Telephone Offers

Caution: Telephone companies are most notorious for not giving the promised miles without hassle. I have always received the promised miles, but almost always I have had to ask for them. Save copies of all offers. Make notes on how and when you accepted the offer, and who took the order (name and location). Keep close track of your mileage accounts, and complain when you don't get what you deserve. All of the companies can tell you if they sent miles to your airline a week or two after the closing date of an invoice, even though they tell you it might take six to eight weeks to post. Always call to ask, and if the miles weren't sent, always insist on their telling you why.

Long Distance Offers

ATT | Sprint | MCI | Other Long Distance

For several years the long distance telephone companies were competing for our business by offering 10,000 - 25,000 frequent flyer miles for simply signing up with them and staying with them for six months. Those deals disappearing fast. I expect them and this section of my website to be gone soon. Grab the deals while you can.

None of these deals are free, because they all have either a monthly fee or a monthly minimum usage attached to them, or have high per minute of usage fees. But if you find that your long distance usages would always exceed the minimum anyway, or that low rates justify the monthly fee, there is no reason not to accept the miles they are giving away just for having a long distance carrier.

It is possible to sign up with a major carrier for miles in a program with high per minute fees and low or no minimiums or monthly fees, and then use a very low cost dial around service for your long distance needs. I used for years PowerNet Global for this purpose. I now use them for my regular long distance and local toll service at very low prices. I have been paying them less than 3.9 cents a minute for long distance within the U.S., in-state, and local toll calls. This includes all taxes and fees. To sign up with PowerNet Global, call toll free (866) 329-7280. If you are using another long distance carrier for the miles, make it clear that you want a dial around service, and that you do not want to change long distance carriers.

  • If you use PowerNet Global for any service, please tell them I referred you. Call (866) 329-7280 and mention Customer Referral Number TMC7500098. This shouldn't cost you anything, and will give me a tiny credit. Thanks.

It is also possible to do the same thing with phone cards. These are often cheaper than a dial around service, but they require that you pay a minimum amount before you make a call, can run out of money in the middle of your phone call, and sometimes have a monthly minimum usage fee, surcharges, expiration dates and periodic maintenance fees. I leave it to you to read the small print. Cards that I or others recommend:

  • Cheapphonecards.com. Excellent rates to some countries. Less than 1 cent/minute to USA, Canada, Ireland, Israel last I looked.
  • OneSuite under 3 cents a minute)
  • Sam's club AT&T card (under 3 cents a minute)
  • Costco MCI card (3.5 cents a minute)
  • DialAroundTheWorld.com card for international calls.
  • PhoneShark.com for international cards.
  • Hostelling International USA for international cards, including a nifty, very cheap callback feature. On April 29, 2007, they were offering a $10 credit.
  • IvyMedia's website for special phone cards for calls from the U.S. to China, Taiwan, and the world listed under Shopping (in the left menu)

I am looking for a site that lists most or all of the cheap cards. The ones on AB Tolls seem expensive. Please write to me if you know of such a site. Thanks.

Here is a very complete San Francisco Chronicle article on how to make inexpensive calls internationally.

Or, you could even make free calls by signing up with Phone Hog, described below.

The trick to getting maximum miles from phone companies is to accept the best possible offer, then as soon as you get all the miles promised, switch to another carrier.

For comparison of expenses for phone service that does not offer miles, you can find excellent telephone deals with no miles offered at AB Tolls. One I used for interim service (while waiting for a good mileage producing offer) was Enhanced Communications Group, found on that site. I had good telephone connections and no problems with this company. I am currently using PowerNet Global:

  • The regular number for signing up with PowerNet Global is (877) 860-2561
  • Through a mixup in the quote that they gave me, I ended up speaking with one of their brokers, who gave me an even better deal than that offered by the company: 2.9 cents/minute interstate, 3.9 cents/ minute intrastate, with fractional minutes (6 seconds). (No, that's not backwards. I live in California.) No surprise fees or charges or minimums. Minimal taxes. My January 2006 bill showed 39.6 intrastate minutes for $1.58. $1.58 is exactly what I paid. Call 888-541-0608.
  • I can get further reductions on my minuscule bill if you tell the company that I referred you. Then you can refer, too. To tell them that I referred you, call (866) 329-7280 and give them customer referral number TMC7500098. (Thanks.) Of course, do not accept a rate lower than that offered by the broker mentioned above. Please tell me how this worked out.
  • On August 21, 2006, a reader wrote:
    I called PowerNet Global, to sign up for long distance. And I used your referral #, so enjoy the extra 1 cent off of each call! But! They told me as of Aug. 1 they have added a $.99/month fee. Bummer. But still beats the $5/month I have with MCI for long distance I almost never use.

