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How to Maximize Your Frequent Flier Mileage, Part II | Home How to Manage Your Miles Once you've chosen a program and started accruing miles, a few general rules will help you maximize your miles. When to Redeem For domestic travel, it's best to redeem mileage for long flights rather than short hops. You'll use the same number of frequent-flier miles for each. Unless the published fare for a short hop is exorbitant--as it is on certain routes monopolized by a single airline--you're better off saving your miles for a longer trip. On flights to Europe, redeem your miles during summer months, when standard fares to Europe are much higher. In the winter, it's best to grab a cheap fare (and bank those miles) and wait for a better bargain. Book as far in advance as possible. The few frequent-flier seats on each plane are first-come, first-served. Book a trip as soon as you have the necessary miles. Partnerships may shift and mileage requirements may rise. A ticket in hand is your best insurance against changes. Don't use miles for first-class tickets. If you must fly in business- or first-class, see if you can buy an economy-class ticket and use (fewer) miles to upgrade when possible. You'll get twice as much from your miles this way. Get the Credit Keep your frequent-flier member card handy in your wallet and provide it to travel and ticket agents every time you make a reservation or purchase a ticket with that airline. This will help ensure that your account is credited properly. (If you don't have your card, airline agents will look it up for you at the airport, but they won't be happy to if the check-in line is long. In this event, you're better off asking for help at a shorter line, even if it's for a different flight.) If you have a PalmPilot or handheld organizer, write down all of your membership numbers in the organizer as a back-up in case you forget your card. Get in the habit of asking when you check in whether your mileage for that flight was credited to your account, particularly if you made changes to your initial reservation. If you forget to credit a flight, a hotel stay, or a car rental, hold on to your receipts so you can request the mileage once you return home. Stay Informed Keep close track of the mileage you earn. Don't lose precious miles because of an airline's computer error, which happens all too often. Save your ticket receipts and boarding passes at least until you receive your next mileage statement and can verify that the airline properly credited your account. In case they didn't, you may need to provide documentation to correct the error. If you like to travel with e-tickets, buy them with a credit card or you'll have no other way to document the purchase. Check your statement carefully as soon as it arrives and report discrepancies immediately. Look over your frequent-flier newsletter when it arrives to see if policies have changed regarding award rates; blackout dates; deadlines for using available miles with other airlines; or earning opportunities with car-rental companies or consumer products and services like mile-earning credit cards, utilities, and so on. Book online whenever possible. Many airlines now offer bonus miles for passengers who book e-tickets on their Web sites. Check each site for details. New services such as e-mail alerts and online check-in often offer mileage bonuses. Log on to airline Web sites to see what the latest promotions are. Some airlines will double or triple mileage for new routes. Make a habit of asking if your carrier has started any new itineraries each time you make a reservation. Consider a mileage-consolidation service such as MileageManager.com to keep track of several different frequent-flier accounts. The Politics of Upgrading Airlines have cracked down on free upgrades in recent years, doling them out only to elite frequent fliers. But given the right gate agent, the right airport, and the right flight, it is occasionally possible for ordinary travelers to taste the sweetness of first class. The Party Line At press time, no major carrier allows basic frequent fliers to upgrade for free. Basic frequent fliers must purchase upgrades with cash or frequent-flier miles. (On average, the cost of a roundtrip upgrade on a discount coach ticket is 20,000 points--5,000 points shy of the cost of a roundtrip ticket for domestic travel.) It's much harder to upgrade on a discount economy ticket than on a full coach fare. America West, Continental, and Northwest are the only major airlines that allow elite frequent fliers unlimited complimentary upgrades. Delta and US Airways give only their top fliers (100,000 miles or more) this privilege. On American and US Airways, even the highest elite travelers earn only a fixed number of upgrades per miles traveled, though they get a boatload of certificates for flying 100,000 miles. On all the airlines, superior elite ranking does entitle travelers to confirm award seats farther in advance. So