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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

SECTION 1: HOW TO GET FREE FLIGHTS

1) The Fastest Way To Get Free Flights

2) How Your Credit Score Works
3) Step-By-Step Guides For Three Types Of Travelers
4) How To Get Bumped
5) Earning Elite Status In One Roundtrip Flight
6) Complaints = Miles
7) Bring A Companion For Free

SECTION 2: HOW TO USE YOUR MILES

8) Spending Points Wisely

9) How To Fly To Additional Cities For Free
10) Using Partner Airlines To Fly Anywhere In The World

SECTION 3: PLANNING A TRIP FROM START TO FINISH

11) How To Plan A Trip, Step-By-Step

12) Finding Cheap Flights

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INTRODUCTION: HOW TO FLY FOR FREE

I recently took a dream vacation to the Galapagos Islands. A friend of mine was
living on the islands and I had some unused vacation days set to expire, so the timing was
perfect. The only thing standing in the way of snorkeling with sea lions: a $1600 plane
ticket.

And yet, with surprising ease, I was able to fly down for a grand total of $45 in
processing fees. My tropical deliverer? Frequent flyer miles.

Nearly every time I tell people about my free trip, I’m met with the same two-step
reaction: amazement that I was able to fly to the Galapagos for free and disbelief that they
could take a similar trip of their own without dipping into their savings. Their doubt soon
turns into apathy, and before you know it they’re back to paying out-of-pocket for
expensive flights (or complaining that they never go anywhere).

Swallowing the cost of these flights is easy when you’re rich. To the rest of us, for
whom a Google Image of giant tortoises is as close as we’ll get to the Galapagos when
ticket prices total $2000, reward travel remains a hugely underutilized third option.

Plenty of frequent flyer books promise to teach you how to get the cheapest airfare
possible. They’ll give you 350 pages worth of tips like “get an airlines credit card” or “try
to fly the same carrier each time.” These broad overviews are about as helpful as teaching
someone to play soccer by instructing them to “kick the ball towards the goal.”

Most people don’t want to take the time and effort to become an expert. They just
want to take an awesome vacation for free!

That’s why I wrote How To Fly For Free: to give you hyper-practical tips on how to
travel for free.

I don’t do this for a living. I have a full-time job that requires some travel. I was
skeptical of frequent flyer miles initially; it felt like a scam.

Years later, after taking free trips to Europe, South America, and elsewhere, I can say
without reservation that I was wrong. If an amateur like me who is wholly disconnected
from the airline industry can use the system to fly for free, anyone can.

Traveling around the world for free isn’t difficult, but it isn’t intuitive either. It’s not a
matter of just searching Orbitz or booking your flights on Tuesdays at 1pm. (That Tuesday
tip is complete malarkey, by the way.) You need to know step-by-step how to find cheap
flights, how to rack up thousands of frequent flyer miles easily, and how to piece it
altogether for your dream vacation.

Here’s a shorthand guide to getting the most from this book:

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 The first section of the book details how to easily earn hundreds of thousands of
frequent flyer miles.

• In Chapter 1 I describe how I earned 885,000 miles and points over the past
18 months through a single source: credit card sign-up bonuses. It includes
tips like which credit cards to apply for, how to get business cards, and sample
scripts to help you get approved.

• In Chapter 2, I explain how credit scores are calculated and why having even
17 credit cards like I do won’t drag down your score.

• Chapter 3 gives you three step-by-step guides for how to earn miles based on
your comfort level: one for those just looking for a single dream vacation, one
for people looking to take multiple trips, and one for aspiring mile-
millionaires.

• Chapters 4-6 explain how to travel for free by increasing your odds of getting
bumped, how to earn elite status with as little as one international flight, and
how to score thousands of extra miles by complaining when anything in your
flight goes wrong.

• In Chapter 7, you will learn how to get the Southwest Companion Pass, an
extraordinarily valuable item that lets you bring someone else for free anytime
you fly Southwest, for up to two years.

The second section explains how to use your miles for free flights.

• Chapter 8 details how to spend your miles wisely, including a list of the top
10 trips to get the most value from your miles.

• Chapter 9 tells you how to construct your itinerary to get free stopovers, letting
you visit more places on your trip without paying anything extra.

• Chapter 10 details how partner airlines can let you fly anywhere in the world
with your miles.

The third section walks you step-by-step through the free-flight planning process.

• In Chapter 11, I detail exactly how I would plan a free trip from start to finish.

• Finally, Chapter 12 explains how to find super-cheap airfare, including tips

that helped me fly roundtrip to Costa Rica for $275 and roundtrip to Europe
for $280.

In the end, the reason I wrote this book is because we all want to travel more. Two
things usually stop us: time and money. I can’t give you more time, but I can help you

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make traveling a lot less expensive. The world’s too beautiful a place to let expensive
flights stop you from seeing it.

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SECTION 1: HOW TO GET

FREE FLIGHTS

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CHAPTER 1: CREDIT CARD SIGN-UP BONUSES

I’ve earned more than one million miles and points in the last 18 months. Nearly 90
percent of them came from a single source: credit cards.

The idea of credit cards makes some folks queasy. A lot of people just want to use
cash because credit cards don’t feel like real money to them. Some just want one debit
card tied directly to their checking account because it’s the option with the least hassle.

I can empathize; I used to be like that, too. I was skeptical about how many points I’d
get, didn’t want to have to keep track of everything, thought the fees wouldn’t be worth it,
and most of all, worried about my credit score.

Let me give you three numbers that changed my mind. 885,000, 138, and 93.

• 885,000: The number of miles and points I’ve gotten from credit cards in the
past 18 months.

• 138: The number of dollars I’ve spent on credit card fees to earn those miles
and points.

• 93: The number of points my credit card score has increased in the past 18
months.

Nearly all of the credit cards I signed up for were free; the two that weren’t cost $69
apiece. But, as I explain in Chapter 7, they were still worth it and then some. People who
don’t know personal finance will tell you there’s no way you can sign up for a bunch of
credit cards without ruining your credit score, but my score went up from 720 to 813
since I began seriously pursuing sign-up bonuses.

And the rewards are tremendous. Here are just a few examples of ways you could
use 885,000 miles and points.

• With 180,000 American Airline miles, you can take a free round-the-world
trip with 16 stops anywhere in the globe

• With 75,000 Delta miles, you can book a free roundtrip flight for yourself and
a friend to Costa Rica

• With 40,000 US Airways miles, you can fly roundtrip to Europe for free

• With 100,000 Southwest miles, you can take as many as 10 free roundtrip
domestic flights

• With 50,000 United miles, you can fly roundtrip to Jamaica for free

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 • With 20,000 SPG points, you can book a free roundtrip flight to Brazil

• With 150,000 American Express points, you can fly roundtrip to China for free

• With 50,000 Chase points, you can take a free roundtrip flight to Hawaii

——————

TIP: Not everyone is comfortable signing up for a lot of new credit cards. That’s fine!
Chapter 3 gives you three different step-by-step guides, depending on your comfort level.

——————

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Almost every airline offers credit cards that come with major bonus miles for signing
up, as well as additional miles for every dollar you spend. There are also cards like
American Express, Chase, and Starwood Preferred Group that give you points which you
can convert to airline miles. I highly recommend using www.awardwallet.com, a free
website that keeps track of all your various miles accounts, sparing you the hassle of trying
to track down random login numbers and passwords.

Some credit cards like US Airways’ give you the bonus miles just for signing up and
making at least one purchase; others require you to spend a certain amount of money on
the card in a given time period. For instance, the US Airways credit card gives you 40,000
miles for signing up and using it at least once, whereas the American Airlines card gives
you 50,000 miles (and $150 in American Airlines credit) after you spend $3,000 on the
card in the first four months.

——————

TIP: The sign-on bonus is all that matters. Don’t get sucked in by shiny lures like “double
miles on groceries” or “5x miles on flights”. Here’s why you can essentially ignore these
gimmicks. Most airlines charge 25,000 miles for a domestic roundtrip reward ticket. This
would mean you’d either have to buy $12,500 worth of groceries — it’d take the average
person more than 4 years to spend this much — or spend $5,000 on airplane tickets — 20
separate $250 tickets — to get just one free roundtrip domestic ticket.

——————

Don’t let the spending threshold scare you off. You may not normally spend $3,000
in a typical four-month period, but here are some easy ways to meet the requirement
without spending more money than you would otherwise:

• Everyday purchases: Put everything on your credit card, especially big-ticket

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 items. Gas, groceries, Netflix subscription, cell phone bill, utilities, Amazon
purchases, food, household items, etc.

• Prepaid debit cards: American Express lets you buy a prepaid gift card with no
purchase fees that you can use like cash anywhere AmEx is accepted.
Mastercard offers a similar prepaid gift card as well, complete with no
purchase fees and usable anywhere Mastercard is accepted. Test this out with
a small gift card first before buying a lot, though, because some credit card
companies like Citi charge gift card purchases as cash advances.

