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Hey there, you’re reading an outdated post! The updated series from April 2015 can be found here.
This is the thirtieth and final post in a monthlong series. Each post will take about two minutes to read and may include an action item that takes the reader another two minutes to complete. I am writing this for an audience of people who know nothing about frequent flier miles, and my goal is that by the end, you know enough to fly for free anywhere you want to go.
You did it! You passed Miles Collecting 101. You should now have the basic tools to accrue millions of miles through credit card sign up bonuses mainly, but also online shopping, dining, flying cheap paid fares, and many other ways.
So what’s next?
Your mileage education is never complete. There’s always something more you can learn, so check back daily at this blog. Hopefully you now have the basics down and can understand a few of the more complicated posts.
You should also be checking flyertalk’s forums daily to keep abreast of the daily developments in the world of miles’ promotions.
Keep up with your new hobby, and maybe I’ll see you at the front of the plane in the flying bed across the aisle from mine. It’s your turn to enjoy Free First Class Next Month This Month.
Here is a link to every post in the series in case you missed one.
- An Updated Beginner’s Guide to Free Travel
- Signing up for Airline and Hotel Programs
- Check Your Credit Score
- Calculating and Increasing How Much You Spend on Credit Cards Each Month
- Double Your Credit Card Miles
- The Best Current Card Offers (but for updates, see the Best Current Credit Card Offers tab)
- Turning Credit Card Rejections into Acceptances
- Meeting Several Minimum Spends at Once
- Exploiting Transferable Points Programs
- Exploiting Category Bonuses
- Exploiting Other Credit Card Benefits
- Organizing with Award Wallet
- Why Dining Programs Can be Worth Big Miles
- Exploiting Shopping Portals
- Earn Miles Doing Everything
- Business Credit Cards
- Airlines’ Codes, Hubs, and Alliances
- Exploiting the FlyerTalk Mileage Run Forum
- Using Kayak.com and its Many Features
- Saving Hundreds on Hotels with Priceline Part 1
- Saving Hundreds on Hotels with Priceline Part 2
- Seatguru.com
- Star Alliance Searches on United.com
- Award Searches on AA.com
- Using BA.com for oneworld searches
- Using Delta.com for Award Searches
- Using Airfrance.us for Award Searches
- Using ExpertFlyer
- Using the Great Circle Mapper
- The End
Just getting started in the world of points and miles? The Chase Sapphire Preferred is the best card for you to start with.
With a bonus of 60,000 points after $4,000 spend in the first 3 months, 5x points on travel booked through the Chase Travel℠ and 3x points on restaurants, streaming services, and online groceries (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs), this card truly cannot be beat for getting started!
Editorial Disclaimer: The editorial content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuers. Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of the credit card issuers, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuers.
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Great post as always MV. I have a question about the AA credit card and miles, what do you think will happen in the future regarding AA? Will the miles be worth less, will the credit card disappear?
If they merge with US Airways, that will have negatives and positives. In that case, we will lose either the US or AA card. The strategy doesn’t change though. Get two AA cards every 18 months until that happens.
Thank you MV.
Hi, you posts arent corresponding with the list, esp toward the posts 27, 28, 29. You left out the miles calculator post too. After post 11, you no longer link to the next post in the series. This is a great series, but would be even better with the corrections.