Save Money With Airline Mileage Freebies
Jan. 31, 2007 — -- If you are like me, you may have a small number of miles in frequent flier accounts for several airlines.
When I worked in a high-travel job more than a decade ago, I signed up for every free mileage program available. Now that most of my traveling is done with my family of four, we tend to buy discounted airline tickets unless we are fortunate enough to have 100,000 miles with one airline to get four free tickets, which is not often. It takes us about four years to accumulate that much mileage!
As a result, I pay little attention to the low-mileage balances in most of my frequent flier accounts. However, after United Airline's recent announcement that it would start placing limits on people who didn't use frequent flier miles got my attention, I checked to see whether I had any mileage due to expire at the end of the year.
Indeed, I have a grand total of 2,805 miles, far from the 25,000 miles I need to get one free ticket. However, there are ways I can use this small number of miles to take advantage of easy freebies. Based on what I've learned, you may want to check your balance, too.
I have two choices: I can either find a low-cost, low-effort way to earn additional United miles to hold onto my 2,805 miles, or I can find some low-mileage redemption opportunities to get valuable freebies with my mileage.
The Mileage Plus section of United's Web site lists redemption opportunities. Below are some of the ideas I like the best.
Easy Ways to Earn United Miles
Car Rental Partners: Even if you are flying with another carrier, you can provide your Mileage Plus number to the car rental company when you rent your car or make your reservation to earn 500 miles.
Grocerymiles.com: If you shop at a Safeway-owned grocery chain, registering for the free Grocery Miles program will earn you United miles every time you buy groceries. Go to www.grocerymiles.com for details. Members earn 125 miles for every $250 spent on groceries.
Dining Rewards: If you eat at participating restaurants and register your credit card through the free Dining Rewards program, you will earn miles for every dollar spent.
Special promotions reward more frequent diners with extra miles. For example, a current promotion offers a 5,000-mile bonus when you dine out at least 10 times at participating restaurants by March 31, 2007. More frequent diners also achieve "elite" status and earn more miles per dollar than less frequent diners. Learn more at http://mpdining.rewardsnetwork.com/.
You can find many more earnings ideas at www.united.com in the Mileage Plus section.
Easy Ways to Redeem Miles
Fortunately, there are many options that require lower mileage than the 25,000-mile roundtrip airline ticket. There are special promotions for shorter flights between selected cities for 15,000 miles. If I had a Mileage Plus Visa credit card, I could get a free car rental or a hotel stay when I used the card provided I had enough miles to redeem.
Mileage requirements vary based on the cost. For example, if I booked a $100 car rental with my Mileage Plus Visa, I could redeem 12,500 miles to get the rental free. A simple calculator on the United Web site tells you how many miles are needed for hotel stays and car rentals based on the actual cost of the reservation.
I could even get a $50 restaurant gift card at participating restaurants (primarily based in Chicago) for 5,000 miles. Unfortunately, with my 2,805 miles those are not options for my account.
Fortunately, there are lower mileage "freebies" I can get with my 2,805 miles. I can choose from:
A $25 e-certificate that I can apply toward a future United airline ticket purchase for 1,000 miles.
A 13-week subscription to the Wall Street Journal for 1,200 miles.
A $100 gift certificate from Restaurant.com for 2,000 miles. Although I couldn't locate the link on United's site, you can find a link to redeem United Airline miles for these free certificates in the Restaurant Coupon section of www.couponmom.com.
In my case, I've decided to use 2,000 miles to get the $100 Restaurant.com certificate (which I can redeem for more than one dinner out by using four $25 certificates). I will also use my Mileage Plus number to earn 500 United miles with a participating car rental partner for a reservation I already booked.
That will keep my account active and prevent me from losing the remaining 805 miles. It will also bring my total mileage up to 1,305, which is enough to redeem for another freebie in the future!
Stephanie Nelson shares her savings tips as a regular contributor on ABC News' "Good Morning America." You can find more of her savings tips in her book "The Greatest Secrets of the Coupon Mom" and on her Web site at www.couponmom.com.