Travel Deal of the Day (Dec. 29, 2006)

Another day, another Las Vegas deal. The five star Bellagio Hotel in the center of the Las Vegas Strip is running a promotional sale for certain nights during the first three months of 2007.

The Deal:
The Bellagio is offering a $169/night promotional rate for the following dates: 1/31, 2/5, 2/6, 2/28, 3/1, 3/7 and 3/8. Suites are also available on the same dates for $249/night.

How:
Go to: Bellagio Deal

The Inside Scoop:
This deal technically requires you to pay an additional $50/night for a lakeview room (higher room category than the standard non-view room). In the past, I have been able to pay the standard rate and get a free upgrade at check-in using the tips previously mentioned in this blog (see Nov. 23, 2006 post).

Travel Deal of the Day (Dec. 28, 2006)

Want to go to Vegas for New Year’s Eve? Priceline.com has a great deal right on the strip for New Year’s Eve (a time when it is normally next to impossible to get a deal).

The Deal:
Get a room at the four star Aladdin Hotel on the Strip in Las Vegas for New Year’s Eve for around $125/night.

How:
Normally, hotels on the Strip for New Year’s Eve in Las Vegas are outrageously expensive. However, it appears that Priceline.com has some great deals for Las Vegas for New Years’s Eve. (In case you are not familiar with Priceline, Priceline obtains discounted rooms from travel providers - but the names of the hotels are not apparent to you until after you bid for a location, price and star level for your hotel choice.)

Biddingfortravel.com, a great resource for finding out what bid prices people are using on Priceline, is reporting that when bidding using Priceline.com for a four star hotel on the Strip in Las Vegas, the Aladdin Hotel is coming up for around $125 (see this link for more information).

To get this deal, go to Priceline.com and bid for a 4 star hotel in the “Las Vegas Strip Vicinity” district. If you bid appromiately $125, while supplies last, you will likely be able to obtain the Aladdin.

The Inside Scoop:
Note that there may be a minimum stay required to obtain this deal, so bidding for just the night of 12/31 may be unsuccessful. Biddingfortravel.com is reporting that bidders have been able to obtain the Aladdin by bidding for minimum three or four night stays which include New Year’s Eve.

Travel Deal of the Day (Dec. 27, 2006)

Rental car rates have been going up - way up. If you need to rent a car over the next few months, you may find that rates are a lot higher than you have been used to over the past few years. There are some ways to avoid paying outrageous rates - try renting a car at a non-airport, local location.

The Deal:
Save money renting your next car by renting at a local location as opposed to the airport.

How:
Hertz is offering 50% off of fullsize through midsize SUV car rentals if you rent at a local/non-airport location. This offer is available at: Hertz Deal

The Inside Scoop:
1) Local/non-airport locations are not always cheaper than airport locations - you must compare the rates. But when you find airport rates to be outrageous, it pays to check the rates at local locations.

2) You may find great rates at local car rental locations on weekends when demand from business-related renters is low.

3) Many local locations will either provide you transportation to their location or will reimburse reasonable cab expenses - inquire with the car rental location at the time of booking to find out what the car rental company offers.

Travel Deal of the Day (Dec. 26, 2006)

Have you thought about a European trip? Late winter and early spring may be a great time to go without spending a lot of money.

The Deal:
Save money by taking your trip to Europe before the end of March.

How:
1) Fares to Europe during the late winter and early spring can be really low. In fact, fares from the East Coast to Europe are as low as $75 each way plus taxes and surcharges. Check for incredible airfare specials to Europe until the end of March. If you are traveling to Central Europe or Eastern Europe, try traveling to more competitive, major Western Europe gateways (such as London or Paris) and taking Easyjet or Ryanair, two European low cost carriers, to your European destinations.

2) Look for incredible hotel rates in late winter or early spring - check out the deals at Starwood hotels in Europe at: Starwood Deal (HURRY - sale fares must be booked by 11:59PM (GMT) on Dec. 26).

