Is it worth joining a frequent flyer program?
 

Unlike most of you here, I only fly about 5000 miles a year, mostly because there is no trravel involved in my job and getting time off is near impossible. With flying that little each year (and not even getting enough for an upgrade) is it even worth joining frequent flyer programs?

Would you like to spend $0 on airfare (only having to pay taxes and occasional fees) for the 5,000 miles/year you do fly?

Very possible.

Only roughly 1/3 of all miles earned overall are from flying. The other 2/3 are earned from other activities.

Spend enough time on flyertalk and most people will easiliy be able to earn 50,000 - 100,000 miles per year doing things you already do. Spend those miles on your flights and never have pay for airfare again.

Heck, yes! Check the S.P.A.M. (Sites for Points and Alternative Miles) Board here for ways to keep your account active, since your miles may be spread out among a few airlines. You also need to keep track of alliances. For a long time, if you flew Northwest or Delta or Continental, you could get credit in any of those 3 for flights on the other 2. So, even though you might take one flight on each airline in a year, you could get all of your credit in one program. (Check "Airline Partners" on each ariline's Web site.)

Years ago I signed up every time I took a new airline even though I flew infrequently because "you never know". My first mileage reward, in 1997, was a round trip ticket for my 12-year old son to go to a conference in Bermuda with me.

It really depends. If you're going to be flying with the same carrier/alliance from year-to-year, then it probably is. You can accumulate miles, althoguh you'll never be elite, and with miles from CC spend and other sources, you should easily be able to manage a reward ticket each year (or at least a one-way upgrade for your holidays).

Have a look at what CC programmes are available for your carriers, and see if you think its worth it. I'd say, probably it will be.

If there is not any cost associated with maintaing a FF account, let me ask you why wouldn't you have them? What exactly do you have to lose by signing up for one? a few minutes a year tracking down your FF # to input for your annual trip? Hey even 5K will get you a OW trip interisland in Hawaii on many programs

poetnyouknowit, welcome to FlyerTalk. This seems ideal for our MilesBuzz forum, and I'll move it there. Ocn Vw 1K, Moderator, TravelBuzz.

Why not? Many airlines are offering one-way awards for half the cost of a round trip, so for 12,500 miles you can get a one-way ticket. If you start collecting "miles" on credit cards, dining out, hotel rooms, car rentals, video club memberships, and other bonuses, your first award flight will come sooner than you expect.

Excuse me! This is FLYER TALK!!! What do you think we're gonna day?!

I guess your next post will be to the American Dental Association stating that you only have 6 teeth and wondering if you should still brush them!

BTW - I'm totally kidding. It's free - join, get an affinity credit card and accrue your points in a plan that does not have miles expire. Who knows - someday you might find yourself someplace you only dreamed of!

Absolutely. I used to fly a lot. Last 2 years have been slow. However, after joining this board, I'm already up to 80K miles from non-travel activities in 6 months and roughly 20K in the past 3 months from flying.

Just to join? Costs nothing. And, technically, it allows you to use discount codes for car rentals and other things (though I've never been asked to show my ff number when renting). If you're talking about a credit card to earn miles, which costs money, then that's another thing. That is how you earn miles from purchases. There are some cards that allow you to accure miles and then decide later how to use them (e.g., which airline).

definitely join some frequent flyer programs! I would suggest you to setup an free email account for all these program registrations and make a good spreadsheat to record all account numbers, usernames and passwords. When the numbrs get higher, management would take time.

As others have pointed out, it is free, and as the previous poster pointed out, it can take time. Some enjoy that time spent (like a hobby) and others do not. You should join for the airline you fly the most, and decide after a while if it is worth your time keeping track.

Should you join a program to get miles for every airline/flight that you fly? I used to do that. But I no longer bother with the Southwest flight that I take every few years. Again, you will have to decide for yourself after you try.

1. longhaul F on great foreign carriers
2. no mileage expiry

= worth it

A few weeks ago I applied for an Aeroplan card. Even though I've been flying as a passenger, off and on, for well over fifty years, this is my first frequent flyer card. I don't know if I'll be using it much, but all I have to do is keep it activated at least once per year. That I can do by filling up the car's gas tank once a year or one trip to the supermarket. The points are good for seven years. If I decide to fly Cathay Pacific again sometime in the future, then I'll get an Asia Miles card beforehand.

