Questions and Answers

Just wondering how a 15 ish year old get started in miles and points

[USER=2290]@Ljc[/USER], welcome. Have you taken a look at [URL]http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2016/02/15/college-student-credit-card-tips/?[/URL] That might be the earliest you can get started unfortunately unless your family is willing to take some guidance on accumulating mileage.

The earliest you can go at the miles and points game is starting on your credit score. Getting good spending habits in order and showing you’re responsible.

That doesn’t mean you can apply for the higher-end Chase Sapphire Preferred or whatever right now. Rather, apply for a secured credit card with a co-signer OR become an authorized user on your parent’s account. Otherwise, most program restrict the age by which you can join/fly.

Hi [USER=2290]@Ljc[/USER]. I am a 13 year old student who studies at a boarding school. I got started in the points and miles game back in March, when Cathay Pacific’s FFP started allowing 12+ year olds to sign up for their program. Through a summer trip in QR J, I am now a OW Ruby. Look for a program that allows members under 18, and pursue it. For instance, Iberia’s FFP allows 12+ year olds to sign up for their program.

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I just turned 18, so before then I was in the same boat as you. My first piece of advice is to keep your expectations in check. You won’t be flying an Etihad Apartment or visiting the Air France La Premiere lounge any time soon. Without credit cards it’s extremely difficult to accrue a large amount of miles without actually flying a lot. That said, there are certainly ways to get an early start on banking the miles so that your dream trip comes that much sooner.

First, don’t split your miles. I don’t know how much you fly, but when you do try and encourage your parents to keep it on one airline or within an alliance. If you must fly different airlines, try and find a partner that is common to both. For example, I fly to Los Angeles from Ohio to visit family every spring, which is roughly 2000 miles each way. Last year the outbound was on American Airlines while the return was on Delta. Rather than crediting those miles to AAdvantage and SkyMiles respectively, I credited them to Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan, since they partner with both AA and DL. That way, instead of having ~2000 miles in my AAdvantage and ~2000 miles in my SkyMiles accounts, I’ll have ~4,000 miles in my Mileage Plan account. Keep in mind that if you’re flying on one airline and crediting miles to another, discounted economy class tickets may not earn 100% of the distance flown. Even so, I’d consider it to be more useful to have (for example) 7,500 miles in one program than 10,000 total miles spread across multiple programs.

Another thing I do a lot in my spare time is take surveys through e-rewards. You take surveys ranging from 5mins~45mins long and earn currency which can be redeemed for miles in programs such as United MileagePlus, Mileage Plan, and British Airways Executive Club. There’s no way you could earn enough miles solely through e-rewards in any reasonable amount of time, but it’s a nice way to top off your accounts.

The last thing I can think of is shopping portals. SkyMiles, MileagePlus, AAdvantage, and Mileage Plan all have websites that allow you to earn miles for purchases made at online retailers. These can be as low as 0.5 miles/dollar at Best Buy. Conversely, I’ve seen as much as 30 miles/dollar at some sites during promotional periods.

One final thing is that you could have your parents do it for you. My parents don’t pay any attention to what benefits their credit card gives them, they just want something that they can swipe at the store to make purchases with. I manage all the information for the trip to Japan my mom and I take once every year or two including finding the flights and managing her frequent flier account. I persuaded her to get the Citi ThankYou Premier card (back when it still had the sign-up bonus) and add me as an authorized user and she basically said I could have all the points that are accrued on the card since I’m far more knowledgeable on how best to use them. She’s had the card for half a year and already has over 80,000 points, although a sizable chunk of that was from summer travel I purchased with my own money. You might see if you could work out a similar arrangement with your parents.

Hi Ljc!

I am in a similar situation as you are! I am 17, from America but go to an international school in China. As they have said, you can’t really open credit cards but you can do the surveys and stuff. One thing I have found really beneficial is Uber. Now this is kinda complicated but you can link your Uber account to a SPG account, and an SPG account to a Delta account. You will earn miles and points with both Delta and SPG each time you take a ride. Now it isn’t a ton of points but they can add up over time. Also, I have volunteered to handle all the travel planning for my family and in return, they give me the points. Through this, I have been able to earn over 7000 SPG points and hundreds of thousands of Delta Skymiles. Now as I said I travel to China and back a lot so that helps but regardless. With those Skymiles, I have been able to redeem a round trip business class ticket from asia to the US. Its hard to do at our age, but if you are smart and savy, it can be done!

[QUOTE=”Jordan Parker, post: 20819, member: 1553″]Hi Ljc!

I am in a similar situation as you are! I am 17, from America but go to an international school in China. As they have said, you can’t really open credit cards but you can do the surveys and stuff. One thing I have found really beneficial is Uber. Now this is kinda complicated but you can link your Uber account to a SPG account, and an SPG account to a Delta account. You will earn miles and points with both Delta and SPG each time you take a ride. Now it isn’t a ton of points but they can add up over time. Also, I have volunteered to handle all the travel planning for my family and in return, they give me the points. Through this, I have been able to earn over 7000 SPG points and hundreds of thousands of Delta Skymiles. Now as I said I travel to China and back a lot so that helps but regardless. With those Skymiles, I have been able to redeem a round trip business class ticket from asia to the US. Its hard to do at our age, but if you are smart and savy, it can be done![/QUOTE]

Uber is a definite +1 that I didn’t think of. Pardon me if I’m wrong, but if I remember correctly you need to have at least 1 Starwood hotel stay on your record to be able to start earning Starpoints on Uber.

Also, believe to be able to “double dip” with SPG and Delta you have to be an elite member in one or both programs. I think you have to be a SPG Gold or Platinum to earn Starpoints on Delta and have to be a SkyMiles Medallion member to earn SkyMiles for Starwood stays.

Source: [URL]http://spgpromos.com/crossoverrewards/faq/?language=en_US[/URL]

A lot of good ways to accrue have been mentioned, but I would say the #1 way (after credit card offers) is through dining portals (i.e. alaska has mileage plan dining). As you get older, you’ll be eating out a lot more (especially when you’re in college). You’ll be surprised at how many miles you’ll accrue from eating, which you would be doing anyway, and how many restaurants in your area take part in these programs.