Airmiles - What scheme/offers do you use?

[SideWinder]

So i have decided that i want to do more travelling - simple as that. I didn't do the gap year thing when i was younger and after having a few mini trips away to Hamburg and Stockholm, it has inspired me to try harder budgeting so this leads me onto you guys...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/t...t-reveals-hack-fares-without-credit-card.html

Inspired by the above, what do you currently use to save air miles using a credit card or another method?

After a quick google, it looks like BA and Virgin Atlantic are the main ones to go for?

Value your input guys - been here long enough to know that.

 

[Azza]

1) That guy isn't 'hacking' he's just paying for points when there is a sale.
2) Hidden-city tickets carry risks if you do them a lot and they'll be only worth it on long haul flights I imagine.

I preusme you'll be flying out of London.

Start by having a look at - http://www.headforpoints.com/
BA specific - http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/brit...aining-status-earning-avios-2017-edition.html & http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/brit...9-your-guide-spending-avios-2017-edition.html

I don't think Avios on long haul are as good as they were a few years a go, but for short haul to Europe the Reward Flight Saver is good.

And the Oneworld alliance has a decent selection of airlines, but I haven't really looked into using Avios for anything long haul yet like via Qatar etc. Other airlines like Virgin, Emirates etc you'll probably need to fly quite frequently to build up their rewrad points.


I got an Amex Gold (free for first year), spent a couple of £k and got 20,000 reward points which you can convert into Avios. That's enough to get 2 return trips to a Zone 1, Copenhagen & Prague for example are far away Zone 1 destinations, for 2 economy returns for 18,000 avios (off-peak) and £70 in taxes.

If you're a big spender and have a partner there are also sorts of little schemes you can put together to obtain bonus points, cancel, get an BA PP earn bonus, cancel, get a Amex Gold, rotate between the account being in each others name etc etc.

 

[DB_SamX]

Also using Amex Gold atm for Avios.

I change credit cards every year for their introductory Avios offer. In fact BA have just emailed me an offer for their Amex which has a great intro bonus 10k miles for £1k spend in first three months. I'll sign up this week and ditch the Amex Gold after.

P.s. I always pay my balance in full every month, and never have more than 3 credit cards at any one time - 1 Amex, 1 non-Amex and one kept only for emergencies/backup at home.

 

[Scam]

Sorry to rain on the parade, but honestly I don't think airlines care much about someone who has "decided to travel more". The airmiles you will earn will pale in comparison to business travellers that travel for work. At the end of the day it's their business they are about keeping -- people that travel once or twice a month and are happy to pay big bucks for booking flights last minute.

By all means join a scheme and do the "hacks", but I wouldn't expect much in return.

 

[SideWinder]

Azza - Really helpful, thankyou!

DB - Will be paying off also, need to be careful plus you don't get the reward if you don't i believe!

Scam - Sounds like this is a scam. But no, i do agree/have my eyes open wide.