I’ve spent a lot of hours researching, trying to understand mileage over the last couple of months here and there. I’ve had conversations with various travelers and have wondered how they earn their free flights, fancy upgrades, and other perks. I know mileage and points are important. Have you seen “Up in the Air”? Yeah, those guys totally know how the airline system works (granted it’s a movie), but some people get it and the rest of us are just obliviously flying without gaining rewards. We all have to fly somewhere sometime, so why should these miles be wasted?
Anyway, so I’ve been trying to understand the best methods but I don’t think anyone really explains to you how they do it. A few months ago prior to a trip, I set up an excel spreadsheet. I went through my emails because I know at various points in my life, I signed up for Delta Sky Miles, AAdvantage, Dividend Miles, Southwest Rapid Rewards, United Mileage Plus, and so on… I’ve never really consolidated these frequent flier programs so I thought this was a good move. I found that I had multiple accounts in some programs, and no frequent flier # for some airlines I flew on multiple times! So I went ahead and signed up for the ones I could try to redeem points.
But now that I’ve done that, I have a new problem: Too many airlines, too many miles here and there, and no clear path to really gaining rewards by the time I’m in my late 30s. I also started asking myself and a lot of people if I should get a specific airlines credit card?
Mileage 101 from Charles Porch
A few weeks ago, I spent 30 minutes or so getting a crash course about Airline Mileage… My mind just exploded. He answered all of my question and gave me a clear understandable path. Here are the steps:
1. Choose an Airlines Alliance: Star Alliance, OneWorld, Sky Team
Basically there’s three large airline alliances that a majority of domestic and international airlines are members of. Once you choose one, you can funnel ALL of your miles to that one alliance.
Star Alliance includes:
AORIA, AEGEAN, Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, Blue1, bmi, Brussels Airlines, Continental Airlines, Croatia Airlines, EgyptAir, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Singapore Airline, South African Airways, Spanair, Swiss, TAM, TAP Portugal, THAI, Turkish Airlines, United, and US Airways
SkyTeam Alliance includes:
Aeroflot Russian Airlines, Aero Mexico, AirFrance, KLM, Alitalia, China Southern, Czech Airlines, Delta, Korean Air, Skyteam Associates, AirEuropa, and Kenya Airways
Oneworld Alliance includes:
American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Mexicana, Qantas, Royal Jordanian, Japan Airlines, LAN, and MALEV
2. Use only ONE frequent flier # for ALL airlines in that alliance.
This is how the points stack up quick. For example, I’m planning to go with United which is part of the Star Alliance. Everytime I fly US Airways, Air Canada, or any other airline in that alliance, I’ll just use my United #. Now my united rewards will rack up, additionally my Star Alliance rewards will stack up no matter what airlines I fly (as long as their a Star Alliance member).
3. Earn more points at various hotel and rental car partners in that alliance.
Most large hotel chains are part of one of the alliance partners. Be sure to use your chosen frequent flier # to earn points/miles. For example, Star Alliance/United have the following partners: DoubleTree, Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, Avis, and more. See full list.
4. You have up to 12 months to claim mileage.
You can claim mileage usually for up to 12 months post a flight. So if you’ve traveled in the last year, you can totally claim those miles for your chosen frequent flier program (assuming that you haven’t already put a FF# on the flight).
5. Virgin America, JetBlue and Southwest Airlines go rogue anyway, don’t worry about them.
Virgin, JetBlue and Southwest have their own rewards programs. It’s best to treat them separately and not part of your major airlines plan.
And there you have it. Airline Mileage 101… Thank goodness for Charles Porch.
