Boarding Area is giving away two seats on the upcoming Star MegaDO 4. And not just any two seats, but two seats next to the original frequent flier, Randy Petersen! Randy is the founder of FlyerTalk, InsideFlyer, MilePoint, and of course, BoardingArea. This is the ultimate trip for frequent flier junkies! For info on the event, check out the official page here, and the MilePoint MegaDO forum here.
The prize:
A reserved aisle or window seat next to Randy Petersen on the upcoming StarMegaDo 2012, hotel accommodations, and $250 for personal expenses!
To enter, write a comment answering the following question: What’s your best advice for someone just starting to chase miles and points? The Road Warriorette winner will be selected at random and will then be part of the Boarding Area wide-contest.
- You can also enter the on any of the participating blogs, listed here.
- You must include a valid email address.
- Open to everyone 18 and older.
- You can submit one entry per blog.
- Contest comments entry period ends 11:59:59 pm MT October 7, 2012.
- Winner Selection: Two (2) winners will be chosen in a random drawing on Monday, October 8, 2012 from all eligible entries received during the Giveaway Period, as posted in the comments section of participating BoardingArea.com partnering blogs. The random drawing will be conducted by Randy Petersen, whose decision is final and binding in all respects. The winner will be notified via email within two (2) days after the selection is made. Each winner will have five (5) business days to reply confirming his/her acceptance of the giveaway seat. Failure to reply in the indicated time frame will declare that the seat has been refused and forfeited for all time and the first alternative entry will be chosen in random drawings as outlined above and provided the opportunity to claim the seat giveaway.
Read the entire list of contest rules here.
Good luck!
Read the blogs and forums for at least two weeks before you spend your points.
Understand the power of miles! Miles can bring you to places you never thought could afford. Don’t waste miles on Y tickets.
Focus maybe on one alliance to start with and [especially if US based] look into credit cards.
I would advise to focus on one main airline and one hotel brand. Thanks.
Focus on an airline with lots of partner ship and good redemption chart. And credit as much miles as possible into that single FFP.
Read MP, FT, and make friends with those in-the-know.
Subscribe to all of the travel bloggers on Boarding Area to learn about all of the opportunities (and nuances) to amass miles and points for free travel! Thanks for the contest.
Bookmark all the FF sites (MP, FT, BoardingArea, MMS, FTG, TPG, etc.)
Read the blogs on BA, then go to FT, MP and never let miles expire!
signup bonuses are the way to go – manage those approval date and credit score and keep earning as many signup bonuses as possible!
Follow all the blogs and sign up for all promotions, regardless on whether you think you will use them
Get a good system in place for tracking your points (whether it’s an online service or a simple Excel spreadsheet).
And, follow the blogs to stay up to date on all the amazing deals they find!
Check Boarding Area every day.
take aadvantage of all the promos
i set expectations and ask what they want to do and then direct them accordingly. i generally start with the Starwood Amex as the bonus can give them a free night or P&C options. then direct to a blog or two
Sign up for every mile/point program you can. You just never know when you will need that number.
Start reading the Boarding Area blogs and Flyertalk, and look at various credit card promotions. Also, sign up for frequent flyer accounts.
put everything on autopay and use mint to track if purchases are legit. After 20 credit cards, it gets harder to track due dates.
Sign up for Award Wallet – until you find a way to start tracking your points it’s hard to believe it can be easy!
Focus activity on one airline alliance and hotel chain until you meet your targeted statuses in each, even if it means less convenient routings and hotels.
Shop through the online shopping portals!
Best advice? Don’t waste your miles /points on economy domestic flights!
Credit card signup bonuses
Read the blogs!
If you plan to redeem for economy only flights, you might find a better return on value with a cash back card where you use the savings to purchase your tickets. Points have a much better return on your time and money investment if used for a higher class fare, or saved for those last minute trips when even economy can be expensive.
make sure you’re enjoying the process as much as the goal. The process takes alot of work, and if you’re not going to enjoy the flying, researching, etc., etc., the results will feel tainted. I know too many people who work their behinds off to get the miles, but get frustrated with the process. Enjoy life, and make this a part of it
Educate yourself – there’s a great community out there and you can avoid a lot of early mistakes
I shared tips on spending miles with a stranger last flight last week. We have become friends and found out that we have something in common in term of research/work!
don’t be afriad to disversify your points/Miles holdings across a varitey of vendors and allainces.
Keep good records! Especially for credit card sign-ups.
United MileageExplorer has to be the best card to get started. Sapphire card will be next. AA card times two for 100,000 AA points. SPG card for the hotel nights. That should be a good start.
The Chase Online Ultimate Rewards Shopping Portal!
My advice for someone just starting to chase miles and points: Focus all your earning (revenue, promotions, etc) on one alliance program to begin with. A redemption payoff will happen sooner.
I will try to win this although the chance is slim.
Start reading multiple blogs before doing the first CC churn
First thing to do? Check your credit reports and fix and negatives or errors. Good credit will get you farther than mileage running or mattress running ever will.
I would join the programs for the most used airlines/hotels.
Get a high-mileage credit card bonus and use that card for business expenses to meet the min. qualifying spend
Credit all the miles and points when you travel. I can’t believe how many points people lost by forgetting to do that!
Before buying anything online, see what miles are available by checking out a site like EvReward
Get excited about every mile even if it is a small amount!
I follow Boarding Area and its frequent bloggers and their FB as well as their blogs to check out the latest and greatest!!
NEVER EVER give up on free points / miles when they come along, thinking they are of no use for you – as you never know what tomorrow will bring!
Sign up for Milepoint and read. Knowledge is power!