a pecking order is established: travelers who fly 100,000 or 50,000 or even 25,000 miles per year have first dibs on the small number of upgrades available to frequent fliers, which doesn't leave much for the average leisure traveler or light business flier. A Winning Argument: How to Talk Yourself Up Many first- and business-class seats are assigned at the airport. Ticket and gate agents have wide latitude to assign seats, and use it frequently to reward passengers who they think may be most deserving. Talking your way into an upgrade requires finesse and luck. A few tips: If you look like you mean business, you're much more likely to receive an upgrade at the airport, even if you're just confirming an upgrade you earned as a frequent flier. Dress well. Be really nice. If the gate agents like you or remember you positively, you may score the seat. Be really opportunistic. If it's your birthday, honeymoon, or anniversary, or if you've been flying for days and feel bedraggled and confused, mention it offhandedly to gate agents. But don't demand, don't nag, and don't look like you're gunning for an upgrade. If you or your flying companion has a first-class or business-class ticket, ask if you can sit together. Do this at the gate, never the ticket counter. If you arrive at the airport very early with only carry-on baggage and ask at the gate (never at the ticket counter) to get on the standby list for an earlier flight to your destination, good karma might bounce your way and you may end up in first class. If you volunteer to be bumped from an oversold flight or if your flight is canceled, ask for a roundtrip upgrade as part of your compensation. As a last resort, it's still worth asking your travel agent for an upgrade if you're a very frequent customer. According to Ed Perkins, consumer advocate for the American Society of Travel Agents, some travel agents are able to reward their own loyal customers with upgrades--even when the airline's reservationist says seats are unavailable. Unfortunately, there isn't a published list of agencies with both the access to this information and the willingness to do this--primarily because the airlines would quash the practice if they knew who was involved. Achieving Elite Status As mentioned earlier, the only way to guarantee yourself free upgrades these days is to reach elite status on the right airline. Elite status is a tricky thing to achieve, as it's based on "elite-qualifying miles" which usually exclude certain partners (especially non-airline partners), and count only actual miles flown (not class-of-service or online-booking bonuses). On partner airlines, discount tickets may not count as elite-qualifying miles. Discount tickets on American Airlines only count half their miles as elite-qualifying. Generally, no miles booked through consolidators are elite-qualifying. And elite status must be re-earned every year. Every airline's elite program has several tiers, defined by the number of miles flown within one calendar year. Two roundtrips to Europe and one domestic roundtrip flight should bring you to the first tier, which requires 25,000 miles. The second tier requires 50,000 miles. The third tier requires 100,000 miles (with the exception of America West, Continental, and Northwest, which require only 75,000 miles). Alaska's program is an exception, with only two elite tiers at 15,000 and 45,000 miles. Elite status can also be achieved by flying many short flights, even if they total to fewer than 25,000 miles (except on Northwest). By that method, first-tier status is gained with 30 one-way flight segments, second-tier with 60, and third-tier with 100 (on Continental the third tier is 90; the top level of American's program can't be earned with segments only). Elite frequent fliers receive a host of perks. First, the rich get richer: Travelers who have reached the first tier receive a 25% to 50% mileage bonus for every flight they take. For instance, if you travel 800 miles one-way, you receive 800 frequent-flier miles plus an additional 200- to 400-mile bonus. Second-tier elites receive a 50% to 100% bonus for miles flown. Third-tier elites receive a 100% to 150% bonus. In other words, as a third-tier elite that same 800-mile one-way flight earns 1,600 to 2,000 frequent-flier miles! Of course, those bonuses aren't "elite-qualifying miles," so your 800-mile coach ticket only gets you 800 miles closer to renewing your elite status. Elite status also entitles you to free upgrades and companion upgrades-- Elite members receive a range of additional benefits which may include priority boarding, priority seating, a designated elite reservations line, guaranteed reservations on sold-out flights, priority baggage, and discounted or free membership to airport lounge clubs. As always, Southwest's program is unique among large airlines. The low-fare carrier doesn't have an elite level per se, but fliers who clock 100 segments in a year receive a pass that allows one companion to fly free with them for