Category Archives: Miles and Points

Mileage Earning Credit Cards – UK And Europe Edition

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People in the UK and Europe will have the biggest challenge of getting to the exotic birding destinations in South/Central America, Australia and Asia due to the vast distances involved.  It is unlikely you will be able to get a free trip JUST from getting your local credit cards.  Unfortunately, most other countries don’t have the lucrative free miles and points opportunities the USA has but here is a very basic reference guide.  Most countries will have various versions of American Express which can have pretty good signup bonuses so check them out too.  Also remember that for BIS miles (butt in seat) you are usually better off crediting to American Airlines for One World partners and United Airlines or US Airways for Star Alliance partners because of better redemption levels.  The main reasons to join your country’s frequent flier program is to take advantage of your local credit cards and any “everyday life” mileage earning opportunities such as shopping, phone, internet, petrol, etc.  If you are a business traveler, you may want to consider elite benefits but that’s better covered by business travel blogs.

Before the explosion of credit card signup bonuses and other partners, most people did it the old fashioned way.  Fly, accrue your miles to your preferred mileage program and pick up a few extra miles from hotels and rental cars.  I used to average one free trip for every 3 or 4 which these days isn’t great but better than nothing!

UK

I recently discovered there is a blog called Head For Points written by Raffles who specializes in British Airways Avios program and credit cards targeted to folks in the UK, so I will refer you to him for further information.  The top 15 UK loyalty credit card sign-up deals by £ value

American Airlines has a British credit card but not a great signup bonus.

For British eco-tourists, I would recommend signing up for British Airways Avios for the credit cards and shopping deals, also sign up for the programs I blogged about here.  Don’t bother with the Aussie programs, use your Avios for those flights.

EUROPEAN AIRLINES

There probably are blogs written in the respective languages that specialize in each country’s credit cards so all I can do is let you know which airlines have affiliated credit cards and send you to Google to see if there is a blog in your language that covers them.  The airline websites will tell you which cards they partner with.

Lufthansa Miles and More

Swiss Miles and More

Austrian Airlines Miles and More

Air France Flying Blue

KLM Flying Blue

Iberia Avios  (can be transferred to and from British Airways Avios)

TAP Air Portugal Victoria

Alitalia Mille Miglia

Aegean (Greece) Miles and Bonus – no credit cards yet but watch this page

Turkish Airlines Miles and Smiles

Aeroflot Bonus

I think I got most of the UK and European based airline credit cards.  If you find any more, please add them in the comments section.

If you live in the USA, please see Airlines, Hotels and Flexible Points

If you live in Australia, please see Part 1 and Part 2

 

Top 8 Frequent Flyer Programs For Eco-Travelers

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*** UPDATED FOR 2016 ***

It’s always good to be diversified but then not TOO diversified that you end up with tiny amounts in too many programs.  Everyone, no matter where you live should join these programs right now and be ready for the New Year in case bonuses and promos are released.  It’s also a good idea to make your own spreadsheet and track your miles in each program and set up a special email folder to put all emails that come from these airlines.  Throughout the year, I will be blogging about any promos that come up but will concentrate on these programs as I feel they offer the best award opportunities for eco-travelers in particular.   You will be on your way to a free eco-tourism adventure in no time at all!

1.  United Airlines Mileage Plus – Star Alliance member, very easy for Americans to get LOTS of miles via Chase’s Ultimate Rewards (see reference tab at top), especially strong for Central America with partners Copa and Taca, but can get you to Asia pretty easily on Singapore or Thai.  Has an excellent online award booking engine and allows one ways at half round trip for extra flexibility.

2.  American Airlines AAdvantage – One World member, has more options between USA and Australia on Qantas, Air Pacific or Air Tahiti Nui, also great for LAN or AA to South America.  Can book several of their partners online with AA planning to add more as they go along.  One way awards at half round trip rates.

3.  US Airways Dividend Miles – Star Alliance member, noted for great promos in the past such as Grand Slam (between me and my husband, we got over half a million miles in 3 years with this promo).  Good option for non-USA residents as they offer frequent discounted buy/share miles promos throughout the year.  Same redemption opportunities as UA but no one-ways and you must call them to book so they lose points for inflexibility.  They have recently started to enforce MPM (maximum permitted mileage) on award tickets so booking Australia to/from USA via Asia may or may not work.

4.  Avianca-Taca LifeMiles –  Star Alliance member, has frequent buy share promos so good chance for worldwide members to get discounted tickets.  Has online booking of partner awards but the real benefit to eco-travelers is the great rates on their own flights within Central America and Peru.

My analysis of Avianca-Taca LifeMiles

 

5.  British Airways Avios and Iberia Avios– One World members, same Avios currency but you need to join both BA and IB’s versions to maximize it.  Pretty easy to earn Avios via E-Rewards and can also credit stays at Accor hotels to Iberia’s program and transfer easily between BA and IB.  Americans can get lucrative credit card bonuses.  Not a program for long haul or itineraries needing connections but excellent for short haul within South America on partner LAN or within Australia on partner Qantas.

FOR AUSSIES ONLY

6.  Qantas Frequent Flyer – One World member – Join at Woolies via Everyday Rewards and get points from your weekly grocery shopping and Optus phone/internet.  Various credit cards to get more points.  Use for domestic Australia or short-haul to NZ, Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.

7.  Virgin Velocity – Not in an alliance.  Good for credit card bonuses, transfers from Amex and short-haul to New Zealand and Pacific islands.

8.  Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer– Star Alliance member.  Don’t keep miles in here if you can’t use them within 3 year because they expire whether you have activity or not.  Good for redemptions on NZ between Australia and Pacific islands.

Travel Promo Year In Review 2012

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The quest for free or very cheap airline miles and hotel points is always filled with intrigue and drama!  Here are a few of the most memorable promos of 2012.

1.  Huge credit card signup bonuses – lucky Americans got to collect hundreds of thousands of free miles via credit card signup bonuses.  I have a few of them in my series here if you missed out.  Remember to “learn how to fish” and check out each deal before you sign up for it.  Aussies have a few credit cards too but not as lucrative as the Americans.

