These days you can earn miles for anything you buy with a credit card and of course, for flying. However, there are a ton of other ways to earn miles and while some of them may take some work to set up and get going, it is always worth it to earn those extra miles.
Reader Question: How to Earn Miles?
Reader Cara W. sent us the following inquiry:
I would love is how someone who doesn’t travel a lot (ie no work trips to build up points) but wants to try to build travel miles can do this best.
I’ve seen lots of people say the best way to is open cards and get the bonus from sign up then let it go.
Thanks for the question, Cara! Earning miles is possible through so many different methods and we are happy to point out the most popular ones. Though do note, this list is not complete and there are many other ways to earn miles and points depending on what partnerships your frequent flyer program has.
Earn Miles from Flights
The most obvious way to earn miles is by actually flying. However, there can be better ways to earn miles from flights than to just credit the miles for a flight to the airline you have flown.
Depending on the frequent flyer program you’re using, it can actually make sense in some cases to credit to a different frequent flyer program. Many programs are now revenue-based which means you’ll generally earn miles based on how much you spent on the ticket – however there are still some programs that award you miles based on class of travel and distance flown. In some cases the differences in miles earned can be huge, so it is always best to calculate how many miles you will get for your ticket in what program.
For example, we often credit our United Airlines flights to foreign frequent flyer programs to earn miles based on distance flown instead of money spent – and we usually come out ahead with more miles earned.
Earn Miles from Credit Card Purchases
Most airlines have credit cards that allow you to earn miles for everyday purchases – using one of these cards can help you quickly build up a big mileage balance. Many of these cards offer you multiple points per $1 spent on certain categories so you definitely want to be using the right card for the right purchase.
In addition to earning you miles, many airline credit cards also come with benefits like priority boarding and free checked bags, to help elevate your travel experience.
Bank Points Transfers
While airline credit cards are great, you should always be using credit cards from banks that have flexible and transferable points. Banks that have these rewards, offer many different cards that earn bank points – some cards allow you to earn multiple points per $1 spent.
These cards work similarly to airline credit cards, but instead of the miles/points earned going directly to your airline account, they will go to your bank points program – and then you have the flexibility to transfer those points to any participating frequent flyer program.
Using a bank credit card is preferred over using an airline credit card due to the flexibility offered – you can transfer your points to numerous airlines when you want to and where the best availability is.
Hotel Stays
When you book a hotel stay directly with the hotel, some hotel chains allow you to earn rewards with an airline partner instead of earning points with the hotel chain, for your hotel stay. In most cases it probably won’t be worth it since hotel points are valuable as well, but it’s nice to have this option. Be sure to check if your hotel chain has this feature.
Some airlines also have portals whereby you can book hotels directly on that portal and earn miles instantly, though do note that for the purpose of the hotel stay it would be considered booked through a third-party so your elite benefits most likely wouldn’t apply.
Car Rentals
Airlines partner with car rental agencies and you’re able to earn miles for renting a car. While most major frequent flyer programs partner with most major car rental companies, be sure to check the details of the partnership and how many points you can earn for renting a car.
Shopping and Dining Portals
Some airlines have shopping portals whereby if you go through their portal you can earn bonus miles on purchases with your favorite stores. The way it works is that when you click through from the airline’s portal to some store, you’ll automatically get additional miles after you purchase an eligible item. This works in most cases for pick-up online orders, so you can simply pick up your items instead of waiting for them to be shipped. Thousands of stores participate in these shopping portals and so it’s nice to have more ways to earn bonus miles.
Some airlines also have dining portals whereby you can earn bonus miles at participating restaurants. The way it works is that you look at the dining portal to see what restaurants participate and then usually you have to save a credit card in the dining portal and pay at the restaurant with that same card to earn the bonus dining portal miles.
Buying and Transferring Miles
Lots of airlines allow you to buy miles and often sell them with a bonus – sometimes these bonuses are as high as 150%, in which case buying miles might make sense. It’s almost never worth buying them at the standard price, so always look for a sale. When you buy miles, they usually post instantly so you’re able to redeem them right away for a flight.
Airlines also offer you the ability to transfer miles between accounts, but this is never worth it, unless there is a (rare) transfer bonus or some other offer.
Other Ways to Earn Miles
The major and most popular ways to earn miles are listed above, however with every frequent flyer program being unique, there may be more opportunities to earn miles, including:
- donation to organizations
- filling out surveys
- signing up for subscription services
- other non-travel partners
Be sure to have a look at what partnerships your frequent flyer program has with what services and organizations and check how you can earn more miles through those ways.
All in All
There’s lots of ways to earn miles quickly – and if you really participate in all of the available options, you’ll earn the miles fast. While it may not seem like much, just using the right credit card and frequent flyer program can make a huge difference.
Don’t forget that in some cases crediting flights to a different program may make more sense if that program still awards miles based on distance flown instead of fare purchased. You should always be earning multiple miles at an accelerated rate – that way you’ll be flying using your miles sooner.