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[untenured]

Hi all,

I travel by air approximately 5-6 times a year attending conferences or for personal reasons.  The airline I choose is usually selected because of price considerations and non-stop access.  I fly to different destinations each year as conference venues change.

I am not a member of any frequent flyer program.  Would joining such programs still make sense given my relatively infrequent flight patterns?  Do points earned through such a program expire?  Does any program serve multiple airlines?  Are there any credit cards that make sense to provide free miles, again given my infrequent flying and my reluctance to be a high annual fee?

Thanks,

Untenured

[iomhaigh]

I belong to a number of the airline programs -- it takes a while to accumulate enough miles to do anything with them, but I now have a free round trip ticket to Europe that I hope to cash in soon.  The fantasizing about that trip alone is worth it. (Of course, there are limits on when you can use the miles on some programs.)   

Program rules vary by airline, but if you're flying 5-6 times a year (which is a great deal more than I ever fly) on a number of different airlines, then you'll likely avoid the "no activity for three years so we're dumping you" rule that some airlines have.  On some, you get a minimum number of miles per leg, so even if you're going from Cedar Rapids to Columbus, you'll likely get more miles than you've flown because you have to stop over in Chicago (four legs at the minimum vs. actual miles.) 

You accumulate miles faster on overseas flights, and also if you do things like hook up your home phone to the mileage program.  If any of your travel involves crossing oceans, you might as well sign up -- you're almost halfway to a free domestic ticket if going to Europe from the western US. 

The other thing to look into is setting up a program on a large airline that has affiliates.  For example, my Northwest account accumulates miles if I fly on any of their partners (Continental, KLM, etc.) so long as I make that request ahead of time.  I also accumulate miles at conference hotels, etc, on Northwest because I have set up all of my hotel bonus program cards to go there.  Now I that have enough miles for that free trip to Greece, I'll start building up on the miles I have accumulated on United in the same fashion.

There are other perks like coupons for cheap flights and other flight deals, and getting unofficial bumping priority when you tell them you'll volunteer to get bumped, etc., that make for pleasant surprises now and then.  The last time I flew, the flight was delayed a bit because of weather and I got a 3000 mile bonus.  That put me over the "going to Europe for free" hump!

But then, I just bought a bunch of curtains and towels with giftcards that I accumulated through my credit card's point program, so I obviously like these things and have given up on my indignation about the world following my life electronically. 

I don't have any of the credit cards that do miles because I flat-out refuse to pay an annual fee for a credit card, so I can't offer much help there.  There may be fee-free cards out there somewhere.     

[science_expat]

I have a bit of an advantage because I fly between the US and UK at least once a year and in the past have done so much more regularly.

I'm a frequent flier with United which is part of the "Star Alliance". This means that I accumulate miles with lots of airlines and can redeem them across the network. The latter is brilliant, a few years ago I used my miles to fly for free to New Zealand with Singapore Air.

I don't see any downside in joining one or more schemes.

[atalanta]

I agree with Iomhaigh. I don't have much to add. Yes, it can take a long time for the miles to add up. But if you find yourself with a free ticket a few years down the road, it will be a nice surprise!

Keep booking your flights based only on price and convenience. But next time you fly, at least take a few minutes to look over the mileage program online. You might find, for example, that you can also get miles from hotel stays, car rentals, and restaurant meals. You might find a temporary generous "bonus program" that will allow you to earn a free ticket with just a couple of flights. Or you might find that the two airlines you use most frequently are "partners" in the same mileage program.

The downsides: They all send you promotional items in the mail so it will increase your volume of junk mail. To make matters worse, it helps to look over that "junk" to keep abreast of their promotions. I find this to be fun, because (like Iomhaigh) I enjoy fantasizing about future travel. But you might find it burdensome.

The rules vary a lot. Some miles expire, others don't. I find that some programs are not very consistent about awarding your miles, so I periodically have to waste time on the phone to get them to correct errors. 