The Inside Scoop:
The rates in winter should be extraordinarily low. Do not let a travel provider make you think you are getting an incredible deal just by stating that their winter rates are slightly lower than the peak season (summer) rates. During the winter, the weather is far less desirable in most of Europe - the rates should be far lower. Travel providers should be offering significant discounts to obtain your business during this time period.

Travel Deal of the Day (Dec. 22, 2006)

You found a deal and it requires a certain credit card - but you do not have that credit card. Can you still qualify for the deal? Surprisingly - the answer may be yes.

The Deal:
When a travel deal requires a certain credit card that you do not have, you may still be eligible for the deal if you buy a prepaid credit card and use that prepaid card for the deal.

How:
Quite often, credit cards like Visa and American Express offer amazing travel deals (for example, see the American Express deal from the Dec. 20, 2006 post). While you may think you are ineligible for the deal if you do not have that credit card, you can go to the website of that credit card (or a local bank or retailer) and purchase a prepaid card. Prepaid credit cards carry the logo of a standard credit card and can be used at any place that accepts that credit card. These prepaid cards have certain drawbacks that a standard credit card would not have - but, if you are interested in a great travel deal that requires that you have a certain type of credit card, this may be a way to get that deal even if you do not have the credit card that is necessary for the deal.

Travel Deal of the Day (Dec. 21, 2006)

If you have been following the news you know that Denver got two feet of snow, forcing the airport to shut down for up to 48 hours and forcing many travelers to get stranded (probably for many days). These people have few alternatives because most flights at holiday time are already sold out or overbooked. There are some ways that people, however, can avoid getting stuck when a major weather event occurs.

The Deal:
It is important when a big weather event occurs to follow certain rules to attempt to avoid catastrophe, especially near holiday time periods where most, if not all flights, are completely full. Planning ahead and utilizing flexible travel policies of airlines and hotels will help you avoid catastrophe during major weather events.

How:
There are various rules to abide by when traveling during major weather events (snowstorm, hurricane, tornado…):

1) Monitor the weather at your origination, connection and destination cities at least one day in advance of your travel.

2) When traveling during a major weather event, most airlines and hotel companies will waive almost all restrictions associated with your reservation. Airlines and hotels will usually implement such a policy and post the details on their website (either on the main section of the homepage or in the press release area of the website). If such a policy is put in place, you may no longer be required to abide by advance purchase, minimum stay, maximum stay or capacity control requirements associated with your reservation.

3) If you find that your travel will involve a major weather event, take advantage of the loosened restrictions and avoid the cities affected by the weather event.

Inside Scoop:
The key to effectively using the flexible travel policies during major weather events is to act before the weather event occurs. Usually airlines and hotels will put these policies in place 24 hours in advance of the event to avoid stranding people in the city with the major weather event. Unfortunately, many people ignore the early warning. You must act when the policy is first put in place to reschedule your travel. If you wait too long, many people will already have been rebooked - so there will be few, if any, alternatives for you to rebook.

Travel Deal of the Day (Dec. 20, 2006)

Want to stay in a luxury hotel on a budget? Starwood has a free night offer for some of its W Hotels.

The Deal:
Various W Hotels (luxury brand offered by Starwood) are offering a buy two nights, get one night free offer when you book a stay using an American Express Card.

How:
1) Book and stay at a W Hotel by April 15, 2007 at the following link: W Hotels Link

2) Reserve a room using your American Express Card.

The Inside Scoop:
1) This deal is good Thursday through Sunday at most hotels, however the following hotels offer the deal seven nights a week: W Chicago - Lakeshore, W Montréal, both W hotels in New Orleans, W San Diego, and W Seattle.

2) Various terms and conditions apply – the rules for the rate, including instructions if you prefer to book by phone, are available at the “Terms and Conditions” link at: W Hotels Link.