    They initially quoted me 1 cent higher than what you have posted, but after I gave them your account # for referral and told them what you were getting 3.9/2.9, they matched it. (I'm in IL).

    Odd that I have received no notice of the 99 cent fee. Perhaps I am grandfathered in to my no fee account.

Telephone companies often will offer miles or dollar discounts for allowing them to bill your credit card directly, and/or to send you email. But they are always happy to encourage you to sign up for these services for free "as a convenience to you". So don't sign up for these services until you first ask if you can get something for doing so. I mention these offers as I know about them, and would appreciate it if you would tell me about any you know about. Thanks.

If you have two phones: I have heard that there are some problems with signing up two phones, but only from someone who tried to sign up both phones in the same phone call. So try doing it in separate calls on separate days. If this doesn't work, try waiting until the miles post on your first phone, then try to sign up the second. Possibly you can't sign up for miles for the same airline program for different phones, but maybe you can sign up for programs of different airlines. Separate mailing addresses and email addresses would also be a good idea. They have to match something to deny you miles. So try to make everything different on your two accounts. Of course, you could always use different phone companies for your different phones, then switch them after you get you miles. Please let me know of your successes and failures in trying to sign up more than one phone with the same company.

The name of the phone account must match the name on the frequent flyer account.

 
Sprint  

Sprint regularly offers 5,000 - 8,000 miles various airlines for switching to their phone service. Airline websites offer links to the standard deals. However, the table below often offers better deals. Also, you might get a better deal not offered on line by calling (800) 880-6171 and remaining silent until you get a human being to answer the phone. This is the number for the old Alaska Airlines deals, but the customer service rep there said she could handle all offers.

Please let me know of any other deals you know of, and tell me if any of the deals on the table have expired. (Don't trust the expiration date on the offer. Often the deals are extended.)

Special Notes:

  • These miles are not free. Late October, 2005, I finished a 6 month deal with Sprint for 10,000 miles. I made no phone calls through the company. My total of all bills for 7 months billing was $60.39 for minimum fees, network access charges, franchise fees, etc, etc. And the monthly bill is scheduled to go up $1 in November, 2005. I had 7 bills because I wanted to wait until the miles due me actually posted before I closed the account.
  • A post on FlyerTalk says "To receive a $5 credit for switching, go to www.sprintbiz.com/redeem, enter your customer # and Redemption Code EFA."
  • Sprint has a history of regularly forgetting that certain offer are online, even though they intend to cancel them. They have always been good about giving you the miles, but only if you can send them a copy of the offer. So make one.

Airline Miles Months Contact Notes
Hawaiian Airlines 8,000 6 Click (1)(2)(7)(13)(18)
Hawaiian Airlines 6,000 6 Click (1)(2)(7)(13)

Note 1: There may be a $3.95 or higher per month fee. California residents may able to get the deal for $2 a month by asking for the "Simple 7 California" plan. There may be significant extra taxes and fees. Be clear on what you will pay. Read the excellent consumer advice at AB Tolls to know what questions to ask. Because of the long distance rates, this might be a good deal for you anyway, depending on your calling habits and whether or not you want to be bothered to use a dial around service. Also, buying the initial miles for the monthly fee can be a cheap way to acquire miles, provided the extra taxes, etc, aren't too high.

Note 2: Previously customers could earn up to 1,000 miles more by signing up for billing on line. So ask if a similar program is still available.

Note 4: Plus 5 miles for every $1 you spend with Sprint; Midwest Miles Executive members earn 7 miles for every $1 spent.

Note 5: Sprint 7˘ AnyTime. Or try calling (800) 660-4569 or (800)906-3602. Existing customers call (800) 877-4646.

Note 7: Plus 5 miles per dollar spent.

Note 9: For something called the "Sprint Complete Sense" program, which is probably more expensive than other plans.

Note 10: Sprint Nickel AnyTime Advantage residential long-distance service.

Note 12: On January 29, 2003, I was given 250 Alaska Airline miles for providing my email address as part of signing up for one of their plans. So I suggest you try getting the same deal for your airline program, even if you are already a Sprint customer. If you find a way to do this on line, please let me know. Thanks.