2.  Discover America promos in April and May delivered a nice bonanza to those who were quick on the draw.  I am not sure if this will happen next year but I will blog about it if it does.  Meanwhile, read up on it via FlyerTalk.

3.  United’s 4 mile redemptions to Asia.  This was a mistake fare that only a few VERY quick people who were prepared to travel straight away actually got in on.  Many people tried, but when UA discovered the mistake, they cancelled all bookings of people who hadn’t traveled yet.  A few threatened to sue so it got really crazy!  Grab your popcorn and see this FlyerTalk thread!

4.  Club Carlson’s Big Night Giveaway.  What made this one special was that it was available worldwide.  Many people did “mattress runs” to cheaper hotels nearby to get the bonus miles which they could then redeem at an expensive hotel on a future trip or transfer to airline miles.  Lots of fun as most people got in on it!

5.  50% Bonus on Hotel Points converted to Dividend Miles.  Nice way to get rid of extra hotel points or make a huge profit on Starwood SPG points!

6.  The rise and fall of Bluebirds and Vanilla Reloads.  No, I don’t mean THIS bluebird!   I mean the frenzy of people seeking cheap Ultimate Rewards via Office Depot and various reload card options.

7.  Wyndham Rewards Phantom Phrenzy.  It was supposed to be a targeted promo but somehow a link got out and people were booking cheap Wyndham hotels and not even showing up to stay in them just to get the 16,000 point bonus.  I didn’t do it as I am wary of mistake promos as sometimes they are honored, sometimes they aren’t and this one you had to fork out for the rooms in advance without knowing if you would get the bonus or not.  It turns out they did get it after LOTS of complaints back and forth to Wyndham.

8.  Cartera Online Mall Mania.  Cartera is dodgy at best about giving you miles for your click-through purchases.  Unfortunately, they operate most of the airline’s affiliate shopping malls so you can’t really escape them.  Sometimes they stuff up and offer ridiculous bonuses that are obviously a mistake but people will try to get them honored.  This Flyertalk thread has one of the best ones that carried over from last year and had most people getting a “goodwill” bonus instead of the cheap miles they had hoped for.

9.  LifeMiles 250 miles per purchase bonus.  New kid on the block, Avianca Taca’s LifeMiles opened an online shopping mall and sent out emails to all members offering 250 bonus miles per purchase.  Of course savvy miles collectors wasted no time in finding the cheapest way to rack up the miles.  Those of us who are eco-friendly opted for online automatic transactions such as e-books, donations to puppies and e-gift certificates.  The worst of the bunch were ordering $1 shampoo bottles, each of which were packaged separately and shipped individually until the drugstore cancelled the unfilled remaining orders and withdrew from the online mall.  So far, no one has gotten their bonus miles but you can read all about it here.

10.  The demise of US Airways Grand Slam promo that had been going for 4 years previously.  This was the one we all waited for with breathless anticipation of cheap miles to be spent on exotic destinations all over the world.  The more experienced Grand Slammers would start saving a year in advance for hotel points and other “hits” to be used in September each year for this extremely lucrative promotion.  Last year, FlyerTalk had a whole forum dedicated to the Grand Slam! In August, we eagerly started following US on Twitter, playing with URLs looking for a hint of the 2012 Grand Slam…………….all for nought!  It didn’t happen!  Most people blame it on several beginner oriented bloggers who spell out the tricks and loopholes in such detail a two year old could do it and it no longer required finesse and intelligence to maximize the promo.  It would have been unsustainable for US to hand out so many miles to so many people.  In October, they did throw us a bone with a Share Miles promo that wasn’t nearly as good as the Grand Slam had been but allowed us to top up our accounts at a discounted rate.

What does 2013 have in store?  Of course no one knows, but if you follow this blog by rss feed or subscription (use the form in the sidebar to the right), we will be right on top of the new promos that come up so you can get to those wonderful ecotourism hotspots you are all dreaming about!

Virgin Velocity Has 30% Discount On Most Flights, Booking Until 6 Jan

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Great chance to book your trips for next year at a greatly reduced rate!   On sale between 26 December 2012 till 06 January 2013, unless sold out sooner. Travel must be between 26 December 2012 and 30 September 2013 inclusive.

***T&C below***

Here are some of the best options for eco-travelers!

COOK ISLANDS

Would you like to see this beauty or this one?  Book this routing!DJ RAR

TASMANIA

Or how about a flight to Tassie to see this rare parrot?

DJ HOB

Fiji has several islands like Kadavu and Vanua Levu that offer great birding so why not save 30% on your flights?

DJ NAN

BALI

Ever-popular Bali is a real bargain!  Say “Selamat Datang” to the Bali Starling or use Bali as a jumping off point to the birders’ paradises of West Papua and Seram.DJ DPS

EAST COAST TO WEST COAST AND VV AUSTRALIA DOMESTIC

Even those longer Aussie flights such as Perth to the east coast like BNE or SYD are a great bargain and no matter which direction you fly in, cockatoos, lorikeets, kookaburras and more are waiting to be photographed!DJ PER

 

***Terms and Conditions

~ On sale between 26 December 2012 till 06 January 2013, unless sold out sooner. Travel must be between 26 December 2012 and 30 September 2013 inclusive. This offer only applies to Reward Seats. Any Seat redemptions are not eligible for this offer. Prices are subject to Reward Seat availability and to the Velocity Membership Terms and Conditions. Seats are limited and may not be available at peak times or on all flights. Any pay component is not eligible for Points earn and is not subject to the 30% discount. Name changes and refunds are not permitted. Credit/Debit card charges will apply: a fee of $7.70 per person per booking for Virgin Australia domestic flights or $10 per person per booking for Virgin Australia international short haul flights will apply. Additional baggage charges apply for Virgin Australia Domestic and International Short Haul flights. For Virgin Australia Domestic flights, pre-pay from $15 or from $40 at the airport, per person, per flight for a 23kg one piece allowance. For Virgin Australia Short Haul International flights to and from New Zealand (excluding Perth) and Pacific Islands pre-pay from $25 or from $60 at the airport, per person, per flight. For Virgin Australia Short Haul International flights between Perth and New Zealand pre-pay from $30. Or for Virgin Australia Short Haul International flights to and from Asia pre-pay from $30 or from $60 at the airport, per person, per flight. Fees are chargeable at the time of purchase please click here for a schedule of current fees. Fees will be incurred for excess baggage. Complimentary baggage allowances apply for Silver, Gold and Platinum Velocity members and guests travelling on Flexi, Premium Economy and Business Class Fares. Conditions and travel restrictions apply for all fares. For full details please visit virginaustralia.com/velocity.

