frequent flyer miles

[sndral]

I just booked flights online on Delta and Continental from west coast to east coast, and signed up for frequent flyer miles w/ continental and reactivated my Delta acct.- noticed Continental gives you miles for the Disney cruise line and other things. Any experts out there on acquiring/using FFmiles? I'd love to have a flight or 2 paid for next trip.

I know I lost a whole lot of miles on Delta by not using them w/in 2 yrs. (had a couple of european jaunts on the account - lots of lost miles, sigh.)

[TheRustyScupper]

1) I still have about 400,000 miles in my FF account.
2) Accumulating miles is not tough.
3) We put every single possible purchase into the credit card.
. . . of course, use the same or affiliated airline for flights
. . . put ALL purchases on the credit card, even food
. . . look on the airline website for their vendors issuing miles (eg. Flowers)
4) As for using them, just plan your vacations.
5) I keep a spreadsheet with current miles and desired uses.
. . . destination(s)
. . . miles for wife and I, 1st Class or Coach (over 3-hrs we go 1st Class)
. . . miles for kids and grandkids, Coach
. . . miles remaining to acquire for each trip
6) At a glance, we see how miles net are left to acquire for each vacation.


NOTE: If you do put all your purchases on the credit card to get miles, just make sure you pay off the card each month. One does not need to go into debt just for miles.