All in all, neither card costs me anything, and therefore I have nothing to lose, and who knows, if we decide in future to increase our flight travels in retirement, then my wife and I may gain something in return for using these cards.

definite YES...because you get something for nothing
i.e. even if you dont send money and effort on other alternative miles collection (i.e without flying), you may still be able to redeem your miles for some products like DVD player, some basic travel gear etc...

I've redeemed over 800,000 AA miles in the past few years on partner award tickets and still have an AA balance over 500,000 and I've NEVER been on an AA plane !

Also accumulated over 300,000 Delta miles and have never flown Delta.

Welcome to FlyerTalk !

I believe that airlines are more likely to help you in case of IRROPs or if you need a one time favor if they see the loyalty number on your BP. It shows you've made some effort, have room for growth, are knowledgeable etc.

Plus the tangible rewards others have outlined are great.

to the op....join as many programs as you can....while there are chances that it won't help you, it definitely won't harm you in any way....keep accumulating & over a period of time you will have enough....

I would recommend sticking with one single airline and travel using that associated global alliance. In the long run, mileage will build up and less chance of miles expiring. When I first started joining FFPs, I was enrolled in just about all the major airline programs and not concentrating my miles in one specific program. As I was not in control of the airline that I was traveling then, miles accumulated in the various programs but not enough to redeem. Then when the FFPs went to expiring miles after x months of dormancy, I started to have a lot of soon to expire miles. All was not loss as I converted the expiring miles to magazine subscriptions.

exactly what i meant....sometimes you do not have the option to fly your preferred airline....that is why it will never hurt you to have memberships in every program you have used....you can always convert the miles for some use....

I think it depends on your personal travel habits. Signing up for a loyalty program might start to change the way you want to travel. If you're the type of traveler who always shops around for the cheapest airfare, then you probably won't accumulate enough miles in any one plan for it to be worthwhile given the short expiration date for miles these days. If you're wiling to stick with one airline, then by all means, go for it since you have nothing to lose.

Well, I'm going to stick with United for now. I can't justify getting the Milage Plus Visa since I rarely use credit cards (got myself in a lot of trouble in college) and don't want to pay the annual fee. So far, so good with United flights, and it's the best option out of my home airport. Since I do at least one trip per year, that keeps the miles from expiring, right?

Yep, UA miles only expire after 18 consecutive month's of inactivity, so you should be fine. Also always be on the look out for other ways to get extra miles. For example rentals from Avis can accrue miles, you can also double-dip hotel points and miles for stays at Hilton, etc. There's a whole list of partners on the UA website.

Welcome to FlyerTalk!

Can't justify the MP Visa ????
Right now, they are offering 50,000 miles for a new account and waive the first year fee. (Hint - cancel the card before a year is up).
It's a no brainer. See the FlyerTalk thread http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...promotion.html

If you are going to do it, do it soon.

You should always join whatever program is needed to get points.
I've joined everything. When hotels or airlines merge, I've benefitted the merges. I didn't have enough Sheraton or Westin. But when they merged, I suddenly had enough for a free night. Delta and NW together gave me a free ticket. USairways and America West, also produced me a free ticket. AA and TWA got me close enough that a car rental put me over the top for a free ticket.
Always join. If UA and US merge, who knows, you might have enough pts.
The one I benefitted from the most was Air Canada and Canadian Airlines. That one got me a free ticket to Asia.

I think most posters here are missing the point. Yeah, sure, the OP should sign up for the program -- it costs nothing (besides the time that it takes to sign up to monitor one's account).

The more relevant question is whether he should exhibit any loyalty behavior -- principally, concentrating flying on one airline or steering all possible other loyalty-point-earning scenarios to his frequent flier account.

And the answer is, not necessarily. If you fly 5,000 miles per year, then that's 25,000 miles in five years, or enough to get a free flight on most programs. So, you could join a program and get a free flight every five years, which is not a trivial award (if the flight that you want is available for an award redemption -- which is a big if).

