Mileage Pro The Insider's Guide to Frequent Flyer Programs

THE TYPICAL FREQUENT TRAVELER PARTICIPATES in five or more airline and hotel programs. Within any one of those programs, opportunities to earn miles and points have multiplied beyond most individuals’ abilities to keep pace. And the programs are constantly evolving, revising their policies, adding and losing partners, and sometimes even merging with other programs.

Still, as discussed at length in chapter 13 (Converting Miles and Points into Money), frequent flyer miles do have value, and anything with value is worth keeping track of. Therein lies the problem: How DOES the traveler keep track?

The type and extent of that tracking will—or should—depend on how actively a traveler pursues miles, as well as on how many programs in which he or she is enrolled.

What to Track

First, it is worth reviewing what should merit managing.

Consider the following:

Confirm That Miles Are Posted
While no industrywide figures are available, it is generally believed that more than 10 percent of all miles earned are never posted to a member’s account. In some cases, the program’s partners fail to capture the member’s name or account number, or they fail to communicate the transaction to the program operator. In other cases, the program operator is the culprit, neglecting to credit the member’s account with legitimately earned miles.

Such lapses are all but inevitable, even when travelers do their part to ensure their names and membership numbers are recorded for each mileage qualifying transaction. Because of this, consumers should make sure that all miles are posted. That means reconciling their accounts by retaining receipts or other records of mileage eligible transactions.
If miles or points fail to post, follow the program’s instructions (which can be found on the program’s Web site) for securing the missing credit.

Monitor Progress Toward Award Thresholds
Whether the goal is a quick coach flight to Toledo to visit Aunt Mary or a once-in-a-lifetime first class trip for two around the world with deluxe accommodations, be sure to keep track of your progress to get to the desired end.

To be prudent, continually reassess your travel goals. In light of the recent devaluation of frequent flyer miles and because of the financial instability roiling the airline industry, we recommend that travelers shift out of hoarding mode. In other words: Plan to use your miles sooner than later. Saving miles for travel during retirement—a common strategy—is a very risky proposition. (But for those of you who do save your miles, have comfort in knowing that one of Mileage Pro’s authors, Randy Petersen, is also saving his for retirement.)

Maintaining awareness of the number of miles remaining to be earned permits frequent flyers to prioritize their travels and mileage redemption activities with an eye toward reaching their objective, whether that be free flights, elite perks or other coveted rewards.

Having achieved a targeted award, members should consider their next steps. What about another award or upgrade in the same program? Or perhaps it is time to start earning miles or hotel points in a different program that is a better fit for your earning or award priorities?

Monitor Progress Toward Earning Elite Status
If there is even a remote possibility of attaining elite status in an airline program (typically requiring 25,000 elite qualifying miles during a calendar year) then that is a goal a traveler should strive to achieve.

How many miles must I still earn in order to reach elite status? Which airlines can I fly in order to earn elite status in a particular program? In short, is it realistic to set elite status as a goal? And if it is, what is your plan for achieving it?
Frequent flyers should ask themselves: Now that I have reached entry-level elite status, should I now aim for the next tier? (As discussed in the chapter on elite status on page 98, there is an argument to be made for targeting elite status in a second program rather than striving for a higher elite tier in your primary program.)

Mileage Expiration Dates
Miles should never be allowed to expire. Period. That said consider this caveat: Because of the harsh expiration rules of Southwest, JetBlue and other discount carriers that terminate miles after just one or two years, we cannot say categorically that miles are only lost through inattention. Sometimes the loss is unavoidable.

With a generally liberal mileage expiration policy, miles get a new lease on life every time a single mile is earned or redeemed during a three-year period. Thus, miles in primary accounts—which are by definition active accounts—should not be at risk.

Miles most in danger of expiring are those in programs that are infrequently used. Those relatively inactive accounts should be regularly monitored for any impending expiration dates and action should be taken before the miles are terminated. For more information on expiring miles and points see chapter 15.

Stay Abreast of Promotions
One key to making the most of loyalty program participation is to take advantage of the myriad of double, triple and other multi-mile bonus promotions consistently offered by the airlines, hotels and their partners.

There are opportunities to earn miles for many, if not most, everyday transactions. Additionally, many loyalty programs’ partners will offer limited time bonuses such as double miles in American’s program for renting from Avis or a free night certificate for new Marriott Rewards Visa card customers. Do not miss the bonus boat!

Program Changes
For better and for worse, loyalty programs are ever changing: In response to competitive pressures, in response to member feedback, and in response to economic cycles and business priorities.

It is worth reiterating that the fine print in the Terms & Conditions of every major loyalty program contains verbiage to the following effect: It is the member’s responsibility to know and remain current with the program’s rules, policies and operations.

That is not just a legal disclaimer. It is also good advice.

Staying Informed
Begin with the source: the airlines and hotels that sponsor the programs.
In fact, travelers can go a long way toward managing their program participation by simply reading the materials published by the programs themselves.

Driven by the impetus to both enhance service (by keeping members current) and to reduce costs (by reducing reliance on human customer service) airlines and hotels have digitized their programs, posting everything from Terms & Conditions to award catalogues on their Web sites. Additionally, account statements and promotional announcements are distributed via e-mail.

Sometimes, the airlines even offer bonus miles to encourage members to sign up to receive e-mail communications. Alaska Airlines, for instance, recently offered Mileage Plan members 500 miles to subscribe to their member e-mail newsletter.

Some programs still send account statements via regular mail to members with recent activity, but more frequently, programs only provide statements by e-mail.

