My favorite way to travel on a budget is by using my miles on reward flights, hotels, and rental cars. When I first started out, I felt like it would take me a thousand flights over the years to begin to reap the benefits. Fear not! There are a few ways to make it happen that don’t even involve flying.

The most obvious solution is to get a miles reward credit card. I have both a United and a British Airways card. Both gave me 50,000 miles to start, and I get miles per dollar spent. If you buy a plane ticket you get additional miles. I like that United gives me 2 club passes a year, and I like how easy it is to book reward flights on partner airlines of British Airways.

If credit cards aren’t your thing, my favorite way to get miles which really isn’t well known at all is by online shopping. Did you know that all you have to do to get miles for purchases you already make is log into your frequent flier account?

Take British Airways for example. Once I’m in my Executive Club account, I click on “Collecting Avios,” then “Shopping and Lifestyle,” then “Log-In and Shop” through Gate 365. Once I’m in, I have access to many of my favorite stores. Simply click on “Shop Now” and you’ll be directed to the site you are already used to. It takes a few weeks for the miles to hit my account, but it’s such an easy way to get more out of your normal shopping!

Thanks to Black Friday deals, I just got 12 Avios per dollar from Neiman Marcus! Imagine getting a few things for work and spending $500… that’s 6000 miles and nearly a one way ticket from Lima to Cusco, Peru. I think the hardest thing is remembering to log into my account every time I online shop, but when I do remember I love getting more for my money!

Happy shopping! 🙂