Frequent Miler's latest team challenge, Million Mile Madness, is happening now! Follow us as Greg, Nick, and Stephen compete to earn 1 Million SAS miles by flying 15 airlines before November 23rd. Who will complete the challenge with the most Speed, Affordability, and Style?
Welcome to this week’s Frequent Miler week in review around the web, where we recap some of the interesting stories we’ve read this week.
One of the best ways to earn miles without flying is by taking advantage of the best credit card signup bonuses. We maintain a comprehensive list of the Best Offers that are publicly available, but some banks also have targeted offers for specific customers. Doctor of Credit reminds us to periodically check for targeted pre-approvals.
Another great way to amass miles and points is by making use of shopping portals. I typically stick to airline shopping portals, but I made a handful of purchases through the ShopMyWay portal last year to top off my Marriott Rewards account. Unfortunately, that portal is no longer partners with Marriott — Jeffsetter reports that the partnership seems to have terminated January 16th. While I tend to keep an eye on mileage payouts, I somehow missed this change. Now the points earned at ShopMyWay will convert to United or cash — and neither at good rates. I searched my email and had no notification of this change.
On the flying-and-earning-miles side, JetBlue is offering a number of promotions that enable you to earn quite a few bonus miles. Brian at The Gate covers how you can earn up to 16,000 bonus TrueBlue points by stacking four promotions from JetBlue airways. This would be most useful for readers based around Atlanta and Boston.
If you’ve taken advantage of one of the many great airfares to Europe and have travel plans later this year, you might want to keep your eye on the visa situation: Europe is moving towards the possibility of requiring US Citizens to obtain visas to visit the European Union. While it isn’t certain nor an overnight process, I’ll be watching to see what happens.
Scott at MileValue asks us if it is OK to offer someone money to change seats. When my wife and I fly Southwest or another carrier where we were unable to pay to select a seat in advance, I always board the plane with cash in my pocket in case I have to ask someone to switch. Thankfully, I’ve never had to ask. Scott’s situation and the subsequent comments led me to think out my approach should I ever find myself needing to ask.
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