Note 13: When I signed up for the now defunct Alaska Airlines 10,000 mile deal, I was given a $10 discount (over three months) for allowing Spring to directly bill my credit card (a mileage producing one, of course). This discount is probably available for all offers. Ask. However, in order to get the miles from the original offer, it is required that your monthly invoice show a balance due of at least $1. The monthly fee or minimum counts toward this balance, but the credit for the discount counts against it. So be sure to get an understanding of how and when the $10 will be credited to your account, and then be sure to make enough phone calls to cause your invoice to show a balance of at least $1.

Note 15: The US Airways 10,000 mile offer is for the more expensive Sprint Complete Sense program, but ask if it is available for others. Call (800)785-5696. 6 month commitment. 5,000 miles will be deposited into your Dividend Miles account four to six weeks after your first and sixth Sprint invoices of $1 or more.

Note 17: On September 8, 2003, a reader wrote: "If you call the number for the Sprint/United deal instead of signing up online, they will give you the 1000 mile online sign-up bonus anyway and will in addition offer you a Sprint Phone Card for another 1000 miles. The card (which of course has an outrageous calling rate) carries a $1-a-month fee and easily can be cancelled upon receipt.". Another reader wrote on April 12, 2004: "I just called Sprint at 1-800-638-5241 for the 10,000 (first one listed in your table) mile bonus. Although it doesn't say so when you click on the link, they offered me the usual 5 cents/mile. They also offered me another 1000 miles to bill with my credit card (of course a United) and said I'd get 6 cents per mile. He did not allow me to earn the online signing bonus although I asked per a note one of your readers had suggested." (I assume that this reader meant 6 miles per dollar, and that the extra 1 cent is the one you would get for charging anything to that credit card.)

Note 18: I have a brochure from Hawaiian Airlines that makes the same offer as the 6,000 mile offer I list, except

  • It does not mention the 1,000 mile bonus for signing up on line.
  • It offers and additional 2,000 miles for Sprint's toll free service.
  • It offers another 1,000 miles for signing up for a Sprint FONCARD.
Call (800) 665-6125. Ask about the fees for these services before signing up for them. Also ask if you can sign up online for the extra 1,000 miles, and then call to get the toll free service and/or the FONCARD for the extra miles.

 
A.T. & T.   AT&T has cancelled all of its miles offers for long distance service.

 
MCI   Effective July 31, 2005, the MCI/Northwest Airlines partner program ended.

 
Earthlink internet telephone service and Delta, American, and Northwest Airlines   Get miles for signing up for EarthLink trueVoice, a telephone service using your high speed internet service (need not be Earthlink's). A minimum terms commitment is required. Miles are deposited within 12 weeks of third paid EarthLink invoice, which implies a commitment of at least 6 months. However, a reader tells me that the actual contractual commitment is 12 months, with a penalty for cancelling early. He also tells me that "the unlimited is $25, and the 500 mins per month is $15 and seems not to be eligible for miles."

If there is more than one offer for an airline, do not call to ask about the better one. Instead, just accept it online, saving a copy of it and its URL for yourself. Earthlink's computers should

Caution: Internet telephone service often does not permit 911 access. Ask.

Airline Miles Contact Notes
Northwest Airlines 25,000 Click, or call (800) 853-9256 and mention Promo Codes 1026355 for phone, 15612 for cable and 15610 for DSL. Plus 10,000 miles for upgrade or switch to EarthLink Cable or DSL Internet access.
Northwest Airlines 10,000 Click, or call (888) 534-7089 and mention Promo Codes 1025693 for phone and 1024012 for cable. Plus 10,000 miles for upgrade or switch to EarthLink Cable Internet.
American Airlines 15,000 Click, or call (888) 534-7090 and mention Promo Codes 1026158 for phone, 1018863 for DSL, and 1018862 for cable. Plus 10,000 miles to upgrade or switch to Earthlink Cable or DSL Internet

I suspect that miles are or soon will be available for the other airlines with which Earthlink has affiliations (see those on my Internet Access page), but I have not yet been able to find them. Earthlink refuses to tell me about such offers, if they exist at all. If you want miles for another airline, I advise that you wait until such an offer becomes available. I have two additional phone numbers you can call:

  • (877) 356-5864. This is the number dedicated to the telephone service. After 2 calls to this number on April 21, 2006, someone was finally able to find the Northwest offer, using offer Promo Code 1025693. She refused to try to look up other airlines.
  • (888) 534-7090. This is the general sales number. On April 21, 2006, no one there could find the offer.

Please tell me what you find out. Thanks.

