Maximize the Value of Your Miles and Points

Figuring out the best ways to spend your miles and points ismore difficult for many than finding cheaptravel options such as cheap airplane tickets, cheap fares, cheapdeals, discounthotel rooms, cheap auto rentals, discounttravel deals, and cheap vacation packages.

The following are ways to best use this often confusing formof currency, according to Avital Andrews:

• Bookinga free flight is a common use of miles and/or points. Experts contend that it is a waste of milesto use them to purchase quick, cheap flights, when compared to redeeming them forexpensive international flights. Bestvalue can be attained by booking early and calling the airline to learn aboutflights that might not show up on the Internet. Many travelers are unaware that airlines frequently hold back part oftheir inventory from websites, including even their own.

  Look into buying one way flights withpoints/miles so that you can secure your outbound flight before your returndate is even available to book. Airlinesoffer their mileage seats in limited quantities around 330 days before thedeparture date. This approach has theadded advantage, that if you hold miles with multiple airlines, you may departon one airline and return on another.

  It pays to know which airlines are in whichalliance. For example, British Airways,a partner of American Airlines Alaska Airlines, and US Airways charges only4,500 Avios points for direct flights of less than 650 miles. Expensive flights like New York to Toronto,Miami to Nassau, or Chicago to New York often cost at least $400 per ticket butcan be had for very few miles. BritishAirways only charges 12,500 Avios points to fly American or Alaska Airlinesfrom the West Coast to Hawaii.

  Delta Air Lines is the most difficultairline for booking flights with points. Delta recently reduced mileage earnings for 90 percent of their travelersand nearly doubled the cost.

• The bestvalue to be derived from redeeming frequent flier miles is almost always usingthem to upgrade to business or first class tickets on internationalflights. The next best use is redeemingmiles for first class tickets within North America.

• Considermaking a free stopover when your free ticket requires making a connection. For example, Hong Kong is a great city tovisit for a few days, and convenient if your original trip required a layoverthere. Alaska Airlines allows a stopovereven on a one-way redemption. UnitedAirlines allows free stopovers on international round-trip awards. American and Delta have eliminated stopoversfrom their programs.

• Givingsomeone close to you who is approaching a milestone (such as a honeymoon, arecent graduate, expectant parents) an unforgettable gift of free travel is agreat use of miles/points. Anotherapproach would be to take someone with you on an upcoming, already plannedtrip. A less obvious way to use miles tomake someones day by redeeming miles to send flowers. Several airlines via their websites offermembers the ability to redeem miles for flowers.

• Considerbidding on an experience. Sold outevents, meet and greets backstage, and cooking classes from celebrity chefs arejust a few examples of things that the average person cant arrange on his own,but big travel companies can pull off. Auctionsfor experiences tend to offer especially good value since most people do notknow about them which means that fewer people bid on them. American, Delta, Hilton and Starwood all letmembers bid on admission to concerts, sports events, and movie premieres.

• Anotheruse for miles/points is to redeem them for merchandise. Experts caution that the best value for milesand points is for products that a program offers, not what it has to buy. Airlines tend to allow members to redeempoints for merchandise such that the value of each mile ends up being about onecent or less.

  Still, if your miles will expire soon or youdo not have time to take a trip, or you only have a small amount of miles,redeeming them for something small, say a magazine subscription is an effectiveway to clean out a balance that would otherwise go unused, or to generateaccount activity so that your remaining miles do not expire. Be aware that around the holidays airlinesoften increase the value of their points by as much as 40 percent when redeemedfor merchandise.

• Donatingyour miles to charity is a good way to use miles that you were not planning onredeeming. Experts though point out thatthe average traveler would do more good using the miles himself and then takingthe money saved on travel and giving that to the charity instead.

• Lookinto reserving a hotel room or renting a car or even purchasing a vacationpackage with miles/points.

• If youown a business, consider turning your miles into employee perks which can makeyour employees happier, more loyal, and more productive.