Frequent flyer miles. I feel silly.

[CudaMan]

I've been a member of most major frequent flyer programs since I started traveling in 2012. Being a simple guy, I haven't been reading all the fine print and keeping track of every mile I log on each airline. I get booked with a different airline all the time due to price or scheduling reasons. All this time I thought spreading things around wouldn't be terrible - the payoff would come in a few years when I'd have some kind of status on each of the big airlines. I just looked at my Delta statement in more detail today and I'm disappointed to discover that isn't the case. Qualifying miles/segments reset every year. Well eff that. Why would I even bother, unless at this point I can convince everyone to book me on just one airline from here on out? I might reach Silver status by the very end of the year if I stick to one airline, and then I'd have to earn it all over again the following year.

It seems to be the same case with OneWorld, where I have nearly 24k miles, but bupkiss for 2014. All I've got left is Million Miler goals then. That'll take many years at this rate.

[/venting]

[Rare White Ape]

I look at my statement. I have something like 6000 points after spending 500 bucks on flights.

Cool.

If I spend another thousand on flights I'll have enough to cash in for a blender worth $39.99!

[Jason]

Frequent flyer miles are only worth it if you use one airline the majority of the time and also have some sort of rewards credit card, imo. Though, you professionally travel, so I imagine it's a bit different than someone who just takes a couple casual trips a year.

I use Southwest for everything I can. Not always the cheapest, but I like their service. So I use their miles program, and also have their credit card, which I use for all day to day expenses (and pay in full every month). Just from the card I can get a flight or two for free a year, depending on my spending habits. The other miles are just gravy. :up:

[Freude am Fahren]

My mom does the same thing with Southwest. Hell, I think they sent her $150 towards flights just for signing up.

I have the Delta AmEx. I don't fly a lot, but I got enough miles for a domestic flight for signing up. I almost always fly with them since my dad is like a life-time platinum member from his sales days, so kinda got used to them and just kept using them. I'll use Southwest at times too, especially since they go direct from West Palm to Islip.

[Jason]

When I signed up for my credit card, they had a promotion going, 50,000 points for free.

That in combination with my spending rewards ended up translating to 7 free one way flights for me, not bad. :)

[Dicknose]

The aim is to get you to use them, not spread them around.
Unless you fly regularly, they aren't going to give you much.

Do 20 domestic flights a year or more. Those are the people they want.

[Yw-slayer]

Yeah, you need to focus on 1, maybe 2 airlines max. That's the only way to roll.

Diamond Asiamiles (Cathay Pacific) and Emerald (Oneworld) dudes get some mad privileges.

[IMOA]

Yes, status resets every year and also if you don't have activity on your account in a set period of time (typically 18 months) your miles will dissapear. The best thing to do is look at your flying, including what sort of tickets you buy (deep discount, full fare, business etc) and then model how you'll go with status on different alliances/airlines. It can get a bit complex as some airlines have status via number of segments and once you start flying internationally on a different airline but within the alliance the booking class can have a huge impact on the qualifying miles.

The one thing I would say is that status is all that matters, I don't care about earning miles, they will look after themselves, but I do make a conscious effort to ensure I maintain my status.

[Mr Wonder]

All of the above is great advice. I've learnt a lot about this in the last couple of years and you really have to look at it as a frequent customer retention situation, rather than any kind of freebie for the once a year you go on holiday.
The missus has enjoyed gold status with Virgin Atlantic for a while now and it is just night and day to how I get treated as a lowly peasant. On my last flight she booked my ticket so I got just a few of the perks. Priority boarding, personal introduction from the head flight attendant, champagne in an actual glass, the offer of moving to an unoccupied row with someone carrying my gear, meals first, constant drinks. It was much more pleasant than the usually pretty decent service.

As Greg says maintaining the status is all she cares about, miles sort themselves out. You get double miles for being in gold and that means that more often than not she can upgrade to Upper for one leg of the journey. Using them for anything else seems to be a false economy.
Her boss is one of Virgin's top 50 frequent flyers and the stuff they do for him is insane.

[Random]

"Coffee, tea, or me?"

[drew]

I think I racked up 50000+ on Southwest last year.

Which was good, since I did the Jacksonville-Chicago thing 3 times in 12 days...

[21Kid]

And didn't call once...

[drew]

It's not like it was under cheerful circumstances....

Flew to Chicago to get into a car and drive to Indiana. Two of the three flights booked 6 hours before it took off...

Had it been a social type of thing, definitely. :finger: