Using Frequent Flier Miles

As I am starting to plan the various trips I will be taking this year, I thought it would be a good time to discuss the best ways of using frequent flier miles.

You have various options for using frequent flier miles- and the nice thing is there are more and more available options for redemption. In many cases you can now redeem your miles for hotel stays, car rentals, and even merchandise.

If you are trying to get the best value for your miles- your best values will usually be for using your miles to redeem for business class tickets. When you compare the cost of purchasing these tickets to the number of miles required for redemption you can get great deal.

If you do not have a lot of miles but you like to travel in style, another good option is to use your miles for upgrading from an economy ticket to a business class ticket. Be careful though, not every class of ticket can be upgraded. Very low fares usually do not qualify for upgrades with miles.

It used to be the case that even if you had enough miles you may not be able to get a seat on the flight you wanted. Airlines have noticed this and are starting to do something about it. If you use Air Canada Aeroplan for example, they have now introduced a program called ClassicPlus Flight Rewards which allows you to use more aeroplan miles get a seat on any flight. For more information on this, scroll down to the ClassicPlus Flights Rewards section on the Aeroplan help page.

For myself, I usually tend to use my miles for travel in economy, this way I can take twice as many trips for the same number of miles.

When you have finally decided what you are going to redeem your miles for I strongly suggest to call the reservation number of the airline. There is usually a fee when you do this, but you are sure of what you are getting. When I have redeemed miles for travel on airline websites directly I have had problems with missing reservations.