Traveling with points and miles, the ultimate guide for beginners
A small and necessary premise: If your dream is to travel business class to the Fiji Islands or to take [...]
A small and necessary premise: If your dream is to travel business class to the Fiji Islands or to take the whole family to Disneyland by taking advantage of miles and points, you should know that it will not be easy.
The writer began this journey dreaming of collecting 80 thousand Alitalia miles to fly in Magnifica class to New York. I succeeded through a lot of patience and meticulous research not to waste a single mile on the road. Since then the miles have taken me around the world, but the joy of the first award ticket is always with me.
In this article:
Read and learn
There is no instruction booklet, and you wouldn't read it anyway, because we all want everything right away. We cannot guarantee you success, but we can certainly guarantee that we will do everything we can to help you achieve your dream and many more after the first one.
As a first step, we recommend that you sign up for our newsletter: you will then receive news and offers in your box, because bargains, when they come, are very short-lived.
Miles and points are not earned (only) by flying
The question my friends ask me is always the same: "...you fly often, of course you earn miles. How do I do?...." My answer is always the same: "Points are made with your feet on the ground, not with your head in the clouds."
Sure, it helps to fly, but by following our site you can find out how to earn hundreds of thousands of points from your daily spending, doing gas, grocery shopping, paying your gas bill, sleeping in a hotel or taking a cab.
Day by day we will tell you how to accumulate points, miles and bonuses so you can then go on to cash in and peel off your tickets to your dream destinations.
The first rule is to have the right paper
Our slogan says it all: if you want to play this game, you must understand that credit cards are the main backbone of the project. Sign-up bonuses are the elevator that speeds up the path and strategy of accumulating points; and having multiple credit cards allows you to multiply your opportunities and reach your goals more easily. Using the various credit cards in everyday spending not only allows us to earn points, but also brings us benefits in our travels whether by plane or hotel or when renting a car.
The Flight Club will help you learn about the various opportunities associated with each individual credit card: the rules for obtaining it, the welcome bonuses, and the benefits included in each card. Like a Lego box, each point is a brick: and so, brick by brick, you can get to your goal.
Define your goal
Before you start making any strategy you need to define your goal. The first award ticket is the easiest one to achieve, but at the same time you must not make a mistake. Do you dream of business class to Miami? Do you want to shower in the clouds in Emirates first class? Or do you dream of taking the whole family to Thailand next Christmas? Whatever your goal is, put it down on paper and follow all our tips to achieve it.
Sign up for all loyalty programs
When you fly, when you sleep in a hotel chain, when you book a hotel on Booking, or when you shop online, you earn points and/or miles-so you should not waste any opportunities.
So sign up for the Alitalia's Millemiglia club, the main Italian circuit and the one with the highest number of partners, which allows you to detach award tickets even without having ever flown with the Italian company.
There's not just Alitalia: there's Lufthansa with the Miles & More alliance, British Airways with all the One World group airlines, or AirFrance/KLM sister airlines of AZ with Skyteam. Important that you are a member and have entered your card number when booking.
In addition to airline clubs, there are those of large hotel chains such as Hilton, Marriot, Melià and so on. Again, you can collect points for each stay, which can in turn turn turn into free stays in dreamy places.
Shop in the right places
If Alitalia miles are your goal you absolutely must have (and use): the Coop card and Payback card for groceries at Carrefour, gasoline at Esso, and purchases at dozens of other participating stores.
If your goal is the British Airways or Iberia avios, then Esselunga's Fidaty card is essential to your points accumulation strategy.
In any case, your collection should be aimed solely and exclusively at converting chain points into club miles, don't even think about converting 1,000 points for €3 off or 20k points for a frying pan.
Learn how to use points and miles
"I never get to use the miles": this is the classic phrase we hear most often here at TFC. And it's why this site will explain to you how the world of miles works, what the basic rules are, what mistakes not to make, and what opportunities to jump at.
The first thing you need to understand is. it will not be so easy to go to New York for New Year's Eve, as well as in the Maldives at Christmas Or in Australia in August. It will be difficult-but doable, and we'll tell you how to do it. Because we have done it before you.
Also important to know. Alitalia miles allow you to book first class with Korean Air to go to South Korea, or how with TAP Portugal points you can fly in business with Emirates. Or how your American Express points can be converted into miles from Krysflier, Singapore Airlines' loyalty program.
Sometimes, however it pays to pay for the ticket, always using your favorite credit card. Because paying for the card helps you earn more points and brings the bigger goal closer.
Be patient
It's not easy, but peeling off 3 tickets in business class to Australia, worth thousands of euros, spending just a few tens or hundreds of euros will pay you back for all the effort. And it will convince you that if you have done it once, you can do it again and again.