3) Be sure to also check the Starwood buy two nights, get one night deal mentioned in the Dec. 6, 2006 post if this deal does not work for you.

Travel Deal of the Day (Dec. 19, 2006)

Hotel chains are now touting the incredible rates available on their websites – usually these rates are accompanied by some claim such as “best rate guaranteed” and the rates are usually non-refundable and non-changeable. Before booking that highly restrictive rate, you must examine all of your options to ensure that you are not overpaying.

The Deal:
Think twice before booking the non-refundable/non-changeable rates available on the hotel chains’ websites.

How:
When you find a non-refundable/non-changeable rate on a hotel chain website, you should examine your options before booking that rate – here are some steps to take:

1) Examine the membership club discounts available – AAA, AARP, Entertainment Card, ABA, American Express Platinum or Centurion, etc. This may sound obvious, but the major hotel chains have made these discounts less obvious on their websites and made these discounts harder to find. On sites such as Hilton, you now must enter all 16 digits of your AAA number just to find the rate. Even though it may be a pain, check all these rates before locking yourself into non-refundable rates.

2) Check aggregator websites such as: Kayak.com (see Dec. 13, 2006 post).

3) Check out the prepaid rates via Hotwire and Priceline. If you are buying a non-changeable/non-refundable rate anyway, check out what can be incredible prepaid bargains on Hotwire and Priceline. For a guide to bidding on these sites, check out www.biddingfortravel.com and www.betterbidding.com.

4) Think about what rates may not be available online. Some hotels offer a 50% discount for the Entertainment card, but it is only available by calling. Package or promotional rates may be available in a special “package” or “promotions” section of the website. (An example of such a rate is the Marriott/Hertz buy 2 nights, get 1 free promotion mentioned in the Nov. 20, 2006 post. This changeable/refundable promotional rate is less expensive than almost any non-refundable rate that would be offered by a Marriott hotel.)

The Inside Scoop:
The most important thing to consider when booking non-refundable rates is whether rates will decrease closer to your check-in date. The rate that is the lowest at the time you book may be quite expensive when compared to the rate that is available within a week of your travel date when the hotel lowers its rates when it sees how many unsold rooms it has. If you book a non-refundable rate and the rates go down, most likely you are stuck, even if a lower non-refundable rate becomes available. So, in most cases, if it is more than two weeks from check-in, I usually book the least expensive cancelable/changeable rate and take my chances that rates will decrease or that I can find a bargain on Priceline close to the check-in date.

Travel Deal of the Day (Dec. 18, 2006)

How about a trip to the Caribbean? Just as the weather gets poor in northern climates, there is a great opportunity to go to a warm weather destination – St. Maarten. The Westin St. Marten, which is making its grand opening over the next few weeks, is offering its rooms at a great discount to attract visitors to the new hotel.

The Deal:
Traveling to the new Westin St. Marteen can be a great deal if you can go during the next few weeks as the Westin tries to fill its rooms just after its grand opening.

How:
Two offers are available:
1) Rooms are only $199/night if you can travel from January 2 – January 21 – you can book this offer at: January Hotel Link

2) Rooms are 25% off for travel between January 2 and April 16 (excluding certain blackout days in February and April) – you can book this offer at: Spring Hotel Link

For a full listing of restrictions (including blackout days), go to:
Link of Restrictions

The Inside Scoop:
Even if you are not interested in going to the Westin St. Maarten, be aware that grand openings for hotels can be a great bargain. If you are looking for a deal, it can be helpful to look for hotel grand openings. Since brand new hotels have very little time to fill rooms just after the grand opening (often due to uncertainty about the exact opening date) and such hotels do not have return guests to fill rooms, brand new hotels usually offer great deals. You may have to endure some grand opening “hiccups” (such as amenities that are not entirely open or service issues that are not yet resolved), but the savings at such hotels can be incredible.

