November last, you might remember this post about the Omni 10k Flyaway offer, where you earn 10,000 airline miles for every 100 room night stays at Omni hotels. Well, here’s something to top that 30 times over. And you won’t have to travel. Or spend your money.

Chris Guillebeau on The Art of Non-Conformity has a step by step primer on how to earn 300,000 frequent flyer miles in 5 weeks. If this interests you, I suggest you read it in full, but here’s the summary:-

When you get approved for new credit cards, some of them come with free mileage bonuses. What Guillebeau did was to sort out which cards came with free frequent flyer miles, and started getting himself approved for them, and ended up with 300,000 frequent flyer miles in five weeks. Listed below are the cards he applied for:-

1. Citi AA Visa Signature ($0 annual fee for 1 year, 25000 miles)
2. Citi AA Mastercard ($0 annual fee for 1 year, 25000 miles)
3. CitiBusiness AA Mastercard ($0 annual fee for 1 year, 25000 miles)
4. Chase United Visa Signature ($79 annual fee, 25000 miles)
5. Hilton HHonors AmEx ($0 annual fee as long as you have another AmEx, 25000 miles + 10000 bonus miles)
6. Delta Gold Personal AmEx ($0 annual fee as long as you have another AmEx, 20000 miles)
7. Alaska Air Visa ($79 annual fee, 20000 miles)
8. Northwest Worldperks Visa ($0 annual fee for 1 year, 25000 miles)
9. Continental World Mastercard ($85 fee, 25000 miles)
10. Continental World Biz Mastercard ($85 fee, 20000 miles)
11. US Airways DM Visa Signature ($90 annual fee, 25000 miles)
12. US Airways Premier World MC ($79 annual fee, 25000 miles)

A few things you need to remember here. First, you need to have good credit for you to be able to get approved for so many cards in so short a period. Second, even if you do get approved, it brings down your credit score a little bit. Third, no one is suggesting that you actually go on a shopping spree and wipe out the credit on all the cards.

All you’re expected to do here is accept the cards and the freebies that come along with it, pay the minimum necessary charges for a year, and then cancel the cards before the next year’s charges kick in.

I’d also like to add that this isn’t something that’s everyone’s cup of tea. If you have, or have had, problems with debt repayment, I suggest you stay clear of it. And, just to be doubly safe, do not go anywhere near it, if you do not have the ability to repay the sum total of the credit (over $100,000) from all the cards.

But if you do pull it off, then all those dreams about checking into the beachfront Honolulu hotels, spending the day lazing on the pristine beaches of Oahu, with breaks for body surfing and shave ice and all that schtick about the Spirit of Aloha might just be in the realm of the possible.

Speaking of the Spirit of Aloha, you might want to keep an eye out for Marriott’s Spirit of Aloha tour bus, which kicked off its journey to Seattle from San Diego on Jan 13, with a Hawaiian blessing that included traditional chants, conch shell blowers, hula dancers and musicians.

The 45-foot-long bus emblazoned with images of Hawaii will make a 1,300-mile journey through major cities across California, Oregon and Washington. The campaign aims to encourage West Coast residents to travel to Hawaii in 2009 and stay at Marriott’s five resorts on Kauai, Oahu, Maui and the Big Island.

In a press statement, Ed Hubennette, vice president for North Asia, Hawaii, and South Pacific, Marriott International, said that “Hawaii is the favorite vacation destination for people living on the West Coast. Our message to them is that a Hawaii vacation is very affordable right now and offers just the right combination of relaxation and fun to rejuvenate and nourish the soul in these challenging times.”

Marriott, along with partner Hawaiian Airlines, will be giving away trips to Hawaii for stays in its hotels as part of a sweepstakes program on radio and television. In conjunction with Marriott’s Spirit of Aloha Tour, there are special vacation packages being offered to mark Hawaii’s 50th Statehood Anniversary. More details here - www.marriottalohatour.com/

Posted on January 15th, 2009 by PLing
Filed under: Airlines, Travel News