People assume that flying 135 times in a year means I'm either rich or comped. Neither is true. I pay for my own tickets, no airline has ever flown me anywhere to review them, and I'm a college student.
What I do have is one habit that most travelers never consider, and that the points world treats as slightly disreputable. I buy miles with cash.
That's not credit card points earned from spending, and it isn't elite status either. I go to an airline's website, buy a pile of its currency during a promotion, then spend it on a seat that would cost several thousand dollars in cash. When it works, a long-haul business class ticket costs me less than a domestic coach fare. When it doesn't work, and I've had it not work, it's an expensive lesson in a currency I can't return.
Below is the whole method. The math I run before every purchase, the three programs worth buying from, and the mistakes that cost me money before I understood them.
