Another free airline ticket...

If you haven't clicked on the link in the upper right-hand corner and become a Travel Hacker, you're missing out.  The travel cost for my trip to St. Thomas was about $20 because all I had to do was pay the taxes on my Delta SkyMiles ticket.

One of the recent editions of the Travel Hacker newsletter listed an opportunity to pick up 30,000 American AAdvantage miles by opening a checking account.  Not a credit card -- a checking account.  All I have to do is spend $750 over three months using the debit card and have at least two direct deposits made.  Who can't do that?

And, by the way, this is the second time I have done this with Citi.  I closed out the last account about nine months ago.  Look, unless you got lucky in the stock market, your money is earning squat if it is in a CD, savings or money market account.  Put it where you get something for it.

The economy is going to tank big time over the coming few years as the Euro zone finally can't sustain itself and takes the rest of the world with it.  Initially, money will seek a safe haven and the US dollar has always been the reserve currency.  But as the fiscal crisis becomes a reality in the US as well, inflation will go through the roof.  We're going to watch Barack morph into Jimmy Carter... just lacking the administrative experience, common sense and ability to manage foreign affairs that the Peanut had (oh... wait... Jimbo didn't have any of those things either).  I vividly remember the 16.25% mortgage that I had for fifteen months because inflation was so bad.

Good times ahead.  Get your free airline tickets so you can get out of Dodge when it becomes necessary!

Free airline tickets...

Anybody who has looked at any of my blogs in the last couple of months has seen a link to the Travel Hacker Cartel web site.  Their claim of earning a plane ticket every three months sounds like a pretty strong come-on, but I tried it out and it works!

The concept is simple – take advantage of offers to earn airline miles from credit card companies and others that want your business.  To earn enough miles on a regular basis requires that you “churn” credit cards.  For example, I just applied for a US Airways credit card through Barclays and was approved instantly.  As a result, I earned 30,000 US Airways Dividend Miles and if I do a balance transfer, I can earn an additional mile for each dollar transferred, up to 10,000 miles.  Once I have used the card and met all the qualifications, I will close the card and open one somewhere else to earn a new bonus.  Simple.

Obviously this requires keeping track of the cards you have and knowing a little about how credit works.  I never carry a balance on my cards; always pay on time and have worked hard at keeping a high FICO score.  American Airlines is my airline of choice and I have had a Citibank AAdvantage card for nearly 20 years.  It occurred to me that I really should cancel it, wait six months and apply for another so I can earn the 30,000 to 60,000 bump that is regularly available.

Another super offer was through SunTrust Bank.  This one is great because you don’t have to have great credit to get it.  Open a checking account online and use your debit card within the first 30 days to get 15,000 Delta SkyMiles.  Set up a direct deposit and earn an additional 15,000 miles.  It doesn’t get any easier than this!  In fact, this is the second time I have done this deal through SunTrust.  I kept the last account for seven months and then closed it.  Eight months later I opened a new account when the offer came around again.

Depending on your financial situation, there are tons of offers out there you can leverage to build your frequent flyer program balances.  I went to the AAdvantage website and found out I could earn 25,000 miles for opening a Fidelity brokerage account.  If you have money that is not invested, you’re earning between 0.1% and .5% on your savings or CD.  Moving the money to use as a qualifying balance for a checking account or, in this case, a brokerage account gets you a free trip instead of $1.78 interest each month.  That’s a pretty easy decision to make as far as I’m concerned.

The Travel Hacker site is great because it not only lists offers as they become available, but there are tutorials on understanding the process and how to get the most out of the frequent flyer miles you earn. 

I have a lot of travel experience, but I have learned more from the Travel Hacker Cartel than I thought possible.  More to come on earning and spending frequent flyer points.  In the meantime, click on the link at the top right of this page and get started earning free airfare!!!