How I'm Flying Home For Next-to-Nothing (and you can too!)

[Updates in brown]

I recently booked my ticket back to the States for this upcoming September, and after chatting with several friends here in China, I was shocked to hear that none of them are members of any airline frequent flyer programs.  So, this post is a short description of how to take advantage of frequent flyer programs to get cheap or free flights, and why you should!

First of all, let me say that my understanding of the frequent flyer programs is fairly rudimentary, and the advice I'm giving here is basic-nothing a seasoned frequent flyer will find all that groundbreaking.  If you want to learn to really take advantage of the system, check out Chris Guillebeau's Blog "The Art of Non-Conformity.  (Thanks to Francine for referring me to his site!)  He goes into great detail about what he terms "travel hacking", and sells several eBooks on the topic.  His blog, however, contains plenty of free advice, including this article on frequent flyer miles.

Most people, it seems, are averse to the idea of frequent flyer miles because of legendary flight restrictions, difficulties earning and redeeming miles, and most of all ignorance.  It is not as difficult as one might think to earn and redeem miles.  You can sign up for most airlines' programs online for free.  Some airlines even give you free miles just for joining.  Below are several links to the various airlines' signup pages:

• American


• Alaska


• Continental


• Delta


• United


• U.S. Airways


• Virgin Atlantic


• British Airways


• Southwest


• JetBlue

(links compiled by The Art of Non-Conformity)

Once you've signed up, it's only a matter of reporting your account number when flying.  If you forget to report your account number before flying, it's no big deal.  You can report usually for up to a year after the fact online or by phone.

Since my experience has most recently been with United, a member of the Star Alliance, I'll use that as a reference.  Other airlines might vary in rules and rates.  My one-way ticket from Beijing back to Philadelphia in September was priced at around $1,200.  Instead of forking out the cash, I started investigating how to use the 23,000 miles I'd earned on United to fly home.  Using their website's "Redeem Miles" search feature, I found that a one-way flight home would run 32,500 miles.  Still 10,000 miles short, I referred to my Continental One-Pass account, and saw that I'd saved 9,000 miles with Continental.  Although both of these airlines are members of the Star Alliance, and they've now announced their merger, after consulting with both of them on the phone, it became clear that while I could use my miles from one airline on one or the other airline, I couldn't combine the two.

[While United and Continental have as of yet not announced the details of how their Frequent Flyer programs will be combined, we can make some assumptions based on the past merger of Delta and Northwestern.  It's likely that after the two airlines have officially completed their merger (probably sometime in 2011), that miles from the two airlines will then be combine-able.  Until then, it's either convert, use one airline's miles, or forget it.]

I considered converting my Continental miles to United miles (yes! it is possible), but I didn't feel like waiting and dealing with the resulting loss in mileage.  Most mileage and point programs can be converted through a sometimes circuitous process of first converting to a middle-man program like Amtrak or HiltonHonors.  The process often results in 10,000 miles from one account being converted to 4,000 miles in another account, just hypothetically speaking.  For details, check out WebFlyer.

So, I was in need of another 9,500 miles.  My parents offered to transfer me some of their miles, but the airlines discourage this by charging a transfer fee and a per mile charge.  Instead, I learned that I could make up the difference by purchasing miles from the airline.  Miles may be purchased by 1,000 mile increment, and rates start at around $50 for 1,000 miles.  I purchased 10,000 miles for $357.  With taxes and fees added in, I spent only $390 on my airfare, saving over $800.  What's more, if I had had time to wait (I was a bit anxious about the available dates running out), I could have flown for nothing!

In my research, I discovered that United has a program called "United College Plus", which offers students 10,000 free miles just for graduating college.  I signed up (in under 5 minutes), had my university send them a copy of my transcript for verification purposes, and within two weeks, they credited my account with an additional 10,000 free miles.  I should mention that in the fine print, it specifies that you have to join the College Plus program before graduating (which I don't believe I had), and must report your transcript within a year of graduating (which I may or may not have just managed to do).

