This is a guest post from Mr Credit Card of www.askmrcreditcard.com. Mr Credit Card used to work and live in Japan years ago and today, he is going to give us some tips on how to earn airline miles for a trip back to America.
I worked and lived in Japan a few years ago and during that time I’ve been able to get quite a few free business class flights for my vacations.
The reason is that the company that I worked with gave me a business credit card, which happened to be an American Express. Whenever I took any business trips or gave client entertainments, I always charged to the card and earn reward points. I also had a personal AmEx card and I was able to combine accounts to really boost my point earnings.
That essentially, was my little secret to getting lots of miles.
This is particularly important for expats living abroad who want to save money on trips back home or on vacation somewhere else. So below are some of my tips for earning miles when you are an expat abroad.
Get the same card as your business credit card – If you work for a corporation that gives you a business credit card that earns rewards, then you should try to get the same card (the consumer version) so that you can even earn more points. Combining the points you earn from your personal and business credit cards will turbo boost your miles.
Find out which airlines you will fly most on – Let’s take the example of Japan. If you are looking to fly back to the U.S. for your vacations, you have many choices. For example, Japan Airlines, ANA and other American carriers like Delta, Continental and United all fly to the US direct from Japan. You also have to determine if you are likely to fly just one airlines or a few airlines. That is because it will affect your choice of credit cards.
Check Airline Alliances – You should also be familiar with airline alliances like star alliance and sky team. Airline partners on the same alliance program can use their miles on their partner airlines. This is very useful information to have when you are choosing a credit card.
Research Credit Cards that earn miles – This is a fun but tedious part. There are a couple of choices to make. For example, if you fly mainly just one airline, then it is just worth getting that specific airline credit card. For example, JAL and ANA both have their own credit cards. Even American Airlines have their own cards issued in other countries like Japan. As an example, Delta has a Japanese version of their skymiles credit card, a card issued by Citibank Japan and also a JCB card. Continental has a two credit cards in Japan, one issued as a JCB card, and the other one is issued by UFJ Bank.
But what if you fly a few airlines rather than just one? Well, then you would probably have to get a credit card with a reward program that allows you to earn points and transfer points to multiple airline frequent flyer programs. Programs include the Membership Rewards from Amex, Diners Club Rewards.
Charge everything to your card to maximize your points – Japan is an extremely cash based society. Folks prefer to carry wads of cash (and if you haven’t realized – credit card debt is not a problem is Japan). But to earn the most points, it always pays to use your credit cards to earn points. Just make sure you pay off your balance in full every month.
Try not to fly during Japanese Holidays – For those who have lived in Japan before know that they have lots of holidays. It is best to avoid flying on these days as fares are obviously more expensive and it is harder to use your hard earned frequent flier miles.
Ending Thoughts – Not many folks in Japan use credit cards. But if you are an expat or foreigner living there, it always pays to do some research about frequent flier miles so you can save a lot from using your credit card. Use it for everything (but make sure you pay in full) and you can start racking up those miles for your flight back home or for vacation.
Photo: Kossy@FineDays
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Here is a crazy web forum for airline mile addicts. If only I had done some of these… sigh…
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles-points-1/
[Reply]
Austin Reply:
February 12th, 2010 at 6:01 pm
Thanks, I’m sure the readers will appreciate this!
[Reply]
Austin Reply:
February 12th, 2010 at 6:03 pm
Thanks, dude. I’m sure the readers will appreciate this.
[Reply]