a year. Upgrading Policies of the Major Domestic Airlines Unless otherwise noted, one-way mileage-based upgrades below are for flights in the continental U.S., Alaska, and Canada. Upgrades to other destinations cost more miles, and are charged by geographic zone--meaning upgrades to Europe are usually double the mile price of U.S. upgrades. Alaska Airlines Non-elite: Non-elite Mileage Plan members can purchase one-way first-class upgrades for 10,000 miles. MVP members can purchase one-way first-class upgrades for 5,000 miles. Members receive automatic first-class upgrade certificates for any "Y" class fare for every 10,000 actual air miles flown. They may use two certificates to achieve an upgrade from some lower fares. Complimentary upgrades can be confirmed any time before departure. MVP Gold members receive automatic first-class upgrades for every 5,000 air miles traveled. America West Non-elite: Non-elite FlightFund members can purchase one-way upgrades on America West and Continental flights within North America for 5,000 miles on a full coach fare, or 10,000 miles on any other paid fare. These upgrades may be confirmed at any time. If you're not a member of FlightFund, you can purchase an upgrade for $50 per 500 miles. Cash upgrades may only be purchased between 4 hours and 30 minutes before departure. Elite members receive unlimited, one-way, space-available upgrades on America West and select Continental flights. Silver members can confirm upgrades on the day of departure. Gold members can confirm upgrades 2 days prior to. Platinum members may confirm any time after ticketing on a full-fare ticket, 3 days prior to departure for other paid tickets, and 2 hours prior to departure for companion upgrades. All upgrades at all levels on Continental are confirmed 2 hours before departure. American Non-elite: One-way upgrades are 5,000 miles on full-fare tickets and 15,000 miles on many discount tickets. Upgrade coupons are $55 per upgrade for one to seven 500-mile segments; $50 per upgrade for eight or more 500-mile segments. Confirmation available 24 hours before departure. Elite members receive four complimentary one-way upgrades, every 10,000 miles. Gold members can confirm upgrades 24 hours before departure; Platinum may confirm 72 hours before departure; Executive Platinum may confirm 100 hours before departure. All elites may use upgrades for companions traveling on the same flight. Elite members can purchase 500-mile upgrades for $45 each for one to seven upgrades, $31.25 each for eight or more. They can also get eight upgrades for 35,000 miles and 16 upgrades for 50,000 miles. Continental Non-elite: OnePass members may purchase domestic one-way upgrades on Continental, Northwest, Frontier, and America West flights for 5,000 miles on full-fare tickets and 10,000 miles on discount tickets. Some full-fare coach tickets get free upgrades upon request. Always request them. Elite: All Continental elite members receive unlimited, complimentary, space-available upgrades and companion upgrades. Silver elites may confirm their own upgrades 1 day before departure on full fares, day of departure on discounted fares. Companion upgrades may be confirmed 2 hours before departure. Gold elites may confirm their own upgrades anytime after ticketing on full fares, 48 hours before departure on discounted fares. Companion upgrades may be confirmed 2 hours before departure. Platinum elites may confirm their own upgrades anytime after ticketing on full fares, 72 hours before departure on discounted fares. Companion upgrades may be confirmed 2 hours before departure. Delta Non-elite members may purchase a roundtrip upgrade on a full coach fare for 10,000 miles; on some, but not all discounted coach fares, a roundtrip upgrade costs 20,000 miles. The absolute cheapest fares aren't upgradeable. Confirmation is available at the airport 3 hours before departure. Elite: Silver Medallion members receive four, 800-mile segment upgrades plus four every 10,000 miles after achieving elite status. Silver elites may confirm upgrades 24 hours in advance on all but the lowest discount fare (L and U fares), which can't be upgraded. Gold Medallion members receive four, 800-mile segment upgrades plus eight every 10,000 miles after achieving elite status and two North American upgrades plus two every 20,000 miles over 40,000. Gold elites may confirm upgrades 72 hours before departure on all but the lowest discount fare (L and U fares), which can't be upgraded. Platinum Medallion members receive unlimited complimentary upgrades, which may be confirmed at any time, plus six one-way upgrades which may be used for companions anywhere on Delta's system, as long as they're traveling on tickets of the more expensive fare classes (Y, B, and M). Northwest Non-elite: On a domestic full-fare or BizFlex ticket, if a passenger checks in at an E-Ticket kiosk or online, upgrades are available upon check-in for $25 (flights of less than 750 miles), $35 (flights up to 2,100 miles) or $50 (all