Earning and Using Frequent Flyer Miles - Part 2

Last Sunday, I gave a basic introduction to Frequent Flyer Points and Miles in Part 1 and I hope to continue that tradition every Sunday until I run out of helpful hints and tips.


As I already mentioned, I don't consider myself an expert in travelling cheaply.  I don't travel more than a few times a year and they are usually short haul domestic flights.  If you want to get real expert information, I would suggest the following blogs and forums.  Their authors travel a lot and really know the ins and outs of the different programs and are able to make a living blogging about it.  Much of my knowledge comes from them as well:

Here are my favorites:

• dansdeals.com - My favorite blog to read by far is dansdeals.com.  I check his blog every day, often a few times a  day, and his knowledge is unquestioned.  His amazing skills are especially on display in knowing how deals can be used by orthodox jews, but it is certainly not limited to that. 
• He knows more about airlines than the employees of those same airlines.  This is just one example from this post
• -If the agents in the airport are all clueless you should direct them to look up “gg onestandby” in their system (they’ll know what this is) and look around lines 85-89 which spell out the details of the procedure for this award. (Parenthetically, when trying to get a gate pass to access a club when I’m not flying I sometimes need to tell an agent to look up “gg checkpoint line 53″ which instructs agents to give you a security pass for you and your guests to access post-security United and USAirways clubs even if you aren’t flying.) 
• If you can get past some of the airline jargon, you will learn a ton.
• forums.dansdeals.com - After that comes forums.dansdeals.com or DDF (Dans Deals Forums) where like minded people come to share their insights and stories.  Since it is a forum not every member is quite as trustworthy as Dan, but there is quite a bit of information that never makes it onto the dansdeals site that is still great.
• extrapackofpeanuts.com - His information is great, but his writing style is wonderful as well.
• boardingarea.com - This is one site that has a lot of bloggers that write for it.  My favorites are dealswelike and frequentmiler but I always go to boardingarea.com and check the latest posts to see if anything interests me.
• flyertalk.com - flyertalk has by far the most information out there.  It is a forum site with over 470,000 members who just about only talk about flying and miles.  It is an overwhelming site but if you can learn to navigate it, you will learn more there than anywhere else.  Once again, since it is a forums site, you can't trust everything everyone says but you will quickly learn which members know what they are talking about and they will correct any errors.

There are lots of other sites out there as well, but I don't personally read them regularly so I can't personally recommend them.  What I can say is read, read, read.  Knowledge is key to learning how to maximize your rewards.


If you missed last week, here is part 1

Also check out  Part 3 for a discussion on the big Airline alliances and how that affects how to collect points and miles.  Stay Tuned


In Part 4, I discuss finding frequent flyer flights

Last Week to Sign up for Chase Freedom, Citi Dividend and Discover It 5% Quarter 1 Categories

Disclaimer - The Discover offers are no longer valid.

You have until March 14th to sign up for Chase Freedom and Discover It quarter 1 categories


Chase Freedom Q1 Categories - Gas Stations, Drug Stores and Starbucks

Check whether you have already signed up here

You will still get 5% for purchases you made before you sign up, as long you sign up by March 14th 

Don't have a Chase Freedom? Sign up here 

Discover It Q1 Categories - Restaurants and Movies

You will not get 5% for purchases before you sign up

 Don't have a Discover it™? Sign up here 

Citi Dividend Q1 Categories - Drug Stores, Zappos, Fitness Clubs

You will not get 5% for purchases before you sign up

Don't have a Citi Dividend? Sign up here 

You have until the end of March to finish your 5% category spending.  Even if you haven't done your spending, you can still maximize your spending with Vanilla reloads at CVs for the Citi Dividend and Chase Freedom

$20 for $10 Office Depot Gift Card

Office Depot Groupon - $20 Credit for $10 at Office Depot

Don't have groupon?  Sign up here for free


Start your purchase from Top Cashback and get up to 15% back as well!  

Don't have Top Cashback?  Sign up here for free.   They usually have the best cashback percentages (even better than Ebates) although it take a little longer to get your money.

Kiva Loans - Credit Card Points for Free and Still Feel Good About Yourself?

Kiva Loans - Credit Card Points or Cashback for Free and Still Feel Good About Yourself?

Disclaimer - The Discover offers are no longer valid.

Update 5/6/13 - You can try Kiva with $25 free which can be used to make a loan.  Once it is paid back, the money should be yours to keep.  I have been using Kiva for about 4 months with a 0% default rate.  I always pick my loans based on loans that others from Mile Point have already invested in.


Kiva is a company that provides microfinancing around the world.  The basic idea is that many people provide loans in $25 increments that will provide one person with a loan of a few hundred or a few thousand dollars.  Group funding for people in poorer countries.

Kiva does not provide the lender with any interest on this loan so you will be paid back only your $25 (or $50, etc.) so it kind of makes you feel good that you are helping people start their own business.

Here's the selfish part:

Kiva loans can be funded via paypal, which means that the loans can be funded via credit card.

