Many people have given up on the Air Miles program because they don’t feel that they’ll be able to attain enough miles to earn a free flight. Unfortunately, the main reason for this happening is because people aren’t seeking out deals and bonus offers available to collectors. For the first few months I collected I was also a little confused as to how people were able to earn so many miles, but after I was introduced to the tips below I was multiplying my miles by as much as ten times. In fact, I was able to earn enough miles in my first year to get a short round trip flight. Here are some of the methods I used.
  1. Get an Air Miles credit card – When I first started using Air Miles I noticed that it was extremely difficult to get enough to even be awarded a short flight. One of the biggest reasons for this is that I didn’t have one of Air Mile’s credit cards. Air Miles offers multiple versions of credit cards from bothMasterCard and American Express. Some of these credit cards have fees, however, you don’t need to spend as much to earn miles. I personally went with the no annual fee MasterCard, and found it to be more cost effective than the other options available, plus I don’t like paying credit card companies if I don’t have to. By using my Air Miles credit card I have earned double Air Miles on many of my purchases. This is called double dipping: the process of using your credit card and collector card simultaneously at an Air Miles sponsor.
  2. Wait for bonus events – Bonus Air Miles are key if you want to be able to earn miles faster. Air Miles offers bonus events throughout the year promoting different stores. For example, Shell gasoline offers 3X bonus events every year or so, and Safeway promotes certain items they sell by tacking on bonus miles for shoppers who purchase specific products. One event that has become extremely popular throughout the past few years is Air Miles 10X bonus event, where users who shop online through AirMilesShop.ca earn up to ten times reward miles during a select few days.
  3. Seek out savings – Although this tip doesn’t necessarily earn you more Air Miles, it does keep you grounded when it comes to ensuring you don’t over spend. Even if you’re an avid Air Miles collector, it’s important to ensure that it’s worth shopping at an Air Miles sponsor. In many cases, sponsors will charge customers more just because their business offer Air Miles, leaving customers with a deeper hole in their pocket then they would’ve had when shopping elsewhere. That’s not to say that Air Miles sponsors don’t have great deals. In fact, some companies provide Air Miles collectors with exclusive deals.
  4. Shop online – Some of the best deals that I find with Air Miles are found online. As I mentioned earlier, Air Mile’s offers a 10X bonus event that is exclusive to online shopping. Furthermore, some bricks-and-mortar stores will offer Air Miles incentives to get customers shopping via e-commerce. In addition, purchasing through AirMilesShop.ca is a great way to know that you’re shopping with trusted online retailers, not a scam artist after your credit card number.
  5. Be social online – One of the best ways to find out about bonus Air Miles is by subscribing to their Facebook and Twitter pages. Throughout the week you’ll find exclusive bonus Air Miles offers that can only be found if you follow the company on one of the social networks their using. In fact, the other day I found fantastic deals on movie tickets that I wouldn’t of found if I wasn’t subscribing to them on Facebook. Even better, it is easier for Air Miles to send you bonus offers via social media because deals will show up on your Facebook or Twitter stream. This means that you aren’t going to have to navigate to the Air Miles website everyday to see the latest bonus offers.

What are your tips for earning more AirMiles? Leave a comment below or send me a Tweet with your suggestions.

image source: Wikipedia