Category Archives: Miles and Points

Airline Miles For Grocery Shopping – Chase Freedom (USA) Visa Card

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People often wonder how I get so many frequent flyer miles when I rarely ever pay for an airline ticket.  This is one of my techniques.  Using the right credit card can get free miles for simply doing your normal grocery shopping!

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Maxing out your $1500 during 3 months is basically $500 a month and most families will easily spend that on groceries.  You can also buy gift cards for any other merchants (such as gas stations, restaurants, department stores) you do business with at most grocery stores.  You then end up with 7500 free Ultimate Rewards points that can be converted to airline miles if you also hold a Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Ink Plus card.  The best partners to transfer to are United Airlines and British Airways.

 

If you don’t already have a Chase Freedom, you can post here asking for a referral as I sometimes have them to give out.  My most recent referral just expired on 8 Dec but I still have referrals for the Chase Sapphire Preferred valid until 31 Jan 2015.  Or you can read this Flyertalk thread to see if there are any specials going on.  The most recent special has been this one, but please read the thread to see if it is still active when you wish to apply.

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US Dividend Miles Bonus Promos Going Downhill

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Anyone who can either churn credit cards or manufacture spend won’t be interested in this, especially since the days of the 100% buy/give miles promos are over.  But since I have readers in many different countries who can’t access US credit cards, I still decided to share this.  These miles will be merged to AAdvantage in the 2nd quarter of 2015.

Remember, you shouldn’t buy miles on spec as devaluations can be sudden and unpredictable.  Only buy them if you need to top up for an award and planning to redeem immediately.

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Lost Opportunity – 15,000 US Dividend Miles – Spend $500 Nov, Dec, Jan

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I waited ages for this one as I had seen so many people on Flyertalk get it but I never did.

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In normal circumstances this would be an easy one to do – except the email came 2 days after we left for Africa and I didn’t bring this card with me.  It’s not one I normally use on an overseas trip due to the forex fees, but I would have made the sacrifice for this type of promo.

After getting home I sent Barclays a secure message asking to postpone the promo to Dec, Jan & Feb since I had been traveling in Africa but no dice!  Now I have to decide whether to keep or cancel.  They did recently confirm that they would keep the 10,000 anniversary bonus even after the merger with AA so I am inclined to keep it.

 

Just Returned From Africa – Exhausted But Exhilirated

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This trip has been in the works for over a year and was originally planned for late 2015 and referred to as “The Mother of all African Adventures“.   I decided to bring it forward to Nov 2014 because it relied heavily on United Mileage Plus and I had concerns that a devaluation could either make the trip impossible or knock us back to economy and since these flights were really long I wanted business class.  I was also afraid that a change to United’s generous routing rules (better explained by Drew at Travel is Free) would kill my planned stopovers.  This routing required both an open jaw and a stop-over and cost 320,000 miles in J class for both tickets.

United redemption on BR, CA, SA, ET & TG

I used British Airways Avios for some local routes on their South African partner, Comair.

Avios redemptions

The only paid ticket was Air Austral from MRU to TNR.  The only way to get this route with miles is Flying Blue on Air Mauritius but the taxes make it poor value since it is not easy to get Flying Blue miles.  Also, they didn’t fly on a Monday and I had no flexibility as I had specific places to go birding in Madagascar.  I could have flown Air Madagascar but they have had so many problems with flight cancellations and long delays, I chose not to take the risk and went with Air Austral via Reunion.

Air Austral route

I did make great use of Flying Blue miles on Kenya Airways to get from Madagascar to Ghana, 35,000 for both of us!

Flying Blue redemption on KQ

HOTELS

Although most of the accommodation was in birding or safari lodges, I did burn through a bunch of hotel points in cities to keep costs down.

Port Elizabeth – Radisson Blu 38,000 points for 2 nights

JNB Airport – Intercontinental used Chase annual free night

Mauritius – Used Hilton Honors 40,000 points from each of our accounts for 2 nights at this newly renovated property.

Accra – Used IHG Rewards 20,000 per night for 1 night upon arrival and 2 nights post birding in Kakum for a birding day trip to Shai Hills.

Of course I will be blogging in detail about the travel and the fabulous birds we saw over the next couple months!

 

 

Earn American Airlines AAdvantage Miles With Cadillac

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I am slowly getting caught up with all the new promos that came in while we were away.  This one caught my eye.  Unfortunately for me, you need to be in the USA and have a USA driver’s license to do it.  But if you do qualify, it’s a pretty painless way to rack up some easy miles!

