by The following article will shed light on what airline miles are and how they can be best utilized. Without further ado let’s carry on.
Airline miles are normally gained either through your airline’s loyalty program or through the use of credit cards that are affiliated with your airline of choice. These might also be called frequent flier points or frequent flier miles.
Typically, if you are part of a reward/loyalty program within your airline then you will get miles for either the distance you fly, the type of ticket you bought (i.e. whether it’s economy, business etc.) or the price of the ticket. As for the latter method if you have a credit card of a company affiliated with your airline then any purchases you make through it will also give you some airline miles. A small percentage of your purchase price will be converted into airline miles which will be deposited into your account. So in essence if you have a credit card which is affiliated with your airline then you’ll be making miles all year long on your daily mundane purchases.
If you were therefore to exercise this option you could easily fund your next vacation by just buying groceries!
These miles or points can later be redeemed later but it’s worth pointing out that these miles aren’t exactly miles in the literal sense. If on a typical flight you gain 500 miles that doesn’t mean you can use them to pay for a flight that has a distance of 500 miles. Their actual worth therefore is different but with enough miles you can redeem them for actual tickets, first class tickets, speedy bookings etc.You can do all of this through the reward page of your airline.
At this point, it’s worth noting that there are normally only a small number of seats available for frequent flyers so if you intend to use them then do so early.
The following are the best ways you can use airline miles.
1-Book a Flight:
The simplest way to use your miles it to pay for your next flight. Here it’s important to note that there are a small number of flight seats reserved for FPP users so if you intend to book a flight with your points then do book one early.
2-Upgrade:
The other best use is to upgrade your current seat to one of a higher grade. You can for instance, upgrade your current economy class to business class with your points.
3-Gift Someone:
You can also gift your miles to relatives so that they can easily finance their travels. You’re basically gifting them a vacation if you do gift them miles.
4-Shop:
Most reward programs also have associated shopping catalogues that allow you to use your miles for actual products.