Travel Deal of the Day (Dec. 15, 2006)

What do you think of timeshares? For many people, the concept creates negative connotations. And, quite frankly, I would not recommend that you purchase a timeshare. But, travelers to popular destinations can sometimes find quite affordable (and even free) vacation accommodations from timeshares when the facilities are not used by owners. But, this deal is only for those people who have incredibly good will power.

The Deal:
Take advantage of great deals on accommodations at timeshares, as long as you can resist the sales pitches of the timeshare personnel.

How:
1) When you are checking rates at expensive locations, check out the rates at some of the timeshares run by the major hotel chains (such as Westin, Marriott, Hyatt…) Timeshare operators often have a good sense well in advance whether owners want to use their timeshares. If the owners do not want to use their units, the timeshare companies will often deeply discount their accommodations. Here is an example of a great deal that is being offered through the end of the year: 5 nights at a really nice Marriott timeshare property in Oahu (Ko Olina Villas) and 25,000 Mileage Plus frequent flyer miles for $850. There are multiple restrictions that apply to these kinds of deals, but a deal like this is quite a bit less expensive than traditional hotel rates at a comperable hotel.

(For more information on the deal mentioned above, see this link)

2) Do you know someone who owns a timeshare? It is quite possible that they can “recommend” you as someone who might be interested in a timeshare. Once you are recommended to the timeshare company, the company will likely solicit you to come to the accommodation at a tremendous discount.

3) Some timeshares want you at their property so badly that they will give you up to a week for free. (I recently got an offer for 2 nights for free in a 4 ½ star property.) What is the catch? They hope you fall in love with the accommodations and buy a timeshare, making the salespeople a huge commission and making the “free” vacation a very, very expensive vacation.

The Inside Scoop:
As mentioned above, a deal at a timeshare is only a deal if you resist the sales pitch and do not buy a timeshare. The deals mentioned here will often require that you attend a timeshare presentation where they try to sell a timeshare to you. If you are easily persuaded, I would recommend that you forget that you ever read this deal since there is too great a risk that you will buy a timeshare. But if you have strong willpower, take advantage of what can be a great deal.

Travel Deal of the Day (Dec. 14, 2006)

Traveling to Las Vegas? If you gamble substantially, you may qualify to get a free or highly discounted room. But what if you do not gamble (or do not gamble enough)? The first rule of thumb is to avoid booking the standard rates offered by the hotel. Do not call the hotel reservation number to find rates and do not just assume that the rates that appear on the website are the best available. You can often find much better rates than those rates offered by the reservation agent over the phone or the rates listed on the websites of the major casino hotels.

The Deal:
Save money on Las Vegas hotels by taking advantage of rates offered to members of the clubs associated with the casino hotels.

How:
1) Sign up for the hotel’s marketing offers at the hotel’s website. The hotel will often send emails with very discounted rates, especially midweek and off-season. These rates are often much lower than the rates offered on the website of the hotel.

2) Check for discount codes that the hotel has created to reward returning customers. Do a google search for discount codes for Vegas hotels – there are a ton of codes out there and the hotels have amazing discounts that magically appear on the website when you have one of these codes.

3) Check out Priceline and Hotwire. You can get a five star hotel on the Strip (likely the Venetian, but possibly the Bellagio) midweek for a little over $100, which is quite a savings over standard rates.

Travel Deal of the Day (Dec. 13, 2006)

A room with the view – that is what everyone dreams about. And, for many people, that works well. But if you are on a budget but still want to vacation in style, you may want to ask for a room without a view. Certain rooms in the hotel may be harder to sell, but these rooms can be discounted heavily, especially in four and five star hotels. So, if you have been wanting to go to a premium hotel but you are dreading paying five star prices, here are some ideas to vacation on a budget but in style.

The Deal:
Stay in a four or five star hotel without paying four or five star prices by finding the rooms that the hotel must deeply discount.