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Terms and Conditions:

*At participating dealers only.  Must have an AAdvantage account and be 21 years or older with a valid U.S. driver’s license.  Employees of General Motors are not eligible. Retail value: $221.00. Test drive lasts approximately 10 minutes.  Offer valid while supplies last.  Limit one test drive per person.  Allow 4-6 weeks for miles to be awarded after confirmation that test drive has been completed.  Offer is nontransferable, nonnegotiable and not redeemable for cash.

**Requires compatible mobile device, active OnStar subscription and data plan.  Visit cadillac.com for details and system limitations.

 

Earning Miles For Booking A Cruise

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Since we were going to be headed to Europe to attend the VIII International Parrot Convention, I wanted to maximize our time over there.  One of the ways I chose was a Mediterranean cruise after the conference using Iberia Avios to fly from Tenerife to Venice.  I did consider a shorter cruise and then spending more time in Italy and using trains to get around but decided it would be too much hassle to navigate train stations with large bags.  Also since we would already have formal clothes for the conference evening program, we might as well take a cruise and double the use of our formal clothes.

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MY EXPERIENCE WITH UNITED CRUISES

Since I am collecting United miles for an upcoming trip, I chose United’s cruise booking portal.  Other airlines such as American and US Airways also have cruise portals.  You should also check Cruise Compete to make sure you are getting the best price.  You don’t want to pay more and negate the value of the bonus miles.

Here’s the deal if you don’t have a United Explorer credit card.  Non-Americans should be able to get at least this deal since they can’t get the credit card from Chase.

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If you do have the credit card, this is what you get.

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For more T&C’s see their website.

SELECTING A CRUISE

I began the process last year of selecting a cruise.  I usually prefer Princess Cruises so I was really hoping they would have a suitable itinerary that was compatible with the conference dates.  Unfortunately they didn’t, their Regal Princess Grand Mediterranean turned around right in the middle of the conference and we would have had to wait 10 days after the conference to join the next cruise.  I waited until October 2013 for all the cruise lines to post their Mediterranean itineraries.  NCL had an itinerary which departed 27 Sept from Venice which worked with our dates as the conference ended 25 Sept and we had the 26th to travel from Tenerife to Venice.  I wanted an itinerary that covered the highlights of Mediterranean Europe and came up with this one.  As you can see, United Cruises does offer substantial discounts on cruises in addition to giving you miles.  This is similar to what I found last year when I was researching the cruise I booked.  I went with the cheapest indoor category as this is a port-intensive cruise and we would only be using the cabin to sleep.  On a Panama Canal itinerary, I recommend a balcony as you have a lot more to look at!   I also managed to get a $25 onboard credit, bottle of wine and free cover charge in the Italian restaurant onboard the ship so I got a killer deal!

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PAYING FOR THE CRUISE

At the time of booking (Oct 2013), I had a United Explorer Visa so used it to pay the deposit.  They had a special deal going where you only pay the $24.99 booking fee, then defer the $400 deposit until 3 months before the cruise.

In Jan 2014, the annual fee came due on the United Explorer and I tried several times with Chase retention to get the fee waived with no luck.  When making the decision to cancel the card, I had to weigh up the difference between using the card to get an extra 2 miles per $ and paying $95 annual fee vs cancelling the card, saving the $95 and using a Chase Sapphire Preferred to pay for the cruise which gets 2 miles per $ on all travel purchases which includes cruises.  I chose to cancel the Explorer and use the CSP to pay for the cruise.

MILES POSTED PROMPTLY

The cruise ended on 9 Oct.  Just today, I saw the miles post to my United Mileage Plus account so I’d say it was excellent service from United Cruises and I would certainly use them again to book another cruise, the only exception being the Parrot Lover’s cruise when you need to book with the sponsoring agency.  I was pleased to note that the miles i got included the full price of the cruise including port taxes and $24.99 booking fee.

Coming in 2015 – a new series on how to use cruises to get you to birding hotspots!

September Buy Miles Promos

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As usual, each beginning of a month brings an assortment of “buy miles, get bonus” promos.  If you live in the USA you probably won’t be interested as its cheaper to manufacture spend.  If you live anywhere else, these promos may be a good idea to top up your miles accounts but ONLY if you plan to use them within the next few months.  These promos aren’t good enough to buy miles on speculation.  Whether it is worth it to buy miles vs just paying for a revenue ticket depends on where you are going and what class of service you would be booking in so you need to do the math for both before jumping in on these promos.  Also be sure to click on the links and read all the T&Cs before buying.