• Gift cards: You can stock up on gift cards for places you’ll need to shop at
later. For instance, if you get your groceries at Safeway or your gas at BP, you
can buy a bunch of gift cards now to help meet your spending threshold, then
use those gift cards for your regular shopping throughout the year. Amazon
and most online retailers also offer gift cards. Again, test this out with a small
gift card first before buying a lot because some credit card companies like Citi
charge gift card purchases as cash advances.

• Amazon payments: You can transfer a (trusted) friend up to $1,000 per month
using your credit card on Amazon Payments. Your friend can then turn around
and write you a check for $1,000. You’re supposed to have a legitimate reason
for transferring them the money — perhaps they sold you something) — so be
creative and careful because if they decide you’re abusing it, you will be
banned from the service.

• Rent/mortgage: There are a few places like WilliamPaid and ChargeSmart that
allow you to pay your rent or mortgage using your credit card. The main
drawback is that they charge a 3% fee for their services. However, if you need
to spend another $1000 to get your bonus miles and you don’t have a better
option, a 3% fee ($30 in this case) is worth it.

WILL I HAVE TO PAY CREDIT CARD FEES?

I don’t like paying for credit cards, and neither should you. Thankfully, most credit
cards waive their annual fee for the first year to try to entice you. “But Scott, won’t you just
have to pay $99 for the card a year from now?” you might ask. No! A few weeks before
the anniversary of when you signed up, look on the back of your credit card and call the
phone number listed there. Point to your impeccable record of on-time payments and tell
them you’d like to have the annual fee waived for the next year. Every time but one I’ve
done this, the agent has agreed to waive the annual fee.

If they won’t get rid of the fee, it’s rarely worth it to pay the charge just to keep the
card for another year. You’ve already received your sign-up bonus, and the points-per-
dollar-spent is never a good deal. Just open a different card with a new sign-up bonus!
Meanwhile, ask the credit card agent if she can downgrade you to a card that doesn’t have
an annual fee. Closing a credit card dings your credit score a couple points, so you should

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only take this option if you can’t get the annual fee waived and can’t get your card
downgraded.

——————

TIP: If you see a better bonus offer than what you signed up for, it’s worth calling to see if
you can get bumped up to a new offer. For example, last year I signed up for a Marriott
Hotels credit card that gave me 50,000 points for signing up. A couple of weeks after I got
the card, however, I saw that they were offering the same card with a 70,000-point bonus.
I called up and explained that I’d signed up for the card two weeks ago and I’d like to be
grandfathered into the new offer. Five minutes later, the agent came back on the line and
agreed to do so. No convincing necessary!

——————

BUSINESS CREDIT CARDS

The reason to apply for a business card, as opposed to just personal cards, is if either
(a) there’s a great offer on a business card, or (b) you’ve exhausted all the personal cards
you want to get.

Fun fact: you don’t need to have a business to apply for a business credit card. I
currently have three business cards, and trust me, there’s no Scott Keyes, Inc. The beauty of
the system is that, for all intents and purposes, you can be your own business.

Now, you should obviously never lie in a credit card application. But it’s never
necessary to do so, even for non-business owners who want to apply for a business credit
card.

You may not own a business, but perhaps you earn a bit of side income apart from
your 9-5 job. Maybe you travel occasionally for work and a business card would help
keep your accounts separate. Perhaps you just have a few work-related expenses that a
business card would help you keep track of. Or you could just be selling a thing or two on
eBay. Any of these are plausible reasons for applying (and yes, I’ve used all of them —
successfully — when various customer service agents asked what I needed a business
card for). You don’t need to have an incorporated business to be conducting business
activities.

The business card application differs slightly from one for a personal card. Namely,
they ask for the legal name of your business, number of years in business, number of
employees, annual revenue, and whether you have a “tax identification number.” Don’t be
dismayed! These may sound scary if you don’t have your own business, but I promise you
they’re nothing to fear.

• Your business name is just your own name.

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 • Years in business is however long you can use for your reason for wanting a
business card. I put down three years, for instance, because I’ve written
freelance articles for that length of time.

• Number of employees is presumably just one (yourself).

• Annual revenue is just the expenses associated with your reason for wanting a
business card. Don’t be afraid even if it’s as little as $100 — I’ve been
approved at that level of revenue.

• Finally, for your tax identification number, simply click the option that your
business is a sole proprietorship and does not have a tax ID number.

WHAT IF MY CREDIT CARD APPLICATION ISN’T APPROVED?

Sometimes when you apply you’ll get instantly approved online. If that doesn’t
happen, don’t worry! I only get instant online approvals around 30% of the time—but only
twice have I ultimately been rejected for a new card.

If your application isn’t immediately approved, the next day call the reconsideration
line (listed below) for whichever credit card you’re applying for. Have your reference
number in hand to make the process go more quickly.

• American Express: 866-314-0237

• Bank Of America: 866-458-8805
• Barclay’s: 866-369-1283
• Chase: 888-871-4649
• Citibank: 866-606-2787

Here are a few sample scripts you can use when you’re speaking with the credit
agent that should help you get your application approved.

RECONSIDERATION SCRIPT:

You: Howdy! I applied for the Citi American Airlines credit card and I’d like to get that
approved.

Credit card rep: Wonderful, thanks for calling Citi. Do you have a reference number?
Okay, great. Can I put you on hold?

REASONS YOU MIGHT NOT BE INSTANTLY APPROVED:

Low credit score:

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Credit card rep: It looks like your credit score is a bit lower than what we normally
approve.

You: I understand. You’ll notice that my credit history is relatively short because I only
recently graduated from college. However, other than my student loans, which I’m on
schedule with, I don’t have any outstanding debt and, other than one mix-up with a check
in college, I’ve never missed a credit card payment. In addition, I was recently hired as a
systems analyst and now have a regular $40,000 salary. With all that in mind, are you able
to approve my application?

Credit card rep: Let me take a look. (Keeps you in suspense for 3 minutes.) Thank you for
your application Mr. Keyes, you’ve been approved for a $5,000 credit line with Citi.

Too much credit:

Credit card rep: I see here that you’ve already got 3 open accounts with Citi and a total
credit line of $15,000. Is there a reason you need to open a new account?

You: I’m going to begin flying more with American Airlines and I’m really excited about
the benefits that this card offers. Would it be possible to lower the credit limits on two of
my other accounts?

Credit card rep: Let me take a look. Can I put you on hold? (Wait 5 minutes.) Normally
we could do that, but I’m afraid we don’t allow credit lines lower than $5,000.

You: I understand. Is it possible to close my Hilton card and open up the American Airlines
card?

Credit card rep: Yes, we can do that. Congratulations, Mr. Keyes, you’ve been approved
for a $5,000 credit line on the new American Airlines credit card.

Closing too many accounts:

Credit card rep: Our records show that you’ve closed a number of accounts in the past
year.

You: Yes. I closed the US Airways card because they cut back on service for my local
airport and I could rarely fly them anymore. I also closed my United card because their
flights became too expensive for where I needed to go. In fact, one of the reasons I’m
excited about this American Airlines card is because they have increased service to my
local airport.

Credit card rep: Great. Just wanted to find out what your reason for closing the accounts
was. We’ve approved you for the American Airlines card with a $5,000 credit line.

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———————

After you are approved, you’ll receive the card a week or so later. When you call to
activate it, be sure to confirm with the agent exactly what the sign-up bonus is and how
much you have to spend on the card to receive the bonus. You don’t want to spend $500
on the card, only to find out three months later that the spending threshold was actually
$1,000. After all, when you assume things, you make an ASS out of U and ME.

Here are the credit cards I’ve signed up for:

Airline/company Bonus Spend threshold

US Airways 40,000 miles First spend

AA 30,000 miles $3,000 in 4 mos.
AA Business 100,000 miles $10,000 in 6 mos.
SPG 20,000 points $4,500 in 6 mos.
Hilton 50,000 points $1,000 in 3 mos.
Marriott 70,000 points First spend
AmEx Premier Rewards
75,000 points $1,000 in 3 mos.
Gold
AmEx Business Gold 75,000 points $2,000 in 3 mos.
Sapphire Preferred 50,000 points $3,000 in 3 mos.
Delta Business 30,000 miles $500 in 3 mos.
Delta 45,000 miles $3,000 in 3 mos.
United Explorer 50,000 miles First spend
AA 50,000 miles $3,000 in 4 mos.
Southwest 50,000 miles First spend
Southwest Business 50,000 miles First spend
Hilton 50,000 points $1,500 in 6 mos.
Hilton 50,000 points $1,500 in 6 mos.

