How to Earn Mileage Points

On Wednesday I talked about how Mike was able to get us a sweet redemption using our United mileage points. I also stated how I had over 205,000 of them! You may wonder how the average person collects so many points (we only take about one vacation a year so a small fraction of those were actually mileage points). Here is how we earned all those points:

1 - We got the Chase United Mileage Explorer credit card: You'll get something like 40,000 points just for signing up. Some of the perks are free bags and priority boarding. If you book your flight through United.com you'll get x2 the points and you get 10,000 bonus miles a year once you charge $25,000 on the card. Now we are not the kind of people to keep debt so we just pay off the credit card every month...and we literally use it for EVERYTHING!!! Even if its just for $3 at a gas station. (The card is free for the first year and $95 a year after that...worth it just for the free bags since one checked back is $50!)

2 - Mileage Plus Shopping: You can shop online at select retailers (through the mileage plus shopping web site) and get x2, x3 and sometimes x10 the amount of points. We have been doing this for home decor and pet supplies. (You have to register your card)

3 - Mileage Plus Dining: You can even earn x3 the amount of points just by eating at the places you love. We just moved close to a Which Wich and we love earning the extra points when we eat there! (Again, you have to register your card)

4 - e-Rewards: You can take online surveys and earn "dollars" that you can trade in for miles $25 = 500 miles

5 - Bonuses: They offer all kinds of big bonuses. They had one where it was 5,000 extra points if you signed up with Netflix or switch your energy provider to Company 'X' and get 15,000 bonus points, get 4,000 bonus miles for joining the wine of the month club (which I cancelled after the 2nd month). Try to take advantage of these if they work for you and your budget.

6 - Hotels: Instead of collecting hotel rewards switch it to airlines miles

7 - Mileage sales: United has sales on their miles every now and then so if your budget permits and you are really close to your needed amount I would snatch some up.

Those are just a few ways to earn miles for your next trip. And say you don't have enough miles for a flight, they can also be used for hotel stays and car rentals!

What have you used your miles on?