Travel Tips....Maximizing those hard earned road warrior points & miles.

If you are a road warrior you will understand the hoarder mentality that comes with wanting to get the biggest possible bang for those coveted miles and points. After all, they come at the price of being away from your family and not sleeping in your own bed.

I once did a mileage run from South Carolina to Seattle the day after Thanksgiving to achieve my Platinum status on Northwest. (This tells you how long I have been traveling). Perhaps the crazier thing was that my husband joined me.  I found a great $200 fare and had a credit voucher I used for my husband’s ticket.  We got upgraded to first class, watched movies, had a cup of coffee in Seattle and headed back to South Carolina.  Was it worth it?  You bet!

Having Platinum status at that time almost guaranteed me upgrades on most flights as well as allowed me to accrue miles at a higher rate.  More miles = more miles for vacations, more miles to share!  This is the same for hotels.  The more status, the more perks, the higher accrual rate. All of this  makes  traveling for work a much nicer experience.   All the more reason to stay with one brand whenever possible.

Hotel chains usually have promotions every quarter. You just need to sign up to get the stay "x" nights, get one free, double points, etc. In addition, make sure you add any travel partners to your profile. Hotels, airlines and rental companies often allow you to add partners and double dip on points for your stays.

Shop through the airlines or hotels shopping portal to get even more miles for things you were going to purchase anyway, for example, skymilesshopping.com.

With just a small amount of effort you can make those business trips work for you.