How:
1) Check standard and discounted rates via the hotel’s website and aggregator websites such as:
Kayak.com

2) Call the hotel’s in house reservation department and inquire about the rates. (The in house reservations department is usually found by calling the hotel’s operator. The general rule of thumb is that if you are using an (800) number, it is probably not an in-house reservations department.) After listening to the list of rates, ask to speak to the reservations manager. Ask about any of their “less desirable” rooms and if any discounts are available for staying in this kind of room. (I recently was able to find a room at a 4.5 star hotel at 50% off by agreeing to stay in a first floor room.)

3) Check the hotel’s website. Do a google search for any recent experiences at the hotel to see if anyone has had any luck with such deeply discounted rates.

The Inside Scoop:
Most hotels have these less desirable rooms, but not all hotel will discount these rooms. Some high end hotels will not even sell these rooms and prefer to keep them only for an emergency. You may need to convince the reservations manager to sell you such a room, but if you do, you will save a ton. Some examples of such deeply discounted rooms include: (1) rooms at the ski slope that view the main entrance or rooms at the ocean that view the parking lot, (2) rooms with Murphy beds or smaller/non-standard beds as opposed to a King or Queen bed, or (3) rooms in an unrenovated section of the hotel.

Travel Deal of the Day (Dec. 12, 2006)

If you are young and renting a car, it can be very expensive due to fees tacked on by car rental companies which usually are around $20/day above the normal car rental rates. There are ways to avoid these fees, which can save you a ton of money.

The Deal:
Most car rental companies charges fees for underage drivers (usually drivers under 25). There are various ways to avoid these underage car rental fees.

How:
1) Investigate whether any associations that you are a member of have a deal with the car rental company to lower the minimum rental age from 25 to 21. Professional organizations often have negotiated contract rates with car rental companies, and sometimes those contracts apply for renters 21 or above (as opposed to 25 or above). The American Bar Association, for instance, provides discounted rates to drivers 21 and above renting with Hertz – so, by using the ABA rate, you are saving in two ways: you do not get charged the underage fee and you are get a discount off normal rates.

2) Check with your employer to see if your company has negotiated rates with the car rental company. Also, try renting a car through your corporate travel agency. Corporate travel agencies often have contracts with car rental companies that lower the minimum age for standard car rental rates to 18 or 21. Note that sometimes these lower rates are limited to situations when you are traveling on business.

3) Check with a university travel office to see if the university has negotiated special discounts with car rental companies. Often the young driver fee under such negotiated contracts is waived.

4) Check to see if the young driver fee is waived if you join the frequent driver club of your car rental company. Usually you can join the frequent driver club for free or for a low fee – even for a small fee, you will likely save money versus paying a young driver fee.

5) Check with neighborhood (off-airport) car rental companies. Sometimes the policies of local car rental companies will be more lenient than larger, nationwide car rental companies.

Travel Deal of the Day (Dec. 11, 2006)

Renting a car during the holidays? National Car Rental has a $40 off/week discount that is a great discount, especially because it applies during the December holiday season, it applies to almost any car type National offers, and the discount can be combined with other discounts.

The Deal:
Get $40 off a weekly car rental anywhere in the U.S. (certain cities excluded), on any car class, including Compact thru Luxury cars, as well as Minivans, SUVs, or Convertibles.

How:
1) Go to the following site to book you car: National Car Coupon Link
(Note that the code for the $40 off coupon is already filled in the “Coupon ID” box.)

2) When filling in the information for your rental, be sure to fill in the “Contract ID” box with any Contract ID discounts that you are eligible for – if you are unfamiliar with “Contract ID” discounts, check out the 11/22/06 post. As noted in the 11/22/06 post, you can do a Google search for any applicable Contract ID codes. (One of the great things about this offer is that you can get BOTH the $40 off coupon and a Contract ID discount.)

The Inside Scoop:
This deal applies for U.S. rentals of at least 5 days including a Saturday night. The car must be picked up by 1/13/07. The discount does not apply in metro New York City and San Jose, CA.

