Frequent flyer miles have the ability to turn ordinary people into travel superheroes, allowing them to jet set around the world to their favorite destinations for almost free.
Paris, Sydney, Rome…take your pick.
Unfortunately, they are also one of the most misunderstood topics out there. Most of society wrongly believes the myths that surround frequent flyer miles.
But now, it’s time to debunk those myths and pull the veil of secrecy off frequent flyer miles so that more people can start traveling more and spending less!
#1. Frequent Flyer Miles Can Only be Earned Through Flying
This may seem ludicrous to anyone who has started earning frequent flyer miles, but this is exactly what I thought for the first 28 years of my life, and was the reason I never paid any attention to them before 3 years ago.
It’s also the #1 reason that 90% of people don’t take advantage of these wonderful opportunities.
They believe that large amounts of frequent flyer miles can only be accrued by people who travel all the time, and since they don’t travel all the time, there is no point in figuring them out.
WRONG, WRONG, WRONG, WRONG, WRONG!
In the last two years, I’ve accumulated over 2 million frequent flyer miles, and only 8,000 have come from flying. That’s right, less than 0.5%.
So how did I earn all these miles? There are many ways:
Credit Card Sign Up Bonuses
Credit card signup bonuses are far and away fastest way to earn large chunks of frequent flyer miles. The best cards will offer you 50,000 miles or more as a sign up, which is already enough for 2 roundtrip ticket in the US and almost enough to fly to Europe.
As long as you keep your credit score high, you’ll be able to take advantage of these opportunities over and over again.
Everyday Spending
You can also earn miles by using your credit card instead of paying cash or debit. Standard cards offer you 1 mile for every $1 you spend, but some of the better cards, like the Barclays Arriva card, offer 2x points per $1 spent.
Online Shopping
By using an online shopping portal, you can often earn huge bonuses for purchases from all types of brands.
For example, I was able to earn 10x points per $1 spent from Nike the other day.
Instead of going to the store and earning 100 points for $10o worth of Nike apparel, I went through the Chase Ultimate Reward Mall shopping portal and earned 1,000 points for the same $100.
Why run out to the store when you can sit in your pajamas and with one mouse click, order what you need.
Throughout the year, there will be various promotions that pop up, both big and small.
Usually, they only take a few minutes to complete, like a survey or a game, and can net you between a few hundred to a thousand miles a piece.
This is a nice, easy way to supplement the large chunks you get from credit card bonuses, spending, and online shopping.
Flying
And while flying obviously isn’t the ONLY way to earn frequent flyer miles, you should make sure that you are earning them if you do fly.
All you need to do is sign up for a free frequent flyer account with whatever airline you are flying with and give them your number when buying the ticket or when checking in.
#2. Every Mile You Earn Means That is a Mile You Can Fly
Another common mistake people make is thinking that if they earn 50,000 miles then they can fly 50,000 miles.
Unfortunately, it’s not quite as lucrative as that (but it’s still pretty good). Most airline’s frequent flyer programs operate on a zone-based award chart with fixed pricing.
For example, if you are flying from North America to Europe on American Airlines, you’ll pay 60,000 miles for a roundtrip ticket.
It doesn’t matter whether you are flying a relatively short flight like New York to London or a much lengthier one like San Francisco to Istanbul.
Because they both are going from the North American zone to the Europe zone, they will both cost 60k roundtrip in economy.
A zone based award chart allows you to get some tremendous value from your frequent flyer miles by using them for flights that normally would cost a lot to purchase, such as flights to obscure cities or flights that are longer in length.
#3. Frequent Flyer Miles Earn You a Completely Free Ticket
They say that nothing in life is free, and while this is true with frequent flyer miles, it can certainly come close.
When you use frequent flyer miles to get a ticket, you don’t pay the “price” of the ticket, but you are still responsible for paying the taxes and fees.
The amount of taxes and fees can vary wildly depending on what airline’s miles you are using and what airlines you are flying on.