* Fares quoted are departing Sydney. Checked baggage charges apply to all Saver Fares. For domestic flights, pre-pay $15 for flights online for 1 piece of checked baggage of up to 23kg per person per one way flight, or pay $40 at the airport for the same allowance. For international short-haul flights, pre-pay $25 online for 1 piece of checked baggage of up to 23kg per person per one way flight or pay $80 at the airport for the same allowance. For more information please go to the ‘Checked Baggage’ section on our website. Checked baggage charges not payable by Velocity Platinum, Gold and Silver Members. Baggage limits and excess baggage fees apply. Visit www.virginaustralia.com for more information. Change/cancel fees apply. The applicable change or cancel fee will be the fee published on our website on the date you request the change. Name changes and refunds are not permitted. All fares quoted are internet fares. A Booking and Service fee applies when paid by credit card, debit card or PayPal. $7.70 per person per booking for all domestic flights, $10 per person per booking for all short haul international flights, and $30 per person per booking for all International long haul flights. When booking by phone fares are $15 more for domestic flights, $20 more for international short-haul flights and $50 more for international long-haul flights. Seats are limited and may not be available at peak times or on all flights. Fares are correct as at 25 December 2012 and are subject to change. Fares are on sale from until 3 January 2013 unless sold out prior. Domestic fares are for travel 16 January 2013 to 27 March 2013. International short-haul fares are for travel 23 January 2013 to 22 March 2013. International long-haul fares for North America are for travel 1 February 2013 to 31 March 2013, 21 April 2013 to 16 June 2013 and 18 July 2013 to 31 August 2013. Flights from Australia to Los Angeles are operated by Virgin Australia International or Delta Air Lines. Connecting flights between Australian domestic ports are operated by Virgin Australia. Fares may vary until ticketed due to currency fluctuations. Conditions and travel restrictions apply for all fares. Visit www.virginaustralia.com for full terms and conditions.

Flexible Point Earning Credit Cards USA Edition And Best Uses For Eco-Travelers

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This is the 3rd part in my reference guide series of USA based credit cards and the best uses for eco-travelers.  Please see my other two guides for more details.

Airline Mileage earning credit cards (and some basic info and a glossary)

Hotel Point earning credit cards

FLEXIBLE POINT EARNING CREDIT CARDS

There are several options for Americans to earn flexible points that will transfer to a variety of airline and hotel programs, but the main two of interest to eco-travelers will be Chase’s Ultimate Rewards and American Express Membership Rewards.  Amex also has a similar program in Australia so if you live there, please visit this post.  Of the USA based programs, I feel that Ultimate Rewards have the best options for eco-travelers so I will start there.

CHASE ULTIMATE REWARDS

These come in personal version (Sapphire and Freedom) and the business versions (Ink series).  Chase cards are usually not churnable for the same product but you can get one of each card as long as you can convince Chase to give you a sufficient credit limit to qualify for the card.   The screenshots below are from Chase’s website and may not represent the best offer on the market.  You should always check the Flyertalk MileBuzz forum as new deals get posted there pretty quickly when they come out.  The Ultimate Rewards points are only transferable to airlines and hotels with the Sapphire Preferred, Ink Plus and Ink Bold cards.  The other cards earn you points that you can spend for travel in the Ultimate Rewards Mall.  Transfer partners are United Airlines, British Airways, Korean Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Hyatt Hotels, Priority Club Hotels, Marriott Hotels, Ritz Carlton Hotels and Amtrak.

Of these, the best options are United Airlines for Star Alliance Awards and British Airways for short-haul Avios awards.  More details can be found on this page as to redemption ideas.

CC UR

CC UR2 CC UR3

CC UR4 CC UR5

AMERICAN EXPRESS MEMBERSHIP REWARDS

Like Chase’s cards, Amex cards also come in personal and business versions.  They have a wide range of products and it is best to see their website for the latest offers and features of each card.  Amex’s website is very detailed and too long to screenshot the whole thing so I will provide the main details on the personal cards and direct you to their website to see Amex Business Cards.   Flyertalk has extensive information about these cards in their own forum and new deals also tend to be posted in MileBuzz so always check there before applying for a card.  Also be on the lookout for transfer bonuses such as the recent 30% bonus to British Airways Avios.

See the Membership Rewards page for a complete overview of the program and these pages for a complete list of transfer partners.  Page 1, Page 2.

The best options for eco-travelers would be Delta for use on Skyteam awards or British Airways for use on short-haul Avios.  Virgin America and Virgin Atlantic can also be useful for redeeming on Virgin Australia.  Qantas is a partner but the award cost is higher than using Delta to Australia.  Be careful when transferring to any of the European and Asian airlines as they often have huge fuel surcharges even when redeeming on partner airlines.  Singapore Airlines is good for Air New Zealand redemptions between Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Islands such as Rarotonga.  Amex1 Amex2 Amex3 Amex4

OTHER TYPES OF CREDIT CARDS – BANK REWARD POINTS AND CASH BACK

There are some credit cards that earn points that you spend within the bank’s program on travel.  You can’t transfer them to airline miles or hotel points but you can use them to purchase travel from their affiliated travel agent.  These are not usually a great value unless there is a huge signup bonus.  If you have exhausted all the mileage earning cards and flexible point cards and are looking for somewhere to put your everyday spend, you may want to consider a 2% cash back card.  Many of these have no annual fee but there may be restrictions on how you get your cash back so be sure to read the T&Cs of the program.  Here are a few links to look at, but as always, check on FlyerTalk for any special deals that may be posted.