TOTAL: 885,000 miles/points

I highly recommend using a system to keep track of all your credit cards. Feel free to
steal my spreadsheet template (or develop your own)

Airline/company American Airlines

Bonus 50,000 miles
Spend threshold $3,000 in 4 months
Bank Citi
Received bonus? Yes
Date activated 4/16/2012

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 Cancel by 4/1/2013
Yearly fee $0 first year, $85 after
Online account www.citicards.com
Login username
Password abc123

WHICH CARDS SHOULD I APPLY FOR?

Credit card offers can spring up or end at any time. When they do, I’ll update this
guide accordingly.

Here are the best offers currently on the market. (Note: I don’t get any referral bonus
or compensation if you sign up for any of these):

• American Airlines card

• Bonus: 50,000 miles
• Spending threshold: $2500 in 4 months
• Annual fee: Waived first year
• Bank: Citi

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• United Airlines card (make sure you’re logged into your MileagePlus account
to get this offer)
• Bonus: 55,000 miles
• Spending threshold: $1000 in 3 months
• Annual fee: Waived first year
• Bank: Chase

• US Airways card
• Bonus: 40,000 miles
• Spending threshold: First spend
• Annual fee: Waived first year
• Bank: Barclays

• Sapphire Preferred card

• Bonus: 40,000 points (transferrable)
• Spending threshold: $3000 in 3 months
• Annual fee: Waived first year

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 • Bank: Chase

• Delta card
• Bonus: 40,000 miles (varies)
• Spending threshold: $500 in 3 months (varies)
• Annual fee: Waived first year
• Bank: American Express

MILES CARDS VS. POINTS CARDS

There are two types of credit cards: miles cards and points cards. Miles cards are
associated with individual airlines, whereas points cards (like the Sapphire Preferred card)
allow you to transfer points to various hotels and airlines. Points cards offer you flexibility
to transfer to multiple airlines, but sometimes there are small fees to transfer points and the
conversion rates vary depending on the credit card and the transfer partner. Most points
convert to miles at a 1:1 rate, but sometimes you can find 1:2 conversion rates, such as
converting SPG points to LAN Airlines. Don’t be dismayed by conversion rates like 29:1
with El Al; the actual number of miles those airlines require to fly is far lower.

There are three main points programs: American Express (known as Membership
Rewards points), Chase (known as Ultimate Rewards points), and Starwood Preferred
Group points. Here are the transfer partners for each program:

American Express (transfer rate of AmEx points:partner miles)

• Aeromexico (1:1)

• Air Canada (1:1)

• Air France (1:1)

• Alitalia (1:1)

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 • All Nippon Airways (1:1)

• Asia Miles (1:1)

• British Airways (1:1)

• Delta (1:1)

• El Al (29:1)

• Frontier (1:1)

• Hawaiian Airlines (1:1)

• Iberia (1:1)

• JetBlue (1.25:1)

• KLM (1:1)

• Singapore Airlines (1:1)

• Virgin America (2:1)

• Virgin Atlantic (1:1)

• Best Western Hotels (1:1)

• Priority Club Hotels (1:1)

• Choice Hotels (1:1)

• Hilton Hotels (1:1.5)

• SPG Hotels (3:1)

• Jumeirah Hotels (20:1)

Ultimate Rewards (transfer rate of UR points:partner miles)

• British Airways (1:1)

• Korean (1:1)

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 • Southwest (1:1)

• United (1:1)

• InterContinental Hotels (1:1)

• Hyatt Hotels (1:1)

• Marriott Hotels (1:1)

• Ritz-Carlton Hotels (1:1)

• Amtrak (1:1)

 
SPG (transfer rate of SPG points:partner miles)

• Adria Airlines (1:1)

• Air Berlin (1:1)

• Air Canada (1:1)

• Air China (1:1)

• Air Dolomiti (1:1)

• Air France (1:1)

• Air New Zealand (65:1)

• Alaska (1:1)

• Alitalia (1:1)

• American (1:1)

• All Nippon Airways (1:1)

• Asia Miles (1:1)

• Asiana (1:1)

• Austrian Airlines (1:1)

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 • British Airways (1:1)

• Cathay Pacific (1:1)

• China Southern (1:1)

• Croatia Airlines (1:1)

• Delta (1:1)

• Emirates (1:1)

• Hawaiian (1:1)

• JAL (1:1)

• Kingfisher (1:1)

• KLM (1:1)

• LAN (1:2)

• LOT Polish Airlines (1:1)

• Lufthansa (1:1)

• Qatar (1:1)

• Saudi Arabian Airlines (1:1)

• Singapore (1:1)

• Swiss Airlines (1:1)

• Thai (1:1)

• United (2:1)

• US Airways (1:1)

• Virgin Atlantic (1:1)

HOW TO TAKE AN AROUND-THE-WORLD TRIP FOR FREE

American Airlines will let you book an around-the-world trip, with as many as 16

19
stops, for between 140,000 and 160,000 frequent flyer miles, depending on how far you
fly. For instance, you could book a dream trip with stops in Los Angeles, Santiago, Buenos
Aires, London, Berlin, Moscow, Amman, Bahrain, Kuala Lumpur, Sydney, Fiji, and
Honolulu, at a cost of just 140,000 miles.

Now, all you’ve got to do is figure out how to get 140,000 American Airlines miles.
Here’s how to get them — free.

At publication time, American Airlines is offering both a personal and a business card
through Citibank, each of which carries a 50,000 point sign-up bonus for first-time
cardholders. (Don’t worry that it doesn’t list the bonus miles on the application page, it’s
standard practice not to include. Confirm the bonus with the customer service rep when
you call to get your card approved or activated.)

Normally, you can only sign up for one of each. However, thanks to a simple strategy
developed by the blog Million Mile Secrets and reported elsewhere, you can actually sign
up for the personal card twice, which along with the business card will net you a cool
150,000 miles.

1) Before you start, make sure you’re signed up for an American Airlines
AAdvantage account and that you have at least two Internet browsers (i.e.
Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Internet Explorer) installed on your computer.

2) Apply for your first personal Visa card in one browser, say Chrome. Pat
yourself on the back when you’re approved! (Note: if you aren’t immediately
approved, don’t panic. Call the reconsideration line as outlined in step 5.)

3) Apply for a second personal Visa card in a different browser, say Firefox. Not
just a different window of the same browser, but a different browser altogether.
This is necessary because the credit card application can only track if you’ve
already applied when you use the same browser. Dole out more back-pats
upon approval.

4) Make sure you complete steps 2 and 3 on the same day. If you tried to do step
3 the follow day or anytime after, you are no longer a “first-time cardholder”
and won’t be given the second sign-up bonus.

5) If you’re not immediately approved for either card (or both), call the
reconsideration line — 1-888-606-2961 — and plead your case. If you’re not
entirely comfortable dealing with credit agents over the phone, use the script I
provided earlier in Chapter 1. Be sure to make separate calls for each card and
don’t tell them you applied for two cards.

6) Wait at least 65 days and then apply for the business Visa card. Citibank,
which issues these cards, generally requires a minimum 60-day waiting period
between credit applications. It doesn’t matter which browser you use for this

20
 application.

7) Your 150,000 miles should post a few weeks after you have completed the
usage requirements ($2500 in 4 months for each card).

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CHAPTER 2: HOW YOUR CREDIT SCORE WORKS

I currently have 17 credit cards. I’m about to apply for a few more.

Every time I tell this to someone, I get the exact same response: “Yikes! That must be
terrible for your credit.”

No! My credit score is 813 out of a possible 850. (Official classification: “excellent.”
Humble-brag!)

There are so many misconceptions about credit scores, first and foremost that more
credit cards means a worse credit score. One of the reasons I’ve been able to achieve such
a high credit score is, counterintuitively, because I have so many credit cards.

Before we examine these myths individually, it’s helpful to understand precisely how
credit scores are calculated.

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Payment history (35%) takes into account how reliable you’ve been paying your bills
in the past, including how long any accounts are past-due and any negative hits like
bankruptcy or wage garnishment.

Outstanding debt (30%) is calculated as the percentage of your available credit that
you’re currently utilizing. In other words, if I have $3,000 in debt and just a single
credit card with a $5,000 limit, I’m using 60% of my available credit, a high
percentage that will certainly drag my score down. However, if I have six cards and a
combined $30,000 in available credit, $3,000 in outstanding debt is just a 10% ratio.

Credit history (15%) looks at how long you’ve had credit. That is, good credit for
over 20 years will produce a higher score than good credit for 2 months. It’s

22
 calculated as the average age of all your accounts.

Types of credit used (10%) considers whether you have different forms of credit in
your name. In other words, if you’ve got a student loan, a car loan, and credit cards,
you’re demonstrating trustworthiness in a variety of different settings. Don’t worry if
you only have one or two forms, it won’t matter that much in the end.

