Tag Archives: Flights

United Plus Mileage Explorer Card
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A Few Mile Collection Opportunities for US Residents

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United Plus Mileage Explorer Card

By Lakshmi:

As mentioned in an earlier post, a lot of the Paupers travels are funded with miles and points.  Here are a couple of our latest mile earning forays.

Since our home base is a former Continental, now United hub, I decided to get the United MileagePlus Explorer Card from Chase.  The card offered me 50,000 miles (read two free tickets in the US or close to a free one to Europe) for sign up/first time use and another 5,000 miles to add an authorized user.   The offers typically vary, so your personal offer could be lower or higher.

There is no annual fee for year one, a $50 statement credit and two passes to use their United Club lounge.  Every dollar charged on the card earns you a mile and any airline ticket purchases with United earn you two miles for every dollar.  There is no ceiling on miles earned, no foreign exchange fee, and best of all, the card gives you early boarding and a free checked bag which covers the cost of the card in future years.

My husband has had the Continental card for many years and this has been a prime mileage earning vehicle to fund our travels.

To learn more about the United MileagePlus Explorer Card, click here:

http://www4.chasecreditcards.com/MPConsumer40kAFW.aspx?CELL=RRW&MSC=IQ33872601&jp_cmp=cc/05BRUnitedExact/sea/na/MileagePlus

If you’d rather not take steps to add another credit card but still want a shot at miles, try entering US Airways latest vacation giveaway.  They are giving away a million miles and a Disney vacation.  All you have to do is take a few seconds to register here:

http://www.usairwaysvacations.com/consumer/DisneyMileSweepStakes.aspx

DEALS

Points and Miles – The way to enable our travels

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By Lakshmi:

If you’ve read a few of our posts, you know that we are indeed paupers without travel.  But how does one travel without becoming a pauper?

When people hear about our trips, the frequent comment is….oh that’s too expensive.  We can never do it.  And my answer is life is a series of trade offs!

In our household, when it comes to making a choice between a new experience or buying something, we always pick a new experience.   No ifs or buts.

But what really helps us do as much as we do is the points and miles we gain by frequenting the same airline or hotel.   My husband and I also travel for work and typically, our choices are one or two airlines.  And each of us, including our kids have a frequent flyer account.  For those not engaging in this activity to date, there is no cost to join these programs, and the opportunities to earn points and miles without ever leaving your home are endless.  We carry credit cards with the same airlines, racking up miles for every dollar we spend on all things mundane….gas, groceries, you name it, it goes on the card.

Isn’t it really complicated to keep track of who has what points?  Not really.  Websites like awardwallet.com enable you to keep track of all your rewards in one place.

Of course, I am a newbie in this point collection space as compared to the pros who have entire blogs dedicated to the art of earning points and miles.  One of my favorites is flyertalk.com.  On any given day, there are several posts on the most creative ways to fuel the point earning frenzy.  My most amazing discovery was a class of individuals who do mileage runs, for example, taking a flight to Tokyo and returning back without even seeing the city to take advantage of  mileage boosting promotions.

In addition to providing you with twitter feeds on the latest deals we spot, we will dedicate a section called Points and Miles to feature the earning opportunities we learn about.

We hope you find our own tips for navigating this landscape helpful and we look forward to hearing your tips for making travel a priority in your lives!