All posts by admin

There are a few different ways to earn miles from a rewards credit card, a Chase Ultimate Rewards Card, or a directly branded United Airlines credit card. You have to do all of the initial sign-ons and then you are ready to go with earning rewards. Make sure to read the fine print to understand whether or not your card works to earn your United miles.

There are few ways miles can be earned through the various United MileagePlus credit cards and partner reward credit cards. You need to make sure you read the fine print to confirm that your card earns you United Airlines miles.

Here are a few ways:

1.   Sign on Bonuses

Chase is the only bank to offer MileagePlus miles-earning credit cards. Each card will give you different MileagePlus miles as a sign-on offer. Make sure to do your research because there are times when you can get 50,000-70,000 bonus miles just for signing up, but you have to be patient. Once again, make sure to read all of the fine print because there are usually spending requirements and usage limitations.

2. Categorical Bonuses

If you make a lot of purchases in a specific area, make sure to get the card that allows you to take advantage of that. You can earn quite a few miles just doing whatever it is that you traditionally do, like shopping, buying office supplies, eating at restaurants, or traveling.

Once again, do some research to find the card that will work best for you.

3. Refer a Friend

Every few months, Chase runs a promotion where, if you recommend a friend to the card, you can earn bonus miles. The person has to apply, be approved, and make a purchase within three months, and you can get 5,000 bonus miles. It requires someone else to do the work, but the good news is that there is no limit as to how many people you can invite.

4. Shop to Earn Miles

Use the MileagePlus Shopping Portal to earn miles for your purchases. To make the most of it, be sure to only purchase things that you need or would normally purchase. The portal is extremely easy to use, especially for anyone who does online shopping regularly. And there is even an app!

If you aren’t able to earn enough miles from some of the ideas listed above and need some extra miles to complete booking your trip, a great option is to purchase miles from a miles broker. Of course you have to be careful and only work with a company that you trust, but it is an easy way to finish off a rewards total. If you would like more information about how we can help you buy United Miles, click here to read more. We make the process of buying miles easy and safe.

There are a lot of different ways to earn United MileagePlus miles. You just have to know how to do your research and to take advantages of things like sign-up bonuses, spending categories, and ways to earn bonus points that will not cost you any money.

Earning American Express Membership Rewards Points is simple and easy, and they can help you travel the world and visit places you have never been before.

AmEx Membership Rewards Points are easy to transfer to travel partners, giving you more flexibility and options. You may use them for many popular hotel chains, just be sure to check conversion rates.

Change it Up

The most popular way to use your points is to fly because you have the option to fly on a variety of different airlines. You can fly on one that is in the same alliance with American Express Membership Rewards or on a partner airline. Diversifying your miles will help you to get the most for your membership points. Use two programs, for example British and Singapore Airways, so that you can stack your miles.

Transferring Bonuses

Sometimes, American Express will offer transfer bonuses when transferring your MR points to travel partners. These bonuses can go up to an extra 40% in miles, which can really help you travel farther. These bonuses are not always available so you will have to be careful about choosing which work for you.

Easy to Earn

If you are not sure which card to choose, not to worry. Many of the American Express rewards cards make it easy to earn Membership Rewards. Usually you will find them advertised when you sign up for the card or when you sign in to pay your balance. American Express offers a Card Match Tool to help you out.

Remember that there are sign-up bonuses, which are normally offered only once per lifetime, but you may apply for another card after your old account has been closed out for over  a year.

The Amex MR credit cards that earn the most are:

• Premier Rewards Gold Card
• The Business Gold Rewards
• Mercedes-Benz
• Platinum
• The Business Platinum Card®
• Everyday
• Everyday Preferred

If you do some research and strike at the right opportunity, you can really make the most out of American Express Membership Rewards.

Always make sure to read the fine print and look into what you are signing up for before you actually apply for the credit card. Not doing so could lead you into possibly signing up for a program that doesn’t fit what you are looking for.

As you can see, it is easy to earn Amex reward points which helps make their rewards program one of the better ones currently available.

There are so many credit cards out there that it can be difficult to figure out which are the good ones and which should be avoided. If you are looking for a card that will live up to what it says and will benefit you in the long run, the American Express Gold Rewards Card has a lot of perks.

Earning Points

The American Express Gold Rewards Card is a good choice if you like collecting points and you want to consolidate your spending to one card so you may earn and accumulate a lot of Membership Rewards. You can get up to three points per dollar spent on travel; two points for groceries, gas, and pharmaceuticals; and one point for every dollar spent on everything else. The American Express Gold Rewards Card also runs a lot of specials.

