TMC Travel Tips: Extra Miles for Your Holiday Dollar

Nov 23, 2005

If you have been following TMC Travel Tips, you have already picked an airline mileage credit card and have been steadily earning points toward free travel, quite probably for January's Macworld Conference & Expo. If not, then you really need to get with it.

Double Miles from AmexThe holiday shopping season is a great time to rack up extra miles because many of the card companies offer special deals. Notable right now is a double miles offer for holders of the Delta SkyMiles American Express card. Available retroactively, you can get double miles for every dollar spent from November 1, 2005 through December 31, 2005. That new Quad G5 you were contemplating? It can get you almost a quarter of the way to a free ticket if you buy it under the Amex offer.

Send Flowers, Get Miles
If sending flowers is your thing for the holidays, you can be the one who receives the gift if you pay attention to your card's programs. Delta, US Air and others are offering double (or more!) miles if you purchase flowers through some of the online florist services. Check your program(s) to see which vendor is supported, and be sure to look for the special areas to fill in your frequent flyer number when ordering.

Paying Up
As we've said in previous TMC Travel Tips columns, these ideas all come with the caveat that you pay off your credit card bill monthly. No, not the minimum payment, pay it down to zero. That makes the miles truly "free" and worth the pursuit. The holiday season can put a strain on everyone's cash flow, so if you expect to be carrying a balance into the new year, be sure to balance the interest rate terms of your card with the bonus miles considerations.

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