 
Vonage and United Airlines

Logo 125x125

  Vonage Internet Phone Service offers 7,500 United Airlines miles for signing up for its internet home service. I know nothing about this service. Be careful. Read all of the terms and conditions. Ask about 911 service, and test quality of sound.

Vonage also offers 5,000 United Airlines miles and one month free for apparently the same service. But notice the difference in pricing from the first offer.

To compare prices for the miles offers to the non-miles offers, click on the banner to the left to get to Vonage's home page.

 
Proximiti and Delta Airlines   Proximiti Digital Phone Service offers 7,000 Delta Airlines miles for signing up for its home or home office service, or up to 35,000 miles for its business services of voice, internet and/or phone system.

I know nothing about this service. Be careful. Read all of the terms and conditions. They don't say so explicitly, but this sounds like an internet telephone service. Ask. If I am correct, ask about 911 service, and test quality of sound.

 
Qwest and Frontier Airlines   Qwest offers 2,000 Frontier Airlines miles for signing up with its long distance service, plus bonus miles for signing up for more than one Qwest product.

 
GCI and Alaska Airlines for Alaskans   For residents of Alaska GCI has several offers for local, long distance, and cellular telephone service, and internet access and cable TV, all of which produce Alaska Airlines miles. Read about them here. Click on "Product Details" to see the miles offers. They have a combination offer that gets you 10,000 miles.

 
Local phone service and your miles credit card   SBC and Qwest will automatically debit your credit card (mileage producing, of course) for payment of your monthly bill. All three of the major long distance carriers will allow this, also, sometime offering a miles bonus for doing so. (See the writeup of each carrier.) Please let me know if your local phone company allows this. Thanks.

 
Primus Mileage Offers   Canadian readers may click here to read about the standard mileage offers of Primus. Last I looked they were offering Air Miles for telephone, wireless, and internet services.

 
Bell (Canada) Mileage Offers   Canadian readers may click here to read about the standard mileage offers of Bell (Canada). Last I looked they were offering Aeroplan miles for telephone, wireless, and Sympatico and ExpressVu services.

 
Japan Airlines Telephone Offers   Japan Airlines has several telephone offers for long distance and international calls. Services in the Japan, the U.S., and British Colombia were included last I looked. Read about them here.

 
All Nippon Airways Telephone Offers   All Nippon Airways lists several telephone offers here.

 
Cathay Pacific's Asia Miles Telephone Offers   Cathay Pacific's Asia Miles program has several telephone offers with companies I have never heard of (so they are probably in Asia).

 
KLM Telephone Offers   KLM Flying Dutchman miles program has long distance offers which depend on the European country in which you reside. For info, go to KLM's home page, choose your country and language, click on Flying Dutchman in the left menu, then on the read more link in the Partners paragraph on the main page, same again in the Finance and Telecom paragraph, then do the obvious.

 
Singapore Airlines and SingTel   SingTel offers Singapore Airline miles for using its services.

 
Czech Airlines Telecommunications Offers   To find Czech Airlines Telecommunications offers, click here, then click on "OK PLus partners" in the left menu, then on "Telecommunication" in the left menu.

 
Phone Hog and free calls   So you signed up with a major carrier and find that the fees for use of the service are high. Well, you can earn free phone calls from Phone Hog by accepting a few emails per month and clicking on those that offer free units for reading an ad. Many other offers for free units are offered on Phone Hog's web site. Units may be used for domestic or international calls originating in the U.S. One unit equals one minute domestically, less internationally. My Phone Hog units seem to be always just enough to make the few international calls I need to make for reservations I can't make on line or by email.

You can earn up to 4 free units per dollar spent at the Phone Hog Shopping Mall. Lots of familiar vendors, including GiftCertificates.com at 1 unit per $2 spent

You can convert Phone Hog units to Aeroplan, Alaska, America West, Asia Miles, Midwest, orUS Airways miles, or Priority Club points, via points.com. At the ratios offered, the units are worth more than the miles, but only if you can use them for phone calls. If you have more units that you can possibly use, converting them to miles may be a useful option.

By signing up through this link, you give me some free minutes, too, at no cost to you. Thanks.

 
 

Cell Phone and Wireless Offers - Domestic

Caution: You may be able to find lower rates for the same phone services offered below, so low in fact that the miles are not worth the extra money.

Here is an excellent article from the San Francisco Chronicle on buying a cell phone. Worth a read before you accept any of the offers below.

HowardForums is an amazing forum for people as obsessed with Cell Phones as I am with miles.

Tower location and coverage reported by users (by zip code) can be found at the very useful website www.cellreception.com

 

MetroPCS

MetroPCS, Inc.

