Thank You, Part 2

Again, thank you so much for being my loyal readers. I was trying to brainstorm and think of another installment of gifts as we close out 2011. I realized I don’t have a ton to give, so this one is pretty big. It’s more personal than my other posts (and it will probably only be useful for my Los Angeles readers who are basketball fans) but here we go…



I have a pair of great seats for the Los Angeles Clippers. I sell half my season tickets to friends and family. I don’t do it for profit, I just like my loved ones to have the experience of seeing games this way (and I’m not rich enough to give them away for free). I charge them my face value of $400 per seat, which probably sounds crazy outside of LA, but it’s so much cheaper than what the ticket brokers charge here. I have 2 seats at midcourt in Section 101, Row Courtside B. They have in-seat waiter service, access to the super exclusive Chairman’s Room, and Staples Center concierge. Instead of selling to friends and family this year, I decided to offer them to my readers first. I’ll mark the games off as they sell. Enjoy! 

I realize this doesn’t do much for most of my readers who live outside of Los Angeles. Don’t worry, I’ll be back to my quick-hit mileage posts on Monday and throughout 2012. Thanks for a great first year and Happy New Year!


Portland TrailBlazers – January 1 (SOLD)
Houston Rockets – January 4 (SOLD)
Milwaukee Bucks – January 7 (SOLD)
New Jersey Nets – January 16 (SOLD)
Minnesota T-Wolves – January 20 (SOLD)
Toronto Raptors – January 22  (SOLD)
Memphis Grizzlies – January 26 (SOLD)
Denver Nuggets – February 2 (SOLD)
Washington Wizards – February 15 (SOLD)
Denver Nuggets – February 22 (SOLD)
Minnesota T-Wolves – February 28 (SOLD)
Golden State Warriors – March 11 (SOLD)
Atlanta Hawks – March 14 (SOLD)
Phoenix Suns – March 15 (SOLD)
Houston Rockets – March 17 (SOLD)
Detroit Pistons – March 18 (SOLD)
Memphis Grizzlies – March 24 (SOLD)
New Orleans Hornets – March 26 (SOLD)
Phoenix Suns – March 28 (SOLD)
Portland TrailBlazers – March 30 (SOLD)
Utah Jazz – March 31 (SOLD)
Sacramento Kings – April 7 (SOLD)
Golden State Warriors – April 14 (SOLD)
New Orleans Hornets – April 22 (SOLD)

Thank You, Part 1

I just wanted to thank you for being my loyal readers. I’m considering adding comments next year, but until then, I appreciate all the emails. I have a few (small) gifts to offer you as we close out 2011. These will be first come, first served. Here’s the first one:

  • If you’re booking a paid United Airlines flight in the next couple days, email me for a $50 off code. (Expired – This code has been used by a loyal reader). If you missed out on this one, there’s more to come!

Bonus Points For Staying At Hilton

For the first quarter of the new year, get 1,000 bonus points each night plus 5,000 bonus points for a weekend stay here.

How I Made 1.7 Million Miles/Points in 2011

This was my first year going all-in on miles and points. I came out with a whopping total of approximately 1.7 million. If you’re interested in everything I did to hit that number, here it is:

  1. I signed up for free mileage accounts with all the major airlines. 
  2. I set up user names and passwords for the airlines I already had mileage numbers with.
  3. I set up an Award Wallet account to store all my information.
  4. I applied for the Citibank American Airline card, as well as the business card (75,000 miles each).
  5. I applied for United Chase card in January (50,000 miles).
  6. I applied for the Continental Chase card in February (50,000 miles). I was denied, so I called Chase’s reconsideration department at 1-888-245-0625. I had an old Amazon Visa they closed to open this up.
  7. I applied for the 35,000 US Airways mile Barclays card in February.
  8. I applied for the Virgin Atlantic card in March (45,000 miles). I also received 2,500 miles for adding an additional user.
  9. In March, I applied for the best card offer of the year (the British Airways 100,000 mile card). I was denied, so I called Chase’s reconsideration department from step 6. They took $5000 off of my Chase Freedom card limit and approved the British.
  10. I applied for the Hilton Amex card in April (50,000 points). I also received 2,500 points for adding an additional user.
  11. I applied for the Amex Premier Rewards card in April (75,000 points). These points turned into 112,500 British Airway miles.
  12. I earned 25,000 miles from opening a Citibank mileage checking account.
  13. I earned 25,000 miles from all the “smaller” promotions I’ve posted on this blog. Trust me, these add up – 100 miles here, 200 miles there…next thing you know, you’re on a beach somewhere.
  14. I earned 5,000 Delta Skymiles from the Single Identity promotion.
  15. I earned 4,000 miles from dining out.
  16. I earned 10,000 miles through Netflix.  I subscribed for 1 billing month, then cancelled.  Then I changed my address slightly (add a letter to the condo unit number) and applied with a different airline promotion.
  17. I earned 65,000 American Airlines miles through using my BankDirect checking account. It was great until they limited the number of referrals and started charging a monthly fee.
  18. I earned 35,000 miles through the monthly spending on my mileage cards. Most of these card offers have a minimum spend for you to earn the miles. I didn’t spend morer than my normal monthly bills and expenses. I just put everything on credit cards (utilities, food, gas, bills).  One thing I did was call Citibank to close the card in step 4. They transferred me to the retention department who offered me 3 bonus miles for every dollar I spent for to keep me as a cardholder. That paid off nicely, with another 10,000 miles added to the total.  Oh yeah, I was also buying $1000 in coins every 10 days from the US Mint. Sad to see that one end.
  19. I earned 100,000 miles from the Capital One Venture card. This was fun, since it translated into a free $1500 in Ritz Carlton stays.
  20. In July, I applied for the Starwood Amex card (30,000 points).
  21. In July, I applied for the 2 Hawaiian cards (70,000 miles).
  22. In July, I applied for the Citibank Hilton card (50,000 points).
  23. In July, I applied for the Choice Hotel card (24,000 points).
  24. In July, I applied for the Bank of America Alaska Air card (40,000 miles).
  25. In November, I applied for the 75,000 point American Express Business Gold Rewards card.
  26. In November, I applied for the 50,000 point Citi Thank You card.
  27. In November, I applied for the 70,000 point Chase Marriott card.
  28. I made 115,000 miles through the US Airways Grand Slam promotion.
  29. I made 210,000 miles through the United Months of Miles promotion (still pending).
  30. I turned my 70,000 Hawaiian Airlines miles into 140,000 Hilton Honors points.
  31. I turned my 45,000 Virgin miles into 90,000 Hilton Honors points.
Notes:
  • If you’re new to the mileage game, you must keep all these accounts organized. Use Award Wallet and keep a credit card spreadsheet to track when annual fees will be billed. That way, you can cancel the cards a month before the annual fee is billed (if you choose). Many times, just make a phone call before the fee is billed, and they’ll waive the charge or give you a no-fee version of the same card.
  • I applied for an abnormal amount of credit cards because of the great offers that came up. For the last 15 years, I’ve been building up a great credit score through financial responsibility. If your credit score is not great, “churning” credit cards will be much more difficult. 
  • There are still so many cards I haven’t gotten yet – Hyatt, Southwest, Amtrak, Delta, Chase Sapphire, etc.  Even with all the applications above, I still take my time with this. There are no shortage of miles out there to be had, so you should try to go after the top offers first!
  • I’ve already saved you hours of research, but this hobby still takes a little effort and organization. If you put some energy into this, remember you’ll be saving tens of thousands of dollars in travel.  Enjoy it!