I must admit that I don’t know many people that have told me “I went to some destination using my frequent flyer miles”. When I talk about all these people, I also include people who I know they are in fact frequent flyers and probably are flying the same airline all the time. I ask to some of them “hey, what about your frequent flyer miles?” and they just reply “What is that” or, they just simply show how lazy they are of just doing a quick sign up with their airline (in most cases, free) to register the miles they have earned.
Well, I will try to explain the easiest I can to understand how is that frequent flyer miles work in most of the cases. You sign up as frequent flyer on you favorite airline’s website (you can still sign up when you don’t have any pending trip with them) and they will give you a frequent flyer number. That number will appear in your boarding passes every time you buy a ticket with them. Until now, it could be a little silly having a frequent flyer number, because in fact the truth is that a flight segment will not give you enough points or miles to even make a class upgrade. But, what will happen if you collect many flight segments or, in the best case scenario, you get an airline credit card and start to earn miles thanks to random articles you buy?
It is pretty common find airlines that offer credit cards. Here in Puerto Rico, there are two local banks that offer credit cards of the most popular airlines in the island: Santander’s JetBlue Master Card and Popular’s American Airlines Advantage Visa. Both credit cards give you bonus miles if you spend $1,000 during the first three months and each charge you make to the card represent a considerable sum of miles or points. The key is to shop the most with your card, but definitely, paying before the due date. This means that you should use it even if you have cash with you. Cash won’t give you miles that could lead to free trips, and this way you’re making that your shopping becomes the way you get your airplane tickets. This won’t only mean that you will have extra savings, but also that all the year you will be getting miles and points that will help you fly.
You should know that ou can still register some other credit cards that banks in Puerto Rico don’t offer. Some of these are: Delta’s Skymiles American Express, United Airlines Visa, and also, Expedia’s MasterCard or Orbitz Rewards Visa. These cards from travel sites will help you also to get points on hotels and car rentals.
If I am writing this now is because, like many of you I was skeptic about the frequent flyer miles, but then I realized that, since I enjoy that much to travel, that will mean benefits for me. Today I must admit that I do have frequent flyer numbers that I have not even fly on (like Air France?) because, since I already explained, you can register for free, obtain a number and use it in a future. I have some of these credit cards and I can say that I have redeem some miles to fly. It is a really delightful experience paying only for the taxes and save a lot money that you can use for the rest of the experience of a lifetime in your destination. I am not a messenger of any airline, I am just a traveler that tries to save ever single dollar I can when it comes to travel with the purpose of having an unforgettable experience. I really hope that these tips become useful for you during these holidays.
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