How to Earn More Frequent Flyer Miles

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

Debit Visa or MasterCard

Frequent-flier account

A bank that links the two

Step 1

 GET A DEBIT CARD LINKED TO A FREQUENT-FLIER ACCOUNT

If you have a plain debit card with your bank and a frequent flier account with a major airline, consider upgrading to a debit Visa or MasterCard linked to that account. Chase has agreements in place with Continental Airlines and United, while Citibank offers debit cards linked to American Airlines, among many others.

Step 2

 PAY THE ANNUAL FEE TO HOLD THIS DEBIT CARD

Upgrading to a frequent-flier linked debit card usually involves a fee (typically $50-$75) but it will more than payoff later. With the miles you build up you can turn those points/miles into free flights you would have had to pay well over the annual fee to purchase.

Step 3

 SWITCH ALL YOUR SPENDING TO YOUR DEBIT CARD

If you are able, using your frequent-flier-linked debit card for ALL your purchases going forward will allow you to qualify for free flights sooner than you think. Pay for everything-and I mean EVERYTHING-on your card from a $3 coffee at Starbucks to your $500 weekly grocery bill, and you can potentially earn double or triple miles if there are specials going on that month (depends on card company).

Step 4

 WATCH YOUR MILES GROW

The miles add up quick - in the three months since I did this (I upgraded to a Chase United Visa Debit card in January 2009) I have already built up 30,000 miles (free flight already) even though I didn't spend anywhere close to $30K during that time. The best part about linking your debit card to your frequent flier account is that all the little things you buy (stamps, water, coffee) all add up to get you free airfare.

Tips & Warnings

Usually you get 1 mile for every $1 spent, but sometimes can get double or triple miles depending on the item or service purchased.