This is why it’s imperative that you learn how to avoid the fuel surcharge that some airlines tack on, which can cost you up to $700.
But once you learn to avoid the fuel surcharge, you can book tickets like one of my most recent trips, a $2.50 ticket to Rio for the World Cup!
No, it’s not free…but I’ll take it!
#4. Frequent Flyer Miles Are Hard To Use
I absolutely love hearing this because it couldn’t be more untrue.
If you’ve met me, you know I’m not a genius, and if you haven’t, take my word for it.
Three years ago, I knew absolutely nothing about frequent flyer miles.
I had zero frequent flyer miles to my name.
And now, I’ve been able to not only earn 2 million miles for myself, but also help others earn well over 100 million miles!
That equates to a lot of travel!
But just because they aren’t hard, doesn’t mean that they are super easy at first glance.
Airlines make frequent flyer miles seem complicated and difficult because it’s in their best interest for people NOT to redeem them.
The less miles people actually redeem, the less money the airline pays out.
Luckily, there are plenty of resources out there that pull the veil of the world of frequent flyer miles and help people to get started immediately.
If you’re looking for all the information you need, jam packed in to one concise and convenient place, you’ll want to check out the Ultimate Guide to Frequent Flyer Miles, which is specifically designed to give you the tools you need to start earning and using frequent flyer miles in less than 3 hours.
That’s a really small price to pay for a lifetime of free travel!
#5. It’s Impossible To Find an Available Seat With Frequent Flyer Miles
While many people have never given frequent flyer miles a chance, there are a number of people who have tried to use frequent flyer miles before and then given up.
And the most common excuse I hear is that they can never find availability.
The simple reason: They can’t find availability because they are looking in the wrong spot!
Admittedly, finding award ticket availability is the hardest part of the whole process, and is the reason that courses such as Frequent Flyer Bootcamp exist.
Frequent Flyer Bootcamp is geared toward people who know how to earn frequent flyer miles, but don’t know the best ways to use them.
And one of the most integral parts of this is figuring out where to look for award ticket availability.
Most people assume that whatever airline they have miles with, they can go to that airline’s website and search for availability.
I have American Airlines miles, so I go to AA.com and search. If nothing shows up, then there’s nothing available.
But they are missing the crucial element of partner airlines, which allows you to fly on many more airlines than just the airline whose miles you have.
For example, if you have AA miles, you’re able to fly on any of the 13 members of the OneWorld alliance because AA is a member of that alliance. And you won’t find all of the partner availability showing up if you simply search on AA.com.
Simply put, frequent flyer miles are a currency. Just like other currencies out there, some are more valuable than others.
If someone offered you 1,000 US Dollars or 1,000 Japanese Yen, you’d check to see which one is worth more (Hint: It’s the US dollars by a 100:1 ratio).
The same theory holds true with frequent flyer miles. Just because one credit card offers 50,000 Amex points doesn’t mean it has the same value as another credit card that offers 50,000 Chase points.
Or 50,000 American Airlines miles.
Or 50,000 United miles.
In fact, the differences between how much they are worth can vary greatly.
This is because each airline has their own set of rules, which determines a number of things.
You want to check for:
How many miles an airline charges for you to fly from one place to another– use milez.biz to find out.
If they charge a fuel surcharge or not– check out my handy chart.
Frequent flyer miles are an absolutely wonderful tool that will allow you to literally travel the world for almost free.
Don’t be scared of figuring them out, because with just a few hours of “studying”, you’ll be given a pay off that lasts a life time.
If you’re ready to start (and why wouldn’t you be?), the first step is to figure out the best miles for you to earn. Then use all the tools at your disposal, from credit card sign ups to online shopping.
You’ll be rolling in frequent flyer miles in no time, and you’ll never pay for a flight again!
Welcome to the 2nd episode of the Extra Pack of Peanuts Travel Podcast!
In this episode, Trav answers some of the most frequently asked questions about frequent flyer miles so that you can start understanding them, earning them and traveling for free.
