Earn, Burn, Churn 101: DAY 1
In this first post, we'll get started with the basics of what programs you should be signing up for and how to track them. Simply put: What programs should you join? Why? How can I keep track of all of my accounts? That is the subject of Day 1.
WHAT PROGRAMS SHOULD I SIGN UP FOR?
I'm sure some of you already have some miles spaced out between pre-existing accounts here and there. For those of you who have none, I recommend what I am calling "the spiffy seven." These seven alone will get you everything you need to take advantage of deals, redemptions, etc. for starters. Please note: this blog is meant to be read by Americans, as the rules are different in other countries and I don't know those rules by any means.
The spiffy seven for the American frequent flyer:
Alaska Airlines - Mileage Plan
American Airlines - AAdvantage
British Airways - Avios
Delta Airlines - SkyMiles
Southwest Airlines - Rapid Rewards
United Airlines - Mileage Plus
US Airways (soon to be merged with American) - Dividend Miles
Hotel Programs I use:
Club Carlson - these properties include Radisson, Country Inn & Suites, etc.
Hilton
Hyatt
IHG (Intercontinental Hotels Group) - includes Intercontinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inns
Marriott - also includes Ritz Carlton
SPG (Starwood Preferred Guest) - Westin, W Hotels, Sheraton, Aloft, St. Regis
^^ my personal favorite! :-)
If you already have a rewards account for airlines like JetBlue, Frontier, etc. or any other airline and/or hotel that's great. We will explore how to track them below.
EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THESE AIRLINES IS IMPORTANT. I cannot stress this enough. You may be thinking, "why do I need a British Airways account... I've never even flown them!" But what you probably don't know is that British Airways is hands-down the best program to use for domestic short-hop flights within the U.S.
Makes no sense right? Told you this stuff is weird. Keep reading. I'll explain the merits of each account in a future post.
HOW DO I TRACK ALL THESE ACCOUNTS? (aka - I hate passwords!)
Reason being, if you're gonna earn hundreds of thousands of airline/hotel/whatever points, you need a one stop shop for viewing everything about your personal accounts, all on one page.
I use a lovely little tool called Award Wallet. This is a free service that tracks your user ID's, passwords, balances, progress to elite status and when those miles expire. Amazing! It's like a Mint.com for your frequent flyer accounts!
You can also use this to track any of your other airline & hotel accounts. It even works with Rental Cars, Credit Card rewards points, Dining programs, AirBnB, Couchsurfing, Parking rewards, and more!
Award Wallet can store all your passwords locally, or on your computer, and also has a Firefox/Chrome plugin that when you click on your account, it will open a new tab and auto log you in to that frequent flyer website.
Here is what the interface looks like for me. User specific info blanked out, obvi.
You can set it up so that it emails you when you have changes, or when your miles are due to expire soon. All in all, this website tracks ~35 of my accounts. Its other super useful feature is the ability to go in and auto-upload your future travel plans and combine them into a "travel plan" where you can see all pertinent information in one place. Here is a past plan from my account.
It'll save your confirmation codes for airlines, rentals, and even give you google maps on how to get to the hotel from the airport, automatically. The airline information is generally already in your "My Trips" section of your frequent flyer account, so Award Wallet will auto-source it and create the plan for you. You can always move/edit pieces around if they've sourced it incorrectly, or delete segments altogether as your plans change.
If you look at my interface, you'll see that Southwest, United, and Delta don't have a little refresh button, only an edit and delete. That's because those are the programs that don't let Award Wallet in. Don't know why, but they are lame. There is another awesome solution Award Wallet came up with to remedy this. You have your own personal email with AW that allows you to forward travel plans, and your monthly miles statement email to your AW inbox and it will auto-upload the plans for you! So for example, when my Delta SkyMiles monthly email statement goes out, it gets sent to my personal email, and my AW email (yourusernamehere@awardwallet.com) and the software magically uploads your balance and expiration date!
You can also use this email address to forward emails let's say from Alamo like I did below. When Alamo sends you your confirmation email, just forward it to AW and everything will all be there! Same goes for a hotel reservation, and an airline confirm email.
One last thing to note: the free version of AW will only show expiration dates for three programs' miles. However, you can upgrade to show all expiry dates for as little as $10 for a year.
I have ten free "premium" version upgrade codes for first time users that I'll share with you guys. First come, first serve, obviously. If you try my code, and it doesn't work, all 10 tries have been swooped up: free-bqokqr
So it begins!
Peace, love, and an extra pack of peanuts,
LC
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