The recession is affecting everyone’s holiday plans in the UK, causing more people to stay at home rather than take their usual holidays abroad, or city breaks in Europe. This doesn’t have to be the case though, as you can earn free flights and free stays in hotels across the UK, Europe and worldwide by collecting Airmiles.

When you spend money using a Lloyds TSB Airmiles Duo Credit Card account, you’ll be collecting Airmiles and, when you collect Airmiles, you can save up for free flights to many city break destinations. So, Airmiles are a great way to save money on a city break.

For a short trip to Europe, for example to Paris, Rome or Madrid, it wouldn’t take long for you to collect enough Airmiles to exchange for the free flights.

If you’re not an Airmiles Duo account holder, you can still collect Airmiles when you shop at Tesco, by swapping your Tesco Clubcard points for Airmiles, which can be used for free flights. Spending your Clubcard points on free flights is much more enjoyable than getting money off your weekly shopping. Other ways to collect Airmiles include shopping at hundreds of online stores, such as eBay.co.uk and johnlewis.com, via the Airmiles eStore. You can even collect Airmiles while filling up with fuel. If you sign up for a Shell Drivers’ Club card, you can convert your Shell Drivers’ Club points into Airmiles.

With the Lloyds TSB Airmiles Duo Credit Card account, you can collect Airmiles as you shop. And Airmiles can be used for everything from free flights to hotel stays, tickets to West End shows and theme parks, even wine cases.

Airmiles are most commonly used for free flights and, when you collect Airmiles, you can use them to fly all over the world – Europe, Asia, the USA, even Australia.

You get two cards with the account, a MasterCard and an American Express. It’s best to use the Amex when possible, as it rewards you with five more Airmiles than the MasterCard. When you use the Lloyds TSB Airmiles Duo Mastercard, you collect one Airmile for almost every £50 you spend – but with the American Express card you collect one Airmile for almost every £10 spent. So using the Amex gets you closer to those free flights. And there are often special offers, giving free flights when you sign up. And that’s on top of being able to collect Airmiles as you shop.

You can collect Airmiles for free flights by using the credit cards for everyday things like the weekly shop and fuel, and luxuries such as cinema tickets and meals out. But remember to use the Amex instead of the MasterCard to get more free flights.

Source: Airmiles, Free Digital Photos

Flights can be expensive, which is why many people are choosing to holiday in the UK this summer, instead of flying to the Continent or the USA. This doesn’t have to be the case though, as you can earn yourself free flights by saving on loyalty programmes. By doing your weekly shop or filling up your car, you can earn rewards such as free flights anywhere in the world.

So, that week in New York isn’t quite as far away as it first appeared, but just how much money would you save on a pair of free flights to New York?

Let’s say the average price of a pair of flight tickets from London to New York was £700 this summer, depending on where you look. That £700 saved by using loyalty programmes for your tickets could be spent in many other, more ways.

For example, you could buy 291 pints of lager (there’s a sobering thought) or around 700 loaves of bread. You and your partner could visit the cinema together 58 times, that’s more than once a week for a year.

Or, if you wanted to spend the money a little more practically, you could fill up the average family car with fuel 17 times and, if you’re a careful driver, you could insure your car for the next 2 years, getting you much more mileage for your money.

All of this money could be saved by earning rewards when you shop.

Just because the country is in the grip of recession, you don’t have to forgo that summer holiday abroad, or that weekend away in an exciting European city. Flights to other countries can be expensive, depending what time of year you travel and whether the schools are on holiday but, if you’re shrewd, you can take advantage of free flights offers and travel abroad without spending a penny.

The AIRMILES scheme is one such method for collecting points for free flights. You can collect miles whenever you spend money and they can be exchanged when you fly to different destinations. This way, you could get free flights to Europe, Asia or even as far away as America or Australia.

One way you can collect Airmiles for the free flights is when you fill your car up with petrol so, every journey you take. get you that much closer to your dream holiday. Every time you do your weekly shopping, you can be getting closer to your free flights if you collect Airmiles.

You can even earn Airmiles when you use a credit card, so the money you can’t avoid paying doesn’t seem so bad when you consider that every pound you spend is one step closer to free flights and your holiday abroad.

We all love something for free; it’s human nature and part of what makes the world go round, but how can you go round the world for free? Air travel can be very expensive, but there are ways to save money on air travel and gain free flights. Here is a list ways others have scored a free flight:

1. Become a pilot – this one isn’t that easy and can take years to actually achieve, but pilots get to fly the planes, not only for free, but they’re paid to do so. Sadly you can’t choose the destination even if you are the one behind the wheel.
   
2. Smuggle yourself aboard in a suitcase – the flight may be cramped, even more so than flying economy, but the rewards are that you’re flying for free. Best avoid trips to the USA in a suitcase as they may not like the intrusion. Just how far would you go for a free flight?
   
3. Flash a badge and pretend to impound the plane – it worked for Face Man in the A-Team, so maybe it could work for anyone. A little confidence goes a long way in grabbing free flights.
4. Probably the most practical is to save using loyalty programmes – there are many different loyalty programmes that allow you to save for free flights as rewards when you do everyday activities, such as when you buy your shopping, fill up your car or even pay your electricity bill.