He also discusses why airline alliances are so important and the awesome power they hold, as well as the two types of award charts and how to maximize each.
If you’re someone who is somewhat or completely new to frequent flyer miles this podcast is tailor-made for you.
It will help cut through all the confusion that you may have and answer some of the more basic questions about frequent flyer miles (and many of the questions that I didn’t know when I first started out).
If you are a veteran, don’t worry, there are also some tips and tricks available for you as well, as I’ll then talk about airline alliances, why they are so great for the consumer, and then discuss which award charts work best when.
In this session you’ll discover:
The basic concept of frequent flyer miles.
A brief history of frequent flyer miles and how they’ve grown in the last 20 years.
Why airlines continue to offer frequent flyer miles.
What the term “mile” really means.
How an airline alliance works and the three major alliances.
The difference between a zone-based and distance-based award chart.
The best ways to maximize each type of award chart.
A big thanks to everyone who has checked out this episode of the podcast.
If you haven’t already done so, I would love it if you took a minute to leave a quick rating and review of the podcast on iTunes by clicking on the link below! It is extremely important to help the show grow!
Thanks again for all the support, and if you have an idea for an episode or something you want to see discussed, please leave it in the comments below.
Want to go to Hawaii, London, or Tokyo using frequent flyer miles? No sweat. All the alliances fly there, and fly there often. In fact, you’ll most likely have your pick of partners.
But what about trying to get to a more remote destination, like the Maldives?
This is where using frequent flyer miles can take a bit of work and planning.
And while it might be a bit of a pain, I’m guessing it will all be worth it once you see this:
I’ll be using the Maldives, one of the world’s hardest spots to travel to, as an example. However, this step by step process can be used for any destination you wish to travel to.
Step 1: Use Wikipedia to Find Out What Airlines Fly in To The Airport
We all know Wikipedia is an invaluable resource for basically anything, and it doesn’t disappoint here. If I’m not familiar with an airport and what airlines fly there, I always first turn to Wikipedia.
Here is the list for airlines flying in and out of Male International Airport (MLE), the main airport in the Maldives.
Step 2: Figure Out Which Airlines You Can Use
Most of the airlines on the list above aren’t of interest to us because they aren’t part of an airline alliance.
What you’ll need to do is figure out which airlines are part of one of the three major alliances: OneWorld, Star Alliance, and Skyteam.
If you’re not a complete frequent flyer nerd (what, you don’t have them memorized?), head back to Wikipedia to see a list of all 3 airline alliance members.
Here are the airlines flying in to Male, broken down by alliance:
OneWorld: British Airways, Malaysia Airlines, Qatar (joining late 2013), SriLankan Airlines (joining late 2013)
Star Alliance: Austrian, Singapore Airlines, Turkish
Skyteam: Aeroflot, China Eastern Air, China Southern, KoreanAir
Step 3: Determine How Many Frequent Flyer Miles it Will Cost
This step is easy. Simply head to milez.biz and plug in your starting point and your destination.
Check to see if any of the carriers happen to be cheaper than the others.
For Philadelphia (PHL) to Male (MLE), United, USAirways and Delta costs 80k roundtrip in economy or 120k in business, whereas American Airlines costs 90k and 135k.
Step 4: Take Inventory of Your Points and Consider Transfer Partners
Now that you know how much it costs for each airline to fly to your destination, you’ve got to figure out if you have enough points to get there.
Don’t forget to consider points, such as Chase, American Express, or Starwood Preferred Guests (SPG), that you can transfer to airlines.
Here’s a sweet infographic about what points transfer to what airlines:
(courtesy of idoru at Flyertalk)
Since I’m looking at flying using United, USAirways, AA, or Delta miles, I have the following transfer options:
Chase points –> United.
American Express points —> Delta or USAirways (if you use a work-around).
SPG points —> AA, Delta, USAirways
After considering transfers, determine which airlines you’ll have enough miles in.
