How to get Free Flights

I'm sure you've heard of frequent flyer programs. You earn miles (or points or credits) for each flight you take. After you've earned enough, you can redeem them for a free flight. The problem is, most of us are not frequent flyers! Add to that, most of us don't stick to a single airline, so our miles are spread all over the place. And they expire after a while. We'll never earn enough miles for even a single measly trip. I know I flew for years without ever earning enough on any airline for single thing.

The secret you need to learn to get free flights is you need to EARN MILES without taking flights!

This is what I'm sure you want to know. There are several techniques to use that will earn you miles. A word of advice - stick to one program to focus all your efforts on. If you spread yourself thin, you won't earn enough miles to do much in the different programs. These are all mostly things you do anyway, but didn't know you could use to earn miles.

Credit cards are the number one way to earn miles quickly and easily. They give huge bonuses for signing up and meeting the "minimum spend requirement". That's a certain amount you have to spend on the card within a certain time period, usually a few thousand dollars within 3-6 months.

Obviously, you need to be careful with this method! If you're credit isn't in very good shape, you shouldn't do this. And if you don't think you can pay off your cards every month, you shouldn't do this. Because then you're just spending money on the interest. Not good! One tip of many frequent fliers is to put the card away or cancel it after you earn the big bonus. Sometimes, you can even cancel a card after the bonus, then re-apply in a few months and get the sign-up bonus again! This doesn't always work, though, so you need to do your homework before attempting it.

If you're still interested, you should learn the different kinds of cards available. There are basically two different types of cards: Airline-branded cards and general credit or charge cards. The airline-branded cards earn you miles each time you use the card and they're deposited into your frequent flyer account with that airline. General charge or credit cards earn you points in an account with the credit company. You can then transfer the points to your frequent flyer account.

Every major airline has at least one branded card, and there are several point-based cards. Sometimes you can earn big transfer bonuses for transferring points into specific frequent flyer accounts, so it can be worth it to wait to transfer points into miles when a transfer bonus is in effect.

Another great way to earn miles is opening an online banking or financial account. One of the most popular ones right now is BankDirect.

BankDirect can earn you a bunch of American Airlines miles in several ways. There are bonuses for signing up, using direct deposit, using bill pay, using the check card, and referring friends. You also earn miles (instead of interest) based on your balance. Do it right, and you can easily net over 20,000 AAdvantage miles (that's American Airlines frequent flier program).

There are other out there, but you've got to do your homework. Every frequent flyer program is different and the deals change often. For instance, Fidelity, Ameritrade, Bank of America, and Chase have all had (or still have) bonuses.

Most of us shop online. If you're not taking advantage of a shopping portal, you're missing out on big savings. All the big frequent flyer programs have a "shopping mall" set up. Use one and earn miles with every purchase.

How does it work?
I'll give you an example. Let's say you're going to buy a book from Barnes & Noble. Go to the AAdvantage shopping mall first, find Barnes & Noble, then click the link to go to the Barnes and Noble website. Make your purchase like normal, and you'll earn 3 miles per dollar. It doesn't sound like much, but if you do a lot of online shopping, it can really add up! And you can think of it as a discount, too. AA miles are worth about 2 cents each to me, so that's effectively a 6% savings at B&N. Some stores offer much larger bonuses. I've seen 40 miles per dollar before!

This one is easy. Just sign up to your airline's dining program and add your credit/debit card(s).You'll get miles every time you eat at a restaurant that's in your airlines dining program when you pay with a card that you've added to the program. I earned several thousand miles this way, just eating at places I would normally eat at anyway! You don't have to do anything once you're signed up, it's all automatic.

You can earn even more miles using a couple of extra tricks. For instance, using restaurant.com coupons and Open Table. You go to the airline shopping mall and click restaurant.com for 15 miles/$. Find a coupon code to get 80% off. Buy a $25 coupon for $2. Make a reservation on Open Table, pay your bill at the restaurant with your miles earning card that's also connected to the dining program. For a $40 meal, you've spent $17 and earned 72 miles (only worth about $1.50, but hey, they all count!).

The airlines often have promotions for doing special things. For instance, having activity with their partners (rental cars, florists, hotels, the "shopping mall", iDine, etc...). For these, you're gonna have to do some homework. The promos are always changing, but they can be very lucrative - even without leaving your couch!

For instance, U.S. Airways is having their Grand Slam promotion right now. You get bonuses for doing things listed on their site. The more you complete, the more points you earn. Some of them are simple and you can make thousands of points with hardly any money or work.