For now, both American and Alaska Airlines still publish zone-based award redemption charts with fixed mileage levels for awards in various classes between specific regions … after raising those mileage levels multiple times. Even Southwest has upped its mileage redemption rates multiple times in the last several years, most recently last April. And foreign carriers, including Singapore Airlines , have been doing the same lately. Related: The 7 best ways to redeem airline miles without flying.
Now for one non-mileage type of devaluation. Luckily, U. First, airlines leveraged their mileage programs to underwrite their financing, so there is no doubt that they will continue to regard frequent flyer miles as key not only to their survival but as major assets for any turbulence to come. Several airlines, including United and Delta, sold massive quantities of miles to their credit card issuers to generate cash when travel demand dropped in the second and third quarters of That has resulted in some jaw-dropping credit card bonuses and spending promotions so far, and consumers can expect those to continue.
Related: How much money do loyalty programs make airlines? Finally, if you were a super-triple-platinum-diamond-crusted elite in the past, this is the exact right moment to consider whether you want to hop back on the elite-status hamster wheel with your airline of choice or to branch out and explore new options. In the four decades since the inception of modern frequent flyer programs, airline miles have become markedly more complicated.
Many of the developments have been positive, including the panoply of perks-driven, cobranded credit cards now available for all the major airlines. At the same time, however, consumers have faced a constantly shifting skyscape of labyrinthine earning and redemption rules, an elite-status system that keeps pushing qualification thresholds higher and higher, and increasing restrictions on how and where consumers can use their miles.
As is often the case, though, adversity also means opportunity for individuals who take the time to learn about mileage programs and master their complexities.
Staying on top of ongoing developments, adjusting your strategy and maximizing your ability to earn and redeem miles make it still possible to reap tremendous value and benefits from frequent flyer miles as we see where airline programs evolve.
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Alaska Airlines is making 3 big changes to the upgrade process. Higher earning on gas and more: New sign-up offers on the Chase Freedom cards. Earn 3X Miles on Delta purchases and purchases made directly with hotels. Earn 2X Miles at restaurants worldwide, including takeout and delivery and at U. Earn 1X Miles on all other eligible purchases.
Receive a Domestic Main Cabin round-trip companion certificate each year upon renewal of your Card. Passengers earn miles on all Star Alliance airlines as well as several other airlines and non-airline partners.
The program will get a complete makeover later this year. More than , new members sign up for Flying Blue each month, making it one of the most popular loyalty programs in the world. Unfortunately, Flying Blue became a revenue-based program in and has lost a lot of its value since then. Following the merger agreement between United Airlines and Continental Airlines, United Mileage Plus was chosen to be the frequent flyer program for the combined airline.
The program was subsequently renamed to MileagePlus, and maintained its relationship with its Star Alliance partners, as well as other airline and travel enterprise agreements. Following the merger, several controversial changes were introduced to the program, such as the reduction in bonus miles for elite members, and the introduction of a revenue based model in , making it a less attractive option for frequent flyers.
Avianca is the largest airline in Colombia and second largest in Latin America. The frequent flyer program of Avianca is LifeMiles and its members earn miles every time they fly with Star Alliance carriers and Avianca subsidiaries or use service in some hotels, retails, car rental and credit card partners. If you tend to fly with Korean Air often, you definitely have to take some time to look into this program and its many benefits.
In , following its merger with Iberia, the flag carrier of the United Kingdom and the founding member of the One World global airline introduced dramatic changes to its Executive Club program, creating a distinct reward currency, Avios. Avios is a coalition program, offering members of the frequent flyer programs of British Airways and Iberia thousands of ways to earn and redeem Avios for flights, hotels, and even travel experiences.
Members earn flight miles according to the distance flown, rather than according to the price of their tickets which is now the new standard in the USA, and soon, Europe and Asia.
