Why Twitter is Important in the Miles and Points Game

Last year, Travel Summary wrote a two part article on why Twitter Matters in the Points Game. While his article is not outdated, I wanted to bring my own perspective on why Twitter is important in the miles and points game. If you don’t have a Twitter account, you should sign up for one before reading any further. If you aren’t following me on Twitter, you should because that is actually the best method of contacting me. Follow me on Twitter.

So why use Twitter?

Hotels & Airlines

Hotels and Airlines are constantly using social media to enhance their brands. You can actually have a conversation with a real person via Twitter if you need to reach out to American Airlines or Starwood Preferred Guest. Gone are the days of reaching for your phone and waiting on hold for a long time to speak to someone. Social Media is the new game in town and it’s changing the way we communicate with brands.

If I have a problem with a Starwood hotel, I usually tweet @spg, which is the official Twitter account of Starwood Preferred Guest. I almost get a response within 10 minutes via Twitter. They can help you with upcoming stays, missing stay credit, problems with the hotel, and everything pertaining to Starwood.

If I have a problem with American Airlines, I usually tweet @AmericanAir, which is the official Twitter account of American Airlines. I almost get a response within 5 minutes via Twitter. They can help you with any questions you may have about your flight and everything pertaining to American Airlines.

In May, the American Airlines Social Media Team Sent 5 Personalized Vine Videos to Frequent Flyers to show their appreciation to their best Social Media advocates. Vine is video social media platform.

Contests

Most contests these days are conducted via Twitter and your chances of winning are pretty high since not a lot of people are catching onto Twitter. You can find contests on most travel blogs and they usually involve you following a specific Twitter handle and using a contest specific hashtag. A more recent ongoing contest involves two $100 Marriott Gift Card giveaways from The Miles Professor.

Friendship

You can gain a lot of new friends in the Frequent Flyer game simply by following people on Twitter. Here is a list of active Twitter handles to follow in the travel hacking/blogging community:

@jamucsb (I always respond to every tweet)
@TheMrPickles (Joshua)
@PointsToPointB (Amol)
@TravelSummary (Omar)
@HackMyTrip (Scott)
@OneMileataTime (Ben)
@thepointsguy (Brian)
@garyleff (Gary)
@WanderngAramean (Seth)
@canadiankms (Jeff)
@wanderingshane (Shane)
@foofiter (Bobby)
@FrequentlyFlyin (Darren)
@FrequentFlyerU (Parag)
@FlyerTalkerinA2 (George)
@TheFlightDeal (anonymous crew)

Free Travel Advice

Once you form friendships on Twitter, you can ask for free travel advice with a simple tweet. You might even score some free award booking advice!

Secrets

Last week, news of the Home Improvement Gift Card (HIGC) first broke out on Twitter with a tweet from @Points2Paradise.

As you can see from the date, it was first revealed on July 29th.

I wrote about The Pitfalls and Dangers of the Home Improvement Gift Card (HIGC) before the dead was deal on the morning of August 1st.

Travel Summary wrote about The Aftermath of the Home Improvement Gift Card Deal.

Conclusion

The point is that when you follow the right people on Twitter, you can get the secrets before it leaks out on the big blogs. Twitter is always buzzing with frequent flyer tweets since this game is very addictive.