FlexPerks – US Bank

ThankYou Rewards – Citibank

Venture Rewards – Capital One

WorldPoints – Bank of America

Discover Card

SUMMARY

This is just a VERY brief summary of what’s available.  Signup offers change very quickly so you always need to do your homework to make sure you get the best offer.  Take into account your ability to meet the minimum spend to get the bonus miles.  The odds are you will see some credit card offers in my advertising sidebar that will be directed to you based on your physical location.  I have no control over what ads you see.  Clicking on them helps me and the blog and a purchase or credit application is not required for me to get credit.  Please feel free to ask me any questions here in the comments of this post.

 

 

Hotel Point Earning Credit Cards USA Edition And Best Uses for Eco-Travelers

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This is a continuation of the Mileage Earning Credit Card post.  General advice for Americans about credit cards can be found there.

BEST HOTEL POINT EARNING CREDIT CARDS FOR ECO-TRAVELERS

CCs

Generally speaking, hotel point earning credit cards will be less valuable for eco-travelers than for mainstream tourists looking for elite status and 5 star accommodations.  The eco-lodges we are seeking won’t be affiliated with any of these programs.  There are a couple of good uses of hotel points.

  • Stays at gateway hotels in your departure city or the gateway city from where you will travel on to the rainforest, savannah or other habitat.
  • Hotel points can be converted into airline miles to top up your accounts so you can get a free ticket faster and signup bonuses really speed this along.

Here are my recommendations:

1.  Club Carlson Visa (blogged about here):  Issued by US Bank, several versions so choose the one that suits you best and you could get at least 2 free nights at any Club Carlson hotel.  My main interest in this card is the 50k after any first spend and second award night free so I will probably go for the Visa Signature in my next app-o-rama.  They have fairly decent transfer rates to airline miles and you can choose from 20 airline programs.  The best ones for eco-travelers are AA, BA, DL, UA and US.

2,000 points 250 miles
50,000 points 8,000 miles
100,000 points 18,000 miles

2. Priority Club Visa:   Issued by Chase, signup bonus is currently 60k after $1000 spend.  Historically, it’s gone as high as 80k with no minimum spend but all the Chase cards seem to have at least a $1000 in 3 month spend these days.  Annual fee of $49 is waived the first year but you get a free night certificate each year starting on your first anniversary so this card is well worth keeping.  I’m into my 3rd year with this card and have redeemed my free night at hotels that range between $160 and $230 a night.  Transfer rates to airlines are a flat 10k PC = 2k airline miles and their partners include AA, BA, DL, QF, SQ, US, UA, and DJ.

3.  SPG American Express:  Issued by American Express, signup bonus is usually 25k of which you get 10k after first spend and 15k after spending $5000 within 6 months.  They occasionally have specials where you get a total of 30k of which 20k requires the 5k spend.  Annual fee $65, waived first year.  Best values are Cash and Points redemptions which give a huge savings on regular hotel rates with fewer points than an outright free night redemption.  SPG has an amazing transfer program which is usually 1 SPG = 1 airline mile but if you transfer 20k, you get a bonus of 5k.  LOTS of partners but best ones for eco-travelers are AA, BA, DL, SQ and US.  In this case, UA is not a good option as the rate is only 2 SPG = 1 UA.

4.  Hilton Honors (several cards):  Hilton has cards issued by Citibank and Amex.  The Citicards have free night certificates or 40k sign up bonus and come in $95 annual fee/no annual fee versions.  The Amex cards give you 40k signup bonus  and come in $75 annual fee/no annual fee.  Minimum spends are between $750-$3000 in 3 months so you really need to compare all the cards on their site.  Transfer rates to airlines are very poor:  10k HH = 850 airline so only get  these cards if you want to use them for hotel rooms.

5.  Marriott Rewards Visa:  Reviewed by me and I can get you a nice bonus if you let me refer you to join Marriott Rewards.  See details on this post.  Issued by Chase, signup bonus 50k and one free night at Cat 1-4 after $1000 spend in 3 months.  Historical high 70k.  Annual fee $85 waived first year, and you receive an anniversary bonus of one free night stay at a Category
1-5 hotel every year.  Transfer rates to airlines is somewhat complicated so best to see it on their site.    AA is not a partner but eco-travelers may be interested in BA, UA, US, GOL (Brazil domestic flights), Avianca-Taca, LAN, Qantas.

6.  Hyatt Gold Passport Visa:  Issued by Chase, signup bonus is 2 free nights at any Hyatt worldwide after $1000 spend in 3 months.   People seem to find the best value in either Sydney or various European properties so limited usefulness to eco-travelers.  You get free night certificates, not points so you can’t use this signup bonus to transfer to airlines.

7.  Wyndham Rewards Visa:  Issued by Barclays, sign up bonus currently 16k, historical high 30k, no minimum spend, just “first purchase”.  Good transfer rates to airlines.  Wyndham properties are usually reasonably priced so I would just pay for hotels and transfer these points to an airline.  Rates are 8k Wyndham = 3200 airline, 17,500 Wyndham = 7000 airline, 30k Wyndham = 12k airline.  Best partners for eco-travelers:  AA, DL, UA, US.

8.  Choice Privileges Visa:  Issued by Barclays, sign up bonus 8k first spend, + 24k after using the card to pay for a stay at a Choice hotel.  No annual fee.  Transfers to airlines 5k Choice = 1k airline, partners include AA, DL, UA, US.

9.  Best Western MasterCard:  Issued by Barclays, signup bonus 16k after first spend, no annual fee.  Transfers to airlines 5k Choice = 1k airline, partners include AA, DL, US and Avianca LifeMiles.

I have put these credit cards in roughly the order of which I think they have value to eco-travelers.  People seeking elite status or stays at European and North American city properties would most likely prioritize cards in a different order.  If the SPG card didn’t have such a high spend requirement, I would have put it first but $5000 could be a challenge.  Please feel free to ask questions in the comments below.