But I do think it's worth it. In my case, I joined three programs. The one I fly most frequently has yet to yield any results. But after years of collecting, I now have enough miles on United Mileage Plus for TWO free round-trips to Hawaii or the Caribbean! Now we just have to figure out when we have time to take that vacation...

[bibliothecula]

I do SkyMiles with Delta and a few others. With the SkyMiles, I also got a SkyMiles credit card, and get double miles when I book tickets on it or use it at certain stores. I go to 5-6 conferences/work events a year and have been able to travel for free several times, and bumped myself up to business class the last time I went to Europe. If you don't like using credit cards, sign up for the free programs anyway--no matter how much or little you fly, there's almost always a reward in there somewhere.

[drdirt55]

Like bibliothecula, I have a Skymiles credit card and I have one with Midwest Airlines program too.  Neither card has an annual fee and because I usually pay off the balance, the outrageous finance charges are not an issue.  One thing I learned this summer is the bank underwriting the Midwest credit card charges a "foreign currency fee", which was a shock when I got my bill from a trip to Europe.  The fee is a percentage of the charge, so it adds up.  To my knowledge, the American Express Skymiles card does not have that catch.

I belong to a number of frequent flier programs, it seemed the thing to do at the time and I always seemed to be flying different airlines - my employer's choice, seldom mine.  If you fly on a regular basis and you regularly fly the same airline(s), then by all means sign up for those frequent flier programs.  Many of them will give you the option of receiving email documents, so eliminating unwanted information is just a keystroke away.

[jwormold]

I’d also make the suggestion that, if you fly at all internationally, you are probably better served by signing up for the international airlines’ program, rather than that of the domestic partner.  For example, you are far better served by being a Lufthansa Miles & More member rather than a United member (or Air France over Delta).  Lufthansa changed its program about a year ago, so it is no longer such a good deal (like BA, miles are now pegged to the economy fare, so it you paid the cheapy fare, you don’t get full credit).  Nonetheless, it still pays off. 

With some programs (Continental is one), miles never expire, so you can hoard until you get the 50,000 or so you need for that transatlantic flight.  With others they expire after a few years.  Even still: I used my soon-to-expire Lufthansa miles and got several bottles of very good wine!  I’ve also gotten free magazine subscriptions and a cheese platter (!) with expiring miles.

Finally, miles—even if you don’t have enough to book a full flight—can save you a lot of money, if you approach the situation creatively.  Returning from a Fulbright, I was able to use 10,000 Lufthansa miles to upgrade into business class for the European leg of the journey (I didn’t have enough miles for a free ticket or for a through-upgrade).  Nevertheless, because I was able to check in at the business-class desk, they didn’t harass me about my extra bag.  Had I been in economy, they would have charged me the $125 excess bag fee, and considering that my other bags were somewhat overweight…  Plus, my connecting flight into Frankfurt was delayed, but since I was at the front of the cabin, the flight staff was extremely helpful in getting me to my transatlantic flight (on a different airline) on time. 

[expatinuk]

I fly a lot... at least three trans-Atlantics a year and a trip to somewhere in Europe at least once a month. Most of my miles are with Delta and its partners, but lately I've been going to Scandinavia a lot so I'm getting miles with United's partners.

I do have elite status so I get a lot of bonus miles.

When you book a flight you have to be careful about the type of fare you get because most of the airlines are now only giving 1/2 the miles if you book an H ticket. Pay the (usually $25 or so) difference to get the higher ticket.

Because I do fly a lot I'm usually bumped to business at least once a year. It's increasingly harder to use miles... even with the elite status, so they do add up. We've been trying to book two first class tickets (using miles) to Hawaii for about a year now. We can't get dates to fit our schedule.

Also make sure you get miles for hotels... and online shopping. I buy a lot from Lands End and get miles when I go to the Lands End site from the Continental site.