US AIRWAYS

These will ultimately turn into AAdvantage miles when the programs combine next year.  The tiered system is very annoying because if you just need a couple thousand to top up you don’t get the maximum bonus.  You need to log into your account to actually see the tiers but most people seem to get this one.  At top levels you would be buying miles for $18.80 per block of 1000 miles.

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UNITED AIRLINES

This one is more unusual in that it is crowd-sourcing the actual bonus.  Everyone gets a minimum of 35% extra but that could go up to 100% extra if over 4500 people buy the deal.

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If the 4500 level is reached it would mean buying miles for $18.80 per block of 1000 miles.

AVIANCA-TACA LIFEMILES

Contrary to other bloggers out there, I use this program for bargain flights within Central and South America so no “tricks” needed for me!  It’s a straightforward 100% promo (gotta love airlines who keep it simple) but it is also the last chance to buy miles for $15.00 per block of 1000 miles as the price increases 15 October to $16.00.

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ALERT – Iberia Devalues Avios Without Notice, Could BA Be Next? (False Alarm)

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UPDATE:  Thankfully this has been proven a false alarm.  Iberia’s award chart has always been the same since they converted to the Avios system, it just hadn’t been published in chart form before.  British Airways has confirmed they don’t have plans to devalue Avios.

 

This is all over Feedly (various blogs) and Flyertalk but I’m hat-tipping Matt from Saverocity for alerting me first, a good reason to subscribe to his newsletter!

Avios are a favourite miles currency of mine for use in South America on LAN, and can save you a bundle on intra-Peru fares!  I personally would also use them on Qantas for short-haul flights and on Comair (BA partner in South Africa) for my upcoming African adventure.

The current chart on British Airways (and Iberia up to today) was very attractive for short-haul, though once you get over 2000 miles into the 10k Avios zone you are probably better off with American AAdvantage miles.

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Here is the new chart posted on Iberia’s website.  The same rates apply to non OneWorld partners Avianca, Taca and a few others.  Currently redemptions on Iberia and British Airways are the same as the old chart above.

Iberia only allows round-trip redemptions on partners so if British Airways follows suit, the rates below would be half that for a one-way since they do allow one-way redemptions on partners.  Awards under 600 miles will cost 9750 Avios.  601-1000 miles will cost 12000 Avios.  At this point, most redemptions with Avios cease to be a good deal  and you are better off with American AAdvantage (providing THEY don’t devalue)!  Bear in mind that BA charges YQ fuel surcharges on most partners and AA doesn’t.

If you have travel planned up to July 2015 requiring use of Avios, I recommend you book it asap!

New Iberia Chart

BEST AVIOS REDEMPTIONS FOR ECO-TRAVELERS

LAN flights under 2000 miles within South America, also routes that AA has across two zones such as LIM-VVI (Lima to Santa Cruz, Bolivia).

Qantas flights under 2000 miles (must be QF metal, no Jetstar or codeshares).

BA flights on Comair within South Africa, I also used them for JNB-MRU as the taxes are cheaper using Avios.

 

 

United Mileage Plus Buy Miles 25-35% Bonus

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Readers in the USA probably won’t find this appealing as it is much easier and cheaper to earn miles via credit cards.  I’ve seen better bonus deals too.  However readers in Australia and other countries might find this of use so I am sharing the deal!

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Your next getaway is waiting: Save up to 35% when you buy miles.
(Displayed price includes all discounts)
Terms and conditions:

  • Minimum purchase of 5,000 miles required for this promotional pricing.
  • Buy 5,000 to 19,000 miles and receive a 25% discount, or buy 20,000 miles or more for a 35% discount.
  • Miles are available in increments of 1,000 up to a maximum of 100,000 miles, and in increments of 5,000 up to a maximum of 150,000 miles.
  • Purchase up to 150,000 miles per account per calendar year.
  • Credit card will be billed immediately upon purchase.
  • Mileage rates and other applicable fees are subject to change.
  • Allow 48 hours for miles to process and post to your MileagePlus account.
  • Miles are nonrefundable.
  • Promotional offer valid until 11:59 p.m. CT (Chicago local time) on August 18, 2014.
  • Purchased miles do not count toward MileagePlus Premier® status.
  • All MileagePlus Program Rules and terms and conditions apply.

USA Readers: United Mileage Plus Explorer 50K + 5K + $50 Statement Credit

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One card approval can get you to Central or South America!  This is the best offer I have seen on this card in a while so if you have a good credit score and can manage credit responsibly, go for it!

I do not have an affiliate relationship with Chase, I found this link on FlyerTalk.

Offer

 

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