Managing Your Miles
By Amy Ziff, Editor-at-Large
April 7, 2004
I've come across a mile shark or two in my day. You know the type: They finagle their way into upgrades and VIP accommodations without breaking a sweat--or the bank. Frequent flyer miles are their holy grail. They may pay their mortgages using a credit card, or even cross an ocean on a whim, just to preserve their elite status.
Mile sharks will do whatever it takes–even hit the black market for the miles they crave. They are different from us in many ways, not the least of which is they seem to have more time on their hands. The question is: what can we do to live more like a shark, without giving up our actual lives?
Many of us may consider ourselves loyal, but in reality we like to spread our love around. This approach may be fun, but keeping track of all your relationships can be confusing and exhausting. But enough about our love lives, let’s talk about miles.
I bet a lot of you don’t even know how far you are from a free flight, because you don't know how many miles it takes to earn one. That’s about to change: On average, it takes between 50,000-65,000 for a round-trip international ticket, approximately 30,000 from the continental U.S. to the Caribbean or Mexico, and approximately 25,000-30,000 miles for domestic flights.
Having done a bit of digging, I can say that one of the problems people run into is trying to be a jack of all programs but a master of none. Unless you're an extremely frequent traveler, it probably makes sense to select only one or two programs in which to participate. Whether you want to join a large network airline or a low-fare carrier with fewer flight options (or maybe one of each) will depend on the kind of traveler you are, which airport you most often fly out of, and what destinations you travel to.
As with so many things in life, simplification is key. My advice is to do a little spring-cleaning. Assess your current accounts and request a status report from each of them.
Look at where and how you traveled during the past year. Do you expect to take the same basic number of flights in the coming year? Many loyalty programs require a minimum amount of activity each year to remain active in the program. So if you want to continue in the program, expect to fulfill at least the minimal participation obligations.
You'll want to take into account the differences between the major carrier and low-fare airline programs. Once you've settled on a program, be sure to read the fine print and understand all the airline rules. These occasionally change, so you will want to brush up on the rules to make sure you don't lose any mileage opportunities.
Always make sure you get the credits you deserve at the time of purchase. If you aren't sure, you can ask while at the airport (you may do this on any leg of your journey, even as you're leaving the airport, to make sure you get credit). It's also prudent to retain your travel documents to settle any possible discrepancies.
If while organizing your miles, you find you may be nearing mile expiration, ask about life-prolonging options for your miles, or even ways to get the extra miles you need to earn a free flight. (Depending on the carrier, purchasing miles can be an option. Generally 1,000 miles start at $25.)
Flying isn't the only way to score miles. Often you can get them through other means, such as credit cards, restaurant programs, special promotions, or friend referrals.
Still feeling lost? Consider using a mile-tracking program, like mileagemanager.com, which is essentially a tool that will prompt you to use your miles so you don't lose them. Nothing comes free, but this is affordable at $14.95 per year, and it will send you auto-prompts so you don't lose your beloved miles.
In the end, you too can swim with the sharks and survive. Even if you fly just once or twice a year, it still pays to be part of a program.
For more travel tips and advice, check out Amy Ziff's blog, The Window Seat, or her monthly column, Travel Trends & Advice from A to Z. To suggest a topic for a future column or to tell about a travel experience of your own, please email Amy Ziff at ask.amy@travelocity.com.
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