How we got a free plane ticket

My wife and I have been big credit card frequent flyer miles fans. While typically we use our Delta amex card for this, things have changed. With our daughter's college being where it is, United is a better choice for us.

So, here's the deal: United Airlines offers a Visa card where you get 25,000 miles for signing up, with the first year free. Continental Airlines offers a Master Card with the same arrangement; 25,000 miles for signing up and the first year free. We got both. Now the sweet part is this: Since United and Continental have merged, they let you share miles between the two separate plans. Tonight I moved the miles from United over to our Continental account and booked our daughter's Christmas trip home. Had to shell out $10 cash, but that was it.

If only the rest of her college costed as much, oh if only!

So yeah, that's your free frequent flyer tip of the day.