Flexible Points Credit Cards

Mileage Earning Credit Cards USA Edition And Best Uses For Eco-Travelers

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A GUIDE TO CREDIT CARD SIGNUP BONUSES

***Disclaimer:  This is going to be a reference post about the many opportunities available for Americans.  Due to the heavy competition between credit providers and airlines, Americans are blessed with unequaled chances to acquire huge amounts of frequent flyer miles and hotel points simply by applying for credit cards.  I know there is a lot of controversy about referral links from bloggers so I want to assure you that I do not have any referral agreement with any credit provider.  I do have Google ads down the right side and you may be presented with ads from credit providers at random which may be a good deal so I would suggest read the ad, compare it with all other offers for the same credit card, then if you are satisified the ad is the best deal, I would appreciate if you click through this site to apply for the card.  I have no way of knowing which ads are provided as they will vary based on your physical location.

All links on this page go to the airline’s credit card information page.  These may or may not be the best offer available.  So learn how to fish!  Fishing CC

TEACHING YOU TO FISH

You’ve all heard the saying “Give a man a fish and he eats for a day, teach him to fish and he eats for a lifetime”?  Learning how to use credit card sign-up bonuses to get free or almost free airline tickets and hotel rooms is basically like learning to fish.  You will need to know how to choose an airline based on your destination and be familiar with the credit cards they offer, then know where to look to get the best deal.  You also need to know your credit score to see if you will qualify for these lucrative sign up bonuses.   Before signing up for a credit card, you need to be a person who can manage credit and pay your bills on time and preferably the full amount so you don’t incur interest.  Most people have enough daily expenses such as food, gas, utilities, travel expenses, clothing, etc that if they route everything through a mileage earning card, they can make the minimum spend requirements and continue to accrue miles every month.  Always check the ever-changing master credit card thread on FlyerTalk for more recent information.  Also see the Glossary at the bottom of this page for terms that you will encounter while applying for mileage earning credit cards.

***These offers are available only to US citizens or permanent residents with a Social Security Number (SSN) and excellent credit scores***

 

CREDIT SCORES

Use one or more of these options to get your credit score.  Everyone has three credit scores, one from each of the three major credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax, TransUnion.

Annual Credit Report – Free once every 12 months.

Credit Karma – Free, no credit card required, based on TransUnion.

Credit Sesame – Free, no credit card required, based on Experian.

Equifax Score card – $15.95 but you can get a free one with Annual Credit Report

 

MILEAGE EARNING CREDIT CARDS – ONE WORLD AIRLINES

CC AA

American Airlines – AAdvantage

Issued by Citibank

Sign-up bonuses from 30k-50k depending on product, historical high offer 75k

Annual fee $95 waived first year

Churnable after 18-26 months (varies)

Minimum spend $2500-3000 in 3 or 4 months depending on offer, varies so check carefully

Can get 2 Citibank cards at once using 2 Browser Method.  Open Firefox and IE, click on 2 different cards-a Visa, Mastercard or Amex, fill out both applications but don’t send right away.  Wait until you have both apps filled out completely, then VERY QUICKLY go to each browser and click the “Apply” button.  If you are not instantly approved, you can call their reconsideration number and try to push it through.  1-866-606-2961

Dedicated FlyerTalk thread

 

Best uses for Eco-travelers: (Round-trip awards but bookable as one-ways for half the amount) 80k USA to Australia or South Pacific; 35k USA to Central America, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador; 40k USA to Rest of South America, 90k USA to Indian subcontinent, 70k USA to Southeast Asia (such as Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia.  Also good for long distance domestic Australian awards 10k for a one-way trip such as Perth to Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane.  Some good deals on LAN awards intra-South America too.  Full award chart

CC BA

British Airways Avios Visa

Issued by Chase

Signup bonuses from 50-100k, depending on levels of minimum spend, historical high 100k

Annual fee $95 not waived

Probably not churnable

Minimum Spend $1000 in 3 months for 1st 50k, additional 25k when you spend $10,000 in first year, an additional 25k after an additional spend of $10,000.  I tend to look at this card as a 50k card because only the $1000 spend is easily reached for most people.

Possible retention bonus if you call them and say you want to cancel it before first year is up (done to avoid additional annual fee if you don’t want to keep the card)

Dedicated FlyerTalk thread

 

Best uses for Eco-travelers: Short-haul one way trips within Australia and South America.  Examples:  Buenos Aires to Sao Paulo on LAN for 7500 Avios or Brisbane to Cairns on Qantas for 7500 Avios.  Also bargains from West Coast USA to Hawaii on American or Alaskan for 12,500 Avios each way.

CC LA

LAN-LanPass Visa

Issued by US Bank

Signup bonus – Up to 20,000 Bonus Miles with first use, Up to 4,000 Bonus Miles with annual renewal (Visa Signature)

Annual fee $25-75 depending on product, waived first year.

No minimum spend

No data on churnability

Dedicated FlyerTalk thread

 

Best uses for Eco-travelers:  Domestic one way flights within South American countries.  Not amazing value but possibly worth it since there is no minimum spend on this card.  See chart here.  Brazil’s TAM is expected to merge with this program in the near future so possible intra-Brazil redemptions.

 

MILEAGE EARNING CREDIT CARDS – STAR ALLIANCE AIRLINES

CC UA

United Mileage Plus Visa

Issued by Chase

Signup bonus 30k-65k  (some offers targeted), historical high 65k

Annual fee $95 waived first year

Probably not churnable

Minimum Spend $1000 in 3 months for most offers.

Possible retention bonus if you call them and say you want to cancel it before first year is up (done to avoid additional annual fee if you don’t want to keep the card)

Dedicated FlyerTalk thread

Best uses for Eco-travelers:   (Round-trip awards but bookable as one-ways for half the amount) 80k USA to Australia, South Pacific, Indian subcontinent; 65k USA to Southeast Asia (Thailand, Indonesia, etc); 60k Brazil, 40k Peru, 35k Central America.  Also good deals on Copa and Taca awards within Central America such as Flores (near Tikal, Guatemala) to San Jose, Costa Rica for 7500 miles one way.

