Travel
Earn Miles Without Leaving Home
By Elizabeth Manresa
You don’t have to be a frequent flier to earn a free airline ticket ... just a frequent buyer.
Did You Know?
There is an airline dedicated to pet travel-- Pet Airways will fly your four-legged friend to and from 4 major markets in the U.S.
Everyone knows that you can earn airline miles by flying, staying at certain hotels, shopping with branded credit cards. But did you know there’s another way to earn those coveted miles? Believe it or not, you can earn loads of miles simply by shopping online at certain stores.
Here’s how it works: By going through an airline’s website, you can earn anywhere from 1 to 6 miles per dollar spent while shopping online. For example, if you go through the US Airways website and shop at www.Beauty.com you can earn 4 miles per dollars spent. Spend $40 and you earn a whopping 160 miles! You will be surprised at how quickly the points add up. In fact, most of my free tickets have been earned from online purchases.
American Airlines and US Airways offer two of the best shopping programs. US Airways participates with over 220 stores including Best Buy, Target, Sears, Ann Taylor, The Gap, Office Depot and PetSmart. American Airlines has over 300 participating stores including Ballard Designs, Design Within Reach, Bliss, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, JC Penney, Petco and Nordstom. Shop with the airline you fly the most.
The key to earning miles is to go through the airline’s website for every purchase—otherwise you don’t get the points. Here are two quick links to get you started:
Happy flying and buying!