Air-travel lovers take note: If you're not flying free much of the time or flying in luxury — first-class seating, airline club lounges, free checked bags — you're probably not taking advantage of sophisticated strategies to supersize your frequent-flier miles on the cheap.
Granted, it takes effort and know-how, but using the strategies allows regular people, making regular salaries to travel the world, experts say.
"Miles really afford you the ability to travel like someone with a lot more wealth than you actually have," said Brian Kelly, founder of ThePointsGuy.com, a website that advises people on how to accumulate and use travel points and miles.
Rick Ingersoll, 62, of Hilton Head Island, S.C., is also a travel-points expert and founder of FrugalTravelGuy.com. He has taken a 35,000-mile, around-the-world trip while flying business class for a total of $360. He recently booked a flight for two on American Airlines from Florida to St. Martin in the Caribbean for award miles and $176 in taxes and fees. And to ring in the 2013 New Year, he and his wife will be flying to Sydney, Australia, for five days, all paid for with points and miles. One of the flights, from Bangkok to Sydney, includes a preflight one-hour massage.
What if he didn't have the loyalty points? "We couldn't afford to do it," said Ingersoll who owns a small mortgage banking company and whose wife is a nurse. "We're just middle-class Americans. Now, we're flying on airline tickets that would cost $15,000 or $20,000."
Like extreme couponers, who can fill grocery carts and pay next to nothing, a community of travelers has figured out how to play the loyalty-program game and become worldwide jet-setters on their frequent-flier miles. They leverage their good credit, everyday spending, time and effort for travel — often luxurious travel — that people of average incomes wouldn't dream about.
"You have to immerse yourself but once you get into it, it's totally addictive and fun," Kelly said, adding that the thrill is similar to those supermarket coupon shoppers. "But instead of stocking up on 1,000 rolls of toilet paper, you're traveling first class."
While travel loyalty strategies can defray costs on a wide range of travel products, such as hotel stays and car rentals, free flights are some of the most lucrative and easiest to get. Here are a few strategies for accumulating frequent-flier miles without taking paid-for flights.
Credit cards
Far and away the easiest way to rack up miles is to apply for credit cards, which grant points or miles — the terms are often used interchangeably and depend on the credit card and loyalty program and often one point equals one mile.
A key is the sign-up bonus.
"Historically, 25,000 points was the sweet spot, but nowadays it's really 40,000 to 50,000 points," Kelly said. That's usually plenty to take a round-trip domestic flight right away on bonus points alone. Some of the bonuses require you to spend a certain amount soon after receiving the card — for example, charge at least $1,000 during the first three months. It's important to understand what the requirements of the card are.
Ultimately, the idea is to apply for many credit cards to rack up bonuses with many different loyalty programs. For example, Ingersoll and his wife over the years have had about 175 cards between them, he said.
You don't need an especially high credit score to get approved for cards — a 700 FICO score, which is mediocre, will get you approved for most mileage cards, Kelly said. "People don't realize you don't need to be a super-frequent flier to earn miles. Most miles that I earn nowadays aren't even from flights."
Some cards have annual fees that are usually waived for the first year. Often, people only interested in the bonus miles will cancel those cards before they pay their first annual fee. They can keep their bonus miles or points, Kelly said. Some people then reapply for the same card they canceled to get more bonus miles, he said. "Some issuers allow you to apply over and over again for the same card every four to six months," Kelly said.
For specific card recommendations that suit the way you travel, go online to such websites as FrugalTravelGuy.com, ThePointsGuy.com, and the hard-core message boards Flyertalk.com and Milepoint.com.
The best way to get up to speed quickly is to avidly read those and other sites, Kelly said.
Credit card warning
Some consumers get into trouble with credit cards and end up paying sky-high finance charges. These reward-card strategies are for people who pay off their credit card balances in full every month. A few debit cards also offer reward points.
Effect on credit scores
