Boost your frequent-flier I.Q. before holiday air travel season

If you haven’t been traveling for golf lately, chances are you’re getting ready to book holiday air travel.

I’ve been flying quite a bit this past year, and have paid special attention to the many ways you can earn and use frequent-flier miles and avoid checked bag fees. This week, we posted a column on TravelGolf.com about how to get the most out of your airline miles, and hopefully try and avoid bag fees and high rental club costs - an inevitable evil these days for golf travelers.

When I first began flying regularly, I didn’t think it mattered to have frequent-flier (a lot of airlines spell it “frequent-flyer") numbers. Now, I know a lot of friends who only fly a few times a year and feel the same way. But you’d be surprised at how fast you can earn free flights with a little savvy.

You can earn miles a lot of ways, from hotels to restaurants. You can even earn miles signing a mortgage. One of the more creative promotions out there right now, Chase will award 1350 miles for every $10,000 financed.

Airline credit cards that award miles have also become huge in recent years, especially since checked bag fees began popping up. Now, most airlines will waive a bag or two if you book the ticket with their credit card, plus award mileage bonuses for signing up. Seasoned travel writer and former WorldGolf.com contributor Larry Olmsted who now posts at LarryGolfstheWorld.com tells me he personally backs the Delta Amex card and Continental Presidents Plus. “Even the platinum card fee gets paid quickly in baggage savings if you travel a lot,” Larry told me. “On top of the free bonus miles and other stuff. Delta gives you four free lounge passes and a companion ticket certificate each year.”

I personally just signed up for the Citi AAdvantage card. There aren’t many great perks with it, but the 75,000-mileage bonus, when added with my 10,000 current miles on American Airlines, will get me roundtrip abroad twice - on the house.

I’m no George Clooney, but I do have my systems that seem to be working pretty well. So if you’re up in the air about whether you should have an airline credit card or frequent-flier number, check out the column.

And if you’ve got tips that aren’t in there, please feel free to comment here or on the column so we can all stay one step ahead of the ever-changing world of air travel.