If you travel by plane, you've probably thought about getting a frequent flyer card so you can earn miles for free travel. Or, you may already have an assortment of frequent flyer cards riding around in your wallet. So, this article will give you all detailed information about frequent flyer programs.
What are frequent flyer programs?
The frequent flyer program is an incentive program operated by an airline to reward customers for their continued loyalty. As a traveler, you earn free miles for the miles that you fly on a particular airline. The concept behind frequent flyer programs is that the airlines want their passengers to become lifetime customers. It is much more costly for the airlines to get new customers than it is to retain the ones they already have. So how do they reward you? The more frequently you fly with them, the greater your awards. For example, you can redeem free flights Hanoi from USA. It sounds really amazing, isn’t it?
How to get the most frequent flyer miles?
To get the most frequent flyer miles possible, you should always consider:
- Be flexible with airports: Particularly, consider departing from and returning to different airports!
- Don't travel during the holidays: Fly on slow travel days. The sooner you book, the better.
- Pick Layover flights: Consider connections in addition to non-stop flights.
- Fly with partners: Most airlines allow redemptions on their partners, too, even if they don't expose this feature on their website.
- Use one carrier: Try and stick to a single carrier.
- Use credit card: If you can be responsible with your credit card, their reward programs can be a great way to rack up the miles.
How to redeem frequent flyer miles?
You've done the hard part: You've racked up thousands of frequent flyer miles through trips, airline malls, and your airline miles credit card. Now you've got to figure out the best way to use your miles.
Get the best possible value for your miles
There are quirks in the miles/points redemption process. The actual monetary value is typically 2 cents per frequent flyer mile (reportedly the airline industry average). For example, if you want to redeem 25,000 miles for a free ticket, the number of miles multiplied by 2 cents per mile is $500. As some industry researchers have noted, it may be smarter to save your miles and purchase lower cost flights.
Additionally, you don't always have to use your miles for additional travel. You can use miles and points to purchase other goods and services with certain merchants.
Hidden costs you might encounter when redeeming miles.
Keep in mind that you'll likely have to pay fees when you cash in your frequent flyer miles. Airlines require you to pay taxes for your flight, which could range from $5 to $50 domestically and up to $600 internationally, and many also impose a fuel surcharge. On flights Hanoi from Washington, the fuel surcharge alone could eat up a lot amount of your money.
It's best to redeem your miles through the airline's mileage program website rather than over the phone, because most airlines will charge a fee if an operator assists you. However, the call center might be able to find you a seat that's not available online.
Don’t waste your miles
Most frequent flyer miles are wasted. Stop mileage waste! Don’t let good miles die! In almost every major airline program, miles only expire when there has been no use in the account for a year or more. Activity doesn't mean you have to redeem miles, however. It doesn’t take much to keep your accounts active—in some cases all you need to do is complete a survey, join an email list, or transfer 100 miles in or out of the account to reset the clock.
Miles are also wasted for low-value redemptions. Save your frequent flyer miles for high-value, international, first-class travel!
Get a seat out of your miles
The airlines have a notorious reputation for blackout dates and limited seat availability for frequent flyer customers. So, snagging the seat you want might be. But for all those who think it’s impossible to book award flights, there are plenty who disagree. In fact, one study comparing award availability on different airlines found that it has actually gotten a little easier to find seats in recent years.
Wait for last-minute tickets
While many frequent fliers score seats by booking a year in advance, airlines don’t release all award seats that early, which means you may have better luck with a last-minute trip.
Book a free stopover
One benefit of award travel is the opportunity to book a free stopover. Airlines allow you to book a free stopover abroad, meaning you could book flights Hanoi from New York and spend a few days in Bangkok.
Accept a less than ideal itinerary
Take what you can get with your miles. It can be worth accepting an award ticket to a city near your destination. For example, you can get award as flights from New York to Bangkok, then book flights Hanoi from here.
Check partner availability
Most frequent flier programs let you use miles earned on one airline to book award tickets on partner carriers.
Racking up frequent flyer miles is hard, but knowing how to use them is a lot harder. Hopefully, this article will help you get the most out of those frequent flyer programs out there.
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