Step 5: Check for Flight Availability
Now, for the (sometimes) hard part. Luckily, there are some good tools out there to make it easier.
The first place to start is Award Nexus, you can get a free login by using your Flyertalk login on this page. This site is great because it allows you to search across all three alliances, but it can be a bit complicated to use
Of course, there will be plenty of times where you won’t find availability right away.
If you are not finding availability with Award Nexus, here are a few tricks to try:
2. For more complicated itineraries, such as PHL to MLE, you may need to search in segments. The computer systems may not be able to handle a request with so many layovers.
In this case, if I was looking for OneWorld flights, I’d search from PHL to Kuala Lumpur (KUL), since I know Malaysia Airlines flies from KUL to MLE. Then, I’d search separately for the KUL to MLE route.
3. Look for routes from other close airports. For example, I may choose to look for flights from New York (JFK, EWR, LGA) since there are many more international flights from those airports than PHL.
Check the bigger airports in your area, as they will often have a lot more availability, especially for long international flights.
Step 6: Book Your Tickets
After finding the flights you want, write down all the information, including times, flights numbers, and the airports you are flying from and going to.
Most likely, you won’t be able to recreate the tickets on the airline’s website whose miles you are using, so you’ll have to call the airline directly and spoonfeed them the information you’ve found.
For example, the two flights I found on AwardTravelr above from PHL-MLE would not show up when I searched for them on USAirways or United’s websites. Depending on what miles I decided to use, I’d have to call up that airline and book the tickets over the phone.
While I usually fly economy class, I would consider splurging and flying business for this trip. With 28+ hours of total flying plus numerous layovers, the extra comfort and lounge access during the layovers would probably be worth it.
Final Word(s)
Using frequent flyer miles to get to some destinations, especially remote places like the Maldives, can sometimes be difficult.
However, if you follow the six steps above, you should be able to use your frequent flyer miles for any dream destination you have, no matter how far away it is.
What are some of the tricks you have for using frequent flyer miles to get to remote destinations? What are some of the more obscure places you have traveled to? Inspire us in the comments below!
The Maximize Your Miles series will teach you how to squeeze the most possible value out of your frequent flyer miles by getting free one-ways and taking 3 vacations for the price of 1!
Additionally, United’s rules when dealing with stopovers and open jaws are (fairly) simple and straightforward. If you’ve read parts 2 and 3 of Maximize Your Miles you know how convoluted the rules can be on American Airlines and USAirways, so luckily, United makes life a little easier.
Let’s take a look at their main rules, build an incredible sample itinerary using a stopover and open jaw and then talk about an awesome “trick” you can use to score a free one-way ticket to anywhere in North America (including the Caribbean).
Rule #1: United does not allow stopovers or open jaws on domestic tickets
This is standard procedure for all airlines, with the lone exception being Delta. Therefore, everything we will be talking about from here on out will deal with international itineraries.
Rule #2: United does not allow stopovers or open jaws on one-way tickets
The fact that United allows you to book one-way tickets with your frequent flyer miles is a good thing (remember, USAirways doesn’t allow one-way tickets).
The major downside is that you can’t take advantage of the perks of stopovers or open jaws if you book a one-way ticket.
Another difference between United and USAirways is that United representatives are not near as lenient as their Star Alliance counterparts over at USAirways. You can try to bend the rules at United (after all, it never hurts to try) but the odds are that you won’t get a rep that will let you break this rule.
If you want a stopover or open jaw, you’re going to have to book roundtrip.
Rule #3: United allows 1 stopover and 2 open jaws on roundtrip international tickets
This is where United has AA beat hands down. Let’s first look at the stopover, build a simple routing, and then add in the open jaws and get a little crazier!
The stopover
The stopover can occur in any city that is within your route, meaning you don’t have to worry about having your stopover happen at a “North American gateway city” like AA.
If you are flying to somewhere in Europe, you can have your stopover in another European city before continuing on to your destination, which basically means the possibilities are endless.