Travel Deal of the Day (Dec. 8, 2006)

You want to travel over the holidays but you have not bought your tickets – should you be worried? Well, despite what you might hear, you may still find a bargain, but you may have to be flexible.

The Deal:
You can find affordable deals over the holidays – the key is flexibility.

How:
1) Check available fares on an aggregator website (See Dec. 7 post). Also, check the websites of the low cost carriers directly such as www.jetblue.com, www.southwest.com, www.frontierairlines.com or www.airtran.com.

2) Try traveling times that others would try to avoid. Traveling Christmas Eve, Christmas Day or New Years Eve may allow you to find deals that others have overlooked.

3) There are often fare sales just before Christmas week that will sell seats that remain unsold. Check out the major airline websites for fare sale notices. Also, use the “flexible dates” search on www.travelocity.com to monitor fares between your home city and your destination.

4) Think about using up some of your frequent flyer miles. Airlines often release unsold seats within two weeks of the date of departure. This is a perfect opportunity to use some of your miles.

5) Check out the last minute travel packages at www.site59.com. The air/hotel and air/car rental specials on Site 59 can be very affordable, even during busy travel periods.

Travel Deal of the Day (Dec. 7, 2006)

Many people are familiar with websites such as Expedia, Orbitz and Travelocity which allow you to compare prices for flights, car rentals and hotels. These sites make their profit by charging you a booking fee for each reservation. But are you aware that there is an alternative to these websites that allow you to compare prices but do not charge you a booking fee? These sites are known as aggregator websites - aggregators earn money by getting referral fees from the airlines/hotels/car rental companies, allowing them not to charge individual users any money. It is important to be aware of these aggregator websites when looking for travel on the web.

The Deal:
Use aggregator websites when booking travel on the web to avoid the booking fees that are charged by the major travel websites.

How:
Many travel aggregators exist that allow you to find out what prices are being charged by airlines, car rentals or hotels – one such example is:

Kayak.com

The Inside Scoop:
Aggregator websites do not actually allow you to book on their website – instead they simply review the fares available on individual airlines'/hotels'/car rental companies' websites and then refer you to the site you select when you want to book. It is especially important to use an aggregator when searching for travel because you not only find out the publicly available fares (that would be available on sites such as Expedia), but you also obtain the webfares that airline/hotel websites offer only on their websites.

Travel Deal of the Day (Dec. 6, 2006)

Another day, another Starwood deal. If you are booking a Starwood hotel or resort, there is a great discount available for 2 through 6 night stays.

The Deal:
Save a ton of money including a “Buy 2, Get 1 Night Free” deal and a “Buy 4 Nights, Get 2 Nights Free” deal.

How:
1) Go to one of the following websites:

Link for Booking Hotel

Link for Booking Resort

2) Click on the link for the appropriate number of nights

3) Before completing the booking using this link, compare this rate with the rate available at the www.starwood.com website and at other competing websites. One such website you can click on to book travel is:

The Inside Scoop:
1) The discount depends on the number of nights you are staying. The best rates are available for 3 nights stays (1 night free) and 6 night stays (2 nights free).

2) The rates you book with this discount are non-refundable so ensure that, before you book, your plans are final and that you have looked at competing websites to see if refundable/changeable rates are less expensive.

Travel Deal of the Day (Dec. 5, 2006)

Want to go to Hawaii? Can you go before December 25? Well, if you can get up and go to Hawaii over the next few weeks, Starwood has a great deal for you.

The Deal:
Save 50% off of Starwood hotels in Hawaii for up to 4 nights through the evening of December 25, 2006.

How:
1) Go to: http://hawaii-exclusive.destinations.starwoodhotels.com/uareward/

2) Select the Hawaii hotel that meets your needs and click the appropriate link.

3) If available, book a Hawaii hotel for 50% off.

4) Click on the “Click here to get your certificate” link to get a 50% off certificate emailed to you to bring to the hotel at check-in.

