Cheap Tickets & Frequent Flyer Miles

Wired magazine online has some good tips on accumulating miles and upgrading to first class and the like:

Five Steps to a Successful Mileage Run

Booking long, inexpensive flights can help you run up the maximum miles. Here's how:

1. Use the interactive maps at Travelocity or FareCompare to find a cheap round-trip flight from your home city.

2. Locate full fare and routing rules for the flight. Many sites offer only a truncated version, but Priceline lists the complete rules.

3. Study restrictions that apply to the flight you've chosen, paying special attention to the routing rules, which dictate how many connections you can make and in which cities.

4. Use ITA's Trip Planner software to build specific itineraries that meet the fare and routing rules.

5. Once Trip Planner has located a trip that meets your criteria, attempt to book it on the appropriate airline's website, or on Orbitz, which is powered by ITA's software. If this fails, contact the airline by phone to book the itinerary, being sure to give the agent the fare and booking codes provided by ITA.