Frequent-flyer Miles with Your Mortgage? They Might be an Option

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" We offer miles on Delta, Alaska, Frontier, and the most favorite one of all – Hawaiian Airlines," says Anthony Hsieh, founder and CEO of HomeLoanCenter.com, an Internet lender licensed in all 50 states. Other lenders also offer miles on Continental, Northwest, U.S. Airways and others.

If you go on the Internet to http://www.awardsformortgageandrealestate.com, you’ll see Washington Mutual, Wachovia, CitiMortgage, and Chase Home Finance outlining their arrangements with United, Delta, Continental, Alaska, U.S. Airways, and America West Airlines. The page is linked to each airline’s own requirements and offers. If you don’t want the airline miles, you can choose to get credits for free rooms at Hilton hotels or money from the Upromise college-savings program < http://www.upromise.com/>.

All of these lenders say you can earn points when you buy, sell, finance or refinance your home, and you can earn additional miles or points for van line moving services. It is possible to work with a leading participating real estate agent and watch your miles or points really add up. The website gives an example of how financing a $250,000 loan while meeting all the right conditions and using the " right" real estate agent, lender and moving company could generate 226,000 frequent-flyer miles.

Hsieh says his company, based in Irvine, California, has been offering frequent-flyer miles for more than a year. As interest rates inch up, lenders are competing even more aggressively for business. As many experts point out, when rates go up there are fewer people out there shopping for loans and even fewer looking to refinance. The market is also going through a consolidation, Hsieh adds, " and any time the market consolidates the lenders pull out every trick in the book--from toasters to weekend vacations. We do what we need to do in order to get consumer attention."

The number of miles you can earn for a loan depends upon the lender with whom you are dealing and the size of the loan. As a rule, you can earn anywhere from 1,000 to 1,400 frequent-flyer miles for every $10,000 borrowed or refinanced. But not all lenders will tell you that you can earn miles with a loan. You often have to ask for them. Make sure you understand exactly what the lender is offering, and that it is spelled out in your agreement before you sign anything. Remember, a mortgage is a contract. If something is not spelled out in the contract, it is not part of the contract. If it is not part of the contract, the lender is not required to give it to you. You might want to do some independent checking to find out what the lender with whom you are dealing offers, and the Internet is a great place to do that.

Hsieh says there are differences between the various programs lenders offer. " Consumers still have to make an intelligent decision on product value. They should not get a product just because there is an incentive involved. They need to show some due diligence and look for the best product at the best price. If the best product also offers round-trip airfare somewhere, that’s even better." He adds that because the industry is so competitive, lenders have accepted the fact that frequent-flyer miles and other incentive programs " are all part of the overhead--part of the cost of doing business. That means that the customer doesn’t really pay any more than he or she would without it. It is a value-added plus for the consumer."

It also is important to understand how long it takes to get the miles, Hsieh adds, and what restrictions the airline might apply to their use. Some airlines might require the miles be used by a certain date. There also might be restrictions about using them during peak travel periods. " Restrictions differ from airline to airline. As a rule, the miles become available between 30 days to 90 days after the loan closes."

Hsieh says the frequent-flyer programs are a win-win-win situation. " All three parties involved benefit. The consumer gets a great loan plus the miles and the free trips. The lender gets the business. The airline gets the customers and has the opportunity to create consumer loyalty. All in all, a frequent-flyer miles offer makes a lot of sense for all three parties."

As anyone who has ever bought a house and gone through the stress of a move knows, what you need most once you have moved in is a vacation. The problem, however, is once you have bought the house and paid for the move—plus all the unexpected but necessary expenses that seem to crop up whenever you move—you might not be able to afford to take a trip. So what could be better, and fairer, than to let your house pay for your trip?