Faster Flier Miles

By: by Sid Kirchheimer Source: Scam-Proof Your Life Date Posted: 

From Scam-Proof Your Life: 377 Smart Ways to Protect You & Your Family, by Sid Kirchheimer, 2006, p. 159.
 
Credit-card programs that earn you one airline mile for every dollar you charge can get you nowhere fast—or somewhere expensively. Before you start congratulating yourself on having converted 25,000 reward points into a “free” air
ticket, pause to consider that you may be holding, essentially, a $25,000 ticket to Akron.
 
Fortunately, says Matthew Bennett, publisher of FirstClassFlyer.com, there’s a quicker way to fly courtesy of your plastic purchases: Any American Express
cardholder enrolled in a Membership Rewards program in the United States can buy 1,000-mile reward increments for $25 a pop. Up to 500,000 points can be purchased per account each year, and these can be transferred to the frequent-flier reward program of at least 13 airlines.
 
If you can’t quite bring yourself to buy frequent-flier miles—even at those steep
savings—consider the Starwood Preferred Guest™ credit card from American
Express, suggests Bennett. With each 20,000 miles you accumulate, you receive a bonus of 5,000 miles, netting you 1.25 miles for each dollar you charge. And as Bennett points out, “the rewards can be used on 30 different airlines.”
 
Topping it off, the Star Points card—which historically has waived its $30 annual fee for the second year—offers free car-rental damage insurance, extra points for hotel stays, and other travel perks.

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