole purpose of accumulating frequent flyer miles and/or elite status. Sometimes mileage runners fly the same cheap routes repeatedly.

Mistake Fare

A mistake fare is a ridiculously low airline ticket that is mistakenly publicized. When these come along, book them immediately. Like, next day immediately, or you will risk having your ticket cancelled once the mistake has been discovered. Be sure to read up on what to do after booking a mistake fare.

Open Jaw ticket

Open jaw tickets involve flying to one destination, then return from another. This is an important thing to be aware of when you’re booking award tickets. You can’t always find a roundtrip award flight. Open jaws allow you to book your itinerary anyway and maybe even work in an extra stop.

Status

The word “Status” refers to elite status with a frequent flyer or hotel loyalty program.

Status Match

A status match is when a program grants you elite status (either temporarily or for the year), after seeing proof of status with another program.

YMMV

“Your Mileage May Vary.” A disclaimer that your results for a given point-earning activity may differ.

75,000 points does not equal $75,000 in spending

I had a friend recently say, “Wow, you earned 75,000 points from a credit card? That’s like spending $75,000, right?” My first response was “No – “ and then I had to stop and realize that, yes, for a lot of people who don’t know better, 75,000 points is $75,000 in spending and who’s got the cash to do that? For the savvy point chaser, that is just a year’s worth of personal expenses mixed in with a little creative spending. Here is how you can make $10,000 in annual spending = $75,000 point.

The average American has a pre-tax income of $63,685 and $49,705 of that amount is spent on living expenses like food, housing, transportation, clothing, entertainment, insurance, and others. Using these statistics, let’s demonstrate how attainable 75,000 points can be:

Money orders/Bluebird for paying mortgage or rent

With the average American spending $16,803 annually on housing, that is a large chunk of our spending that we can capitalize on. Using a points-earning credit card to purchase a money order made out to your landlord or lender is an excellent way to earn a lot of miles without spending extra cash.

Maximizing credit card spending categories

Get the most points for your buck by choosing the right credit cards. If you’re at the drugstore, the Hilton HHonors American Express gets you 6 points per $1. The Chase Sapphire Preferred is your go-to card on vacation, as it earns 2 points per $1 on travel and restaurants. Chase Ink Bold nets you 5 points per $1 on your cable, internet, and phone bill. Paying $5 per gallon on gas is suddenly not so painful when you’re earning 6 points per $1 on your Hilton Honors American Express. Use the right card, and your dream vacation is that much closer when you’re earning more than just 1 mile per $1.

Ordering everything online

Shopping portals typically let you earn 2-10 bonus points per $1 for purchasing things online from a vast range of retailers. Simply stop by evrewards to find the highest earning portals. Picking out my clothes in store and ordering them through online shopping portals has quadrupled my mileage earnings. If you spend $1,000 per year on clothing, that’s 4,000 bonus point. Additionally, you’ll earn points from your credit card!

Taking advantage of shopping portal promos

Occasionally, shopping portals will run bonus promos, like the British Airways 36 points per $1 offer at Nordstrom. Sometimes these promos allow you to double dip, making it quite lucrative to purchase several thousand dollars worth of merchandise and reselling them on ebay, to bank some miles.

Buy points cheaply

Point purchasing promos can be a great shortcut to a cheap trip. Delta and US Airways regularly offer 100% bonuses for either purchasing or transferring points. Through such promos, you can earn enough points for a round-trip business class ticket for as little as $1,100.

Not all award programs are created equal

Before committing to a frequent flyer program, check out where the airline of your choice and its partners fly. Review routing maps, ease of booking awards, general award availability, whether you’re allowed one-way awards for half the cost of a round-trip and last-minute booking fees. You don’t want to plan a trip to Dubai, rack up a ton of AAdvantage miles, and find that the only partner flying to the region charges $1,000 in fuel surcharges.

Most airlines don’t display all partner airline availability online, So you will have to call the airline to book your flight. Before you do, make sure you have your airline alliance routing map on hand. Knowing all of this before my trip this summer would have saved me hours on the phone with clueless reservation agents, $220 in booking fees, and a lot of frustration.

Award tickets don’t have to be simple round-trips

Familiarize yourself with routing rules, and you could extend your vacation and spend an extra few days in yet another country instead of a simple round-trip.