Easy to Use

Anyone who has ever redeemed the American Express Memberships Rewards they have earned will tell you how easy it is to use for travel, merchandise, and gift cards.You can use it to pay for travel expenses like flights, hotels, and even restaurants when you travel. Another major benefit is that there are no restrictions, blackouts, or fine print that you have to worry about. And you can pay for your taxes and fees with it too. If you are interested in taking advantage of some of the partner offers, you can do exchanges with frequent flier programs, hotel rewards, and other companies that are listed on their website.

Annual Fee

The American Express Gold Rewards card’s annual fee is a little high, but is worth it when you consider all of the benefits you get with it. The first year is free and then every year after that is $175 in the United States and $150 in Canada.

Signing Bonus

ALWAYS A SIGNING BONUS? OR “During signing bonus specials…”  If you are a new user and you spend the targeted amount within the first three months of being approved for the American Express Gold Rewards Card, you will receive an extra 25,000 Membership rewards. You have to spend $2,000 if you are in the United States and $500 if you are in Canada. This is not really all that difficult for those who are planning to use their card for travel. You can plan ahead and even make money!

Airline loyalty miles do not always last forever, and in fact, some expire very quickly. Some do have ever-active miles but as long as you have an “active account.” If you are unable to fly and earn miles, there are a few things you can do to prevent them from expiring. Here are some ways to keep your miles account active:

Use Your Airline Credit Card

The easiest way to keep your miles account active is to apply for an airline credit card. Use your card to pay for a latte, groceries, or even a tank of gas. Whatever you buy, your purchases will keep it active. However, check the pricing and terms as most milage cards have annual fees (some close to $100).

Purchase Something Online

A lot of airline mileage programs have online shopping malls, and in many cases, this is a good way to earn extra miles on things you may have already been planning to buy. Besides shopping at retail and department stores, you can also subscribe to newspapers and magazines. Just log in and shop through your mileage account. However, it can sometimes take a while for these miles to be credited to your account, so you may want to try something else.

Use Your Miles to Book a Flight

The most obvious way to prevent your miles from expiring is to actually use them. Redeem your miles to take a vacation, or consider giving someone a flight as a gift. Maybe someone who cannot afford a flight home for the holidays.

Use Your Miles for Non-Flight Rewards

If you do not have enough miles for a flight, check if you can redeem miles for non-flight rewards.

These often include gift certificates or the option to transfer miles to other reward programs. Redeeming even just a few of your miles will keep your account active.

Buy Miles

The final method to keeping your miles account active is to purchase miles from the airline. However it is not the cheapest as there is normally a minimum amount plus processing fees. It could end up costing you a lot. Still, if time is of the essence and you do not have any other option, it could save you from losing what you have earned and possibly have been hoarding for the perfect get away.

Although there are plenty of great ways to spend your American Express points, there are also a lot of ways that do not really pay off at the end of the day. Using them for airline flights, cash back, or even gift cards are usually pretty safe, but there are times you definitely do not want to spend them. Here are some of the best and worst ways to redeem your AMEX points:

Worst – Last Minute Flights: If you will be flying last minute, you most likely will not be able to find the best deal. Since most cards are not affiliated with a specific airline, you may be taken for a ride sometimes. When you pay for last minute flights, you will probably get much less — each mile is worth about $0.01 during redemption, which will not get you too far.

Best – Flights: The reason you want to go with frequent flyer miles is because you can get as much as 2 or 3 cents value per mile, making it a great deal. Of course, you will have to read the fine print and figure out what works and what does not. Remember that it is always better to plan ahead and do your research, otherwise you could find yourself in a bad deal.

Worst – Merchandise: No matter what card you have, merchandise is not always the best bet. You will be paying many, many times the amount of the value of the product. If you see something that you really want, be sure to Google search it to see how much it usually sells for and make the conversion.

Best – Gift Cards: While most people do not like gift cards, you could get a good deal here. With some programs, you will be able to get gift cards at a higher level than if you were to get cash back. Once again, you will have to do some research for the best options.

Worst – Experiences: While it might be really cool to go to a concert without paying anything, you are actually losing money in the long run. When redeeming your point for different experiences like concerts, you are not getting full value of what your AMEX point is worth.

Best – Cash Back: Cash is always going to be a smart option. Credit card companies will have a harder time using a tricky conversion method and you will know the actual dollar amount. You could also consider selling your AMEX points for cash. If you are interested in this option, learn more about selling them with us by clicking here.