  I don't own a cell phone, so I know very little about cell phone plans. But those I have looked at seem very expensive, require contracts, and either sell you minutes you will never use or charge exorbitant fees for excess use of minutes. MetroPCSprices its services refreshingly differently.
"Our cellular plans from MetroPCS offers talk-all-you-want service in five basic cellular plans priced at $30, $35, $40, $45 or $50 - options and services vary depending on the level of service you choose. MetroPCS has more than 3 million subscribers and offers customers flat rate cellular plans with unlimited minutes, no signed contracts, no activation fees and your first month of service FREE!"
As of April 27, 2008, coverage was available in many areas of California, Florida, Michigan, Texas, Georgia, and Las Vegas. Coverage is expanding as this type of plan becomes popular.

I offer a link to MetroPCS for comparison to mileage earning plans. You may find that the miles turn out to be too expensive compared to the cost of MetroPCS service.

Cautions:

  • Apparently you must purchase a new phone from MetroPCS in order to use its services.
  • I do not know if that new phone can be used on another carrier's system if you decide you are not satisfied with the MetroPCS service. Sounds to me like a familiar complaint about other systems.
  • Be sure to look at the coverage map of any system you choose before you buy.
  • It appears to me that MetroPCS is for people who want to make and receive calls only within MetroPCS service areas. You can not make or receive calls via this system outside of its area. You can roam to MetroPCS service areas outside of your own, but these are quite limited compared to the larger nationwide services.

 
Cricket   Shortly after I posted the MetroPCS information above, a reader wrote
"Metro PCS is the first company that is attempting to compete with Cricket Communicatios who has had unlimited prepaid plans for a dozen years or so in about 40 markets. See http://www.mycricket.com/. For many people especially singles or those with voip services such as ooma, or magicjack the best bet is to have an unlimited local cell phone for $30-$50 per month and a nationwide prepaid phone like stimobile for travel unless you are out of town a lot. You don’t have to tell everyone a bunch of numbers just use call forwarding when you are out of town or a free service like grandcentral to find you."
I took a look at cricket's website. It appears that MetroPCS is not competing with cricket, but instead is doing a similar thing in different markets. For example, MetroPCS covers San Francisco and Los Angeles and much of Florida, while cricket does not. Cricket covers many areas MetroPCS does not.

Cricket has an activation fee. MetroPCS does not, but apparently you must buy your phone from them. Cricket sells phones, some at a lesser price than that of MetroPCS, but it is not clear whether or not you must buy a phone from them. Nor is it clear whether or not cricket requires a contract. MetroPCS doesn not.

I have no information or links to the other services the reader discusses.

When my reader read my comments above, he responded:

"Cricket does not really require you to buy a phone from them. They can activate any verizon phone and any Alltel phone that has been unlocked as well as many other CDMA phones that are unlocked. The bottom line is you can get phones on ebay for about $20 shipped. They have a great product including unlimited high speed internet for your laptop for $40 per month without requiring phone service. Their toll free tech support is as bad as everyone else’s or maybe worse than others toll free support but they have lots of local affiliates that offer customer support. Activating non cricket phones is no problem for people who just talk and use voice mail, but it is often a problem for people using special features like picture messaging and web browsing."

 
Nextel/Sprint and United, Continental, Northwest, Alaska, Hawaiian, and Delta Airlines, and AirTran, and U.S. Airways  

Nextel/Sprint offers up to 5,000 United Airlines miles via the Mileage Plus Wireless Store.

Nextel/Sprint offers up to 5,000 Delta Airlines miles plus 10 miles/$1 spent on accessories via the SkyMiles Wireless Store.

Nextel/Sprint offers up to 5,000 Continental Airlines miles plus 10 miles/$1 spent on accessories via the OnePass Wireless Store.

Nextel/Sprint offers 5,000 Northwest Airlines miles for new or extended contracts plus 10 miles/$1 spent on accessories via the WorldPerks Wireless website.

Nextel/Sprint offers up to 5,000 Alaska Airlines miles for new wireless service or contract extension via the Mileage Plan Wireless Store.

Nextel/Sprint offers 5,000 Hawaiian Airlines miles for new or extended contracts plus 10 miles/$1 spent on accessories via the Hawaiian Airlines Wireless website.

Nextel/Sprint offers 3,500 U.S. Airways miles plus 5 miles/$1 spent on accessories via the Dividend Miles Wireless website.

Nextel/Sprint offers 3 AirTran A+ Rewards Credits for activating a new phone or extending your contract via the A+ Rewards Wireless Store website.