flights). If you don't use a kiosk, full-fare tickets cost $25 to $150 to upgrade depending on distance. (A trip of 2,000 miles, for example, would cost $100 to upgrade.) Full-fare coach tickets on selected routes get free upgrades upon request. WorldPerks members may also buy one-way domestic upgrades for 5,000 miles on a full-fare ticket; 10,000 miles on some discount tickets. Confirmation is available at the time of reservation. Such upgrades are valid on both Northwest and Continental flights Elite: Silver Elite members receive unlimited domestic upgrades. Confirmation available 48 hours before departure on full fares; day of departure on discounted fares. Gold Elite members receive unlimited domestic and companion upgrades. On full fares, confirmation available when the flight is booked; on discount fares, 48 hours before departure. Platinum Elites receive unlimited domestic and companion upgrades. Confirmation available at the time of booking on full fares; 72 hours before departure on discounted fares. Alaska Elite: Alaska MVP and MVP Gold members can be upgraded to first class on Northwest flights in North America if they are traveling on the most expensive fare classes. Confirmation 24 hours before departure. Southwest Airlines Southwest has only one class of service, so upgrades are not available. (But if you're really nice, you may get the flight crew to act even more cheerful than usual.) United Non-elite: Non-elite members may purchase upgrades at an airport or a city ticket office, on their day of departure. Four 500-mile upgrades for use on full-fare tickets cost $200; eight 500-mile upgrades for use on full-fare tickets cost $400. For fliers using mileage to upgrade, one-way upgrades from full-fare coach tickets to the next class of service are 5,000 miles; from some discount fares they're 10,000 miles. The cheapest coach fares aren't upgradeable. Elite: All elite levels get four 500-mile upgrades every 10,000 miles after reaching elite status. Confirmation for Premier and Executive Premier members is available 72 hours before departure on full fares, 24 hours before departure on discounted fares. For Premier IK members, confirmation is available 100 hours before departure on full fares, 24 hours before departure on discounted fares. US Airways Non-elite: Upgrades for full-fare tickets cost $50; some full-fare coach tickets, called "GoFirst," can be upgraded for free if you ask at time of reservation. Non-GoFirst upgrades can be purchased and confirmed at time of reservation. For fliers using mileage to upgrade, roundtrip upgrades cost 10,000 miles with full-fare tickets and 20,000 with discount tickets. They are confirmed at time of reservation. Elite: Silver Preferred members get four 800-mile, North American upgrades for every 10,000 miles flown plus six more for every 20,000 miles flown. They may confirm upgrades anytime for full-fare tickets, 24 hours in advance for discount tickets. No domestic flight requires more than three 800-mile certificates, no matter how long it is. Gold Preferred members get eight 800-mile, North American upgrades for every 10,000 miles flown plus 10 more for every 20,000 miles flown. They may confirm upgrades anytime on full fares; 72 hours in advance on all other fares. Chairman's Preferred members get unlimited system-wide and companion one-class upgrades. They may confirm upgrades anytime on full fares; 7 days in advance on all other fares. Alliances & Multiple Accounts Airline partnerships and alliances have made frequent-flier miles much more powerful--and more confusing. Partnerships are continually shifting. When the last edition of this book was published, US Airways and American had a deal--no longer. Alliances, on the other hand, are complex business mergers rather than mere frequent-flier partnerships, and are therefore more stable. As groupings of airlines, Oneworld, SkyTeam, and the Star Alliance seem to be here to stay. In almost every instance, frequent-flier partnerships work to your benefit. If you have an account with Continental, you can use your miles to fly on Northwest. If you have a ton of Alaska miles, you can use their partnership with Continental to fly to Europe. If you take one flight on an obscure foreign airline, you can use it to add thousands of miles to an existing domestic partner account. (You cannot, however, combine miles from several partner accounts to reach a single award level. Currently, all the major airlines except Southwest allow their miles to be used on at least some domestic and international partners, and allow fliers to accumulate miles by flying on those partners. It's not quite as easy as it sounds, though. When you travel on a partner airline, you travel according to their rules--so you need to understand the blackout dates and seat limitations for two airlines, not just one. Rules for earning miles on partner airlines can be truly Byzantine, as well. Usually you're pretty safe if you stick to an airline's global alliance--Oneworld, SkyTeam, the