How to Use Frequent Flyer Miles: The Mega FAQ - Extra Pack of Peanuts The goal of this FAQ is to serve as a guide for anyone (from total newbie to veteran) who has questions about how to use and redeem their frequent flyer miles to book a ticket. I’ve attempted to arrange the questions in an order from the most basic to the more advanced while also keeping some semblance of continuity between the topics discussed. I want this to be a “living document”, so if you have any other questions I’ve missed or things you want explained, please ask, either by commenting below or by emailing. 1. I start with this basic question because that is EXACTLY what I thought when I first heard about frequent flyer miles. For example, an economy class roundtrip ticket between Philadelphia and San Francisco will cost 25,000 miles but the distance you will actually be flying is about 5,000 miles roundtrip. 2. Each airline has different charts that determine how many miles you’ll need to fly to and from each place. 3. Yes. 4. That’s up to you. 5. No, not usually. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
How I flew to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil — for $60 A few months ago, I decided that I wanted to get away. I had been longing for a beautiful beach, amazing scenery and warm weather. So, I logged into united.com & booked a ticket. How is this possible, you ask? There is an incredible system of earning frequent flyer miles without spending any money. What’s required? 1) Join a Frequent Flyer Program My rule of thumb is to join one airline’s frequent flyer program in each alliance. 2) Sign-up for a Rewards Credit Card With the Chase Sapphire & United Mileage Plus cards, I’ve earned 90k miles (one international roundtrip flight & one domestic roundtrip flight). 3) Fare Glitches If credit cards aren’t your thing, try using The Flight Deal to spot insane travel deals. Have you scored any to-die-for flight fares? Want more?
9 niche travel sites to bookmark With the holidays rapidly approaching, it's hard to suppress those daydreams about booking a one-way trip out of dodge. But if the thought of braving long lines and cramped cabins is enough to make your stomach turn, we've found plenty of sites that do the hard work for you. Here are nine travel sites to bookmark this weekend: 1. ITA's Software Matrix As we've written before, there's plenty to love about Matrix. Memorize some of its routing codes and you'll have a field day finding fares that fall within your criteria for layover stops, airports and seats. The only downside to using ITA is that you can't book fares through its system. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Now see 23 secrets to booking cheap fares > More From Business Insider
How To Circumnavigate the Globe for Less Than $500: Wayne's Story - Extra Pack of Peanuts Posted By Trav Wayne’s Around the World Route Today, we welcome in Wayne, an EPoP reader extraordinaire who recently completed an amazing around the world journey using frequent flyer miles. A year ago, Wayne was a frequent flyer newbie and now, he’s putting together itineraries that would make any frequent flyer veteran jealous! Not only will Wayne’s story inspire you, but he’ll show you exactly how he did it so that you can do the same! Take it away, Wayne! Normally, for the Christmas/New Year’s Eve holiday season I spend a couple weeks visiting friends and family in Texas. I visited four countries and circumnavigated the world! I hear the muttering: “That must have cost a fortune”! Nope. I’ll tell you exactly how I was able to get the tickets for less than $500 (with a big assists from my friend Ryan Guzy and Extra Pack of Peanuts) and more importantly, how you can do the same! First, The Offers 100k Avios points? Isn’t life wonderful? I Have Miles. . . First Stop: Brazil…via Chile Boom!
[FARE GONE] Etihad Airways – $187 – $700: New York / Chicago / Dallas / Washington D.C. / Los Angeles / San Francisco – Middle East / India / Africa / Asia. Roundtrip, including all Taxes Happy Holidays! Etihad has some holiday specials for you folks in New York / Dallas / Chicago / Washington D.C. / Los Angeles / San Francisco to the Middle East, India and Africa. We did some primary checks for the following: Johannesburg [JNB] – Under $700 from San FranciscoMumbai [BOM] – Under $600 from San FranciscoAbu Dhahi [AUH] – $187 – $465 for all the listed cities.Seychelles [SEZ] $588 from JFK [2/11 – 18] We did a bunch of dates in February and availability was easy to find. Remember to enter our giveaway for $100 LoungeBuddy credit good for free lounge access. Update 12/25/2014 @ 1:00AM Eastern – Availability so far: Late January – May, September – November. Update 12/25/2015 @ 2:05AM Eastern – Availability to cities like Hong Kong, Manila etc per the comments starting around $270 from New York. Update 12/25/2015 @ 5:25PM Eastern – while we haven’t tried every city pair, JFK – Abu Dhabi is still bookable for about $250 on Priceline. Sample Travel Date: Fare Availability: E Class.
The Flight Deal | Beginner’s Guide on How To Use Matrix by ITA Software. If you are a frequent reader of our site, you know that we use Matrix by ITA Software to validate almost every deal we publish. We like Matrix by ITA Software for its flexibility, speed and, most importantly, the ability to view monthly fare availability. The trade-off for flexibility and speed is complexity compared to the likes of Kayak or Hipmunk. Matrix by ITA Software was never intended to be a consumer-friendly solution, but if used correctly, it can find very low fares. Login to Matrix by ITA Software and there you are presented with a simple interface to search for fares. We like to enable “Advance routing codes,” have “See calendar of lowest fares” selected, and on the length of stay field, we like to use a date range. On the Advanced routing code field, we enter “aa+” to search only for American. We can easily see that there are only two Fridays with cheap tickets. For more of the latest cheap Flight Deals: Go to the The Flight Deal page Stay Informed on the Latest Deals
Track frequent flyer reward programs and plan your travel AwardWalletkeeps track of yourreward programs such as your frequent flyer miles, HOTEL and credit card points. Currently we are tracking a total of 101,730,378,749 miles and points for our members across 677loyalty programs. It’s as easy as: 1. It is, quite simply, a game changer. Seth Kugel The New York Times I decided the service that best met my needs was AwardWallet, so I’m going to stick with it! Scott J. Los Angeles Times Available on your favorite Android or iOS device Introductory video You have two options, you can connect with another person on AwardWallet, or you can just create another name to better organize your rewards.
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