Originally Posted by
sammytheman
I just wanted to get one thing straight. By reading a lot of posts I see people with 1000s of miles. So let me get this straight, the distance between Toronto and Buenos Aires is 5573 miles. So if someone has say 12000 miles with Air Canada for example, that means they are qualified for a roundtrip ticket? Sorry I am just a NOOB.
'Fraid not. It means they flew 12,000 miles - say, one of those round trips for 11,146 miles plus a short trip somewhere else. It takes more miles than that for an award ticket. The specifics vary by airline, you can find charts on all their Web sites, but a round trip within the 48 continental U.S. states typically requires 25,000 miles in economy if the route isn't too popular or you ask early enough. The number of miles you need for a trip goes up from there: overseas trips, business or first class travel, and seats when the initial allocation of award seats has been used up all require more miles.
It gets more complicated when you factor in earning extra miles from flying in paid first class, having flown a lot with that airline the year before, using a mileage-earning credit card or buying from various partners, other promotions ... but that's the basic idea.
Stick around; you'll learn a lot more here. Welcome to FT!