Frequent flyer miles - Getting the most from frequent flyer programs

Approximately 67 million Americans -- and nearly all business travelers are enrolled in at least one frequent flyer programs. Americans have accumulated approximately 3.5 trillion miles in their frequent flyer accounts with the help from American airlines frequent flyer program, delta airlines frequent flyer program and united airlines frequent flyer program. They also add approximately 500 billion miles to their programs each year through frequent flyer credit cards. As of 2002, more than 90 of the world's airlines have frequent flyer programs.

Many of those travelers, however, don't know how to earn the most miles for their accounts, or how to get the greatest value from using those miles. Here are the 10 top tips for getting the most out of your frequent flyer mileage programs.

Earning frequent flyer miles

1. Be loyal to one airline. Choose an airline whose route system most closely matches your usual travel. Then, stick with that airline to accumulate the greatest amount of frequent flyer miles in a single account. By flying one airline as much as possible, you can also become an "elite" member of its frequent flyer mile program. At most U.S. carriers, elite privileges -- which include more desirable coach seats on planes, inexpensive upgrades into first class on domestic flights, and bonus mileage award on every trip -- start when you fly 25,000 paid miles in a calendar year on those carriers.

2. Choose the best alliances. Most of the world's airlines have formed frequent flyer alliances with each other. Generally, this means you can accrue mileage in one account by flying that airline's partner carriers. Star Alliance, for example, has 15 carriers, including Air Canada, Lufthansa, Singapore Air and United. Through most alliances, you can also accumulate mileage toward elite status at your primary carrier.

3. Use airline marketing partners to earn mileage. Airlines now use their frequent flyer miles as marketing tools with a wide diversity of nonairline partners: hotels, car rental agencies, restaurants, mortgage companies, grocery stores, even stockbrokers and florists. Approximately one-half of frequent flyer miles are not earned from flights. So, plan your purchases accordingly.

4. Get the right credit cards. If you charge large amounts on business trips, get a co-branded credit card (like Citibank-American AAdvantage, or FirstUSA-United Mileage Plus) that accrues one mile for every dollar you spend. Co-branded credit cards are particularly useful for business travelers whose companies reimburse them for their travel expenses and let them keep the mileage they earned using the credit card.

5. Stay informed. The airlines offer lots of frequent flyer promotions, but you need to know about them to get them. So, check your frequent flyer program newsletters and Web sites. Increasingly, you have to register for the promotion to get whatever bonus is being offered.

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Using flyer mileage

Now that you know how to earn more miles, here's how to "spend" them wisely.

1. Plan ahead. You can't walk up to a ticket counter on any given day and expect to use your frequent flyer miles to get an upgrade or a free ticket. The airlines reserve only a limited number of mileage award seats on each plane based on the number of predicted paying customers for that flight. So, make your plans as far ahead as possible for favorite destinations and times of year, because those seats go fast. On many airlines, you can make reservations up to a year in advance.

2. Be flexible. Sometimes, even planning months in advance won't get you the exact flight you want. Have several scheduling options, not just of different days, but different weeks to travel.

And be flexible about your destination. Planning a Cape Cod summer vacation? Consider flying in and out of Providence, R.I., instead of popular Boston. It is usually easier to get award flights into second-tier airports. Finally, go to your airline's frequent flyer Web site. Some sites list destinations that have high award availability.

Other strategies include settling for connecting flights and off-hour travel, or using an alternate airline that has an alliance relationship with your preferred airline. You can even "buy" your way into a free seat by using extra miles, sometimes double miles, to get any available seat on a flight, not just those set aside by capacity controls. Or you can "spend" more miles for a seat in business or first class, which tend to have greater award availability than coach, particularly on domestic flights.

3. Shop the sales. To fill seats during the off-season or on new routes, airlines often put some destinations on sale, which means you use fewer miles to get a free ticket. So, when you check your frequent flyer newsletter and Web site for special bonus promotions, look for sale-priced awards, too.

4. Don't waste your miles. Don't waste your mileage on any roundtrip flight that costs $300 to $400. Consumer Reports values frequent flyer miles at 2 cents a mile. So, a 25,000-mile domestic roundtrip coach award is worth about $500. Why pay $500 for a $300 to $400 seat? Buy the tickets (and earn miles on the flight) and save your mileage for more expensive trips or unexpected travel later.

If you're a frequent business traveler who has megamiles, a free business- or first-class international ticket is a very good deal. An 80,000-mile international roundtrip business-class award is worth $1,600 at the 2-cent-a-mile rate, while a Chicago-to-London roundtrip business-class ticket lists at more than $6,000 on American, British Air and United.

5. Watch the blackout dates. Frequent flyer seats are subject to blackouts during popular travel times, particularly holidays. But most airlines now offer "anytime" awards, which generally charge twice as many miles as standard awards, but allow travelers to circumvent the blacktout dates, as well as the capacity controls.

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