Caution. Consider this note from a reader:

"I called one of the Nextel numbers in your list, rather than the Northwest number. I wanted the cheapest phone and the cheapest plan. The plan that Nextel offered to me was $4 a month cheaper than the cheapest Nextel plan via the Northwest site. If I had taken the extra 1000 miles it would have cost me an additional $48 a year."

 
Wireless from AT&T

AT&T and United, Delta, Northwest, Alaska, Hawaiian, and Continental Airlines, and AirTran, and U.S. Airways

 

For comparison purposes to see if AT&T is charging extra for the miles you get, click on the banner to the left to go directly to the AT&T Wireless Store

AT&T offers up to 5,000 Continental Airlines miles plus 10 miles/$1 spent on accessories via the OnePass Wireless Store.

AT&T offers up to 5,000 Delta Airlines miles plus 10 miles/$1 spent on accessories via the SkyMiles Wireless Store.

AT&T offers 5,000 Northwest Airlines miles for new or extended contracts plus 10 miles/$1 spent on accessories via the WorldPerks Wireless website.

AT&T offers up to 5,000 Delta Airlines miles plus 10 miles/$1 spent on accessories via the SkyMiles Wireless Store. It offers up to 5,000 miles for renewal of your AT&T contract.

AT&T offers up to 5,000 Alaska Airlines miles for new wireless service or contract extension via the Mileage Plan Wireless Store.

AT&T offers 5,000 Hawaiian Airlines miles for new or extended contracts plus 10 miles/$1 spent on accessories via the Hawaiian Airlines Wireless website.

AT&T offers 3,500 U.S. Airways miles plus 5 miles/$1 spent on accessories via the Dividend Miles Wireless website.

AT&T offers 3 AirTran A+ Rewards Credits for activating a new phone or extending your contract via the A+ Rewards Wireless Store website.

 
T-Mobile and American, United, Delta, Continental, Northwest, Hawaiian, Alaska, and KLM Airlines, AirTran, and U.S. Airways, and Priority Club   T-Mobile offers both cell phone and Internet Access (Hot Spot) services, so I list its offers on both this page and my Internet Access page.

  • American Airlines Offer:
    • 14,000 AAdvantage miles with activation of a new FamilyTime® Plan and a one-year service agreement.
    • 7,000 AAdvantage miles with activation of a new individual plan and a one-year service agreement.

    Read the terms and conditions. Note that the signup pages for this offer does not mention the miles bonus. I suggest you call (877) 896-8805 instead.

  • Up to 5,000 Northwest Airlines miles for new contracts plus 10 miles/$1 spent on accessories via the WorldPerks Wireless website.

    Up to 5,000 Continental Airlines miles plus 10 miles/$1 spent on accessories via the OnePass Wireless Store.

  • Up to 5,000 United Airlines miles via the Mileage Plus Wireless Store.

  • Up to 10,000 Delta Airlines miles via T-Mobile directly. Subscribe to an Unlimited National Annual or Month to Month subscription plan and earn up to 10,000 miles over your first year of service by earning 500 miles per month of paid service and 2,000 bonus miles for every six months of paid service.

  • Up to 5,000 Delta Airlines miles plus 10 miles/$1 spent on accessories via the SkyMiles Wireless Store.

    5,000 Alaska Airlines miles for new wireless service via the Mileage Plan Wireless Store.

  • 5,000 Hawaiian Airlines miles for new contracts plus 10 miles/$1 spent on accessories via the Hawaiian Airlines Wireless website.

  • 3,500 U.S. Airways miles plus 5 miles/$1 spent on accessories via the Dividend Miles Wireless website.

  • 3 AirTran A+ Rewards Credits for activating a new phone via the A+ Rewards Wireless Store website.

  • Priority Club offer:

    • 20,000 points with activation of any new T-Mobile FamilyTime plan.
    • 10,000 points with activation of any new single line of service.

    You may read about Priority Club in the Points to Miles section of my Other Programs I Like page.

  • KLM offers 7 Flying Blue Miles per minute when you are traveling abroad and making mobile phone calls on the T-Mobile network in the UK, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands and the Mobistar network in Belgium.

 
Verizon and United, Northwest, Delta, Continental, Alaska, and Hawaiian Airlines, AirTran, and U.S. Airways, and Greenpoints   Verizon offers up to 5,000 Northwest Airlines miles for new contracts plus 10 miles/$1 spent on accessories via the WorldPerks Wireless website.