Most loans are paid back monthly and once you have been paid back $25, you are able to start the cycle again by relending that money.  Instead, you can also withdraw the money to paypal and from paypal to your checking account and fund your new loans via a credit card again.


The Fidelity American Express gives 2% cashback everywhere so you can potentially get 2% back on all of your loans and you also get your initial investment back as your loans are paid back.

I used my  Discover it™ this month because I get 5% back on all online transactions until the end of the year.

For example, if I am willing to lend $12,000 total, I can lend $1,000 every month and by the end of the year I will be getting $1,000 a month in repayments while lending a new $1,000 via credit card.  That's 1,000 points for free every month!

You can also use Kiva to make sure you hit your spending thresholds for bonuses when signing up for new credit cards.

What's the catch?

There is most definitely a catch here.  Borrowers can default on their loans and you could lose your investment.  That being said, the current default rate is 1% on average, which means you still should be making some money.  The more you lend to more sources, the more likely you are to be around the average.

Even more selfish part

When you invite someone to Kiva, you will get $25 towards a new loan or $25 free, so I would certainly appreciate you signing up through my link ;)

If you sign up, invite others and you will get the $25 bonus too.

Pesach Kitchen - A Cheap Alternative

Updated for 2013

Depending on who you ask, a Pesach kitchen is either the epitome of Jewish American excess or a luxury that is almost impossible to live without.  Usually, it depends on whether you have one.

A Pesach kitchen can be a great way to take a lot of stress out of Pesach preparations.  You no longer have to get the house ready and only then begin cooking, all in a very short time.

My wife was talking to a friend and she mentioned that she has a Pesach kitchen in her basement, which she put together for not so much money.  All you need is some freezer space, a folding table, a sink and a few kitchen products.

Thank you NT for the great tip!

Here is a way to have most of a Pesach kitchen for under $150

You can buy a convection toaster oven that fits a 9x13 pan and do a lot of your cooking and baking.  I have been told to avoid buying one that can fit 2 pans because the bottom pan often burns.

Here is the one we bought, for $80-

  Oster Digital Large Capacity Toaster Oven


- You can buy a double burner for about $70 and cook lots of meatballs and soup to freeze.

BroilKing PR-D1 Professional Double Burner Range 

This comes to a grand total of $150, including shipping.


If you order them now you will be able to get them in time to plan ahead for Pesach.

If you know my wife, you would know that we already have these products because Pesach isn't a time period of the year, it's a mindset.  Just don't tell her I told you that.

Lenovo Wireless Mouse $10

Disclaimer - The Discover offers are no longer valid.

Lenovo Wireless Mouse (Red) $10 after coupon code USP1MA416673



Start you purchase from the ShopDiscover Portal from the Discover It Credit Card™ and you will get another 5% cashback

.
Don't have a Discover It?  Sign up here or Start your purchase from Top Cashback and get 3% back as well!

Don't have Top Cashback?  Sign up here for free.   They usually have the best cashback percentages (even better than Ebates ) although it take a little longer to get your money.

Earning and Using Frequent Flyer Miles - Part 1

Since I started my blog I have rarely talked about miles even though I have been learning more and more about them.  I don't talk about it because I don't consider myself terribly knowledgeable on the subject.  Despite this, I have been reading a lot about them for the past year and I have learned some basic things that can be very helpful so I hope to have a series of posts about earning and collecting frequent flyer miles.

I am personally not a huge fan of miles.  I believe that cash is king for a number of reasons.  The most important is that I can get better value with cash and use the cash to buy airline tickets or anything else and if I have miles I can only use the miles for specific items like hotels and airlines.  Also, there are no blackout dates when you pay with cash.

That being said, I understand the feeling of "getting a vacation for free" when you book it with miles.  Also, there are times where you can get even greater value by using miles than by using cash, especially in business/first class and last minute tickets.

Earning and Using Frequent Flyer Miles - Part 1 - The Basics

Earning and using frequent flyer miles needs a litte preparation.  Here are a few items that are important to think about before you get into the game.

• Know where you plan on going most frequently.  For myself, this means Israel as I plan to move there and I am sure I will have to come back and forth a lot for occasions and to see family, but it can be whatever destination you want

• Find out which airlines fly there and how many miles it costs to get there.  Milez.biz is a great website to help you figure this all out.  Just put in your staring airport and destination and they will tell you all the airlines that fly there.

• Figure out the best way to earn miles for your airline of choice.  For instance, if you think that United miles are the best way to get to where you are going, getting certain Chase credit cards are very important, even more important than the United credit card.  If you think that British Airways miles is what you want then a card that earn Avios miles (British Airways currency) is the way to go.

Hopefully over the next few months, I will add a lot more information, starting from the most basic and slightly more advanced as we go.


Check out Part 2 which discusses which websites will help you find in more information

Also, check out Part 3, which discusses the various Airline alliances

In Part 4, I discuss finding frequent flyer flights

Lowe's $10 off a $50 Purchase

Lowe's $10 off a $50 in store purchase.