Travel Tip Tuesday coming to you from my hotel room in Abingdon, Virginia! Currently typing this with one hand and eating a crab cake with the other. Shout out to The Peppermill for the great dinner! Another week, another hotel room! It is January 28th, and I have already spent 11 nights in Marriott Hotels this year. Talk about starting the year off with a bang! Luckily, not all months are like this. With my job as an audiologist and a field sales representative for a hearing aid manufacturer, I have the flexibility of creating my own schedule. With the amount of travel my job requires, I would be lost without frequent flyer miles. While I am pounding the pavement during the work week, it pays off to have frequent flyer miles adding up that I can use for personal travel and vacations!
While the road warrior life can be exhausting at times, I love the flexibility and experiences my job offers! It’s my plan in the near future to write a blog post that will offer an overview of what my job entails! Be sure to stay tuned!
While my job primarily consists of me driving my own car, I do have the opportunity to fly. Whenever I head to the Tri-Cities region (Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia), I always opt to fly. Thus far I have always taken a connecting flight into the local, TRI Airport. However, with Asheville, North Carolina under 1.5 hours away, I think I may start flying home from there! I’ll take any excuse to explore the Asheville area!
Hotel: Grand Bohemian Hotel Asheville, Autograph Collection
Whether you are a weekly flyer or only hit the jetway once in a blue moon, I strongly encourage signing up for the airlines frequent flyer programs. These programs are free and allow you to start accruing frequent flyer miles/points. These miles can be converted into FREE or discounted plane tickets! CHA-CHING! One of the biggest perks of my job is being able to utilize point systems. I previously reviewed the benefits of the Marriott Bonvoy Program.
In addition to signing up for these frequent flyer programs, I also strongly recommend committing to one airline for your travels. This will strongly be dependent on where you live and what “hub” your local airport is. For me, I’ve always been a Delta gal. My dad signed me up for the Delta Frequent Flyer program back in 1994 and I am grateful he did! With Delta specifically, your points never expire! So even if you travel infrequently, your miles will never disappear!
Delta Summary
- Major U.S. Hubs: Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Los Angeles, Minneapolis- St Paul, New York (LGA/ JFK), Salt Lake City, Seattle-Tacoma
- International Airline Partners & Sky Team: Aeroflot, Aerolíneas, Aeroméxico, Air France, Air Europa, Alitalia, Argentinas, China Airlines, China Eastern, China Southern, Czech Airlines, Garuda Indonesia, GOL, Kenya Airways, KLM, Korean Air, MEA, Saudia Airlines, TAROM, Vietnam Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Australia and Xiamen Airlines (click here for more details)
- Signature Lounge: Delta Sky Club
- Free Carry-on Allowance: 1 personal item and 1 carry-on item
The main reason I recommend sticking with one airline is because you want to maximize your points. If you are constantly airline hopping, it will take significantly longer to accrue enough points to cover a flight or benefit from any other airline perks. I pretty much only fly Delta, except on the rare ocassion that I find another airline with a significantly cheaper flight. If we are talking hundreds of dollars in difference, I might be persuaded to stray; just this once! 😉
In addition to earning points from booking flights, you can earn points significantly quicker with the use of an Airline specific credit card. When I started my current job, I did my research and decided the Delta American Express made the most since for my lifestyle. In addition to using this card to book flights, I also use it for all of my other work expenses. Doing so has allowed me to earn points significantly quicker.
Exciting news for Delta cardholders: starting January 30, 2020 there will be new benefits! These changes will allow for quicker point accrual.
These include:
– 2x miles at restaurants
– 2x miles at U.S. supermarkets
Delta offers 4 different American Express Credit Card options. Your lifestyle will be what determines which credit card makes the most sense for you!
Below are the benefits and annual fees as of January 30, 2020
Blue Delta SkyMiles Credit Card
– 2 miles per dollar on purchases directly from Delta
– 2 miles per dollar spent at U.S. restaurants
– 1 mile per dollar on all other spending
Annual fee: $0
Gold Delta SkyMiles Credit Card
– 2 miles per dollar on purchases directly from Delta
– 2 miles per dollar spent at U.S. restaurants and U.S. supermarkets
– 1 mile per dollar on all other spending
-First checked bag free (includes each passenger booked with credit card)
– $100 Delta Flight Credit (after $10,000 in purchases during calendar year)
– Main Cabin 1 Priority Boarding
– No foreign transaction fees
Annual fee: $0 intro for the first year, then $99
Platinum Delta SkyMiles Credit Card
– 3 miles per dollar on purchases directly from Delta
– 3 miles per dollar on purchases directly with hotels
– 2 miles per dollar spent at U.S. restaurants and U.S. supermarkets
– 1 mile per dollar on all other spending
– First checked bag free (includes each passenger booked with credit card)
– Main Cabin 1 Priority Boarding
– No foreign transaction fees
– Global Entry or TSA PreCheck Fee Credit
– Companion certificate (domestic main cabin round-trip each year upon renewal)
– Delta Sky Club exclusive per-visit rate ($39)
Annual fee: $250
Delta Reserve Credit Card
– 3 miles per dollar on purchases directly from Delta
– 1 mile per dollar on all other spending
– First checked bag free (includes each passenger booked with credit card)
– Main Cabin 1 Priority Boarding
– No foreign transaction fees
– Global Entry or TSA PreCheck Fee Credit
– Companion certificate (domestic first class, Delta Comfort +, or main cabin round-trip each year upon renewal)
– Complementary Delta Sky Club access
– Complimentary access to the Centurion Lounge
– Access to complimentary upgrades (for card members without Medallion status)
– Upgrade priority (for Medallion members)
Annuel Fee: $550
It’s a new year, time to work the point system to your greatest benefit!
Happy traveling!
-Ronnie
Interested in reading more about travel point systems? Click here to read all about Marriott Bonvoy Rewards
Interested in reading more of my travel tips? Click here
