As reported in Upgrade- Travel Better, there are two new websites for people wanting to figure out the best deals they can get with their frequent flier miles or hotel points.

MileMaven helps travelers find the most number of frequent flier miles for your flights. PointMaven does the same thing, but for hotel points.

I often find it is difficult to find information about ways to earn extra points and these guys consolidate it pretty well.

There is a lot of info available- check them out!

Just a quick comment on something I mentioned in a previous post.

A couple of weeks ago I gave a tip about how important it is to subscribe to the newsletters of the points programs you are member of. Today I got a chance to confirm this tip again. 

Just a couple of days ago I was thinking about how much I need a card scanner. Today I was checking the prices on several models on Tigerdirect, and later on in the evening I was looking through my e-mail. Well, I got a recent airmiles newsletter which showed me how I could get double airmiles until December 31st at Tigerdirect!

I didn’t even know that I could collect airmiles at that Tigerdirect but now that I know, and even better, that I can get double airmiles, it is much more likely that I will buy my card scanner from them.

Once you have collected some miles there is the question of what to spend the points on. Hopefully you went through some of this process when you started to collect points. To make sure you are getting the best value for your points you need to figure out what they are worth. How to do this? There is some excellent information on how to value your frequent flier miles or points on Gary Steiger’s website freefrequentfliermiles

Using the formula Gary recommends, I end up with my British Airways and Aeroplan miles being worth 2 cents each, my airmiles miles at 12.5 cents each, and my Marriott points at 1 cent each. This is going to be helpful for the next time I look at whether or not to use my points for something.

I find that having points is like collecting change in a piggy bank, it takes a while to get anything useful, but over time it is definitely possible. In most cases it is worth using the miles when you can because the managers of these loyalty programs can, and do, change the rules at any time.

Additional ways to find miles and points

Here is an idea for all of you collectors of airmiles or points. I am a big believer in getting as many points as possible, as long as it does not interfere with your normal spending pattern.

The idea is- when you about to buy something, there is a quick and easy way to check that you are getting as many points as you can-

1. By checking the website of the points or miles program and
2. Another way is by checking at the website of the place you are going to buy from.

Here is an example of each of these that I use:

For the first one, I love books and I read a lot. I usually buy my books online (either at Amazon or at Chapters/Indigo) because of their selection and price. As I am also an Airmiles collector, from visiting the Airmiles.ca website I have found that I can go to http://www.airmilesshops.ca/, go in to the Amazon website from there, and collect additional Airmiles on the same books at the same prices that I would be buying them at anyway. This also works for dell.ca and a bunch of other online retailers. 
 
Here is an example of the second kind. Many people like the fact that Airmiles can be collected in stores like grocery stores, pharmacies. However, to be aware of all of the opportunities, you should check the website of your favorite store. I happen to shop at a grocery store called IGA for most of my groceries because a) it’s near to where I live, and b) I can collect Airmiles. It is well known that you can collect Airmiles there as the cashier will always ask fir your card, however, it is not very well known that lGA has an online flyer every week at www.iga.net that can give you extra Airmiles if you print out a coupon online and use it at the store. It may not always be useful as the coupon requires the purchase of a specific item or of a certain amount of groceries, but if you are going to go there anyhow it is worth it to look before you go.

The check only takes a couple of minutes… why not do it?