New credit requests (10%) refers to each time you apply for a new line of credit.
Applying for a new credit card, for instance, will likely dock your credit score 2-5
points. However, this marginal blip is temporary and will recede over time. In fact,
new cards can actually boost the red part of the pie, your outstanding debt ratio, by
giving you more available credit.

I don’t mean to belabor the point, but I can’t stress it enough: opening new credit
cards will not kill your credit score. If you handle them responsibly and pay off your debt
in full every month, your score will actually go up over time.

Of course, in the end you should only do what you’re comfortable with. Having 17
cards is not for everyone. Perhaps you’re more comfortable with five. Or even just one or
two. (See Chapter 3 for three different step-by-step guides, depending on your comfort
level.) There’s nothing wrong with taking it slow. And remember, you don’t need to amass
a dozen credit cards in one fell swoop (nor should you). I accumulated my collection over
approximately two years, opening up no more than three cards at one time.

• MYTH: You should never have more than two or three credit cards.
• FACT: Why not? New credit cards will slightly ding your credit score, but that
is temporary. In fact, if used responsibly, the increase in your available credit
will ultimately boost your score.

• MYTH: As long as you pay the minimum payment each month, your credit
score will be unharmed.
• FACT: Paying only the minimum each month will rack up huge interest
payments over time. Not only will your credit score suffer, but you’ll end up
throwing away tons of money in interest payments.

• MYTH: Credit cards have huge fees, so having more than one is a waste of
money.
• FACT: Of my 17 credit cards, I’ve only ever signed up for two that I had to pay
a fee for. (I explain why I decided those two were worth it in Chapter 7.) The
rest of my cards I chose in part because they waived the annual fee for the first
year. When the anniversary approaches, I’ll call and politely inform the agent
that the annual fee is too high and I’d like it waved or I’ll have to cancel the
card. In addition, as long as you pay off your balance in full each month, you
won’t have any interest payments.

• MYTH: Credit cards are never a good deal, otherwise companies wouldn’t

23
 offer them.
• FACT: False! False a thousand times over. For a lot of people, they’re not a
good deal because they can’t handle them responsibly. But those people’s loss
is your gain. If you pay off your balance in full each month and stay out of
debt, credit card bonuses are free money.

Here are some other easy tips to boost your credit score (and thus your chances of
getting approved for good credit cards):

• Treat it like a debit card. Pay off everything you owe in full each month. Avoid
carrying debt from month to month.

• Call your credit card company and ask for more credit on your existing
accounts, thereby boosting your ratio of available credit.

• Don’t close credit cards unless you have a good reason to do so (like an
annual fee they won’t waive).

• If you can’t get your annual fee waived, ask to be downgraded to a no-fee card
rather than closing the account entirely.

• Bide your time. Your credit score moves slowly, but if you follow these tips, it
will increase significantly over time.

• Use free sites to keep an eye on your credit score. There are two I use —
www.creditsesame.com and www.creditkarma.com — which are both free
and easy to set up.

WARNING: If you are in serious debt or can’t handle credit responsibly, these tips aren’t
for you. In addition, if you have major loans coming up in the next six months to a year,
you should focus solely on boosting your credit score so you can get the best interest rate
possible. Wait until after you’ve secured the loan to open multiple credit cards.

24
CHAPTER 3: STEP-BY-STEP GUIDES FOR THREE TYPES OF TRAVELERS

The idea of amassing one million miles by opening 17 credit cards certainly
appeals to some people, but not everyone. That’s fine! Some people are more comfortable
opening just a few cards, or maybe even just one.

Here are three step-by-step guides so, no matter your comfort level, you can travel
for free.

Easiest option (good for people looking to take one free dream vacation)

• Apply for just one credit card:

• American’s 50,000 miles card

• Possible trips:

• Japan, Europe, Central America, South America, Caribbean, Hawaii

• Total haul:

• 50,000 miles

Middle option (good for people who want to bring a companion or take multiple trips)

• Apply for two credit cards initially:

• United – 55,000 mile card

• Chase – 50,000 point card

• Possible trips:

• For one: Anywhere in the world!

• For two (or two trips for one): Hawaii, Central America, Caribbean,
northern South America

• Total haul:

• 105,000 miles

25
Rigorous option (good for aspiring mile-millionaires)

• Apply for best available credit cards:

• American Airlines – 50,000 miles

• United – 55,000 miles

• Chase – 40,000 points

• US Airways – 40,000 miles

• Delta – 40,000 miles

• Possible trips:

• Anywhere. Multiple times. Make your friends jealous.

• Total haul:

• 225,000 miles

26
CHAPTER 4: HOW TO GET BUMPED

Last year, airlines gave me around $2000 in free flights. I used that money for a free
flight to Maine, cross-country flights to San Francisco and Seattle, and a Labor Day
getaway to the Dominican Republic for myself and a companion.

I “paid” for all these flights by deliberately getting bumped.

Getting bumped is, of course, a crapshoot. You rarely know in advance if an airline
will seek volunteers. But there are a number of steps you can take to maximize your
chances:

• Know your chances — When you get to the airport, check in at a kiosk and
look at the seat map to see if the flight looks pretty full. If there are just a
couple empty seats, or better yet none, chances are decent the airline will
need volunteers.

• Be in the gate area 30-45 minutes before boarding — There’s no set time that
they’ll make an announcement, but you don’t want to miss it because you
were at Starbucks instead of the gate.

• Sit as close to the gate agent desk as possible — And be ready to jump if they
make an announcement. (Keep one headphone out!) Airlines typically accept
volunteers on a first-come, first-serve basis, so speed is key. On multiple
occasions I’ve beat out other potential volunteers by sitting closer and jumping
earlier.

• Demand money, not vouchers — Some airlines like AirTran offer you free
round-trip tickets anywhere they fly in exchange for getting bumped. This
seems like a sweet deal — you could theoretically fly to destinations like
Jamaica, Bermuda, and Aruba that normally cost over $500 roundtrip. The
problem is that the number of seats they make available for voucher tickets is
extremely small. Your chances of actually finding a seat on a flight you want is
slim to none. Rather than accepting a relatively worthless voucher, tell them
you’ve had bad experiences with their vouchers in the past and would rather
get financial compensation. Chances are good they will offer you at least
$250, money that you can use on any future flight. Airlines like AirTran don’t
advertise this option, but it exists nonetheless.

• When to pull the trigger — Airlines will typically start out offering around
$250 and then ratchet up the offer by $50 every 5 minutes or so until they get
enough volunteers. I typically pull the trigger early (usually the first offer,
unless I NEED to take this particular flight), but I always ask whether, if they
keep ratcheting up the offer, I will get the final offer rather than the initial one.
Most of the time they’ll agree.

27
 • Using leverage after you’re bumped — Recent FAA rule changes force airlines
that bump passengers involuntarily to give them up to $1,300 in
compensation. Because airlines desperately want to avoid this fine, this gives
you leverage to make some demands. For example, you can ask your airline to
rebook you onto another airline that’s more convenient, confirm you in a first
class seat, and/or give you a hotel room and meal voucher if you have an
overnight stay.

I’m shocked that more people don’t jump at the opportunity to be bumped. I was
once given a $500 voucher and a confirmed seat on the next flight — an hour and a half
later! In other words, I earned $333/hour. Like me, if your goal is to fly for free, you
probably don’t make $333/hour . Plus, unlike flights you book using miles, you actually
earn miles when you pay using a voucher.

Letting airlines pay you to fly with them is a no-brainer.

28
CHAPTER 5: EARNING ELITE STATUS IN ONE ROUNDTRIP FLIGHT

Earning elite status with an airline has plenty of perks, including early boarding, free
upgrades to first class, bonus miles, and waived fees. But unless you travel for business (or
take a lot of vacations), you’re unlikely to fly enough to earn elite status.

Still, if you’ve got just one international flight planned (or even a cross-country flight),
there’s an easy way for you to use it as a shortcut to get elite status. It’s called a “status
challenge”. Here’s how it works:

American Airlines, for instance, usually requires you to fly 25,000 miles in a
calendar year to become a “Gold” member, their lowest level of elite status. Fortunately,
they also offer a secret shortcut to Gold status. If you call up and register for a Gold
challenge, all it takes to earn elite status is for you to fly 5,000 points* in three months,
which you can almost always accomplish in one international flight. For instance, if you
already have a flight booked next month from New York to Paris (a roundtrip distance of
7,240 miles), you can call up American, get registered, and be an elite flyer as soon as you
set foot back in the states. Unfortunately, it costs $140 to register, but for many people this
is a small price to pay to get the countless perks of elite status and make flying a lot easier
for the next 14+ months.