CC US

US Airways Dividend Miles Mastercard

 

Issued by Barclays

Signup bonus 30-50k, offers vary widely.  Some have 10k annual bonus on anniversary.  Some only give the last 10k with balance tranfer so read the offer page carefully.  Historical high 50k.

Annual fee $89 usually not waived.

Some people have churned it once or twice, bank may possibly be cracking down on this.

Usually no minimum spend to get signup bonus of 30-40k depending on offer,  additional 10k which will be advertised in offer usually requires balance transfer from other credit card.

Credit card holders save 5000 miles on US Airways metal redemptions

Dedicated FlyerTalk thread

Best uses for Eco-travelers:   (Round-trip awards only) 80k USA to Australia, South Pacific, Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia (Thailand, Indonesia, etc); 60k South America (35k for off-peak), 35k Central America.

CC AV

Avianca Taca LifeMiles Visa

 

Issued by US Bank

Signup bonus – Up to 20,000 Bonus Miles with first use, Up to 6,000 Bonus Miles with annual renewal (Visa Signature)

Annual fee $25-75 depending on product, waived first year.

No minimum spend

No data on churnability

Dedicated FlyerTalk thread

*** If you let me refer you, I can get a bonus of 5000 LifeMiles.  This has no effect on your application, but it does help me out with future eco-trips.  Once you have the card, you will also be able to refer people and earn your own bonuses.  Please use the contact form to request a referral. ***

Best uses for Eco-travelers: Redemptions on Taca Peru or Taca Central America short haul flights.  Example:  Lima to Puerto Maldonado, Peru 3500 miles one way or San Jose, Costa Rica (SJO) to Panama City, Panama (PTY) 7k miles one way.  Good deals on Taca’s flights between USA and Central America such as LAX -SJO Round trip 24k.  You can also travel between USA and Central America on Star Alliance carriers for 30k round trip.

 

MILEAGE EARNING CREDIT CARDS – SKYTEAM AIRLINES

CC DL

Delta Skymiles American Express

 

Issued by American Express

Signup bonus – 30k-45k (see Flyertalk thread) depending on product.  Historical high 75k.

Annual fee $95 and up, sometimes waived so you need to check each offer

Minimum spend is all over the place!   Sometimes 35k after $750 spend in 3 months, sometimes 30k after first use and an extra 20-25k after an extra specified spend.

Possibly churnable after 24 months

Dedicated FlyerTalk thread

 

Best uses for Eco-travelers:  (Based on round-trip, no one ways allowed) USA to Australia and Pacific 100k, USA to Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia or Africa 80k, Southern South America 60k, Northern South America 45k, Central America 35k.  Full chart ex USA here.  New possibilities when Garuda joins Skyteam for domestic Indonesia awards.

CC KE

Korean Airlines Skypass Visa

Issued by US Bank

Signup Bonus 15k for Visa Signature, otherwise I wouldn’t bother.

Annual fee $80 not waived

No Minimum spend

Best uses for Eco-travelers:  Not a whole lot, but they do partner with Garuda so the 15k gets you close to a round-trip Garuda domestic award for 20k.

 

MILEAGE EARNING CREDIT CARDS – NON-ALLIANCE AIRLINES

These will have very little use for eco-travelers, though they may have some use for mainstream tourism.  I will just provide the links to the airlines’ pages and you can see for yourselves if any of them would suit you.

Alaska Airlines Visa

Frontier Airlines Mastercard

Hawaiian Airlines Visa (B of A)

Hawaiian Airlines Visa (B of H)

Southwest Airlines Visa

Virgin America

 

GLOSSARY

App-O-Rama – A term used by credit card churners to describe a behaviour of applying for different credit cards on the same day with different banks.  This is usually done because enquiries (applications for credit) can lower your credit score making it more difficult to get the cards approved.  If you do all your application on the same day within as little time possible, the banks won’t see the new enquiries on your credit report.

Churning – Applying for the same credit card you have already had to get the signup bonus again

Credit Line Shifting – This happens when you apply for a second card with the same bank but they are not willing  to give you additional credit.  They may be willing to shift credit from your existing card to the new card.  Also, if you plan to close a card you no longer need, always shift the credit line to another card with the same bank if you have one.  If they don’t, try to shift to a card with no annual fee to preserve the credit line.

Reconsideration Line – The bank’s credit department with the power to approve your application.  You may need to call the reconsideration line if you don’t get an instant approval and are in a hurry or if you are denied credit and want a second chance.

  • American Express – 866-314-0237
  • Chase Personal – 888-245-0625
  • Chase Business – 800-453-9719
  • Citibank – 800-695-5171 or 800-763-9795
  • Barclays – 866-408-4064
  • US Bank – 800-947-1444

Retention bonus – Sometimes offered by banks to keep you as a customer after the first year has passed and your annual fee is due.  Sometimes it is a credit on your account to offset the annual fee, sometimes it is a bonus of miles to your frequent flyer account but you have to pay the annual fee.  There may be conditions of a minimum spend attached to the retention bonus.  Usually you call the number on the back of your card, hint to the CSR that you may not want to keep the account and get them to transfer you to retention.

2BM (Two Browser Method) – Only works with Citibank cards.  Open Firefox and IE, click on 2 different cards-a Visa, Mastercard or Amex, fill out both applications but don’t send right away.  Wait until you have both apps filled out completely, then VERY QUICKLY go to each browser and click the “Apply” button.  Do not try this with 2 tabs in the same browser as the cookies will over-ride each other and give you a duplicate application for the same card.

Hotel Point Earning Credit Cards

Flexible Points Credit Cards

 

Getting To The Cook Islands Using Frequent Flier Miles

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STAR ALLIANCE IS THE BEST OPTION

The Cook Islands has only one international airport (RAR) and only 3 airlines that serve this airport.  Air New Zealand, a member of the Star Alliance has the most flights, most of which originate in Auckland (AKL) and a few flights to LAX and SYD (Sydney).  You can use any of the Star Alliance partners to book these flights but depending on where you live and what your profile is, some programs will be better than others.

