Learn more and get started by signing up for the Red Tier of the Flying Club. If Zurich or Frankfurt or just about anywhere in the U. The standout benefits of this program are the cabin upgrades and priority check-in. Better yet, you can redeem mileage points at over , hotels worldwide. In any airline rewards program comparison, this one will rank towards the top, simply because there are so many big partner airlines. Learn more about the program and sign up here.
To get more benefits with the Executive Club, you need more Tier Points. While Tier points can help you get more benefits in new tiers, Avios is the name given to the points you spend on things like flights and cabin upgrades. Avios can be spent on holidays, hotels, car hire and more.
The fact that you can pool Avios together with a household of 6 makes this program a no-brainer for anyone who regularly travels with kids, in addition to the usual business travel grind. Want to get points for taking surveys? You can! Collect 3 points for every dollar spent. You can spend points on JetBlue Vacation packages, magazine subscriptions, and flights to Hawaii with Hawaiian Airlines a great carrier to a great destination, by the way. Choose this over Flying Blue if you often travel to Russia or China or one of the other countries served by these partner airlines.
Aeroflot Bonus points can be used towards hotel bookings and shopping sprees. Learn more about Aeroflot Bonus and sign up here. Every airline has their own frequent flyer program, usually billed as a loyalty program. These are free, and you can accumulate miles by flying with that airline or their partners. These services are very straightforward: You earn miles for each flight you take, and when you accumulate enough, you can redeem those miles for a free flight on that airline or with their partners.
Credit card rewards with airline miles work a little differently. You earn points when you make purchases, and then you can then redeem these points for frequent flyer miles. Picking the right one can be pretty tricky, though. These cards often offer the biggest signup bonuses , which allow you to earn a whole bunch of points when you spend a certain amount of money on your credit card as soon as you open your account.
Finally, if you have a lot of options for different cards, consider ones that give you more points for specific types of purchases. Often, credit cards provide double or more miles if you make specific types of purchases. For example, many cards offers double or even triple points if you use your credit card for dining out.
If you eat at a lot of restaurants, this helps you get more miles than other cards. If you don't, the decision is murkier. The primary reasons to join a frequent flyer program are to earn:. A typical decision for frequent flyer members is whether to use miles on luxury rides or more trips. For example, flying business class may cost as many points as two trips in economy class.
Here are names and reviews of frequent flyer programs for a few of the major airlines:. American Airlines: AAdvantage. Delta Air Lines: SkyMiles. United Airlines: MileagePlus. Southwest Airlines: Rapid Rewards. If you want to fly first class to a far-off destination using reward miles alone, getting an airline credit card is among the best ways to do it. Airline cards often require you to have good or excellent credit for approval. The question is whether the card offers enough value to justify the fee.
And airline cards typically carry high interest rates, so you'll want to pay your credit card bill in full every month. Another disadvantage is an airline card will have its own features and rules, aside from the airline's frequent flyer program, adding a layer of complexity. The key to using frequent flyer programs well is accumulating miles efficiently and redeeming them to your best advantage, sometimes called "earn and burn.
The basic way to rack up miles is by flying the airline. Although rewards are sometimes called miles, nowadays you typically earn rewards based on how much money you spend, not how far you fly. In a simplified example, you might earn 5 miles per dollar spent on airfare. You would have to pay for that type of flight 10 times to earn enough for a free round-trip flight costing 25, miles.
At that rate, it's like a retailer deal: "Buy 10, get one free. Other ways to earn:. Applying for a new card and earning a sign-up bonus is a way to quickly accumulate miles. If you already have an airline credit card, maximize spending on it. You might use it for recurring bills, for example. Shop your credit card or airline bonus malls. Gain elite status. More on that later. Spending your miles wisely means getting good value.
Airline miles or points are typically worth around a penny each, according to NerdWallet values. For simplicity at the penny-per-mile valuation, chop off two zeros from the number of miles required.
Airlines can change the value of your points by requiring more or fewer for a free flight or changing the number of award seats available. Your airline program may offer several levels of award seats, requiring more miles for more desirable flight times, seats and cabins.
You can also redeem miles on partner airlines. For example, if you have United Airlines miles, you can use them to book a ticket on German carrier Lufthansa, a partner in the Star Alliance. Upgrades: Upgrading your seat to a premium class can be another good use of miles. 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. Other travel expenses: Redemption options might include airport lounge membership fees, hotel stays, car rentals, cruises and gift cards. These options tend to offer a lower value than points or miles are worth, so we recommend avoiding them. Each airline has extensive information on its website. You can also refer to NerdWallet's reviews of major airline frequent flyer programs.
Achieving airline elite status — which may be called silver, gold, platinum or similar — requires a lot of effort and money.
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