I spent another day in Germany at the office. That night it was back to the airport to fly to London.

I’ve always been a proponent of signing up for any free promotions that are out there as you neve rknow when they will come in handy.

This happened during my trip to Thailand in March. BMI (British Midland) gave a 9000 BMI mile sign up bonus for joining their frequent flyer program. I will more than likely never fly on the airline but signed up anyways.

During our Thailand trip planning, I discovered that BMI is a partner of Star Alliance. I was able to use these BMI miles for a one wait ticket from Bangkok to Phuket.

This came into play on myst last trip. Back in August, Virgin Airlines was offering free Silver status. I signed up with them to get the status. In the packet, there were two free first class upgrade on the Heathrow and Gatwick Express trains.

We landed in London and went to purchase our tickets for the Heathrow airport express train. I was able to use these free tickets to get upgraded to first class. While it certainly isn’t as sexy as first class on an airplane, it was free.

As we were coming into London, the Smith song “Panic” was running through my head.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AlH2oYedfk&hl=en_US&fs=1&]