Furthermore, I realized that I've flown several times on Air China in the past year, and didn't earn any miles for those flights.  Since Air China and United are both part of the same alliance, I reported the flights to United, giving them my ticket numbers, dates of travel, etc. and earning myself an extra 5,000 miles.

There are plenty of other ways to earn miles without flying, however.  Exploring each airline's Frequent Flyer website will tell you that you can earn miles by showing your Frequent Flyer card while staying in hotels, renting cars, shopping online, and even eating out at restaurants!

What's more, one of the most efficient ways to earn miles is by signing up for an airline's credit card.  It may sound risky or scary, but after reading the fine print thoroughly, it might not be as risky as you think.  United is currently offering their Chase Bank Visa Platinum card with a bonus of 30,000 miles online.  What I've taken from the fine print:

• there is a $69 annual fee


• that fee is waived for the first year


• you earn 30,000 miles only after spending $250


• it may take 4-6 weeks after spending the minimum to earn those miles


• you can only use those 30,000 miles if your account remains active until after you've used them


• that means that you can cancel your credit card after using the points, but only after you've redeemed the miles and flown with them

After calling home today, I found out I'd received another mailing from United offering the same card with a bonus of 50,000 miles instead of 30k.  An additional 50,000 miles on top of the 15,000 I earned by sending my college transcript and reporting my flights on their partner airline would give me 65,000 miles-enough to fly roundtrip anywhere in the world OR to fly roundtrip in the United States 2.5 times.  A free flight anywhere in the world, combined with some CouchSurfing (check out couchsurfing.org) or a visit to an international friend could mean an amazing adventure for next to nothing!  (Taxes, fees, and food not included.)

What are the risks of signing up for a credit card deal like this?

Every time your credit report is checked, your score goes down slightly, but once will not hurt significantly.  Just ask Chris Guillebeau who signed up for 13 (!) airline credit cards, earning 300,000 miles and various other bonuses, and only saw his credit score go down by 4% (after 13 credit cards, 4% is not bad)!!!

[If you're concerned about your credit history (and even if you're not), you should know that the US government allows you to check your credit report for FREE once each year.  To access your truly free credit report, go to AnnualCreditReport.com.  This website will allow you to access your credit report with each of the big credit reporting agencies:  Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian.  You can even dispute negative claims easily online, talking your way out of any major blemishes.  Just realize that these reports don't give you your credit score, just a listing of all positive and negative marks on your account.]

Annual fees!  While some credit cards offer $0 in annual fees,. the United card I'm looking at charges $69.  While this may seem like a lot, for a free roundtrip flight, the fee is worth it (especially if you plan on canceling your card in the first year).  Furthermore, United is currently offering to waive the first year's fee, which means that as long as I get the card, earn the points, redeem the points, fly with those points, and remember to cancel the card all in the first year, I'll be earning 50,000 miles for free!

Privacy:  Some of my friends have told me they've heard stories about signing up for credit cards like this and having their private information sold to third party companies.  Whether this is true or not, I don't know.  My advice:  read the fine print thoroughly.  Most airline credit cards are sponsored through major banks, and specify how secure your information is.  A good rule of thumb, if you've read through the fine print and it doesn't seem legit, it probably isn't.  That doesn't mean there isn't plenty of secure free mileage to be had.

If you choose to keep your airline credit card, using it to book additional flights with that airline will earn you even more miles.  I, on the other hand, am a proponent of bank reward credit cards, through which you can diversify your points and miles.

Well, that's a basic overview of how to finagle some free travel or travel hack.  If you're trying to travel quickly, it might not be the best option, but if you fly anywhere, anytime it is extremely worth it to sign up for the airline's Frequent Flyer program, and start saving your miles!

If you want to learn more, I do suggest you check out Chris Guillebeau's blog, which I referenced and cited several times in this entry, or just do some web surfing and googling of your own!

[I'll write again soon about my upcoming plans and recent exploits.  I'm having some summer clothes copied from major clothing brands' websites and custom made by my tailor, and I'm continually fighting a losing battle against being a night owl.  The weather has been unflinchingly sunny and warm as always, and I'm up to the usual.]