Star Alliance, or the Northwest/KLM/Continental combination. For other partnerships, you may only earn miles in certain fare classes or on certain tickets. The most notorious gap in the partnership system is with the American Airlines-British Airways deal. American AAdvantage members earn miles on BA flights--except on the transatlantic flights that Americans are most likely to take. Why? Politics, mostly. American and BA spent late 2001 trying to form a profit-sharing alliance, a deal looked on with great suspicion by the U.S. Congress because it would give the new alliance a dominant position for flights from the U.S. to London's Heathrow airport. The alliance plans were called off in February 2002, but the effect on the two airlines' frequent-flier programs remained at press time: the airlines don't want to give credit for flights to Heathrow, in case Congress thinks the airlines are thumbing their noses at the government. Codeshares are simpler when it comes to redeeming miles, but still present pitfalls for earning miles. If it says "United" on your ticket--even though the plane's logo says Lufthansa or All Nippon Airways (ANA)--you're flying under United's seat controls and blackout dates. But even though ANA and United are OneWorld allies--and thus can share codes with impunity--flights bought with discount fares on ANA only earn 70% of their miles flown in the United program. So call your frequent-flier program before booking an international ticket to be sure of the restrictions that apply to you. Here are some questions to ask when you book: Does a portion of your flight involve a codeshare partner's aircraft? If so, and if you have accounts with both airlines, be sure to find out which account will be credited with your mileage. How many miles will you earn? If the flight is a codeshare or on a partner airline, compare the reward to what you would earn if you used your regular frequent-flier carrier. The frequent-flier literature you receive after joining a program should tell you this, but the rules change so often that it's wise to double-check when you make the reservation. What restrictions are there? Is mileage credit available on the route, flight, fare, and date you plan to travel? check your mileage statements carefully and make sure your account was credited properly, with the same terms you agreed to when you made your reservation. Moving Miles Airline alliances don't let you move miles among airline accounts. There are, however, ways around this restriction. Members of Hilton's free HHonors frequent-stay program (tel. 800/548-8690; www.hhonors.com) can use the RewardExchange function to turn one airline's miles into Hilton points, and then back into another airline's miles. Partners are AeroCalifornia, American, Continental, Delta, Hawaiian, LanChile, LatinPass, Mexicana, Midwest Express, South African, TWA, United, and Virgin Atlantic. But keep in mind you will lose miles in the conversion. If you're moving miles to American from another carrier, 5 "old" miles will become 2 "new" ones. For everyone else, the conversion ratio is 10 old miles to 3 new ones. If you transfer miles out of American to another airline, the conversion is an abysmal 20 AAdvantage miles to 3 new miles. Amazingly, Hilton allows this transaction, though the company does not encourage the practice. Hilton's Mutual Fund feature allows another perk: You can combine Hilton points with your spouse and transmute them into miles. Of the major frequent-flier programs, only British Airways permits this without Hilton getting involved. Air Canada, Alaska, America West, Delta and Midwest Express miles can be swapped--with huge penalties--by using points.com's "pointsxchange" feature (www.points.com). For example, 10,000 American miles become a mere 1,046 America West miles and a pathetic 837 Alaska miles. 10,000 Alaska miles become a sorry 920 Delta miles. American and Delta miles, alas, cannot be exchanged with each other. And to add financial pain to your incredible shrinking mileage, points.com charges $14.95 for a year's membership, or $5.95 per exchange without membership. What's on the up side? Good question. About the only advantage to this program is that it's the only way you can combine miles from several program into one award--but as you can see, you'll pay a hefty price to do so. Keeping Track of Miles If you can't keep the regulations straight for your many frequent-flier accounts, hire MileageManager (www.mileagemanager.com) as your accountant. The Web-based automated service lets you monitor balances, activity, and elite status for 22 airline programs, seven hotel programs, American Express Membership Rewards, and Diners Club Club Rewards. Even better, MileageManager keeps you informed through e-mail alerts regarding bonus-mile promotions and other changes to your programs. The service is run by Randy Petersen, one of the world's frequent-flying authorities, and costs $14.95 per year. 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