* - One important thing to note: 5,000 American points is slightly different than 5,000 American miles. (I
know it’s complicated, I’m sorry. Blame AA.) The number of points you earned is a product of the miles you
fly multiplied by the fare class you purchased. For example, flying in “W” class, a section in “Discount
Economy Class”, earns you 1.00 point per mile flown, but flying in “S” class, a section in “Deep Discount
Economy Class”, earns you 0.50 points per mile flown. I have no idea where they come up with these
letters, and yes, it’s all quite silly. But that’s the game they play, so just pay attention to your fare class and
you can easily take advantage.

Here are the specific requirements for status challenges with the two major American
carriers that offer them:

American Airlines
• Gold (low tier) status
⁃ Main benefits
⁃ 25% bonus miles
⁃ Seat upgrades (including exit row)
⁃ Priority check-in at security
⁃ Early boarding
⁃ Standby fee waived
⁃ Two free checked bags
⁃ Challenge requirements
⁃ 5,000 elite-qualifying points in 3 months (refer to this chart to
determine the number of points for your fare class)
⁃ $140 to register
⁃ Number to call: 1-800-882-8880 (ask for AAdvantage customer

29
 service)
• Platinum (middle tier) status
⁃ Main benefits
⁃ 100% bonus miles
⁃ Seat upgrades (including exit row)
⁃ Priority check-in at security
⁃ Early boarding
⁃ Standby fee waived
⁃ Two free checked bags
⁃ Challenge requirements
⁃ 10,000 elite-qualifying points in 3 months (refer to this chart to
determine the number of points for your fare class)
⁃ $240 to register
⁃ Number to call: 1-800-882-8880 (ask for AAdvantage customer
service)
US Airways
• Silver (low tier) status
⁃ Main benefits
⁃ 25% bonus miles
⁃ Seat upgrades (including exit row)
⁃ Priority check-in at security
⁃ Early boarding
⁃ Standby fee waived
⁃ One free checked bag
⁃ Challenge requirements
⁃ 7,500 miles or 10 segments in 3 months
⁃ $200 to register
⁃ Link to enrollment
• Gold (middle tier) status
⁃ Main benefits
⁃ 50% bonus miles
⁃ Seat upgrades (including exit row)
⁃ Priority check-in at security
⁃ Early boarding
⁃ Standby fee waived
⁃ Three free checked bags
⁃ Challenge requirements
⁃ 15,000 miles or 20 segments in 3 months
⁃ $400 to register
⁃ Link to enrollment
• Platinum (upper-middle tier) status
⁃ Main benefits
⁃ 75% bonus miles

30
 ⁃ Seat upgrades (including exit row)
⁃ Priority check-in at security
⁃ Early boarding
⁃ Standby fee waived
⁃ Three free checked bags
⁃ Challenge requirements
⁃ 22,500 miles or 30 segments in 3 months
⁃ $600 to register
⁃ Link to enrollment

31
CHAPTER 6: COMPLAINTS = MILES

I’m often shocked at how easily airlines have given me free miles in response to
mundane complaints. Twice, for instance, American Airlines gave me 2,500 miles for
leaving a message about the airplane TV not functioning properly. (Nevermind that I was
reading a magazine rather than watching.)

The key is to write your complaints in as positive a manner as possible. “It didn’t
matter much to me personally that the TVs were broken, but just wanted to let you know
for future customers who might care more.” Airline agents have to deal with complaints
eight hours a day, so taking a more understanding approach can pay dividends.

Missed connections can often earn you hundreds of dollars in travel vouchers, but
only if you ask for it. Delays on United Airlines recently caused me to miss my connection
and wait four hours until the next flight. I explained in detail — as positively as possible —
how inconvenient the ordeal was. Two days later, a $250 travel voucher showed up in my
inbox.

Many airlines keep records of when they give you compensation, so expect to see
diminishing returns if you complain often. Still, don’t hesitate to leave feedback when
warranted.

——————

TIP: I typically email rather than call so a written record of my feedback exists.

——————

THINGS TO COMPLAIN ABOUT

• Something not properly functioning on flight (TV, reading light, headphone

jack, electrical outlet, seat recline, bathroom, etc.)

• Flight delays (especially due to mechanical problems or crew/pilots didn’t

show up on time)

• Sitting near excessively rude or loud passengers, especially drunken ones

• Special meal you requested (Kosher, vegan, Halal, gluten-free, etc.) isn’t
available

COMPLAINT SCRIPT FOR NON-FUNCTIONING TV:

32
Dear American Airlines,

I was sitting in seat 14F on flight AA3689 from DCA to MIA on June 10. The flight itself
went very smoothly and the flight attendant did an exceptionally good job.

I just wanted to let you all know that the TV near my seat was broken. The picture color
was completely gray and the video frequently cut out altogether. Not a huge deal for me,
but just wanted to make sure you all knew for future passengers who enjoy watching TV
on their flight.

In general, though, thanks for the great work. I fly AA regularly for business and very rarely
have any problems in my travel.

Thanks,
Scott

COMPLAINT SCRIPT FOR FLIGHT DELAY:

Dear American Airlines,

I am writing regarding the 2-hour delay on flight AA4720 from MIA to DCA on June 13.
I’ve flown AA for years, both for business and pleasure, and you all generally do a great
job making travel as hassle-free as possible.

That’s why I wanted to let you know I was somewhat disappointed with the service on this
particular flight, because I know you all can (and typically do) do better. Right before we
boarded, the gate agent informed us that the flight was delayed an hour because of engine
troubles. That hour then stretched into two as they realized the mechanical problems were
enough to warrant switching planes. We finally got into Washington DC at 4:40pm, over
two hours past our original arrival time of 2:30pm.

Unfortunately, the delay caused me to miss an important work meeting. I feel that a $250
travel voucher would be an appropriate gesture of compensation.

Thank you again for your typically great work as an airline.

Best,
Scott

33
LINKS TO FILE COMPLAINTS:

• American Airlines
• United Airlines
• US Airways
• Delta
• Southwest
• JetBlue
• Frontier
• AirTran

34
CHAPTER 7: BRING A COMPANION FOR FREE

One of the most useful rewards I’ve came across is Southwest Airlines’ Companion
Pass. With the Companion Pass, anytime you fly on Southwest, you can bring someone
with you for free. If you’re married, in a relationship, or have friends who you enjoy
traveling with, this is an easy way to get a ton of free tickets. It doesn’t expire quickly
either. The Companion Pass is good as many times as you want to use it and lasts not only
the rest of the current year, but the entire next year as well. For example, I received mine
in May 2012; it won’t expire until December 31, 2013.

Theoretically, it should be difficult to obtain something so valuable. And indeed,

Southwest sets a high bar: you need to either fly 100 Southwest flights or earn 110,000
miles.

Thankfully, there’s a loophole that allows you to get the requisite 110,000 miles in a
cinch. Here’s how.

Southwest offers a personal credit card that gives you 50,000 miles just for signing up
and using it at least one time. Their credit card miles automatically count towards the
110,000 threshold to get the Companion Pass. Obviously just signing up for one will only
get you halfway there, so you need to sign up for the business card as well as the personal
card. (You don’t need a business to sign up for a business card! Refer back to Chapter 1 to
read more on how easy it is to get a business credit card without owning a business.)

If you’re rejected at first, don’t worry! When I applied, I was initially rejected for both
the personal and the business card because I had too many Chase credit cards. However, I
called up their reconsideration line (888-245-0625) and pleaded my case. The agents were
super helpful — remember, credit card companies want you as a customer! — and within
minutes I was approved for the personal card just by asking to be reconsidered.

I then called back the next day to get my business card. This call was a bit tougher.
“Why do you need a business card?” the agent asked. “I do a fair amount of business
travel and like to keep my expenses separate and organized,” I replied, seemingly to
Michelle’s satisfaction. (Yes, I wrote down the name of the agent I spoke with. Obsessive,
maybe, but being able to namecheck the agent you spoke with last shows both confidence
and professionalism. You’re not dilly-dallying on this application; you play to win.)

After a short hold, Michelle came back and told me they’d like to approve me, but
we would need to shuffle around some of the current lines of credit I already had on other
Chase cards. They offered to let me open the Southwest business card if I closed a different
card. I gladly accepted and chose to axe my United card — I’d already received the
50,000 mile bonus, so why not?

A week later, both my cards arrived in the mail. Like a giddy child on Christmas
morning, I ran downstairs, tore open the envelopes, called to activate the cards, and ran
down to McDonalds to treat myself to two McChickens. Two weeks later, 100,000

35
Southwest points showed up in my account. Huzzah!

Signing up for these two cards takes you 91% of the way there, but you’re still
10,000 points short of the Companion Pass. There are a number of different ways to make
up the difference. The easiest way is to convert hotel points into Southwest miles. Three
hotel chains currently let you do this. Here are their conversion rates:

• 25,000 Hyatt points for 12,000 Southwest points

• 30,000 Marriott points for 10,000 Southwest points

• 36,000 Choice Hotels (Comfort Inn, Econolodge, etc.) points for 10,800
Southwest points

If you’re like me, staying at hotels can be too expensive to do regularly, so you
probably don’t have 30,000 hotel points just lying around. If that’s the case, every hotel
chain has lucrative credit card offers as well. I’d signed up for a Marriott credit card that
gave me 70,000 points right off the bat. Using this link, I converted 30,000 Marriott points;
36 hours later, they were in my Southwest account and I’d successfully earned my
Companion Pass.