If you live in Australia or New Zealand, your best bet is probably going to be the Singapore Airline’s Krisflyer.  As you can see by the chart below, Australia, New Zealand and the Cook Islands are all in the South-West Pacific category.  Round trip awards are only 25,000 miles in economy and 35,000 in business class.  Air New Zealand does not have a first class cabin.  This is the ONLY award I use SQ miles for and I keep my Amex points in Amex and transfer them just when I am ready to redeem because SQ miles expire after 3 years whether you have any activity or not.  I don’t use SQ for any other routings than Pacific awards because they have tremendous fuel surcharges on just about all their other routes.SQ RAR

If you are traveling from North America, Asia, Europe or South America, you will find much easier awards using one of 3 Star Alliance partners:  US Airways Dividend Miles, United Airlines Mileage Plus or Avianca Taca Lifemiles.  There are pros and cons to each program and from the USA especially business class is hard to get so you will most likely end up in economy.  Air New Zealand does release business class within a couple months of departure but by that time, the economy seats will be gone so if you like to plan in advance, I wouldn’t risk it.  On the other hand, it can be good news for more spontaneous travelers who have more flexibility.

Anyone from anywhere in the world can join these 3 programs.  Americans will usually be better off with United if they plan on using any of the Chase Ultimate Reward cards to acquire miles with both personal and business cards available and gift card churning.  This is way too complicated to go into here but if anyone is interested, start with Flyer Talk or ask me to personally recommend a blogger who specializes in this sort of thing in the comment section below.

No matter which Star Alliance partner I am booking on, I find the UA award search tool is the easiest to use because of the colour-coded calendar.  Obviously the miles needed for the redemption are valid only on UA.  If you are after business class awards, beware of the Mixed Class warning as shown in the second screenshot.UA RAR1UA RAR2

You are probably wondering why they are routing you through Sydney instead of the direct flight LAX-AKL, then AKL RAR.   Let’s see if there is any availability.  Scroll down to the bottom, do a LAX AKL search, choose your date and tick the Nonstop flights only box.UA RAR3

There are no non-stop flights available so it gives a warning and shows connecting flights.UA RAR4

At this point, depending on how much flexibility you have, you can keep plugging in dates hoping for the non-stop LAX-AKL (I did a few random dates and couldn’t find anything) or just take what they offer.

Bear in mind that this availability display will be much the same for any of the Star Alliance airlines but not all airlines have the facility to search partner awards.  The ANA tool can also be used.  It’s complicated but I will do a more comprehensive post on how to use it later.

For people who can’t get the Chase credit cards from the USA, your best bets will be either US Dividend Miles or Avianca Taca Lifemiles.  Both these airlines have frequent 100% bonuses on purchase miles throughout the year.  I’ll go into more detail later, because both programs have their pros and cons so I will just show you how many miles it takes to go from LAX to RAR.

Let’s start with US Airways Dividend Miles.  From the USA and the rest of North America, you will need 80k in economy, 110k in business.  From UK and Europe, you will need 100k economy, 120k business and from Australia or New Zealand you will need 25k economy and 30k business-all round trip and no one-way options available.

Using a 100% bonus on purchase miles, an American would pay $1505 USD including tax for 40k miles purchased and 40k given free with the promo.USDM RAR

Avianca Taca Lifemiles offers one-way awards and online booking of partner awards, but people on Flyertalk report it is difficult to deal with the call centres for non-Spanish speakers and you can’t mix classes (economy and business/first) on an award.  I’ll post their award chart and do a more comprehensive post on them later.  Sorry this is going to post very small so I would suggest clicking on the link on their website to see it better.   All the Pacific countries:  Australia, New Zealand, Cook Islands, Tahiti and others fall into the “Others” category.  Don’t ask me why they didn’t just call it “South Pacific” like all the other airlines!  From the USA and the rest of North America, you will need 90k economy and 130k business.  From Europe, you will need 110k economy, 175k business and from Australia/New Zealand you will need 35k economy, 55k business.

Using the 100% bonus purchase miles promo, an American would have to buy 45k for $1350 and get 45k free from the promo.  The website states that there is a tax payable but when I bought a smaller amount of miles earlier, I was not charged a tax.  AviancaTaca RAR

ALWAYS COMPARE FULL COSTS WHEN PURCHASING MILES TO JUST PURCHASING THE TICKET.

Using the examples above, an American would spend $1505 to use USDM, $1350 to use Avianca Taca Lifemiles (need to add tax on top of that) or a quick look at Expedia shows tickets available for $1313 and you will EARN miles!   So in this case, only use miles if you got them free from a credit card or earned while flying on other paid Star Alliance flights.  Don’t buy miles in this case when the paid ticket is cheaper!!!  Expedia RAR

An Australian would pay $490 to get 13k USDM plus 13k free.  On Avianca Taca Lifemiles, it would cost $540 to get 18k miles plus 18k free.  A quick look at Air New Zealand’s site shows a fare of $1276 NZD which is around $1056 USD so for the Aussie, the better option is to buy the US Airways miles after making sure there is availability on the desired dates.

NZ RAR2

 

FLIGHTS USING VIRGIN AUSTRALIA’S VELOCITY

Virgin Australia serves RAR from AKL with onward connections to Australia.  This program is likely to be useful only to Australians who are using credit cards or every day life techniques to get Velocity points so here is a sample of award levels.   See their website for more information.  Aussies who are using Amex Membership Rewards would be better off transferring to Singapore’s Krisflyer where 50k Amex = 50k SQ which can be redeemed for 2 x Australia to RAR in Y as noted above.

Velocity RAR

FLIGHTS TO/FROM TAHITI

Air Raro and Air Tahiti share the route between RAR and PPT (Papeete, Tahiti).  There are no frequent flyer options here, you will have to pay cash for this flight but it could be a useful option if you want to redeem a Star Alliance open jaw award Australia-Raro /- Tahiti-Australia and need to get between Raro and Tahiti.  The flight only operates once a week but does save a lot of backtracking.Air RaroPPT

WHEW, that was confusing!  If you have any questions, please ask in the comments below and I will be happy to clarify anything.  Once you get to the Cook Islands, you will want to organize your neighbor island visits to Aitutaki and Atiu so please check those posts too!

