Frequent Flyer Mile Programs & Airfare Sites?

[Couch-Potato]

So I may be taking a job in which I will travel significantly within the US. To those of you that travel a significant amount, do you have a preferred Airline for Frequent Flyer Miles? Credit Card? Airfare Website?

Thank you for any guidance you can offer!

[frozenchief]

Best advice: join program of airline with mostnflights out of your home airport. If you’re I. Atlanta, that would be Delta. If Dallas, American (or Southwest). My home airline is Alaska (duh!), which is nice because they’re a great airline but they don’t fly as many places. Their rewards program, though, is great. I’ve been 75K Gold for the past several years and they really take care of me. But Delta flies once, maybe twice, a day to Seattle. Alaska flies about 20 times a day. And even if their flights are fewer, they go a lot of places. And Alaska is a great airline. Much happier flying them than any other US based airline.*

Have a separate card for hotel but once you start with one points program, it is hard to go elsewhere. Marriott and Hilton have the most properties. I never thought of this and started with Hyatt. Nice hotels and really convenient for me because the Hyatt in Seattle is super convenient for me for lots of reasons. Hyatt is expanding but there are lots more Hilton’s and Marriotts than Hyatt’s. If I knew then what I know now, I might have switched. But I have several hundred thousand Hyatt points now so it’s hard to switch.

* nicest airline ever - Emirates. Flew first class in them on an A380 and took a shower on the plane. I got off th plane and was honestly sad to get off. Your own 36+” TV. Your own cocoon with a personal mini bar. First class wine list and food that is unbelievable. Drank vintage Dom Perignon with caviar before taking my shower. And I did it with miles from Alaska.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by DaFace

Unless you force you to use it, that's a horrible idea. They get to keep all of the rewards.

Damn you.

[Couch-Potato]

I fly out of LAX. Love this airport, so easy, no trams like Denver or constant delays like Chi. I would primarily fly within the Western Half of North America.

Have a friend with AA, says if he weren't sucked in already he'd of gone with United. Another friend like Delta, say the planes always have a tv and he likes to use the Delta club. My boss likes AA for the additional passenger.

I do already have a Chase United Card, but I'm no married to it. I hadn't really considered Hotel chains yet.

[markd2000]

I used to be an airline points junkie and had an AAdvantage card offered by Citi. I finally saw the light and scrapped the mileage card for a 2% cash back card offered by Capital One Spark. I found it was getting harder and harder to use my miles for a 25,000 mile round trip. Either the 25K level wasn't available and they wanted 50k or they would route you through 3 cities to get to your destination. And many times you could book a flight for less than $500 which is the equivalent to 25K miles with a 2% cash back card. In addition they would add airport fees that you have to pay when using miles. I picked the Spark card because I can spend the cash back on anything I wanted and not limited to travel and the 2% reward is unlimited. If you have a Citi Card for American Airlines you should be aware of their Reduced Milage Awards offered each quarter...if your destination is listed you can sometimes save 7500 miles and get a round trip ticket for just 17,500 miles.

[Dunit35]

My wife will be traveling to Utah once a month for a year. She starts that in August for school.

We were thinking of going with a Southwest CC. See if she can get a free flight out of it.

[scho63]

I used to travel 70-100k miles a year and United was great but no longer the case. Airlines have cut back massively on their rewards programs as the number of Airlines dwindle as their profits continue to rise.

Airfare websites are all the same pricing. Technology prevents one website from having lower prices. It's all a matter of your preference for the ease of use to purchase, check out and their customer service if something goes wrong.

[Reerun_KC]

I do alot of international travel both for work and personal. I use the American Airlines and Hilton cards. They seem to work best for the locations and destinations we like to travel to....

Make sure you sign up for all the airlines rewards programs and hotel.

United
Delta
Southwest
AA

Hilton
Marriott
IHG
Choice Privileges

That should cover about 98% of any traveling you do domestic and abroad.

[Reerun_KC]

Also look into what hotels or airlines they are looking to put you on and in. Then once you figure out what you will be in or on the most, get those CCs for that Airline and Hotel.

Im about to switch from AA to either United or Delta or both because I dont travel on AA as much anymore.

So I could get more miles and points off of either of those two vs AA now.

[mikeyis4dcats.]

as others said, the most important thing is where to are flying from and to most often, that may dictate your choice of airline. second is your flexibility in booking, are they booking you the cheapest thing or can you choose?

[mikeyis4dcats.]

there are quire a few good blogs for points & miles. TPG, A View From the Wing, etc.


Sign up for awardwallet. It is great for tracking all your programs and point expiration, etc. https://awardwallet.com/?refCode=qxsoxkdikz


I'm down now to somewhere north of a million mile/points from a high near double that. Most of it for old manufactured spending before it got too burdensome, as well as some really good card sign up bonuses.

[ChiefBlueCFC]

If you fly a lot for work, its best to join the major ones so that you can accrue miles and you're not limited to a single airline. If you are looking for a credit card I've heard good things about Southwest and American but I don't have either.

Southwest miles seem to go further as they have cheaper flight options than United, Delta, American etc.

[ChiefBlueCFC]

Originally Posted by Reerun_KC

I do alot of international travel both for work and personal. I use the American Airlines and Hilton cards. They seem to work best for the locations and destinations we like to travel to....

Make sure you sign up for all the airlines rewards programs and hotel.

United
Delta
Southwest
AA

Hilton
Marriott
IHG
Choice Privileges

That should cover about 98% of any traveling you do domestic and abroad.

This is also what I do, although my travel for work is not international currently. However, it is nice to use those miles you got for work and use them for personal travel and vacations. Same with the hotels