Three Underrated Ways to Earn Airline Miles and Hotel Points
George Maina Mwangi
I write emails that turn leads into clients and boost revenue for tech leaders | 850K+ views generated for an aviation news company through content
Everyone wants to have travel benefits that make their trips cheaper. The most common ways to do this are by earning airline miles and hotel points. Travelers can join a frequent flyer or airline loyalty program to receive points and miles that add up to larger rewards over time. These rewards include discounted flights in premium cabins and free nights at all-inclusive hotels.
The Largest Airline and Hotel Rewards Programs
Frequent flyer programs have become a large revenue source for airlines, with millions of members interested in flying benefits. Airlines often partner with major credit card companies to award miles based on their customer’s spending. These programs have become popular as travelers look for ways to maximize value from flights.
According to Simple Flying, these are the world’s largest frequent flyer programs by membership:
Loyalty programs have also become a major revenue source for the hospitality industry. These programs appeal to a wider audience since not everyone flies when traveling, but most people need somewhere to stay. It’s often recommended to look at different programs to determine which one fits your unique interests.?
These are five hotel loyalty programs that often appear on major travel websites:
The Most Common Ways to Earn Airline Miles and Hotel Points
The popularity of travel rewards programs means that several ways to earn airline miles and hotel points are already well-advertised. People often know about these methods since major travel websites cover them and they regularly appear in TV commercials.
These are the most common ways to earn travel benefits:
These are all good ways to get rewards that eventually add up to bigger things like free flights and hotel stays. But did you know there are several other methods you likely never thought of? They involve activities that you do regularly and can often get you even more miles or points than the more well-known methods.
I will go further into three underrated methods below.
Rent Payments
Rent is the largest monthly expense for many people. The average person spends at least 30% of their monthly income on rent alone. This number is much higher in expensive cities like New York and San Francisco, where wages have not kept up with living costs. A third of New York City renters spend over 50% of their monthly income on housing costs.
Despite rising living costs across many U.S. cities, no one thought about turning them into travel benefits until Bilt Rewards was founded. The company created a platform that turns rent and neighborhood spending into airline miles and hotel points.
Renters in over four million units nationwide can earn Bilt Points by paying their monthly rent. Your building is likely covered if it's owned by a large real estate company. For example, Bilt’s newest partnership with Douglas Elliman covers over 40,000 units across nearly 400 buildings in New York City.
Neighborhood spending is your daily activities. This includes dining out at local restaurants, going to the gym, and taking rides through Lyft. Bilt Points work for travel across over 100 airlines and hotels.
Bilt established a partnership with Alaska Airlines in March. Travelers using an Alaska Airlines Visa Signature? card can earn three miles for every dollar spent on rent up to $50,000 annually. This benefit also covers carriers that partner with Alaska Airlines, giving people access to thousands of destinations worldwide.
Travelers using other credit cards can earn one Alaska mile from each Bilt Point. Renters receive 250 Bilt Points every month when paying rent through the Bilt Rewards app. People who don’t live in a partner apartment earn one Bilt Point for every dollar spent on rent using a Bilt Mastercard.?
Bilt also has the same 1:1 benefit for these frequent flyer programs:
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Bilt’s hotel partners are Hilton, Marriott, Hyatt, and IHG. One Bilt Point equals one point at their respective loyalty programs: Hilton Honors, Marriott Bonvoy, World of Hyatt, and IHG One Rewards. These four hospitality companies alone give travelers access to thousands of hotels across over 100 countries.
Airline Surveys and Promotions
Many people view surveys as annoying on the surface. Travel companies often send them after their customers disembark from a flight or check out of a hotel room. These surveys can sometimes be time-consuming, and travelers are simply too busy to complete them.
However, completing surveys can help travelers earn additional hotel points and airline miles. Hotels and airlines earn a commission when people participate in their surveys. This commission comes from survey companies looking to acquire more customers themselves.
These travel companies have survey rewards programs:
Travelers don’t have to complete dozens of surveys to earn miles or points. Some airlines and hotels reward people for simply signing up and completing one survey. It should be noted that survey programs are run separately from traditional loyalty programs, so frequent travelers aren’t automatically enrolled in them.
These are the initial rewards from each program:
The benefit of using this method is that people don’t have to spend additional money to earn travel benefits. However, people must be comfortable sharing their personal information since many surveys ask for info like demographics and political views. They must also complete a large number of surveys to earn enough miles or points for them to be valuable.
Filling out surveys can still be effective since they don’t require much effort, and earning even a few miles or points is still better than nothing. It’s worth looking into for travelers with some extra free time, especially for surveys that take less than 30 minutes to finish.
Tours and Activities
Tours and activities are key components of many people’s trips. Although travelers can explore destinations on their own, having a guide or joining a tour group can make certain experiences more enjoyable. The benefits of tours include meeting other travelers, learning more about the local culture, and safely doing adventurous activities.
Several airlines allow people to earn miles when participating in an activity booked through the carrier or a partner company. Here are a few carriers and their benefits (all earned by booking an experience through GetYourGuide unless otherwise noted):
These miles also work with partner airlines through their respective alliances. For example, Lufthansa miles can apply to United Airlines, Air Canada, and Turkish Airlines since these carriers are all part of Star Alliance. This gives travelers plenty of options to earn and redeem miles for flights to their desired destination.
Hotels also allow travelers to earn benefits from tours and activities. Unlike airlines that partner with major travel providers, some hotels have in-house platforms for booking experiences. Here are some of them and their benefits:
Conclusion
These are three methods that travelers likely don’t think much about when looking for travel rewards. Although traveling frequently is an effective way to earn miles or points, it doesn’t work for everyone. People who don’t travel as often can still receive benefits through “smaller” activities they likely don’t associate with travel. Everything will add up over time towards large rewards that will transform someone’s travel experience.
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