In the world of travel hacking, you can almost always expect to get the most value out of your transferable points by transferring them to hotel and airline partners. The first step before you move any points is opening these hotel and airline loyalty accounts.
Having these accounts already established is helpful, so they’re set to go when you are ready to transfer. It is free to join these loyalty programs; just a bit time-consuming. A good plan is to take a couple of hours one day and make a list of the hotels and airlines you are most likely to use. Then, one by one, go to their website and join their membership program.
Here is a list of the most common hotel programs:
Here is a list of the most common airlines programs:
- Air Canada
- Air France
- Alaska
- American
- ANA All Nippon Airways
- British Airways
- Cathay Pacific Airways
- Delta
- Emirates
- Hawaiian
- Iberia
- Japan Airlines
- Jet Blue
- KLM/Flying Blue
- Lufthansa
- Qantas
- Qatar
- Singapore Airlines
- Southwest
- Turkish
- United
- Virgin Atlantic
Let’s walk through how you will open these accounts. I will use Marriott as an example, but the process is about the same for any hotel or airline.
Step 1: Go to their website
Step 2: Look for the link that says “Join.” You can usually find this in the top right-hand corner
Step 3: Fill out the form. This usually requires your name, address, phone number, and email. Remember to save your password!
Step 4: You will receive a membership number once you have joined. You will use this number when transferring points from your transferable points card to Marriott.
Step 5: Now, when you log in to your Marriott account, you can see your dashboard. Your dashboard will show you how many points you have, past or upcoming stays, progress toward elite status, etc.
Step 6: The final step is downloading the app on your phone. Log in to the app with the same login and password you created for the webpage. Access to your account from your phone is super handy while traveling. Many hotel apps will offer a mobile room key and a chat feature during your stay. Airline apps will offer digital boarding passes and flight updates on your travel day.
Conclusion
One of the first steps to take before you begin booking reward travel is to set up membership loyalty accounts with hotels and airlines. Having these accounts established ensures two things: first, that you earn points for flights and stays, and second, that you are primed and ready to transfer points and miles to book award travel!