For example, a basic itinerary could look like this:
Going: New York to London (stopover) to Paris (destination)
Return: Paris to New York
On AA, you couldn’t stop in London because its not in North America, but with United, it doesn’t matter. You can stop in any city that United or its partners on Star Alliance flies to that is on a somewhat reasonable route to your final destination.
Since this is ALOT, the world is your oyster!
Adding in the first open jaw
You may think you’d be content with getting to visit two cities on one award ticket, but remember, we are all about MAXIMIZATION!
Why visit two when you can visit three?
Let’s keep the original plan of flying New York-London (stopover)- Paris (destination). But now, instead of simply flying Paris-New York on the return leg, we want to add in an open jaw. This means that we will arrive in Paris but we will leave out of another city for our return leg.
Rome sound enticing to anyone? Now, our itinerary would look like this:
New York-London (stopover)-Paris (destination)
Return flight: Rome-New York
Of course, you’d be responsible for making your own way to Rome, but this is easily done, especially in Europe, where you can fly budget airlines between cities for less than $100 or simply take a train.
If you found that it would cost more to make your own way between Paris and Rome than it would be make your own way between London and Rome (which could be the case since Ryanair offers some amazing deals out of London), you could always flip flop your stopover and open jaw and book this itinerary:
New York-London (destination) then open jaw
Return flight: Rome-Paris (stopover)- New York
Either way, you’d have to pay your own way to get between the open jaw cities, but this is easily done, especially in Europe, and it allows you add in a completely other city for a fraction of the cost.
Trick: How to get a free one-way ticket to anywhere in North America
Ok, so you’re happy with your itinerary, but you know that you still have another open jaw, and you have really taken the “maximize, maximize, maximize” mantra to heart, so you don’t want to waste the second open jaw.
First, I’ll start with the bad news: If you want to be able to use your second open jaw, you are going to have to give up your stopover in Europe so that you can “save” it for later.
But, there’s plenty of good news: The reward is free one-way ticket to anywhere in the North American region, which includes the US (minus Hawaii) and Canada (or a super discounted ticket elsewhere).
Here’s what you can do:
You can still use your first open jaw in Europe, as you originally planned, so let’s continue with our original itinerary. We’d now book something like this for the European part of our journey:
New York-London (destination) then open jaw
Return: Paris-New York
Since we still have a stopover and an open jaw left, we can call New York our stopover city (and stay there for up to a year) and then add on an extra leg to anywhere in the North America region, which includes the continental US, Alaska, and Canada. You’ve always dreamed of seeing Alaska, right?
Our full itinerary would look like this:
New York-London (destination) then open jaw
Return: Paris-New York (stopover for up to a year)- Anchorage (final destination)
You are now using your one open jaw in between London and Paris, your stopover in New York, and your second open jaw to have Anchorage as your ultimate ending point even though you originally flew out of New York.
All you’d have to do is get yourself a ticket home from Anchorage (which will cost 12.5k miles one way) and you not only a European vacation visiting 2 amazing cities but also an Alaskan adventure.
And all for the price of one award ticket!
Other options for your free one-way ticket
The above example shows how to get a free one-way ticket to Alaska (or anywhere else in the North American region) but what if you want to go somewhere else? That’s also possible.
For wherever you’d like to go, simply sub out Anchorage in the above example and add in the place you desire.
Instead of charging you for separate tickets (North America-Europe roundtrip plus North America-2nd region one-way), United will simply charge you the difference between the two regions, which is alot less.
Caribbean
For example, if you’d rather your free one-way get you to the Caribbean, you’d simply book your return leg to go there. An example would be:
New York- London (destination) then open jaw
Return: Paris-New York (stopover)- Grand Cayman (final destination)
Since United’s award chart actually charges you less to fly from the Caribbean to Europe than North America to Europe, you’ll actually only pay 57,500 miles for this ticket as opposed to the 60,000 you’d pay if you ended your trip in North America (like the above example to Anchorage).