At the end of the day, the best thing you can do is plan ahead and do your research before spending your American Express Rewards Points.

American Express Membership Rewards points can be transferred to airline loyalty programs and redeemed for flights. It is important to research your loyalty program’s terms and conditions as once transferred, points are subject to the loyalty program’s terms and conditions. Also check flight availability before transferring points.

Also research your American Express card as some are not eligible to transfer points, like American Express Platinum Credit Card, Platinum Business Credit Card, ZYNC card, some Blue credit cards, and some Optima credit cards.

Airlines that Work with American Express Membership Rewards

American Express Member Rewards work with 17 airlines.  Sometimes there are special offers, but points can generally be redeemed at a 1:1 ratio in increments of 1,000 points, like the following:

• Air Canada Aeroplan Miles
• Air France KLM Flying Blue Award Miles
• Millemiglia Alitalia Miles
• ANA Mileage Club Miles
• Asia Miles
• Delta Airlines SkyMiles
• Emirates Skywards Miles
• Etihad Airways Guest Miles
• Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Miles
• Virgin Atlantic Airways Flying Club miles

But some points can be redeemed for more or less in different increments, like the following:

• 1000 MR =1600 Aeromexico Premier Points
• 250 MR = 200 British Airways Avios
• 1000 MR = 20 El Al Israel Airlines Matmid Points
• 250 MR = 200 Iberia Plus Avios
• 250 MR = 200 jetBlue Airways TrueBlue Points
• 200 MR = 100 Virgin America Elevate points

Transferring Membership Rewards Points to Miles

If you have found a flight you would like to book, you will have to log in to your American Express account and go to the Transfer Points page to link that airline loyalty program. Once you have selected the loyalty program, you will be given step-by-step instructions.

Even if you do not have a specific flight in mind, you may want log in every once in awhile to look for special offers to accumulate more frequent flier miles quickly.

Transfer Times Between American Express Rewards and Airlines

The American Express Membership Rewards terms and conditions indicate that transfers take up to 5 working days to reach your loyalty account. However, while everyone may have their own experiences with different airlines, sometimes it is instantaneous. These have been member experiences in the past:

• Instant: Air France, Aeroplan, British Airways, Delta, Emirates, Hawaiian

• 72 Hours: ANA, Iberia

But again, these times are simply a guideline and results may vary.

It has to be stressed that in order to get the most out of transferring your American Express Membership Rewards points to Airline Miles, you HAVE TO do your research. If you are looking for another option for your AMEX points besides transferring them to frequent flyer miles, learn more about selling them for cash by clicking here.

You have probably heard about miles earned from airlines and credits cards and wondered what the difference is.

The answer is, not much. Miles earned by flying are usually the number of miles from point A to B. Miles earned through purchases charged to a credit card are usually a set number of miles per dollar charge. They can then be combined and redeemed for airline tickets, upgrades and more. To make the most of it, you need to know these five things about your airline miles.

1. Upgrades are your friend

The purpose of getting airline miles is to get more of what you love without spending a lot, and upgrades often give your miles greater power.  Use your hard-earned miles to purchase an upgrade for your base ticket. Whether you fly domestically or internationally, a little premium service can make the journey much more enjoyable.

2. There is one way to always pay more

Knowing what to purchase with your miles is just as important as knowing when to purchase it. Avoid using your miles to purchase gifts or other non-flight services. You will find that these purchases can eat up miles quickly, leaving you unable to upgrade and stranded in economy class.

3. Pull your top picks

Some of your favorite airlines offer tremendous deals, and if you know what to look for, you can snatch them up. Some domestic airlines miles may better spent on international destinations like Europe, Asia, and South America, while international airlines might help you take advantage of short flights across the US. Also look for new routes like ones from Southwest Airlines, which now flies to the Caribbean. Stay ahead of dynamic pricing by airlines by watching for price fluctuations and flying times.

4. When to use a miles broker

It can be difficult to keep up with the changes in mileage accrual and redemption. That is why it can be a good idea to use a miles broker who can help you get the most out of your miles. A reputable miles broker can not only provide you with an easy solution to buy airline miles online but can also help you sell the miles you have built up for cash. If you’re looking for more information on buying or selling your airline miles, learn more about how the process works and why you should work with us.

5. Get your two cents’ worth

If you have racked up hundreds of thousands of airline miles, you may want to know how much all those miles are worth. Although rates vary between airlines, the rule of thumb values them at about two cents per mile for most of the major airlines. When trying to redeem your miles, you should try to get this amount to maximize their value.