Skymiles Crazy

So Randi and I got a new credit cards. We have other cards that we use, but only one has a rewards program and it's 1% cash back. Not that enticing. Enter the American Express Gold Delta Skymiles card (hello mouthful!). We will be traveling alot this year to Washington, D.C. and Houston and Provo and back again. At least 4 flights, that's alot of miles. So this card seems like a good fit.

When we applied we got 20,000 miles for the first purchase (thanks Geico Insurance) and 2500 miles for adding 2 additional card members. That's 25,000 miles - enough for a round-trip domestic award ticket. We intend to use this card for all of our everyday purchases and pay if off at the end of the month. If you carry a balance on a rewards card its return is diminished. It's a nice way to get rewarded for the things that we are already buying.

We got our cards in the mail today and I have gone skymiles crazy. There are hundreds of ways to get frequent flier miles on almost every airline without having to actually fly anywhere. There are also ways to get miles for very cheap by signing up for things all over the internet. You just have to know where to look.

Some people just apply for airline credit cards every six months like FrugalTravelGuy. This may be an effective strategy, but your credit scores (yes you have 3) are going to take a hit, which could cost you tens of thousands of dollars over the course of a 30 year mortgage! There are more economic ways to get miles.

You can get 500-1500 miles per airline program just for signing up to recieve emails for special offers. Northwest Airlines gives 500 miles for reading a few pages of information and taking 5 'quizzes.'

500 miles may not seem like alot of miles when you can open a new credit card and get 25k miles. But let's do some math. A flight from Salt Lake City to Houston (Bush Intercontinental) is approximately $300. If I need 25,000 miles to redeem for a ticket then each mile is about $0.012 per mile ($300/25k = $0.012/mile). So 500 miles is worth $6 ($0.012 x 500 = $6). You can get $6 just for giving them your email address or answering 15 questions about the NWA frequent flyer program.

Another great thing is that Northwest Airlines is merging with Delta Airlines and the NWA World Perks will combine with the Delta Skymiles program. As a perk you can transfer unlimited miles between the programs for free. So you can get as many miles in both programs and consolidate them in one account which will get you to a reward ticket faster.

I guess I am so excited because I never realized that spending a few hours online can get you free plane tickets. I always thought that you had to fly several times a year to get that many miles. I think I am going to post the ways that I get the miles so I can keep track of how easy it is. For example, today I spent 5 minutes completing the World Perks University and got 500 miles instantly! When I create an account for Randi I can do the same thing again and get double the miles.

If you're interested in getting some free or nearly free miles check out Frequent Flyer Miles. You won't regret it.