traveltip: give & get

I mentioned in a traveltip a while back to be sure that you have signed up for a Frequent Flyer account for any and every airline you ever fly on. There's nothing to lose, and you may be surprised how miles can bank up over time. My European trip airfare as well as a couple others every year are always paid for with frequent flyer miles. Something I need to write more on is making a concerted effort to build up miles in a single account. This is how I pay for my overseas travel - while they aren't my favorite airlines, I recommend choosing one of the larger legacy airlines for this. For many reasons, I happen to have chosen Delta because it offers the most options for my preferred European travel spots as well as the best options for using miles for me. Regardless of which airline, online Christmas shopping offers you a time to earn a lot of miles for money you may already be spending. Nearly every airline has a miles shopping site. If you enter a merchants site by going through their shopping site, you will get miles for your purchases. For instance, say I wanted to buy a $20 item from Barnes & Noble. If I go to the Delta Skymiles Shopping site and then click on Barnes & Noble, it takes be to barnesandnoble.com, but when I purchase the item, I also get 120 miles (B&N currently is giving 6 miles per dollar) credited to my Delta account. Bonus. Most merchants offer 2-3 miles per dollar, but if you do some hunting, you can find the best option for whatever it is you are looking to buy. I have also been surprised by the merchants that participate - from large retailers like Apple and Best Buy to fairly obscure small specialty places. Use the search bar anytime you are about to buy something - search the item, or the merchant name, or a keyword. Beyond just Christmas shopping, you can even use this for regular items you buy anyway (drugstore.com, target, etc) or office supplies (staples, officemax, etc) to help build your miles account. The trick is remembering to do it - which I admit that I'm not good at. If you already shop online, there's no reason not to. Its a great way to get something back (beyond the joy of giving, of course.)