Plus, I now had 110,000 Southwest points to fly with! (Yes, the Companion Pass
works on all flights, whether you pay for your seat with cash or points.) This mass of points
is worth over $3,500. Here’s why.

Unlike most frequent flyer programs, Southwest points are fixed value; they are
always worth 1.6 cents for the cheapest fare. In other words, if you fly Delta, it costs
25,000 miles to fly round-trip domestically, regardless of what the flight would normally
cost. However, on Southwest, the number of points required to fly somewhere depends on
the airfare being charged for that flight. At 1.6 cents per point, a $160 flight, for example,
would cost 10,000 Southwest points. Therefore, 110,000 points X $0.016 = $1,760. Then,
because your Companion Pass will give you an extra seat for free, the value doubles to
$3,520.

One final point to note here. Of my 17 credit cards, these two Southwest cards are
the only ones I’ve ever paid for. All my other cards waive their annual fee for the first year.
Still, given the immense value of the Companion Pass, it was well worth it to pay $69 for
each card. Where else can you pay $138 and, within a matter of weeks, multiply the value
of your investment by more than 2,500%?

36
SECTION 2: HOW TO USE

YOUR MILES

37
CHAPTER 8: SPENDING POINTS WISELY

Once you’ve amassed a good lot of miles, it’s worth thinking about how best to
spend them.

In general, using miles to book international trips gets you far better value than
spending them to fly around the continental US. Obviously there are exceptions. Not
everyone wants to travel abroad, or perhaps you need to fly across the country for a
wedding soon and tickets are over $500. But as a rule of thumb, if you’re planning to fly
abroad anytime in the near future, you’ll get far more bang for your buck by saving your
miles for international flights. Here’s why.

Say you’re deciding how to use your 30,000 AA miles and you’ve got it narrowed
down to one domestic location (Chicago) and one international (Lima, Peru). You have
enough miles for a roundtrip flight to either location, but look at the difference in value.
Flying from New York to Chicago for the second week of September costs either 25,000
miles or $188, which means you’re using 133 miles per dollar that you would have spent
otherwise. Flying to Peru, on the other hand, costs either 30,000 miles or $883 (34 miles
per dollar). In this case, you get nearly four times the value from using miles to fly abroad
than from flying around the US.

Miles required per dollar of

airfare (from NYC)

)#*%+(,-./(

!"#$%&'(

0( 10( 20( 30( 40( 500( 510( 520(

Each airline requires a different number of miles to fly to particular destinations. For
instance, if you want to take a roundtrip flight to Brazil in May, it would cost you 60,000
United or Delta miles, 40,000 American miles, or 35,000 US Airways miles.

Here are the award charts for the big four American carriers for flights originating in
the United States. Prices are, of course, subject to availability; US Airways and Delta tend
to have worse flight availability than American and United.

38
 (miles required for roundtrip travel):

1- Northern South America includes Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and
Venezuela
2- Southern South America includes Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay
3- Northern Africa includes Algeria, Canary Islands, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia
4- Central/Southern Africa includes Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape
Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Cote D’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo,
Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya,
Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria,
Reunion Island, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa,
Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe
5- Middle East includes Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar,
Saudi Arabia, Syria, UAE, and Yemen
6- Central Asia includes Afghanistan, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka,
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
7- South Asia/North Asia/Japan includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong,
Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar (Burma), Philippines, Singapore, South Korea,
Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam
———————————————————

(miles required for roundtrip travel):

39
Off-peak dates:
Caribbean- September 1 − 30
South America- March 1 − 31 and May 1 − 31
Europe- January 15 − February 28
—————————————————

(miles required for roundtrip travel):

1- Northern South America includes Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Peru, Suriname, and
Venezuela
2- Southern South America includes Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay
3- Middle East includes Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Kuwait, Lebanon,
Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, and Yemen
4- South Asia includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, British Indian Ocean Territory, India, Maldives,
Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka
5- Northern Asia includes China, Hong Kong, Japan, Micronesia, North Korea, Philippines, South Korea, and
Taiwan

40
6- Southeast Asia includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar
(Burma), Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor Leste, Turkmenistan, and Vietnam
7- Southwest Pacific includes American Samoa, Australia, Christmas Islands, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Cook
Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Kiribati, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Norfolk Island, Pitcaim,
Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tongo, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, and Wallis and Futuna Islands
 

(miles required for roundtrip travel):

1- Northern South America includes Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela

2- Southern South America includes Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay

Off-peak dates:
Hawaii: January 12 - March 8 and August 22 - December 15
Central America: January 16 - June 14; September 7 - November 14
Mexico/The Caribbean: September 7 - November 14
Northern South America: January 16 - June 14; September 7 - November 14
Southern South America: March 1 - May 31; August 16 - November 30
Europe: October 15 - May 15
Japan: October 1 - April 30
——————

Here are the same four carriers’ award prices consolidated into one simple chart
and sorted by destination. Note that prices shown are the cheapest options, which can
vary by date and availability.

41
 Domestic 25k 25k 25k 25k
Hawaii 35k 40k 40k 40k
Caribbean 25k 35k 35k 25k
Central America 30k 35k 35k 35k
Northern South
30k 45k 40k 35k
America
Southern South
40k 60k 60k 35k
America
Europe 40k 60k 60k 35k
Africa 75k* 80k 80k 70k*
Middle East 90k* 80k 80k 80k
Northern Asia 50k* 70k 65k 60k*
Southern Asia 70k* 80k 65k 80k*
Australia/New
75k* 100k 80k 80k*
Zealand
Oceania 75k* 100k 70k 80k*
*- Cheapest partner award because flights not available on American/US Airways

Once you’ve narrowed down where you want to go, the next step is to check flight
availability. Finding available reward seats is easier on some airlines than others.
According to the most recent survey, United led the pack with 87% availability, followed
by American at 46%, US Airways at 34%, and Delta at 27%. Being flexible with your
times and dates will improve your odds.

Here’s specifically how to find flights on the four major airlines:

American Airlines
• Easiest option - Book online (free): Booking your award ticket on American’s
website is really simple. Just go to AA.com, check “Redeem AAdvantage
Miles”, and search for your flight. Unlike Delta, American’s award search
engine is excellent; no need to pay the $25 fee to book through an agent over
the phone unless you’re going to be flying on a partner airline other than
Alaskan Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, British Airways, and Qantas Airways.
• Booking partner awards ($25): The best way to search partner award
availability is to sign up for a free Qantas Airways account and use their search
engine. Be sure to check “Flexible with dates.” Build your best itinerary, write
down the times and flight numbers, then call American Airlines
(800-433-7300) to book your ticket.

Delta
• Easiest option - Phone ($25): The Delta online award search engine is quite
difficult to use, so the simplest way to book your reward ticket is just to call

42
 Delta (800-323-2323) and get an agent to help construct your flight. However,
there is a $25 fee to book over the phone (and I hate paying fees), so here’s
how to do it yourself if you prefer.
• Hardest option - Construct the flight yourself (free): Try searching for a
roundtrip flight like you would normally, entering the origin and destination
and hoping something feasible comes up. Be sure to click “Book SkyMiles
Award Ticket” and “My dates are flexible” so you can see the calendar of
which dates might be cheapest. Chances are better than not, however, that
you’ll have to do more legwork to find your ideal itinerary. You’ll get the best
results by searching each individual segment you plan to take for availability,
then piece them all together in the “multi-city” search tab. For example, if I
want to take a flight from St. Louis to Dubai, you may find better availability
by doing four separate one-way searches — St. Louis to Atlanta, Atlanta to
Dubai, Dubai to Atlanta, and Atlanta to St. Louis — jotting down the best flight
numbers, then throwing the itinerary into the “multi-city” search tab to book.
Doing it this way will also help you build in free stopovers.
• Sneakiest option - mix of both (free): Here’s an — admittedly underhanded —
way to avoid their $25 phone booking fee. Delta allows you to put an award
reservation on hold for up to 48 hours. Just find any old award flight to your
destination (regardless of time or miles required) and put it on hold but don’t
yet purchase. Then call up Delta (800-323-2323) and give the agent your hold
number. Have her help you find the best possible itinerary, both in terms of
flight times that work for you and least number of miles required. When you
figure out your best option and she updates your itinerary, tell her — politely
— that you need some time to think it over and hang up. Finally, log back
onto Delta.com and pull up the reservation you had on hold. It should be
updated with the agent’s changes, allowing you to book it online fee-free.
• Booking partner awards ($25): Delta’s search engine won’t show you award
availability with partner airlines, but you can access this by signing up for a
free Air France account and using their search engine. There, you will see
available flights operated by Air France, KLM, Alitalia, Kenya Airways, Air
Europa, and TAROM. You’ll need to call Delta (800-323-2323) to book the
final ticket.

