How to Fly for Free?

Answer 1

Frequent flier miles were once simple loyalty programs where airline customers could earn a free flight after several paid trips. Today, frequent flier programs are extremely complicated, but they can offer free travel to people who rarely purchase a seat. To begin your quest to travel for free, learn which airline provides the most convenient service to the destinations that you hope to fly to. Investigate the rules of their frequent flier program which are contained in a document on the airline's website called the terms and conditions.

Obviously, you will want to fly with that airline to accrue mileage, but these days most miles are actually earned on the ground. Applying to an airline's credit card should earn you enough miles for a free flight by itself, and your continuous use of the credit card will earn additional miles. Before applying, make sure that you look for the best promotion out there, as applying from the correct link can make a huge difference. On your airline's web site there is a link under their frequent flier page called something like "earn miles". There you will find a list of all of their mileage partners. You may not be aware of many of these travel partners such as hotels, car rental companies, and even other airlines. Other mileage earning partners will include shopping portals, insurance companies, and mortgage brokers. Eventually, you will learn that you can earn miles from almost every travel related transaction as well as many that have nothing to do with travel at all.

Be aware of all possible promotions your airline is offering. Airlines frequently offer promotions that are only valid when you sign up for them. Since it costs nothing to register, make a habit of registering for all available promotions and keep a record of your registration for the specific promotions that you plan on taking advantage of.

When it comes time to redeem your miles for free travel, be prepared to expend more effort than your normally do when booking travel. In order to find award seats available for the fewest miles, you will need to be flexible with your travel dates. If you cannot find suitable dates using the online booking process, you may have to call the airline directly. If the customer service representative you speak with is unwilling to spend time to search multiple dates and connection options, politely end the call and call again as training standards can vary widely between individuals.

To a true frequent flier mile collector, the only thing more fun that traveling, is traveling for free.