Free airline miles...

Anybody who has looked at any of my blogs in the last couple of months has seen a link to the Travel Hacker Cartel web site. Their claim of earning a plane ticket every three months sounds like a pretty strong come-on, but I tried it out and it works!

The concept is simple – take advantage of offers to earn airline miles from credit card companies and others that want your business. To earn enough miles on a regular basis requires that you “churn” credit cards. For example, I just applied for a US Airways credit card through Barclays and was approved instantly. As a result, I earned 30,000 US Airways Dividend Miles and if I do a balance transfer, I can earn an additional mile for each dollar transferred, up to 10,000 miles. Once I have used the card and met all the qualifications, I will close the card and open one somewhere else to earn a new bonus. Simple.

Obviously this requires keeping track of the cards you have and knowing a little about how credit works. I never carry a balance on my cards; always pay on time and have worked hard at keeping a high FICO score. American Airlines is my airline of choice and I have had a Citibank AAdvantage card for nearly 20 years. It occurred to me that I really should cancel it, wait six months and apply for another so I can earn the 30,000 to 60,000 bump that is regularly available.

Another great offer was through SunTrust Bank. This one is great because you don’t have to have great credit to get it. Open a checking account online and use your debit card within the first 30 days to get 15,000 Delta SkyMiles. Set up a direct deposit and earn an additional 15,000 miles. It doesn’t get any easier than this! In fact, this is the second time I have done this deal through SunTrust. I kept the last account for seven months and then closed it. Eight months later I opened a new account when the offer came around again.

Depending on your financial situation, there are tons of offers out there you can leverage to build your frequent flyer program balances. I went to the AAdvantage website and found out I could earn 25,000 miles for opening a Fidelity brokerage account. If you have money that is not invested, you’re earning between 0.1% and .5% on your savings or CD. Moving the money to use as a qualifying balance for a checking account or, in this case, a brokerage account gets you a free trip instead of $1.78 interest each month. That’s a pretty easy decision to make as far as I’m concerned.

The Travel Hacker site is great because it not only lists offers as they come available, but there are tutorials on understanding the process and how to get the most out of the frequent flyer miles you earn.

I have a lot of travel experience, but I have learned more from the Travel Hacker Cartel than I thought possible. More to come on earning and spending frequent flyer points. In the meantime, click on the link at the top right of this page and get started earning free airfare!!!

I realize this is a departure from the information related to my Panama trip, so for my additional comments and tips for earning airline miles, please go to my other blog, Brian's New Home.