Once a traveler has registered as a member of a frequent flyer program (or 'FFP'), they gain miles every time they fly on a qualifying scheduled flight of that airline (or one of its "alliance partners"). The number of miles collected depends on how far they are flying and in which class. To complicate matters, different airlines give miles in different ways. To give you an idea, let's look at last year's travel for Dottore Aurelio Zingaro based in Zurich, Switzerland. His employers insist he flies on Swissair while traveling on business, so he's registered for the airline's program, called "TravelClub". Dottore Zingaro's Business Travel | Date | Route | Miles flown | Class | Bonus | Total miles | | 10-13 May | Oslo return | 1480 | Economy | - | 1480 | | 16-20 July | San Francisco return | 9600 | Business | + 50% | 14400 | | 05-07 Sep | Istanbul return | 1780 | Economy | - | 1780 | | 06 Nov | Bogota one way (outbound) | 4850 | First | + 100% | 9700 | | 09 Nov | Bogota one way (inbound) | 4850 | Business | + 50% | 7275 | Dottore Zingaro has accumulated 34,635 miles while travelling on business. Although these miles were paid for by his company, they are in his own name and his company lets him use them as he chooses. Swissair gives many awards for miles. Dottore Zingaro decides to take advantage of two of them. The first is a partner ticket, enabling his wife to join him on his next business trip to Casablanca in December. The second bonus is a free upgrade when he next flies on a European route in economy. He will probably save this bonus for his longest flight (eg, next time he flies to Istanbul) as the upgrade costs the same amount of miles regardless of the length of flight. How he spends his miles: | Date | Award | Cost in Miles | 34635 | | 12-16 Dec | Partner ticket to Casablanca | 15000 | 19635 | | 05-07 Feb | Upgrade from economy to business class to Istanbul | 5000 | 14635 | | | Miles Left | 14635 | The air traveler has 14,635 miles left in his account to add to or spend (or, 'redeem') in the future. Most airlines' websites have a section where frequent flyers can check their accounts.
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