But if you are like most travelers, and choose each flight based on price, convenience, or other factors, then you might not fly the same airline or alliance every time, and the benefits of forcing yourself to do so -- the free flight every five years -- might not be worth the cost.

It's also an exaggeration to assume that one can get miles doing things that one already does. Most of the big-earning possibilities are via credit card, and there are plenty of other credit card rewards -- e.g., cash back or merchandise rewards -- that are more valuable to many people than frequent-flier miles. Even other loyalty programs like hotels' provide reward options other than miles that might be more valuable to some travelers.

Of course this is FlyerTalk, and most of us (including myself) place perhaps an irrational valuation on frequent flier miles, but that doesn't mean that they are for everyone.

Pssst- he is actually a she ;)

As for whether or not I go for the cheapest tickets, it kind of depends on how much cheaper and what airline is cheaper. I've flown cheaper on SW, but I hate their line up by the number on your ticket way of boarding, so if the difference was less than $75 or so, I'd go with the pricier airline. Credit card wise, I prefer the cash back, which is what I have now. And I'd be quite happy with a free trip every five years or so since I pretty much only do one big trip each year that would involve flying.

And thanks for the welcomes!

Care to share a brief synopsis to us newbies/infrequent fliers on just how you managed to do that without having to sign up for a whole bunch of credit cards? :)

You are setting your sites way too low. Why not make that one big trip each year always free? You can. If you will.

Step 1: Get the United Chase credit card with the 50,000 mile sign up bonus.

Spend money that you would have paid cash for on the credit card. Do not ever spend a dime you would not have paid cash for otherwise. Pay the credit card with money you already have. A few months from now, after Chase has given you your 50,000 United miles, close the account.

Cost: Paying attention and a little of your time.

Benefits: 2 Free tickets anywhere in the USA/Canada or one free ticket to Europe

You could earn another free ticket each year by signing up for the United Dining program and choosing to eat at restaurants in your earea that offer United miles.

Add to your miles by doing your online shopping using United's shopping portal. Say you need a new computer and see a good deal at tigerdirect.com. Go to the United Mall and click on the United link for TigerDirect then buy what you were going to buy.

Get miles for magazines/newpapers you subscribe to.

If you are changing phone or internet providers, get miles from your new company.

On that rare occasion you need to rent a care or stay in a hotel, get miles for each rental/stay.

If you are sending someone special but far away flowers, get miles while you are at it.

If you ever join Netflix, get 4,000 miles from them.

Switch banks to Chase and earn miles on all your debit card purchases.

Free tickets are waiting for you....do you want them?

signed up for a whole bunch of credit cards

YES!!

I'm only 16 and i have 3 different frequent flyer cards/affiliations.

It's like them giving you free flights and even though you only fly 5000 miles a year, I flew 500 miles last year and i have already flown 5000 this year so add that up with the ones from years in the past and i have a free ticket this summer to go visit my relatives in Michigan...for free.

And am about to have a 4th with American Airlines.

Most assuredly, yes. There are lots of ways to earn miles other than by flying. I've put together a free tipsheet to get started that some people have found helpful. It's posted at:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/17745143/F...Flier-Tipsheet

We don't fly very often but have gone great places using award travel just by devoting some time and thinking strategically when making purchases.

Good luck

I don't know how old the OP is, but I can only say that I wish I had started signing up and accumulating miles/points/status when I was much younger.

Your travel habits and preferences may change as you go through life. Or your job may change. You really never know what life will bring you.

You can get a one-way ticket on UA for just 12,500 miles. For even less, you can get free merchandise! For example, you can get a Hamilton Beach rice cooker for just 8,500 UA miles.

Would you THROW AWAY cash? No, you wouldn't, so why would you fail to earn those 5,000 miles a year, which you can keep alive indefinitely for a few dollars of purchases at the airline's mileage mall (or flying every 18 months if you don't want to do anything else)?

I could not agree with you more. I like the rice cooker example:)

Huh??

What's the down side??? I belong to every (almost?) airline and hotel plan, including Air Baltic. Do I think I will ever fly on Air Baltic? Most likely not, but their card is a lovely green color! Total cost....$0.