United
• Easiest option - Book online (free): United’s online search engine has
improved significantly since merging with Continental last year. I'd
recommend both searching and booking your flight online, rather than forking
over $25 to make your reservation over the phone. Be sure to check the box
"My dates are flexible" for best results. Fortunately, United's search engine
does a good job of showing both their own award availability, as well as flights
on partner airlines, so you won't necessarily need to search elsewhere. If you
do decide to book it over the phone instead, you can call United at
888-674-4680, but it’ll cost you $25.

US Airways

43
 • Easiest option - Book online ($25-$50): Start your search on US Airways'
search engine, which is good but not great. Unfortunately, it only shows US
Airways flights. If you're able to find a flight that works for you, fantastic!
However, this may not be possible for many international destinations. US
Airways charges a ticketing fee for all award flights, even if they're booked
online: $25 non-Hawaii domestic flights and Canada, $35 for Latin America/
Caribbean, and $50 Hawaii/Europe/Middle East/South America. You can also
book a ticket with an agent's help (800-428-4322), but it'll cost you an
additional $30 for domestic and Canadian flights or $40 for everywhere else.
• Partner awards: Because the US Airways search engine doesn't show flights on
partner airlines, you'll have to call an agent (800-428-4322) to make your
booking. However, the upside is that because it's not possible to book flights
on partner airlines on USAirways.com, they waive their usual $40 phone
ticketing fee. Unfortunately, you will still have to pay the standard ticketing fee
for all award flights. If you want to browse availability of partner airlines by
yourself, I'd recommend using United's award ticket search engine.
——————

TIP: For complex problems/itineraries/destinations (or if you just want help in the
process), I am available to assist for a small fee. Visit www.flyforfreeguide.com for more
details.
——————

TOP 12 BEST VALUE TRIPS

If you need a bit of inspiration, here are twelve possible trips that are extraordinarily
good value for your miles.

1) Galapagos Islands for 35,000 AA miles

2) South America for 20,000 SPG points

3) Europe (off-peak) for 35,000 US Airways miles

4) Around the world with 16 stops for 140,000 AA miles

5) Hawaii (off-peak) for 35,000 AA miles

6) Japan for 50,000 AA miles

7) Central America or northern South America (off-peak) for 30,000 AA miles

8) The Caribbean for 25,000 US Airways or AA miles

9) Africa for 70,000 US Airways miles

44
10) The Middle East for 80,000 Delta or United miles

11) Australia or New Zealand for 75,000 AA miles

12) Fiji, Tahiti, or anywhere in Oceania for 70,000 United miles

45
CHAPTER 9: HOW TO FLY TO ADDITIONAL CITIES FOR FREE

One easy way to get free flights is to take advantage of stopovers. When booking
award travel, many airlines will allow you a free stopover en route to your destination. For
instance, if you book a Delta award flight from Detroit to Rome, you can stop in London
for four days, before continuing on to Italy. In other words, they’ll throw in an extra flight
for free.

In addition, many airlines now allow you to fly “open jaw” on award tickets,
meaning you can fly into one city and out from a different one. For example, you can fly
from Detroit to Rome, then return from Paris to Detroit.

In general, you can’t stop over in a location that’s not ostensibly in the direction
you’re flying. In other words, if you’re flying from Detroit to Rome, you can stopover in
New York or Paris, but you can’t stopover in Salt Lake City.

The rules vary by airline, so here are the main restrictions you need to know for the
four major American carriers:

American Airlines

• 1 stopover permitted on international flights, but only on gateway cities as you

leave North America (e.g. Los Angeles, New York, or Miami)

• You’re allowed to combine a stopover with open jaw

• Can have two open jaws, one at your origin and one at your destination. For
example, you can fly from Washington to Paris, then return from London to
New York

Delta

• 1 stopover permitted on either domestic or international flights

• You can use a maximum of 8 segments on a roundtrip award ticket. For

instance, if you were traveling roundtrip from Detroit to Sicily (with a stopover
in Rome), this would be just four segments total (two each way)

• You’re allowed to combine a stopover with open jaw

• The distance between your open jaw return leg can’t exceed the distance
covered in your initial outbound flight. For example, if you fly from Detroit to
Rome, you could return from Paris to Detroit, but not from Moscow to Detroit

United

46
 • 1 stopover is permitted on international flights only

• You’re allowed to combine a stopover with open jaw

• Can have two open jaws, one at your origin and one at your destination. For
example, you can fly from Washington to Paris, then return from London to
New York

US Airways

• 1 permitted on international flights only

• You’re not allowed to combine a stopover with an open jaw

• You can use a maximum of 10 segments on a roundtrip award ticket

• Can only have a stopover in a hub of the Star Alliance airline you are flying.
For instance, you would only be permitted to stopover in Copenhagen if you
were flying Scandinavian Airlines
⁃ Current hubs:
⁃ Adria (Slovenia): Ljubljana
⁃ Aegean (Greece): Athens, Thessaloniki, Heraklion, Rhodes
and Larnaca
⁃ Air Canada: Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Calgary
⁃ Air China: Beijing, Chengdu, Shanghai
⁃ Air New Zealand: Auckland, Los Angeles, Hong Kong
⁃ ANA (Japan): Tokyo (both Haneda and Narita airports)
⁃ Asiana: Incheon, Seoul
⁃ Austrian: Vienna
⁃ Blue1 (Finnish): Helsinki
⁃ Brussels: Brussels
⁃ Croatia: Zagreb
⁃ Egypt Air: Cairo
⁃ Ethiopian: Addis Ababa
⁃ LOT (Polish): Warsaw
⁃ Lufthansa: Frankfurt, Munich, Dusseldorf
⁃ Scandinavian: Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm
⁃ Singapore: Singapore
⁃ South African: Johannesburg
⁃ Swiss: Zurich, Geneva, Basel
⁃ TAM (Brazil): Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia
⁃ TAP (Portugal): Lisbon, Porto
⁃ Thai: Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket, Hat Yai
⁃ Turkish: Istanbul, Ankara

47
⁃ United: Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Guam, Houston, Los
Angeles, Newark, San Francisco, Tokyo, and Washington DC
⁃ US Airways: Charlotte, Philadelphia, Phoenix, and
Washington DC

48
CHAPTER 10: USING PARTNER AIRLINES TO FLY ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD

When I was looking into going to the Galapagos Islands last year, an American
Airlines agent I spoke with didn’t even think it was possible to get there on miles.
American only flies to mainland airports in Ecuador like Guayaquil; I’d have to transfer to
LAN Airlines, a South American carrier which operates nearly all flights to the Galapagos.

However, I remembered that LAN was in the same airline alliance (Oneworld) as
American, so I should be able to book a ticket to the Galapagos just using my American
miles. Sure enough, after I mentioned this to the telephone agent and suggested a few
suitable flights, she apologized for the oversight and booked a roundtrip flight from
Washington DC to the Galapagos (via Guayaquil) for just 35,000 miles.

If I’d needed LAN miles as well as American miles to get to the Galapagos, it
would’ve been significantly tougher to make the trip happen.

Thankfully, airline alliances like Oneworld make it extraordinarily easy to get

nearly anywhere in the world using one airline’s miles. Over the past two decades, most
airlines have formed partnerships that allow you to fly multiple carriers on a single reward
ticket.

Three major airline alliances currently exist: Oneworld, Star Alliance, and
SkyTeam. Here are the airlines in each alliance, as well as the primary area each one
serves.

Oneworld

• Air Berlin (Europe)

• Air Pacific* (Oceania)
• Air Tahiti Nui* (Oceania)
• Alaska Airlines* (North America)
• American Airlines (North America)
• British Airways (Europe)
• Cathay Pacific (Asia)
• Etihad Airways* (Middle East)
• El Al* (Middle East)
• Hawaiian Airlines* (North America)
• Finnair (Europe)
• Iberia (Europe)
• Japan Airlines (Asia)
• Jet Airways* (Asia)
• Kingfisher Airlines (Asia)
• LAN (South America)
• Qantas (Oceania)
• Royal Jordanian (Middle East)
• S7 Airlines (Europe)

49
Star Alliance

• Adria Airways (Europe)

• Aegean Airlines (Europe)
• Aer Lingus* (Europe)
• Aeromar* (Central America)
• Air Canada (North America)
• Air China (Asia)
• Air New Zealand (Oceania)
• All Nippon Airways (Asia)
• Asiana Airlines (Asia)
• Austrian Airlines (Europe)
• Blue1 (Europe)
• Brussels Airlines (Europe)
• Copa Airlines* (Central America)
• Croatia Airlines (Europe)
• EgyptAir (Middle East)
• Ethiopian Airlines (Africa)
• EVA Airways* (Asia)
• Hawaiian Airlines* (North America)
• Island Air* (North America)
• Jet Airways* (Asia)
• LOT Polish Airlines (Europe)
• Lufthansa (Europe)
• Qatar Airways* (Middle East)
• Royal Jordanian* (Middle East)
• Scandinavian Airlines (Europe)
• Singapore Airlines (Asia)
• South African Airways (Africa)
• Swiss International Air Lines (Europe)
• Taca Airlines* (Central America)
• TAM Airlines (South America)
• TAP Portugal (Europe)
• Thai Airways International (Asia)
• Turkish Airlines (Middle East)
• United Airlines (North America)
• US Airways (North America)
• Virgin Atlantic* (North America)

SkyTeam

• Aeroflot (Europe)
• Aeromexico (Central America)
• Aerolineas Argentinas* (South America)
• Air Europa (Europe)

50
 • Air France (Europe)
• Air Tahiti Nui* (Oceania)
• Alaska Airlines* (North America)
• Alitalia (Europe)
• China Airlines (Asia)
• China Eastern Airlines (Asia)
• China Southern Airlines (Asia)
• Czech Airlines (Europe)
• Delta Air Lines (North America)
• Gol* (South America)
• Hawaiian Airlines* (North America)
• Kenya Airways (Africa)
• KLM (Europe)
• Korean Air (Asia)
• Malaysia Airlines* (Asia)
• Olympic Air* (Europe)
• Saudia (Middle East)
• TAROM (Europe)
• Vietnam Airlines (Asia)
• Virgin Australia* (Oceania)

*- Airlines that have partnerships with the United States carriers in the alliance, but are not
full members

51
SECTION 3: PLANNING A

TRIP FROM START TO

FINISH

52
CHAPTER 11: HOW TO PLAN A TRIP, STEP-BY-STEP

Planning an award trip can seem overwhelming, but this step-by-step list will help
guide you through the process.

1. The sooner you start, the better, for three reasons:

• More flight availability
• Give yourself time to meet credit card spending threshold
• Give time for points to show up in your account
2. Check Kayak or Orbitz. Unless tickets there are super cheap, plan to use miles
3. Check mileage charts for major carriers (listed in Chapter 8) to see how many miles
your trip will cost
4. Look at current credit card offers in Chapter 1. Here’s how to choose which card(s)
you should get
• Highest number of bonus miles offered
• Card with lowest or no yearly fees
• Card with lowest spend threshold to get the bonus miles
5. Apply! If you aren’t accepted right away, call the reconsideration line after a few
days and use the scripts provided in Chapter 1
6. Confirm with agent when you activate your card what the bonus and spending
threshold is
7. Complete spend threshold — see Chapter 1 for tips on meeting spending thresholds
— tracking progress through your credit card’s online account
8. The next day, call your credit card company and ask them to expedite the points
into your account. It usually takes a few weeks to show up, but if you call and ask
nicely, sometimes they’ll post your points right away
9. Consult the mileage charts in Chapter 8 to decide where to go with your miles.
Before booking your flight, check Chapter 9 to see whether you can add a free
stopover to your trip
10. Book it! Can usually do by Internet, but consult Chapter 8 for the best way to check
each airline’s flight availability
11. For more complex problems/itineraries/destinations (or if you just want help in the
process), I am available to assist for a small fee. Visit www.flyforfreeguide.com for
more details

——————

TIP: Changing flights without paying change fees. A couple years ago, I bought a flight
from Washington DC to Dayton to visit my parents for the holidays. My original itinerary
brought me into Dayton late Christmas eve — a decidedly inconvenient time, but the only
affordable option at the time. A few weeks later though, I got an email from Airtran telling
me that my flight time had changed — my original flight left at 5:30pm, the new one
would leave at 5:28pm — and to call them if this caused a problem. I smelled opportunity.
I called up Airtran and explained that, yes, this new flight time was going to be a problem.
“Is there availability on the same flight on December 23rd?” I asked. Sure enough, there
was. With one quick phone call, I’d gained a whole extra day at home and saved myself

53
the usual $75 change fee. (In fact, I ended up repeating the process a couple weeks later
after my new flight also got pushed up by two minutes and I got the green-light from work
to take off on December 22nd.) Lesson: Use small itinerary changes to your advantage.

54
CHAPTER 12: FINDING CHEAP FLIGHTS

Last year, I flew from New York to Brussels for a grand total of $280 roundtrip. This
year, I flew from Washington DC to Brussels for $300. Out of curiosity, I checked Kayak
the other day to see what it would typically cost for springtime flights from Washington DC
to Brussels next year: $926. I don’t know about you, but there’s no way I could afford to
drop nearly a thousand bucks flying to Europe.

Here are some of the really cheap flights I’ve taken recently:
• $275 roundtrip from Washington DC to Liberia, Costa Rica (normally ~$650)
• $300 roundtrip from Washington DC to Brussels, Belgium (normally ~$900)
• $280 roundtrip from New York to Brussels, Belgium (normally ~$750)
And others I’ve seen (and stupidly not taken advantage of):
• $150 from New York to Copenhagen, Denmark (normally ~$800)
• $140 from Philadelphia to Madrid, Spain (normally ~$1000)
• $150 from New York to Stockholm, Sweden (normally ~$800)

Thankfully, there are a few easy tricks to finding airfare deals like these:

• Build a Twitter list: Most of the amazing deals I’ve found, I owe to a single
Twitter feed: @airfarewatchdog. Airfarewatchdog does an incredible job of
tweeting out links to cheap fares and showing flights to/from different cities
when intermittent sales pop up. Building a Twitter list of airfare accounts (see
inset on this page for top recommendations) is important, but monitoring it
obsessively is key, which brings me to point #2:

• Speed: When you see a truly great deal, you have to act fast. The best airfare
deals last a few hours at most because they tend to either be a mistake fare
(someone at the airline pricing desk screwed up) or a short-term sale with an
extremely limited number of seats available. Strike while the iron’s hot
because it won’t last long. Sales like $250 roundtrip to Europe come along
maybe twice a year, so jump on it if you can.

• Flexibility with dates: Start by searching your ideal times and dates, but if this
doesn’t get you your desired price, don’t be afraid to tinker. (For example, I
recently booked a long-weekend flight to Michigan and saved 30% by flying
Friday-Monday instead of Thursday-Sunday. As a rule of thumb, flights on
Friday and Sunday are going to be most expensive, while flights on Tuesday,
Wednesday, and Saturday are cheapest. When mistake fares pop up, be sure to
search multiple weeks/weekends. I saved $100 by flying to Costa Rica the first
week of April instead of the second.

• Flexible with locations: Because of Europe’s compact geography, nonexistent

visa requirements, and proliferation of budget airlines, it’s really painless to
travel between European countries. Often times the best thing to do is figure
out which European city is cheapest to fly into, and then hop a budget flight

55
 from there to your final destination. For example, I saw on Twitter last year the
$280 roundtrip airfare to Brussels. I didn’t particularly care one way or another
about seeing Brussels, but I really wanted to go up to Norway. I went on
www.ryanair.com, one of Europe’s infamous budget airlines, and found a flight
from Brussels to Oslo for just $70 roundtrip. Flights from the US to Oslo
typically cost around $1000, but by buying the cheapest flight possible as a
gateway to Europe and then going from there, I spent just $350 on flights.

——————

TIP: Cutting a pricey flight in half. My friend George recently mentioned how his
upcoming flight from Washington DC to Las Vegas would set him back $480 round-trip.
That struck me as far more expensive than it should be, so I set out to look for a better
deal. His original plan was to fly out Thursday afternoon to meet his friends and take a red-
eye back on Sunday evening. Indeed, the only flights that met these exact criteria were
$480. However, I suspected that there might be other avenues he hadn’t explored, like
taking a red-eye that left after midnight, making it technically a Monday departure instead
of Sunday. Sure enough, leaving Monday at 12:50am instead of Sunday at 11:50pm cut
the fare nearly in half, from $480 to $260. Lesson: Tinkering with the itinerary in small
ways can save you hundreds of dollars.

——————

Who to follow on Twitter for breaking deals:

• Million Mile Secrets — @MilMileSecrets
• Ben Schlappig — @OneMileataTime
• The Points Guy — @thepointsguy
• Budget Travel — @BudgetTravel
• FareCompare — @FareCompare
• airfarewatchdog — @airfarewatchdog
• Fly.com — @Fly_com
• FlyerTalk — @FlyerTalk
• JetBlue Cheeps — @JetBlueCheeps

56