5) Present the certificate at check-in.

The Inside Scoop:
1) This deal is meant for United Mileage Plus members, so you will be asked to enter a United Mileage Plus number when you request your certificate. If you do not have a United Mileage Plus number, you can sign up for one at:

https://www.ua2go.com/ci/JoinMileagePlus.jsp?jumpLink=%2Fjoinmp

2) The rates that you get with this deal are extraordinary, especially for the days closest to Christmas. Many of the hotels in Hawaii are offering only their “rack” (highest) rates during this high demand time, but this discount gives you 50% off that rack rate.

Travel Deal of the Day (Dec. 4, 2006)

I have a deal for you – and it comes from Omni Hotels. As mentioned previously, it is almost always advantageous to join a hotel’s frequent guest program. But with Omni Hotels, it can save you a ton of money and get you great perks.

The Deal:
Join Omni’s Select Guest Program to get special perks when staying at Omni Hotels including great savings, a free upgrade and free morning beverages for joining the program.

How:
1) Join the Omni Select Guest Program at: https://ssl.omnihotels.com/sg?pagedst=SG5

2) Get great perks and discounts listed at: http://www.omnihotels.com/SelectGuestProgram.aspx

The Inside Scoop:
1) So, why is this such a big deal? Well, if you have an upcoming weekend stay at an Omni hotel, once you join the Select Guest Program, you will be mailed a 50% off coupon for up to two weekend nights. This discount is a great discount. They usually take their lowest discounted rate and discount that rate another 50% - in a big city, it is a truly incredible rate. You must request the 50% off rate when making your reservation and have the certificate in hand to be eligible for the rate

2) In addition to the discount certificate, you will also get a free upgrade certificate. So, not only will you get 50% off an already low rate, you will also get an upgraded room (maybe a suite) based on availability.

3) On top of the discount and upgrade, you also receive free coffee, juice and/or tea delivered to your room by room service each morning you stay at Omni Hotels. Room service breakfast items are available at “real world’ prices when you are a Select Guest member (unlike standard room service).

Overall, it is a great free deal – if you are contemplating a stay at an Omni, I would highly recommend signing up.

Travel Deal of the Day (Dec. 1, 2006)

Haven’t flown in a while? If so, you had better check your frequent flyer mileage account activity because many airlines are requiring you to fly once every 18 to 36 months to avoid having your miles expire.

What can you do? Here are a couple ideas.

The Deal:
There are several things you should do to ensure that your miles do not expire.

How:
1) The rules for many frequent flyer programs now require that you have some eligible activity with an 18 or 36 month time period. Check the rules of your frequent flyer program to find out what is considered a qualifying activity to extend your miles.

2) The most obvious kind of qualifying activity is to fly the airline on which you have the miles that are going to expire. But you do not have to limit your flying to that airline. Most airlines have other frequent flyer partners – usually flying on an airline partner is considered qualifying activity.

3) What if you are not flying? How about renting a car or staying in a hotel? Try staying at a partner hotel or renting a car from a partner car rental company and crediting the miles to your frequent flyer program.

4) Hungry? How about participating in your airline’s dining for miles program? If your airline has such a problem, eating one meal and earning miles will likely extend your miles.

5) Apply for a frequent flyer credit card or, if you already have one, make a charge on that credit card.

6) Use miles for magazines. Many frequent flyer programs allows you to spend your miles for magazines. For as little as 300 or 400 miles, you can get a magazine subscription and likely extend your miles.

7) Buy some flowers or something else from a mileage partner. Even with a small purchase, you may be able to extend your miles.

8) Buy some miles. If you buy miles from the airline, you will likely extend your miles.

The Inside Scoop:
The main idea here is to ensure that you do not lose your miles when it is usually very easy to extend the expiration date on the miles. Read the rules on the frequent flyer website, find out what qualifies as mileage activity, find out when you must act by to ensure that the miles do not expire, and act before your miles expire.