Zack and Christine had taken incredible care over the previous 2 and a half years to organize their around -the-world trip, living their lives via frequent flier mile incentives. While their story is a tad excessive, there are a million lessons that we can take from their planning. In a nutshell, the secret is to funnel every possible accrual opportunity -- flights, hotels, rental cars, credit cards, even online shopping -- into one mileage account. You probably earn more miles than you realize. Here's how to get focused.
1. Fly consistently with the same airline group
It's not hard to figure out that frequent flyer programs were originally created to increase brand loyalty among consumers. In the deregulated US market, the quantity of carriers leaves you with a lot of choice; frequent flier miles are an attempt by individual airlines to keep you from chasing the cheapest fare. So, consistent with the point of the programs, if you fly on the same airline consistently you will be rewarded with mileage accrual.
But who does that? In an age of kayak.com and ever more dramatic specials, frequent flier miles are a paltry incentive to blindly stay with one airline.
So, instead, widen your stance. Typically, airlines are members of a codeshare group that use each other's miles through the complex rules of a cooperative programs. Though it's rarely advertised clearly, customers typically have a choice when they book flights to assign miles to other airlines within the group. This is best explained with an example.
I live in Manhattan and prefer, whenever possible, to fly with Continental. As Newark Airport (EWR) is one of their hubs, I find that they have a competitive price about half of the time that I'm looking to fly somewhere. However, when I find Continental to be expensive I'm often overwhelmed by other carriers. Do I fly Delta from JKF? American? Or should I try this new airline, Virigin America?
As it turns out, if frequent flier miles are a concern, my best options are Northwest, Delta, Air France, KLM, or any of the other airlines in Continental's group, The Sky Team Alliance. All I need to do is provide any of these airlines with my Continental Onepass number, usually by telephone after I've bought the ticket, and the miles I ear will be assigned to my Continental account. Now I've got any business I give to ten different airlines all feeding into the same account.The only decision you need to make is to choose a favorite airline group. Living in New York City, Skyteam is the obvious choice as two of its largest airlines -- Continental and Delta -- have hubs in the area. My advice? Choose an airline you like that has a hub close to you. This will increase the chances of flying with them consistently. Also, avoid flying on airlines that have exclusive Frequent Flyer programs. As much as I love Southwest's fares and service, flying on their planes won't help me earn a free ticket to Harare, next year's destination.
2. Choose your credit card wisely
As far as I know, every major airline sponsors a credit card that provides you with miles as you make purchases. That's the upside. The downside is that these cards have annual fees that range from $75 - $100 US. Considering that 25,000 frequent flyer miles can nab you a $350 US economy ticket from New York to Los Angeles, you have to ask yourself, is it worth pay $75 to help earn a ticket worth $350?
At this point, you have to research the individual cards. The average card earns one mile per dollar spent. However, double and triple mile incentives make paying a fee more comfortable. Moreover, airlines often offer massive, one-time bonuses of 10,15 or 20,000 miles just for signing up. And, if I was 10,000 miles short of earning a $700 US flight to Prague, I would easily pay a $75 fee.
A last word on credit cards and miles. Be aware that mileage accrual cards exist independent of the airlines. Bank of America's World Points card is my favorite. http://www.bankofamerica.com/creditcards/?context_id=marketing_list&category_id=2013&RequestTimeout=120
With it, I earn miles strictly for the purchases I make. On the negative, I can't combine these miles with any that I accrue by flying. On the positive, I pay nothing for this card, pay it little mind, but slowly and surely earn free flights.
3. Read the fine print and earn in all kinds of crazy ways
Once you've adopted a favorite airline group, signed up for a Frequent Flyer account on a member airline that you like, and made a decision about their credit card, take the time to read all of the earning opportunities available.
Most hotel and rental car chains offer miles that can be assigned to most Frequent Flyer accounts. Just as lucrative but less obvious is accruing miles by shopping on line. Last month I earned 500 miles for buying my contacts through contacts.com and 400 miles from buying a new backpack through rei.com, all stuff I was going to buy anyway.
But even better are the crazy, unpredictable specials that some airlines will offer with partner businesses. Last month I also earned 2,500 miles for investing some assets with TD Ameritrade, again, something that I was planning to do anyway. My advice? Keep an eye on a few of the web sites that specialize in miles. Here are some that are quite comprehensive:
http://www.flyertalk.com/
http://www.frequentflier.com
http://www.webflyer.com/
So,what are you waiting for?
-paul
No comments:
Post a Comment