Flying For Free With Airline Miles

Airline Miles are usually used to reward customer loyalty by allowing flyers to fly for free.

I actually have a love-hate relationship with travel. I love travelling but I hate the inconveniences that goes with it. Because of this, I tend to prefer making my trip as comfortable as possible; and this means having to spend more for better seats, lounge access, or express passes. This however, can be quite costly, and with my financial status right now, having a comfy trip isn’t going to be anytime soon. Thankfully, I learned about miles early and have started accumulating them. 

Aside from using cash, miles can be used to purchase flights and upgrades. The required miles vary from airline to airline, including the destination and class (economy, business, or first). Generally, miles earning methods are categorized into two: flights and non-flights.

Flights

The most straight-forward way to earn airline miles. Each airline usually have their own loyalty program. Based on the class, you get a corresponding reward every time you fly. The reward however, can either be through cash rebates or discount vouchers for the next flight instead of airline miles. 

Non-Flights

As for non-flight methods, well, there are tons of ways to earn miles. Here are some of them.

Credit Cards

Depending on the credit card that you have, you can either earn reward points, cash back, or airline miles. For miles, this can either be a generic mile which you can convert to a specific airline later on or be directly linked to an airline’s program such as Mabuhay Miles or Asia Miles. 

For the purpose of earning miles, some of the best travel cards currently out here in the Philippines are BDO’s American Express Platinum Credit Card, Citibank’s Premier Miles, and Metrobank’s Travel Platinum. 

Note: To know more about the credit cards I’m using, feel free to visit my post here.

Hotel/Accommodation Partners

As for hotels or accommodations, there are also direct and indirect ways to earn miles.

One would be directly booking at a hotel with an airline partner. Simply stay with them to earn miles. Of course, don’t forget to indicate your membership number when booking or checking-in. 

The other one would be through websites as as Agoda or Kaligo. In Agoda’s Points Max program, some of the bookings you make may include an airline reward.

Here, you will have to choose the airline first and then the bonus miles will be shown in the room selection. As you may have noticed, rooms with miles rewards cost more so it’s up to you to decide whether it’s going to be worth it or not.

Road Travels

Some gas stations also offer rewards or miles for gassing up with them. Take for example Petron’s loyalty card. Every 2 Petron Value Points can be converted to 3 Mabuhay Miles. More information on Petron Value Cards can be found here.

Then we have EasyTrip’s partnership with Mabuhay Miles. For every transaction done at NLEX, SCTEX, and CAVITEX, you earn 1 Mabuhay Miles. To know more about EasyTrip, feel free to check my post here. As for the rewards program, you can sign up here.

While the idea of accumulating miles to be able to fly for free can be daunting, it isn’t impossible. You simply have to take the time and research properly to see whether there are programs or promos that can help you reach your travel goals. Remember, no matter how tiny the amount, every peso/mile counts.

Note: I’ll update this post as soon as I discover more ways to earn miles.