Navigation

How to Get the Most Out of Your Frequent Flyer Miles When Traveling

News

Frequent flier miles sound great in principle--travel with acertain airline and earn points that you can cash in later, oruse a certain credit card to earn points without even traveling.What could be better than free airline ticket? Airlines,unfortunately, aren't so keen on your sudden desire to fly forfree. Their goal is to sell seats not give them away, no matterhow much they try to entice you into earning frequent fliermiles. By being aware of some simple tricks of the trade, youcan not only increase the amount of flight points you earn butalso stretch them as far as possible. First, earn the maximum amount of points every time you fly bychoosing a specific program and following all of their rules andregulations. Be aware of their promotions and partner companies.You could earn miles by buying flowers at a specific florist orstaying at a particular hotel. Keep updated by reading theirwebsites and newsletters for promotions. Certain techniques canalso earn you more miles. Fore example, see if you can earnextra miles for business trips by paying for the flight withyour own credit card and having your boss reimburse you. Or ifyour spouse flies less than you, he or she can use a freefrequent-flier mile ticket while the paid ticket goes on youraccount, earning you more points faster. While you are activelyearning miles, stay organized. Save receipts, and watch out forerrors in your statements. Know how many miles you have and howmany you need to qualify for free trips or other perks that comealong with a certain status as a frequent flier. Finally, don'twaste your miles on cheap flights or by cashing them in on otherpurchases, such as magazine subscriptions or club memberships. As wonderful as a promotion may seem, frequent flier miles are,essentially, cash, and you can bet that an airline wants to saveitself money by having you spend your cash on something otherthan an airline ticket. Do you figure that you'll never fly frequently enough to earnenough miles to be useful? You can actually earn points withouteven flying by using a credit card that offers frequent fliermiles based on the amount you charge every


travel,,Flights,,vacation package

month. While thesecredit cards sounds like great deals, getting the most out ofthem can be tricky. Many cards that offer miles also come with ahefty annual fee, so be sure that the cards are worth the feesbefore you use them. For example, if a card charges fiftydollars annually, and it takes you four years to earn enoughmiles to purchase a ticket worth less than two hundred dollars,then your investment in the card did not save you any money. Ifyou believe that you can receive worthwhile savings with amileage credit card, then charge as much as you can--groceries,dinners, even monthly bills--but pay off your bill every monthor you'll be losing money on the interest charged. If you go toa restaurant with friends or family, have them pay you for theirmeal in cash and charge the bill on your credit card. Somerestaurants will give you extra mileage when you pay with aspecific mileage earning credit card, and some credit cards willgive you extra mileage when you charge groceries and otheritems. Take advantage of these deals by checking your creditcard's mailings, email newsletters, and website. Finally, you've spent years earning thousands of frequent fliermiles on everything from your credit cards to your businesstrips out of town, and now your ready to cash them in and livethe high life. The first way to get the best flight with thenicest upgrades or advantages possible from your frequent fliermiles is by purchasing tickets as early as possible--as much asa year in advance. Also, try and schedule your flight for themiddle of the week--Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday--rather thanon Saturday or Sunday when more people are flying, and try tobook midday flights, which are less popular than morning orearly evening. Finally, call the airline rather than use theinternet to book your flight. All of these methods are morelikely to lead to you receiving the awards and deals that youwant to get from your hard-earned frequent fliers. About the author: Gregg Hall is a business consultant and author for many onlineand offline businesses and lives in Navarre Florida with his 16year old son. Get a great selection of luggage at

Written by: Gregg Hall

XML error: mismatched tag at line 20