The Extra Mile

Checklist for More Frequent Flyer Miles in 2006

Start the new year right

December 21, 2005 - In the spirit of New Year's resolutions, following are ten tips to help insure that 2006 will be a productive one, mileage-wise.

1. The best program is the right program

The best frequent flyer program is the one that allows you to earn the most awards and perks with the least effort and inconvenience.

With the ongoing wave of bankruptcies and reorganizations, airlines are continually redefining themselves, adding and subtracting routes, merging with other carriers, revising their mileage programs. So the program which best fit your personal travel patterns six months ago may not dovetail quite so neatly with your travel requirements today, or six months hence.

Stay current with the available program options and be ready to redirect your loyalty to a program which better meets your needs.

2. Don't miss mileage opportunities

Famously, the larger airline programs have so many mileage partners that program members can earn miles for everything from home mortgages to Internet usage to consumer electronics purchases.

But it's up to you to translate those opportunities into actual miles. To earn miles for phone service, for example, a program member typically must establish a new account with a participating service provider, and then explicitly elect to receive miles for the transaction, generally by signing up on a dedicated webpage.

3. Register for bonus offers

Don't forget that the majority of bonus-mile promotions require members to register in advance to receive the extra miles. For most offers, travelers can register on the airlines' websites or by calling a special phone number and following the prompts.

4. Don't overpay for miles

Earning miles for an airline flight is a no-brainer, since the price of a ticket is the same whether you choose to earn miles for the flight or not. But it's more complicated when it comes to earning miles for other transactions.

A full price retailer, for example, might offer miles as an incentive to purchase its merchandise. But the same merchandise might also be available from a discounter, which offers lower prices but no miles. Pocket the miles, or pay less?

Do the math: If the price difference amounts to paying more than a penny per mile extra to earn the miles, consider choosing the low-priced option.

5. Maximize the value of awards

With the average price of a domestic coach ticket now in the neighborhood of $300, and frequent flyer seats in short supply, the value of a frequent flyer mile is approximately one cent.

You can get better value for your miles by redeeming them for more expensive flights or upgrades. And the corollary: savvy travelers don't redeem 25,000 miles for a ticket they could have purchased for $125.

6. First log on, then phone in

Since most airlines began charging fees for making award reservations by phone, always begin by trying to book award flights on the airlines' websites. But if no award seats are available online at the restricted level -- an all-too-common problem -- consider paying the booking fee to have a reservations agent assist you. Often they can cobble together an award itinerary using connections or alternative carriers.

7. Monitor mileage expiration

There are two species of airline frequent flyer miles: those of the major airlines, which don't expire so long as there is account activity every three years; and those of discount carriers, which typically expire after just one year, and cannot be extended thereafter. (Southwest, whose Rapid Rewards served as the model for most subsequent low-fare carrier programs, recently liberalized its policy from one to two years.)

If you have miles in a full-service carrier's program which are scheduled to expire, a single transaction -- either earning or redeeming miles -- will reset the clock, extending the miles' life by another three years. If the expiring miles are in discounter's program, consider ways to earn enough additional miles to qualify for an award before the miles disappear.

In either case, don't lose miles through inattention. Monitor all active program accounts regularly for impending expiration dates.

8. Credit card miles

Consumers should periodically reassess their choice of mileage-earning credit cards, which are competing vigorously for a spot in frequent travelers' wallets. Card issuers are continually lowering fees and ratcheting up benefits, resulting in some compelling deals for mileage earners.

The card affiliated with the Starwood hotels' frequent-stay program, the Starwood Preferred Guest card issued by American Express, is an example.

The Starwood card has no annual fee for the first year and costs $30 thereafter. Cardholders earn one point for every dollar charged. In addition to being redeemable for free stays at Starwood hotels, those points can be converted 1:1 for miles in 30 major airline programs. And for every 20,000 points converted to miles, cardholders receive a 5,000-point bonus.

9. Upgrade hotel programs

Frequent travelers have traditionally focused their earning activity on airline programs, relegating hotel programs to a supporting role. That strategy still makes sense for most travelers.

But as air fares have declined and hotel rates have increased, the cost of lodging as a percentage of the total cost of a trip has risen. As a result, free stays earned through hotel programs -- and not generally offered as awards through airline programs -- are more valuable than ever.

So while hotel programs may not supplant airline programs, they deserve to be upgraded from a distant second to a close second to their airline counterparts.

10. Pursue elite perks

Members of airline programs are awarded elite status based on the number of qualifying miles earned between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31. Since the qualification process begins anew each year, this is the right time to map out a plan to snag elite perks in 2006.