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by Wendy Perrin
In his fascinating article "The 5 Million Frequent Flyer Mile Challenge", Chris Guillebeau of The Art of Non-Conformity writes "the true story of how [he] earned more than 300,000 frequent flier miles in the past five weeks, thanks to mileage bonuses from new credit cards." He spent $500 and a few hours of his time, he says, and gained at least $12,000 worth of miles. It's a must-read. Thanks, WorldHum, for pointing us to it.
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I have been following this, it's an amazing experiment. Go Chris!
Posted by: galavanting | January 16, 2009 at 10:19 PM
I posted this on his site, but he doesn't seem to want to post my comment - hopefully you won't edit it out:
Echoing what Paul said above&got 300K miles? - but according to your own math:
75,000 AA miles
25,000 UA miles
~35,000 Hilton Honor points (not miles - but points - big difference - also, the link you provided only gives 10K HH points)
20,000 DL miles
20,000 AS miles
25,000 NW miles
25,000 CO miles
50,000 US miles
240,000 miles & 10,000 (to 35,000??) HH points
upto 3 AA domestic tickets or 1-2 international AA tickets (coach class)
upto 1 domestic UA ticket
No DL ticket
upto 1 AS ticket
upto 1 domestic NW ticket
upto 1 domestic CO ticket
upto 2 domestic US tickets or 1 intl US ticket (good luck redeeming a useful award on US)
You value that at $12k? Maybe $2700-$4000 ($4k at most).
Intangible benefits?
-8 Alaska Airlines Space Available Upgrades - not valid on award tickets & confirmed at the gate - lower fares will get no upgrade.
-Airline Lounge Passes (multiple) - airlines charge $50/each usually - looking at your signups, curious which you got them for? US only? No free booze or internet & limited usage at US.
-Companion Airfare Discounts (multiple) - when buying a paid ticket of $300 or more usually&good if you have someone flying with you though.
-6,000 Mile Discount on a Northwest Awards Flight - valid only on domestic itineraries, still a useful benefit.
-Hilton Gold Status - how? The link you provided reflects only Silver Status
-Hertz Gold Status (Orbitz gives it for free - http://www.orbitz.com/public/ANS/Orbitz/html/theme/popup_OPAHertz.html)
-Enterprise Gold Status - You sure about that? Enterprise doesnt have Gold status&
-Free Weekend Car Rental with Hertz, Budget, and Enterprise - generally nothing too special here - tons of coupons on the internet as well.
-Other random perks that are still arriving in the mail each week (a.k.a. Partner Marketing offers)
Not trying to burst the bubble here - just trying to be realistic&
Posted by: skambete | January 20, 2009 at 06:16 PM