While many fly because of the availability of cheap travel options, including cheap airplane tickets and discount hotel rooms, or cheap vacation packages, a nice side benefit (namely free tickets) can be realized by signing up for a frequent flier program.
When deciding which frequent flier to sign up for, travelers often ask which program is best. The answer is that the best program varies depending on the flying habits of the individual traveler. You should participate in the program which allows you to earn the largest amount of miles most easily.
The following are factors to consider:
Your departing airport will influence which airlines program is best for you. Certain airlines (such as Delta out of Atlanta) tend to operate more flights out of a given airport to more destinations than any other airline. American would usually be the preferred airline for travelers flying out of Dallas, St. Louis, or Miami. US Airways is dominant out of Phoenix, Pittsburg and Las Vegas. United is strongest out of Chicago and Denver.
When multiple airlines appear to fly somewhat equally out of your departing airport then you need to identify which airlines most frequently flies to a destination that you commonly fly to.
Stay focused on what you would like to purchase with frequent flier miles. If your home city is Denver and your goal is free travel to Hawaii, you need to be aware that Frontier operates no flights to Hawaii and has no program partners that do either. In this example, you would want to maximize your miles with United.
When your travel patterns by themselves do not indicate whom you should try to fly most frequently, remember that the airline which flies the most destinations for earning and redeeming miles should be preferred.
Often major airlines flying out of the same departure city to the same destination city will frequently offer comparable prices. In such cases things such as which airline flies the most non-stop flights and/or who uses roomier airplanes should be considered in deciding your preferred airline.
If you believe that you will earn a meaningful portion of your miles by using a credit card reward program, you may want to bypass airline credit card programs in favor of a card linked to an independent rewards program.
The main advantage of independent credit card programs is that typically they do not have blackout periods and you know up front that your miles are equal to one cent per mile and that you will be charged the number of miles that equals the actual cost of your ticket.
www.cheapfares.com