LIST OF PARROTS IN THE COOK ISLANDS

Free Points For Everyday Living – Australian Edition

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Did you know that you can get free frequent flyer miles and points just for your basic every day living expenses?  Over the last couple of weeks, I wrote about credit card options for Australians so right there if you can route all your expenses for groceries, petrol, utilities via the card (and pay it in full each month) you will accumulate a LOT of points.

There are also ways to earn points that don’t require a credit card.

QANTAS FREQUENT FLYER

1.  Join Everyday Rewards.  Then swipe your card when you shop at Woolworths, Big W, Caltex Woolworths Petrol, Dick Smith and BWS you will earn points.  They sometimes email you special offers such as “Spend $25 on pet food and get 300 bonus points”.  They have more recently been giving fuel vouchers as bonuses but hopefully they will return to bonus Qantas points soon but you always earn the base points, so why not turn your groceries, petrol and other shopping into free points?

2.  Link your Optus phone and internet account and get 2 points per dollar for your normal phone and internet expenses.  You can do this whether you are new to Optus or been using them for years.  You pay the same bill you have always paid but now you are getting points for them!

3.  Use Rental Rewards to pay your rent!  In the example here, they show you how you can get 20,000 points per year!

4.  Life Insurance can earn you 10,000 points.  Check here for details.

5.  Restaurants – if you like to eat out, check here to see if your favourite restaurant will give you points with your meal!

VIRGIN VELOCITY

1.  Virgin Mobile – if you switch to Virgin Mobile, you will get a bonus of 4000 points plus $3 per dollar on every monthly bill thereafter.

2.  On the same page, you will see bonuses for getting Foxtel, Quickflix, and tickets for events.

3.  Online shopping – Velocity partners with Westfield and most of us do shop at Westfields pretty often so check to see if you can get points for it.  They also have their own online shopping mall and partner with Ebay, the Iconic, Booktopia and more!

4.  Insurance and Financial – maybe not an everyday expense but if these are services you are shopping for anyway, why not get points by using the click-thru link?

5.  Wining and Dining – once again, if you like going out or joining a wine club you can get points!

 

I know if you are just starting out, this seems kind of daunting, but once you get started, it becomes second nature.  If I get a bonus for pet food, I stock up on bird seed.  I plan my grocery shopping for days when bonuses are on offer and fill my car with the maximum petrol voucher as those also get me points.  It all adds up-it has only taken me a year to get over 16,000 Qantas points just from groceries, petrol and Optus!  Purely free travel!

DOUBLE DIPPING

Oh and if you have a miles/points earning credit card you get to double-dip!  That means you earn the points from the card and from the retail partner.  For example, I spend $150 on groceries at Woolies.  I pay for it with my Amex.  I just got 130 Qantas points and 150 Amex Membership Rewards for stuff I had to buy anyways!

 

Best Marriott Hotels For Eco-Travelers And 2000 Free Points

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Using hotel points strategically can save you a lot of money in gateway cities so it’s a good idea to study them carefully to see which programs can best suit your travel plans.  This week, let’s look at the Marriott chain.  They have 3840 hotels around the world.  If you are a business traveler, you may already be getting free points from you employer-paid trips.  Lucky Americans can get a LOT of free points with the Chase Marriott Visa Card (not an affiliate link, just information) and meeting planners can get 50,000 points by planning a meeting at a Marriott Hotel.

Award nights start at 6000 points for a “Pointsaver” at a Category 1 hotel (which are pretty rare).  Marriott has a referral program by which members can earn up to 50,000 points per year by referring others to the program.  You can only do this 5 times per year so only give your referrals to people whom you know are going to stay at a Marriott within a year.  I still have my 5 referrals for this year so I would be glad to refer new members,  just use the Contact Form to send me your email and I will send you an invitation.  Once you are a member, you will then be able to invite 5 people on your own account!

OK, so how do we find the best options for eco-travelers?  Let’s have a look at the hotel directory and see what places have a Marriott property.  Most birders will be drawn to tropical places in the Americas, Asia, Africa and Australia.

 

AFRICA – Out of these 4 countries, Rwanda would possibly have some birding including a couple Poicephalus species but it’s much better known for the mountain gorillas……but keep an eye on the safety issues in Rwanda.

ASIA – India has some good possibilities.  From Bangalore you can get to Coorg where there are Malabar Parakeets and others, same goes for Kochi which is near Thattekad.   From Jaipur, you can get to Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary which has both endemic and migrating birds.  Indonesia is mostly resorts in Bali or city hotels that would do for gateway cities to other birding hot spots like West Papua and Seram.  You would pass through Manila to get to Palawan for Red-Vented Cockatoos or Subic Bay for Philippine Hanging Parrots.  Singapore has good birding in the Botanical Gardens which makes a nice detour from a shopping or business trip.  There are also good birding spots in Thailand and Malaysia.

AUSTRALIA AND PACIFIC ISLANDS – From Brisbane, you could make the long but worthwhile drive to Bowra Station or Lamington National Park which could also be accessed from Surfers Paradise.  From Melbourne, you could head up into the Dandenongs.

CARIBBEAN – Of these places, Aruba, Cayman Islands, Domincan Republic, Jamaica, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Venezuela all have good birding.

CENTRAL AMERICA – there are 6 Marriotts in Costa Rica and 5 in Panama.  As I wrote in the Carlson Hotel, Panama post, there is the Soberania NP and Metropolitan NP both in less than an hour’s drive from the city.  In Costa Rica, San Jose is the gateway to great birding destinations like Selva Verde, Arenal, Monteverde and Savegre.  Herradura is not too far from Carara NP, famous for Scarlet Macaws and Guanacaste also has great birding!

SOUTH AMERICA – all the Marriotts are in large gateway cities which will come in handy as the birding and ecotourism destinations are pretty far flung, requiring domestic flights or buses to reach.

The one thing for sure is that you can save a bundle if you use hotel points in the right places but you do have to be a good planner and maximize any other hotel stays you may have with business or family trips to save points for your big eco-adventure!