Opinions on using Frequent Flier Points, Upgrades, etc.

[bonniejoy03]

I was interested in getting some feedback on your opinions on using frequent flier points. The points have become so difficult to use lately. I have heard that some people buy a regular seat and then use the points to upgrade to first class. Anyone try this strategy? Also, any information on how to maximize your frequent flier points? Is there any particular airline that you believe has the best program?Does anyone recommend an airline credit cardvs. a credit card thatcan be used on any airline? Thanks for any feedback. We thought we were "managing" our points until we talked to others and found many other strategies.

[disneygal]

Hi Bonniejoy03,

This is something I grapple with also, so I'm interested to hear opinions of others on this board.

I used to be loyal to Delta, and had the Delta AmEx affinity card. We took many trips using both Delta and partner airlines in exchange for SkyMiles. When Delta went into bankruptcy, seats in exchange for miles were very scarce (even when attempting to book the moment seats were supposedly made available). I then switched to the Starwood AmEx affinity card. You can use the points for hotel stays, as well as trade for airline miles. If you trade 20,000 points for airline miles, they toss in an extra 5,000. So far I have done this once, trading for AA miles for an upcoming trip to the Virgin Islands. AA seems to have pretty good availability for FF seats.

Personally, I would rather take another trip than use the miles to upgrade, but if I had more miles to burn that would be a good option.

[claassenam]

Great question and information! I am a devoted United frequent flier, I use the United Mileage Plus Visa for pretty much everything and I always fly United. Not that I think United is the world's greatest airline or anything, but that's just where I ended up and it's so hard to switch to another carrier once you've hit the Premier Status or comparable with any airline. I do like that United or its partners fly pretty much anywhere and they have a pretty good business class layout.



I have always read and heard that miles are more valuable when spent for upgrades than for the actual economy class ticket, so that's where I apply my miles. Think about it: an international economy ticket anywhere can generally be found for about $1000. Business class tickets are generally $3000 or so, so the same amount of miles can buy about $2000 worth of upgrades vs. $1000 worth of tickets. For a 12-18 hour flight, that's pretty important to me. It's also much easier to find availability that way.



So far all of my recent international flights have been flown in business class, upgraded after the purchase of a higher-fare economy ticket. It works out well, I think. Plus, I'm still earning miles toward elite status whereas if I used miles for a free ticket I wouldn't receive any mileage credit.



That said, I keep hearing that the Starwood Credit Card is the way to go if you haven't already devoted yourself to a particular airline's mileage program. The benefits are excellent, and they provide the flexibility that so many airlines would not. It's a lot more difficult, however, to attain elite mileage status with any particular airline when you aren't continuously flying with them. The elite status may not be important to you, but when looking for free tickets and upgrades that little card can help a lot.



As I said, I am an exclusive United flier but I think what I said applies to any of the US carriers in terms of earning miles and upgrades.


Message Edited by claassenam on 07-18-2007 10:14 AM

[parisann]

I have tried to use the airline credit cards, but it just didn't seem as flexible as using Chase credit card. I earn points through chase credit card and I can fly any airline, get hotel stays or choosecash back. It gives me a lot more flexibility on what I want to do. Especially now a days you can use your credit card for almost everything, like phone bills, electric bills, etc.... It's easier than using airline credit card.

[bonniejoy03]

Parisann: Can you use the Chase credit card to fly any airline with no blackouts? Has anyone gone with this option? We are so loyal to AA and USair and have both of their credit cards. We do rotate back and forth depending on upcoming trips, points, etc. I know we should probably use just one. Well, for our Anguilla trip, I also just check USair miles right when the time period opened (330 days?). ALL THE SEATS WERE GONE at the 30,000 mile level to St. Maarten!! How could that be? 60,000 mile trips were available of course but I usually don't carry that many points. AA seems much better with their availability of free tickets. So, with all of that said, would it make sense to use a card that isn't affiliated with an airline. I guess the problem would be your flying points don't get added to your shoppping points. Help.

[kyshel]

Bonnie and all who've posted: Good info here!!
I'll add that even though I have employee/spouse flight perks, I've amassed 6 figures of miles with Delta. I have very little use except when planning a trip to Asia, where I can utilize partner travel (at lower mileage rates, I must add). This will come in handy to get from the farthest Delta point to Bali for our dream trip on LL this fall. Hopefully, in business class! Delta upgrade fees range from 5-30K miles pending fares (full or select).

I've also earned thousands of $ off cruises with NCL on their no-fee Mastercard--and the certificates are redeemable any time within 3 years and used as cash to pay for cruises (or upgrades but those are usually available by asking or thru promos) The sad part of NCL's system is that their cruises are severely limited for our tastes (our favorite ship blew up and sails no more!) Most of our cruises were free fare plus taxes. We will probably use their partner, Orient Line, for our last $2000.
I'll wait until we get more tips here and make a well-informed decision to earn better benefits on something else besides Amex. Keep the info flowing!
Thanks y'all!

[CMDAVILACLI]

Hi Bonniejoy03

I use my frequent flier miles all the time to purchase the lowest priced fare and then upgrade... it's much easier to use them up this way. Additionally, check out the option to use your miles to reduce your fare in half. United and Alaska do this and the amount of miles it takes to cut your fare in half is minimal. My husband and I travel to Mexico all the timedoing this...with two of you flying and using miles to reduce the fare in half, itbasically ends up with oneseat paid and one seat free. I had a jillion miles on United, and last fall my son and I flew to Rome from the West Coast of the USA going first class. The trick is to book your flight using miles based on your return flight, and with United the soonest you can book out is 330 days in advance of your return flight. It's rather hard to plan that far in advance, but a least you get a seat! One has to be creative to use up miles when so often you hear, "I'm sorry, there are no seats available using miles because it's capacity controlled!"



cheers

[CMDAVILACLI]

One other thing... the Chase cards do double miles for paying college tution (and room/board etc) with their credit cards. This really adds up when paying 40K a year for college!

Cheers

Cathy

[lhbrown]

Hi CMDAVILACLI,
We too Fly United a lot US to Paris. Can you explain to me what you mean by "The trick is to book your flight using miles based on your return flight"? I usually book my flights using miles (50,000 to Europe) either on the United Mileage Plus web site, or by calling them. Have always had good luck in getting seats since we are usually traveling off-season, but have never heard about booking flights using miles based on return flight? Also, where do you see the feature of using miles and cash on UA to cut your fare in halve and still get the miles? I have seen this feature on AA but not on UA.

[omegaet]

We think most miles and points" programs, especially those associated with airlines, are almost unintelligible and purposely constructed and continually modified to ensure confusion and difficulty. Randy Petersen, published of Inside Flyer magazine and generally considered the consummate expert in frequently traveler programs, often writeshttp://www.iht.com/articles/2003/09/26/trfreq_ed3__0.php about the complications of using earned miles and points.

For many years, we have primarily used three domestic legacy carriers in the US and used their respective affiliate credit cards. We have also used AMEX as our business card forever.

Our best experience in capitalizing on the miles, has been to buy the lowest upgradeable fares and the utilized point and/or miles to move up a class in service. The process continues to become more and more difficult with airlines often reducing numbers of flights (in order to fill up as many seats as possible).the net results are fewer and fewer upgradeable seats available.

We do keep our eyes open for new international routes being open by our favorite carriers..the initial start up periods seem to offer greater opportunities to pick off upgradeable seats (we just took advantage of Delta's new service from Atlanta to Prague)before the masses arrive.