Whether online or on paper, a program’s member communications is a must-read.

Mileage Management Software
For a number of mileage management activities, some software applications are specifically designed to make those chores both quicker and easier.

In the early days of the airline programs, the killer application for mileage trackers was a Lotus spreadsheet, with rows and columns depicting miles earned and redeemed in a traveler’s preferred programs. But it was an imperfect solution because the information was only as current as the most recently mailed account statement (paper only in those days). The data had to be manually transferred from each statement onto the spreadsheet.

As can be said of so much else in travel, “the Internet changed all that.” Today, in place of a homemade mileage spreadsheet, we have mileage tracking software that provides users with up-to-the-minute summaries of their miles, in one consolidated statement—immediately available with a single user name and password.

Users provide information on their frequent flyer accounts (member number and PIN) and grant limited power of attorney to the software’s mileage manager to access their accounts. The software sends out digital agents over the Internet to “scrape” account information from airline and hotel Web sites. And the captured information—miles earned and redeemed, elite status levels and more—is then brought back and pasted into a master template.

Following are examples of several reputable mileage tracking software programs.

MileageManager (www.mileagemanager.com) consolidates statements from all major airline and hotel programs, plus those of American Express Membership Rewards and Diners Club Club Rewards. In addition to basic account information, this site lists program rules and bonus offers, and has an e-mail notification feature for program updates. Cost: $14.95 per year. [1]

MileageMiner (www.maxmiles.com) offers much the same functionality as MileageManager. Cost: $29.95 per year (after a free 90-day trial offer).

MileTracker (usatoday.deskport.biz) takes a different approach. Rather than storing the user’s account information on a remote server, this data is kept on the user’s own computer. Sponsored by USA Today, MileTracker is free.

Basic online account aggregators are also offered by several major banking and financial services companies. While these are designed principally to provide users with a comprehensive picture of their financial situation—assets from savings, checking and brokerage accounts, and debits from credit cards, mortgages and other loans—they also allow for detailed tracking of travel rewards programs. In fact, to the extent that frequent flyer miles have value and are currency-like, the logic of monitoring reward accounts alongside banking and other dollar denominated accounts is compelling. Your Delta SkyMiles balance alongside your mortgage account details, alongside your Citibank MasterCard account, alongside your Starwood Preferred Guest points balance... all your assets (and liabilities) in one place! In some cases you must be a customer of the banking or financial services company, but no extra charge is imposed for using the online account managers offered by the likes of Fidelity Investments (called Full View), Citibank (called My Accounts Aggregation) and Bank of America (called My Portfolio)—all, incidentally, provided by Yodlee.

Independent Sources of Information and Advice
Last, but hardly least, mileage earners are privy to a number of independent publications devoted specifically to helping consumers stay abreast of frequent traveler program developments. Some are written and published by the authors and publisher of this book (as noted below).

Web sites

• WebFlyer.com is a self-described “information portal for frequent flyer news, promotions, services, interactive features and much more.” [1]
• InsideFlyer.com is the online version of InsideFlyer magazine. [1]
• FlyerTalk.com is without question the largest, busiest online travel forum on the Internet. Although this site started with a strict focus on discussions of mileage related topics, it has expanded to cover other aspects of travel as well, including cruises, traveling with children and airport security. [1]
• FrequentFlier.com features coverage of the latest promotions and program changes as well as commentary and advice on managing miles and points. Also popular on the site is a discussion area dubbed the FrequentFlier Forum. [2]
• While SmarterTravel.com is not exclusively focused on miles and points, the site covers the topic with regularly updated news and advice. Its nifty database-driven search tool displays promotional offers categorized by program and partner.
• FrequentFlyer.oag.com lists monthly program reward promotions and offers periodic Mileage Q&As on subjects such as airline bankruptcy, credit card miles, and miles and points redemption strategies. The site also has a free biweekly e-newsletter (OAG Frequent Flyer Update) that provides loyalty program deals and Mileage Q&As. [3]
• Links to these and other Web sites can be found in the Resources for Mileage Junkies chapter on page 183.

E-mail Newsletters
Three e-mail newsletters provide news, information and advice specifically for participants in frequent travel programs. They are:

• The FrequentFlier Crier (weekly) [2]
• MilesLink (weekly) [1]
• MileAlert (published biweekly by SmarterTravel.com).

All three free newsletters cover loyalty program changes, promotions and best practices.

Again, links to these and other general travel-oriented newsletters appear in the Resources for Mileage Junkies chapter.

The Magazine
InsideFlyer is the only printed publication of its type: a monthly magazine devoted exclusively to coverage of travel awards programs. A subscription is $45 per year. [1]

The Frequent Flyer Guide
Another print publication, The Official Frequent Flyer Guidebook, contains more than 400 pages of detailed terms and conditions on 30-plus major loyalty programs. Cost: $14.95. [1]

REMEMBER THIS:

• Never assume that miles will be properly posted to your account. Often they are not. Retain receipts and boarding passes until you have confirmed that miles were credited to your account.
• Stay abreast of program changes and limited time promotions. Read the newsletters and other materials sent out by your programs as well as those from independent publishers.
• And do not forget to register to receive bonuses; now a requirement of most promotional offers.

[1] Part of the WebFlyer network owned by Randy Petersen, co-author of this book.
[2] Written and published by Tim Winship, co-author of this book.
[3] Published by Frequent Flyer magazine, which is owned by the publisher of this book, OAG Worldwide Inc.