For the average traveler, this means more free flights and faster elite status. Mileage Plan miles can be redeemed for award flights on Alaska Airlines and its partner carriers and provide eligibility for frequent flyer elite status. AAdvantage is the frequent flyer program of American Airlines. Launched in , it was the second such loyalty program in the world after the first at Texas International Airlines in and remains the largest with a reported membership of more than million.
For decades, AAdvantage was by far the best and most rewarding loyalty program, not only for American citizens living nearby the American Airlines hubs of Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, and Dallas but also for travelers based outside the USA.
However, that all changed after USA Airways took over American Airlines, keeping the brand name and the loyalty program, but introducing a massive devaluation and — last year — a revenue based earning system. But despite these changes, I still consider AAdvantage to be the best frequent flyer program in the world because of the many benefits.
Friday newsletters always feature travel contests, tips, series, or news […]. Monday newsletters always feature top 10 travel lists to inspire […]. Review here my review with pros, cons, and tips of Executive Club, the excellent and well-established frequent flyer program of British Airways. Log in You can log in with your AAdvantage number or username and password. Best of all you can discover the best ways to save more and get more with us!
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They are awarded as one-way flights, so if you're spending miles, you'll have to apply them to both the outbound and return flights separately. Generally, there are two kinds of award redemptions:. Saver Awards seats are cheaper in terms of miles required to book them — ranging from 5, to 12, miles for domestic economy, for example.
But they are scarcer and might not be available for the flight you want. Everyday Awards seats are more available than Saver Awards seats but require more miles. Flyers with elite status, which United calls Premier, and eligible holders of MileagePlus credit cards have unrestricted access to book seats — even the last seat on the plane — at the Everyday Awards level.
United discontinued its published award chart for flights on Nov. You can generally expect that prices that are cheaper with cash will also be cheaper with miles. Free flights. Because we value MileagePlus miles at an average of 1 cent each, redemptions that give you at least that much value are a decent option. United has many opportunities for sweet spot redemptions. Upgrading your seat to a premium class can be another good use of miles because doing so can return value greater than 1 cent per mile.
Some upgrades to business or first class require payment in the form of a cash co-pay as well as miles. As with award seats, upgrades are based on one-way flights. The price of an upgrade depends on the fare class of your current ticket — upgrading from a cheaper fare will generally cost more.
Other redemption options include United Club membership fees, hotel stays, car rentals, cruises and gift cards. These options tend to offer a lower value than 1 cent per mile, so we recommend avoiding them. Anyone can sign up for the MileagePlus program. It's free to join.
With basic membership, though, pretty much all you get is a frequent-flyer number and an account where your points accumulate. The real goodies come when you earn elite status. First, we'll look at what you get at the four elite levels of MileagePlus. Then we'll look at what it takes to get there. On United, elite statuses are called Premier levels. From lowest to highest, they are Silver, Gold, Platinum and 1K.
They include free checked bags, priority boarding, better access to award seats and even United Club airport lounge access. To earn MileagePlus Premier elite status, you need to do things the airline cares about as a business: fly often, fly far and spend money.
PQPs are earned on the base fare, carrier surcharges, economy plus seats or subscriptions, preferred seat purchases, upgrade award co-pays, paid upgrades and flights ticketed and operated by Star Alliance partners. A PQF is one flight.
Each segment flown except basic economy will count as one PQF. Flights taken in basic economy will not earn any PQFs. But the chart below shows how it works.
United, like other airlines, labels fare classes with letter codes. For example, F is first class, Y is full-fare economy and N is basic economy. Your fare class for each flight segment is displayed during booking and when viewing a ticketed itinerary on united. Earning Premier status is based on flying and spending during the previous calendar year. Once you qualify for a Premier status, it is valid from the date you qualified through the end of the following program year. So, it could last more than 12 months.
As of April , the United Airlines website identifies these as its partner airlines. In general, you can earn MileagePlus miles on flights with Star Alliance partners and redeem your miles for flights on Star Alliance airlines. For example, you may be able to earn miles but not redeem them, or you may be able to redeem only for certain flights.
Other partner airlines include:. United Airlines co-branded credit cards are issued by Chase.
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