Verizon offers up to 5,000 United Airlines miles via the Mileage Plus Wireless Store.

Verizon offers Up to 5,000 Delta Airlines miles plus 10 miles/$1 spent on accessories via the SkyMiles Wireless Store.

Verizon offers 3,500 U.S. Aiways miles plus 5 miles/$1 spent on accessories via the Dividend Miles Wireless website.

Verizon offers up to 5,000 Continental Airlines miles plus 10 miles/$1 spent on accessories via the OnePass Wireless Store.

Verizon offers 5,000 Alaska Airlines miles for new wireless service or contract extension via the Mileage Plan Wireless Store.

Verizon offers 3 AirTran A+ Rewards Credits for activating a new phone via the A+ Rewards Wireless Store website.

Verizon offers 20,000 Greenpoints for using its services. You may read about the S&H Greenpoints program in the Points to Miles section of my Other Programs I Like page.

 
Alltel Wireless and United Airlines  

Alltel Wireless offers up to 5,000 United Airlines miles via the Mileage Plus Wireless Store.

 
U.S. Cellular and United Airlines  

U.S. Cellular offers up to 5,000 United Airlines miles via the Mileage Plus Wireless Store.

 
Qwest and Frontier Airlines   Qwest offers 5,000 Frontier Airlines miles for signing up for its wireless service, plus bonus miles for signing up for more than one Qwest product.

 
GCI and Alaska Airlines for Alaskans   For residents of Alaska GCI has several offers for local, long distance, and cellular telephone service, and internet access, and cable TV, all of which produce Alaska Airlines miles. Read about them here. Click on "Product Details" to see the miles offers. They have a combination offer that offers 10,000 miles.

 
Metrocall and Continental Airlines   Metrocall offers 1,000 Continental Airlines miles for signing up with its Advanced 2Way Messaging and Wireless E-mail system and remaining with it for 30 days, and another 500 miles for remaining with it for six months. Or call (877) 295-0474.

 
BlackBerry and American, United, Delta, Continental, Northwest, and Air Canada Airlines  

Earthlink offers 10,000 American, Delta or Northwest Airlines miles purchase of EarthLink Wireless with BlackBerry. I know nothing about the contract you would have to sign.

  • For the American Airlines: Click here, or call (888) 534-7090 and mention promo code 1019068.
  • For the Northwest Airlines offer, click here or here.

I believe that AT&T's Data plans involve Blackberry, but ask to be sure. They offer 5,000 to 10,000 Continental Airlines miles for service.

If I understand RIM 7290 correctly, you can get up to 5,000 United Airlines miles for Blackberry service via United's Mileage Plus Wireless Store. The regular offers are burried within each provider's page. Try this link for special offers.

Bell (Canada) offers Air Canada Aeroplan miles for certain cell phone and cell phone + Blackberry plans.

 
MyPoints Wireless Store   MyPoints will offers 2,000 points for various cellular services. You may read about the MyPoints program on my Click for Miles, Money, and Good Causes page.

 
Primus Wireless and Air Miles   Canadian readers may click here to read about the standard mileage offers of Primus. Last I looked they were offering Air Miles for telephone, wireless, and internet services.

 
Bell (Canada) and Air Canada's Aeroplan   Bell (Canada) offers Air Canada Aeroplan miles for certain cell phone and cell phone + Blackberry plans.

 
Lufthansa Lufthansa has several wireless offers which earn Lufthansa miles.

 
 

Cell Phone Rental and Roaming for International Travel

Two good articles on this subject:

 
American Airlines - PlanetFone Free Telephone Offer   Holders of the Citi Platinum Select American Airlines AAdvantage World MasterCard are offered a rent free international cellular phone from PlanetFone for one month for travel outside of the U.S. except in Japan or Korea. Other charges apply, including charges for use and a $20 return fee. Read the terms and conditions thoroughly, and be very certain that you are aware of the calling rates and all of the fees that you will pay. I have no experience with this, but the calling rates seem very high to me. I am sure I would be able to do better with a local phone card purchased in the country I am visiting. But if you just have to have that constant cell phone connection (you probably aren't on vacation).

You may read about the credit card on the Annual Fee Cards page in my Credit Card section.

 
Marriott Rewards Cell Phone Rental   Marriott Rewards has cell phone rental offers for people who travel in the UK, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands, Belgium, and Indonesia. Details here.

