Earning Your Vacation Through Business Trips

Business trips aren't about fun in the sun, but that doesn't mean they can't lead to your dream vacation. It is possible to maximize your travel to get you (and the traveling partner of your choosing) away for little or no cost.

1. Join, join and join. Before every trip, make sure you are a member of the airline's frequent flier program and the hotel's points program. If you aren't, join it. You may think that you'll never revisit that hotel again, but that doesn't mean you can't start building points in that program. A trip to the Waldorf Astoria in New York and another to the Hampton Inn in Tulsa both earn you points in Hilton Honors. And don't forget the car rental companies. All of them have frequent renter clubs.

2. Stick to one or two "families" when possible. Among the Marriott hotels are Courtyard, Fairfield and Renaissance. Delta (now merged with Northwest) is a member of the Sky Team Alliance, which includes Air France and Alaska Airlines, among others. The all-business class airline Open Skies will let you take British Airway miles. Become familiar with hotel and airline groups to keep miles building in one or two programs.

3. Talk to the person in charge. If you don't book your own trips, spend a few minutes with the person who does. Whether it's an in-house travel planner or an outside agency, talk about maximizing your miles and points potential. Many times just letting the person doing the booking now you are interested in condensing will be enough to guide them toward booking your trips accordingly.

4. Always get credit. Never come back from a trip without points for hotels and car rentals, as well as airline miles if you were flying. Follow up as soon as you return from your trip to make sure you've received credit for everything.

5. Check your email. When you sign up for a frequent traveler program be sure to ask to receive their newsletter. There are specials every month for things like double miles or points if you combine a car rental and a hotel, or fly to a certain airport. It may turn out that flying into O'Hare can give you twice the miles as flying into Chicago's Midway on a certain month. That simple change gets you one step closer to a trip of your own.

6. Plan your vacation! It will come quicker than you think. And don't worry about being short a few miles or points. There are many options. Extra miles/points can be purchased from all the companies, or transferred. For example, your spouse may have 10,000 miles from a visit home last Christmas which means you only have to transfer 15,000 more for the free ticket rather than use it all from your account. It is also possible to exchange points and miles between many programs.