# Ways to get airline frequent flyer miles- FAST **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 11, 2001, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-get-airline-frequent-flyer-miles-fast/65136 "2001-05-11T22:44:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Yarster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/7c8e57/32.png) [@Yarster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yarster)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2001, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-get-airline-frequent-flyer-miles-fast/65136/1 "2001-05-11T22:44:36Z")
Probably a stupid question, or everyone would be doing it, but a buddy of mine who is trying to save money on his honeymoon is hoping to get another 4,000 miles on Alaska Airlines and 6,000 miles on American in order to have enough to get two round trip tickets to Belize. He is looking for any way that over the next 5-6 months he can amount these miles with little spending on his part. He has already thought of the idea of transfering credit card accounts to cards that give you miles for these airlines, but are there other quick ways to get them he (and I) haven’t thought of? Also, I know there are generic ‘Webmiles’ you can get through various means, but I’ve never used them so I don’t know how much of a pain they would be to use. Any insights or suggestions would be greatly appreciated… ---
**Author:** ![Chas.E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e99b99/32.png) [@Chas.E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chas.E)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2001, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-get-airline-frequent-flyer-miles-fast/65136/2 "2001-05-12T01:28:59Z")
Here’s the record for instant air miles, as far as I know. I heard a story about a guy who bought a Van Gogh painting at an auction in London for $2.5million, and paid on his AmEx card. They gave 2 miles for each $1 charged. Instant 5 million air miles. ---
**Author:** ![JillGat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@JillGat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JillGat)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2001, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-get-airline-frequent-flyer-miles-fast/65136/3 "2001-05-12T02:25:13Z")
I transferred a balance to my card that gives me American Airlines FF miles, and found out then that I didn’t get miles for transferred balances. You can do surveys at [http://www.opinionplace.com](http://www.opinionplace.com) and get 150-200 miles at a time. Can only do a survey every two weeks. He also might check into whether others can donate miles to him. Good luck. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2001, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-get-airline-frequent-flyer-miles-fast/65136/4 "2001-05-12T02:46:25Z")
Yes, balance transfers don’t work. One thing…get a mileage credit card, and then ask all of your friends, friends friends, whatever, if any of them are planning any large purchases soon (TV, furnishings, washer/dryer, etc) Then get those friends to write him a check, while he puts all their purchases on his card. I have personally done this on a couple of limited cases, and it got me an extra 3000 miles in one month. ---
**Author:** ![sethdallob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@sethdallob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sethdallob)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2001, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-get-airline-frequent-flyer-miles-fast/65136/5 "2001-05-12T08:15:24Z")
My local public radio station, [www.kcrw.com](http://www.kcrw.com) has frequent flyer miles as a ‘premium’ (read: thank you gift) for donating money to them. I think it’s $365 or $500 to get 10,000 miles. It’s a donation to charity, and it’s a great radio station too! ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2001, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-get-airline-frequent-flyer-miles-fast/65136/6 "2001-05-12T12:56:00Z")
Take a short flight that gets hijacked and goes to several different countries. The airline will give you frequent flyer miles based on the total mileage. This has actually been done. ---
**Author:** ![flyboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4da419/32.png) [@flyboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flyboy)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2001, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-get-airline-frequent-flyer-miles-fast/65136/7 "2001-05-12T12:59:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Anthracite \* > \*\*One thing…get a mileage credit card, \*\* I’d be happy to do this if anyone can give me a lead on one with no annual fee. All the ones I’ve ever seen charge anywhere from $50-100 per year. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2001, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-get-airline-frequent-flyer-miles-fast/65136/8 "2001-05-12T17:23:17Z")
Check the fine print in the rules sections online - some airlines (USAir for one) will let you buy miles if you’re a little short. All of them have a variety of partners, mainly hotel and car-rental chains, that will give you mileage with a little time lag. You can even send flowers online for mileage with most of them. [Here](http://www.im.aa.com/American?BV_Operation=Dyn_AAPage&referer=index.html&form%25referrer_site=None) is American’s guide, and [here](http://mileageplan.alaskaair.com/AboutMP.asp) is Alaska’s (much less heavily linked) partner summary. Maybe the easiest is to apply for an AA-linked Citibank Visa card and get 5000 miles right away. I don’t know of any airline that still gives miles for cash transactions on their partner credit cards, though - too many people abused the system. Or, if you don’t have enough miles for the full amount, most airlines will give you percent-off coupons for lesser mileage amounts. If your friend had a TWA account before the AA merger was announced, those miles can be combined with a phone call, even if it hasn’t been announced yet. And there’s always the ability to switch your telephone carrier to MCI for 5000 bonus miles - I seem to get one of those offers in the mail about every other day. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2001, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-get-airline-frequent-flyer-miles-fast/65136/9 "2001-05-12T17:25:57Z")
Sorry, some of that post disappeared. [Here](http://www.im.aa.com/American?BV_Operation=Dyn_AAPage&referer=index.html&form%25referrer_site=None) is American’s lengthy list of partners. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2001, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-get-airline-frequent-flyer-miles-fast/65136/10 "2001-05-12T20:11:04Z")
Say, **JillGat** - does the opinionplace site really do what it says? I mean - have you tried it, and seen that they actually put the signup and the miles earned per survey on your account? Just wondering - I’m so used to being scammed, I trust anything anymore. ---
**Author:** ![JillGat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@JillGat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JillGat)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2001, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-get-airline-frequent-flyer-miles-fast/65136/11 "2001-05-13T05:39:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Anthracite \* > \*\*Say, **JillGat** - does the opinionplace site really do what it says? I mean - have you tried it, and seen that they actually put the signup and the miles earned per survey on your account? Just wondering - I’m so used to being scammed, I trust anything anymore. \*\* Yep, I get 150-200 miles every couple of months doing these surveys. ---
**Author:** ![Yarster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/7c8e57/32.png) [@Yarster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yarster)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2001, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-get-airline-frequent-flyer-miles-fast/65136/12 "2001-05-13T22:26:41Z")
Great suggestions! And please keep them coming if anyone thinks of something that hasn’t been mentioned. [standing on soapbox] I have tried the switching to MCI trick in the past and found it is a complete and utter rip-off! I joined at a time when they claimed they would give you 7,000 miles plus an additional 1,000 every month afterwards for 7 months. This turned out to be a scam, of course, and dispite being told the 7,000 miles would be credited immediately, they were actually credited at 1,000/ per month over seven months of agreeing to stay with them. Then, I’d get the same deal for the next seven months. Of course we called to complain, and got the bullshit “I’m sorry if our operator gave you the wrong information, but this is how our program works” Did I mention they give you a deal on long distance outside the state but completely ream you on intra-state long distance? Well they do, and after all that grief, I switched back. I’ll be the first to say that getting a whopping 1,000 miles from it before they drove me so insane I had to switch was NOT worth it! [getting off soapbox] I really like the [opinionplace.com](http://opinionplace.com) suggestion, and if there are other sites like this, PLEASE let me know.