If you were to book these tickets separately, you’d pay 60k for your roundtrip ticket from North American to Europe and then 17.5k for a one-way ticket from North America to the Caribbean.
Instead, you are saving 20k miles by making New York a stopover and Grand Cayman your final destination.
Hawaii
Same rules apply. You’d book:
New York-London (destination) then open jaw
Return: Paris-New York (stopover)-Honolulu
Your total cost in miles would run 62,500.
You’d be getting charged an additional 2,500 miles because Europe to Hawaii prices out at 32,500 as opposed to 30,000 for Europe to North America region, but you are still saving a ton. If you were to book this as two separate awards, you’d pay 80k (60k for Europe to NA roundtrip and 20k for NA to Hawaii one-way).
South America
You can do the same thing with South America. An example would be:
New York-London (destination) then open jaw
Paris-New York (stopover)- Buenos Aires (final destination)
The final price for this itinerary would be 77,500 miles.
If you were to book these seperately, you’d spend 90k total (60k from New York to Europe and then an additional 30k for a one-way from New York to Buenos Aires). By using the stopover trick, you’re saving 12,500 miles!
Free one-way vs. stopover in Europe: Which should you choose?
Determining whether you should book a free one-way ticket or keep your extra stopover in Europe is a good problem to have, and in the end, it comes down to preference. If your one-way falls in the North American region, both awards will price out the same, at 60k miles apiece.
With the stopover in Europe, we were able to build an itinerary that looked like this:
New York-London (stopover)-Paris then open jaw
Rome-New York
With the free one-way, we would have an intinerary like this:
New York-London then open jaw
Paris-New York (stopover)-Anchorage
Each is a great trip, so just decide whether you’d enjoy visiting an extra city in Europe or getting a free trip out to somewhere in North America later on. Either way, you’re making out like a bandit and taking a trip that you could probably have only dreamed about before.
How To Book Stopovers and Open Jaws on United
The second best thing about booking stopovers and open jaws with United (behind being allowed to stopover at basically any city) is that you can do it all online.
Unlike American Airlines and USAirways, whose computer systems are stuck in the era of Zubaz pants and Fraggle Rock, United has decided to join the rest of us in the new millenium and has a system that is not only highly functional but also user-friendly.
You’ll quickly get the hang of it once you do it once, but for those people who are new to booking with United, especially when using stopovers and open jaws, I’ve created a short video tutorial:
Still Confused? Have Questions?
If you’ve read through and are thinking:
Stopovers and open jaws are awesome, I want to use them…but I’m still confused as heck about how to actually do it!
Don’t worry, you’re not alone!
I’ll walk you through, step by step, every single thing you need to do to learn about and book stopovers, open-jaws, and free one-ways. I’ve spent hundred of hours creating the #1 place for people who want to become EXPERTS at booking awards and maximizing their miles and want to do it fast!
4 weeks, and you’ll be an EXPERT, guaranteed! And you’ll be saving yourself $1,000’s of dollars!
Interested? Check out the Frequent Flyer Bootcamp page for more information. I look forward to whipping your butt in class!
Stopovers and open jaws can be an incredibly powerful tool to help you put together a vacation of a lifetime, and on no airline is this more apparent than United, which allows a ton of freedom in which choosing which city to stopover in. Add in the fact that you are able to add a free one-way for a later date and really, the possibilities are endless!
I would highly recommend that everyone consider using these to your advantage if you are booking a roundtrip ticket with your United frequent flyer miles.
The fact that you don’t even have to call in and book the tickets but instead can play around on United’s system till your heart’s content to figure out what works for you means that you really have no excuse.
So, what are you waiting for? Remember: MAXIMIZE, MAXIMIZE, MAXIMIZE!
Questions, comments, and unabashed bragging of the awesome trips you’ve booked is all welcome below. Fire away folks!
If you haven’t already, check out the other awesome Maximize Your Mile posts:
