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There are two reasons to be aware of Rocketmiles. The first reason is that Rocketmiles allows you to earn miles (in a variety of airline loyalty programmes) when you book your hotel stays through them – this may or may not be more cost-effective than earning hotel points or using an online travel agency that offers cashback or some other reward.

The second reason is that Rocketmiles is occasionally “travel hack-able”. Not so much lately, but a few readers might have multiple Rocketmiles accounts that were only used once…  😉

In any event, there currently appears to be a glitch – or unpromoted promotion – that allows you to pick up 5,000 bonus miles on certain hotel bookings. This travel hack is a bit complicated though…

Step 1 – PointsHound.com

The first step is visiting www.pointshound.com – yes… the website that doesn’t exist any more…

After 10-15 seconds, you will be redirected to Rocketmiles.

Step 2 – Search for a Hotel

Once you have been redirected to Rocketmiles, you can search for a hotel stay. This travel hack appears to be definitely working for:

• Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
• American Airlines AAdvantage
• United Airlines Mileage Plus

It is also working for other loyalty programmes, but seemingly not for the cheapest hotels.

IF you want to earn Avios, your choices would be:

• Qatar Airways Privilege Club  (combine your Avios later)
• Heathrow Rewards (you can convert Heathrow points to Avios on a 1:1 basis)

If you see this banner, you are on the right track…

Step 3 – Choose Your Hotel

Clearly it is preferable to book a hotel you actually want to stay at…

But you can also book some ridiculously cheap hotels and still earn 5,000 bonus miles…

I didn’t want to spend all day looking for a hotel I actually would stay at, so instead I booked a prepaid, non-refundable rate at the cheapest hotel – one that offered a 5,000 mile bonus – I could find.

In my experience, it doesn’t matter if I show up to the hotel or not – I will still receive my AAdvantage miles from Rocketmiles (as long as I prepay).

Bottom Line

If you are in the market for some really cheap American Airlines Loyalty Points – click here to be reminded why – then you might want to look for the cheapest hotel you can find.

Alternatively, you can pick up an extra 5,000 Avios by booking certain hotels and choosing to earn Heathrow Rewards.

Just don’t forget to visit PointsHound first…