 
TravelSim and many airlines and points programs   TravelSim offers 1 mile or point/per minute you are calling or receiving a call using its TravelSim card on your cell phone. Miles or points are offered for Hilton HHonors, Marriott Rewards, Air France/KLM, Thai Air, Brussels Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Qatar Airways, Royal Brunei, TAP, and Ukraine International Airlines. (Thanks to View from the Wing for this information.)

 
Japan Airlines Cell Phone Rental   Japan Airlines has a cell phone rental service for people who travel to and from Japan. Details here.

 
Asiana Airlines Cell Phone Rental   Asiana Airlines has a cell phone rental service for people who travel to Korea. Details here.

 
Sim Airways Sim card (cellular line) and American Airlines   Sim Airways offers American Airlines miles for purchase and use of its Sim card (cellular line) for cell phone connections in 60 countries. They advertise "only" 39 cents/minute call back to the U.S. Wow! You can usually do the same from a public phone with a local phone card for considerably less than 5 cents/minute. Best deals tend to be in or near train stations.

 
KLM, Air France, and Hilton and cell phone services   When you are traveling abroad and making mobile phone calls on the T-Mobile network in the UK, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands, the Mobistar network in Belgium and the Indosat network in Indonesia,
  • Air France and KLM offer 7 Flying Blue Miles/minute. Register, then switch your phone.
  • Hilton offers 10 Hilton HHonors bonus points per minute. Register, then switch your phone.

 
SN Brussels Airline and cell phone services   SN Brussels Airline offers 7 miles per minute when you are traveling abroad and making mobile phone calls on the T-Mobile network in the UK, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands, the Wind network in Italy, the Mobistar network in Belgium and the Turkcell network in Turkey. In Asia: the True Move network in Thailand, the Indosat network in Indonesia and the Mobilink network in Pakistan. In Africa: the MobiNil network in Egypt and the Djezzy network in Algeria. Follow the directions on the offer. Register, then switch your phone.

 
Cellhire and Air France   Cellhire offers 2,000 Air France miles for the first use of one of its rental phones plus 1 Mile per €1 invoiced in calls. The offer is described on Air France's U.S. website. Hover over Frequent Flyers, then Frequency Plus, then click on Earn Miles. Then click on Other Partners, and scroll down to the Cellhire offer.

 
GSM Wireless Phone service and British Airways   One of the British Airways miles earning services of GSM Wireless Phone Service described above is rental of cell phones for travelers.

 
 

Calling Cards, Charge and Prepaid

Here are some calling cards that earn miles. However, you might find better deals in my paragraph on non-mileage producing calling cards above. Also, read this article on phone cards and this article by Ed Perkins on calling cards for calling from outside the U.S. to the U.S.

 
1-800-Prepaid and many airlines   1-800-Prepaid offers miles on many airlines for buying their prepaid telephone cards. Rates seem to vary between 10 and 33 cents a minute, depending on the airline you choose. (Expensive.) Click on the airline to see the rate. Note that there is an exorbitant extra fee to deliver the card to you.

 
Global One and many airlines   Global OneClassic members will receive a welcome bonus of up to 3,000 miles from Mexicana Airlines when they activate their card, depending on how much they spend. Frecuenta Gold or Silver Status Members will receive a welcome bonus of up to 4,000 miles when they activate their card, depending on how much they spend. Both will receive 5 miles for every dollar spent. Info here.

Global One and Grupo Taca have an arrangement by which you can earn miles for the latter using the former's calling card. The only information I have on this is what I found on Grupo Taca's web site. I have found no link or information on how to sign up for the offer.

Global One offers miles on many other non-U.S. airlines for buying their prepaid telephone cards.

 
Air New Zealand Calling Card   Air New Zealand has a calling card for residents of New Zealand for calling home from almost anywhere in the world. It earns 5 Airpoints for every dollar spent, as long as you make a minimum of $25 of calls in a statement month. (Presumably that's NZ$.)

 
Other Calling Card Offers?   Please let me know of any other prepaid calling card offers that provide miles. Thanks.

 
 

Teleconferencing

You can save travel expenses by teleconferencing instead, and at the same time earn miles for use when you really do have to meet face to face.

 
Bigfoot Conference Call and American, Delta, and Northwest Airlines   Bigfoot Conference Call offers 1 American, Delta, or Northwest Airlines mile/$1 spent on its teleconferencing services.

 
AccuTalk.net and American Airlines   AccuTalk.net offers 1 American Airlines mile/$1 spent on its teleconferencing services.

 
ConferenceCall.com and American and United Airlines   ConferenceCall.com offers a points program, where points are convertible to American and United Airlines miles and other goodies.

 
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