air miles newbie!
 

hiya,

I live in the UK & want to start collecting air miles..seems like a good idea! But have no idea how to go about it or how the system works ie do you have an airmile account/do different airmiles work with diff airlines etc

any tips greatly appreciated!

A good place to start is to read some of the Sticky's and FAQ's that are found at the top of each forum, particularly the MilesBuzz (this forum) and the forum for individual airlines or alliances.

Welcome to FT, unodoshol!

You've learn much by reading, as bkramt1 suggested. It also depends on where you'll be doing your traveling. If you travel primarily from A to B, program #1 may be better, but if you travel primarily from A to C, program #2 may be better for you.

If you're looking for elite benefits, it is best to stick with one program, but if miles and/or price are a main objective, you can belong to many. (I belong to 5!) Just sign up for each before your trip.

Also remember, many airlines belong to alliances. So even if you are flying US, you can earn miles on UA or (IIRC) LH. Likewise, if you are flying on CO, you could earn mileage on DL, NW or AF!

A good place to start would be the How to Begin page of my website below.

wrong post... ignore

welcome to ft!!

it depends on what you have time for also... this is a hobby and an addiction for many of us (for me it's a sickness :D) and so you need to be able to devote to it what you think you can manage. It's not always glamorous and easy to earn miles and then redeem them like you see on TV. You need to become as savvy as possible to what is doable within your own world and mindset.

As said earlier, do figure out roughly what some of your travel goals are and of course, destinations with relation to where you live and what airlines best serve your needs. For example, in Boston, MA, USA, I find the best way for my wife and I to get to Amsterdam is with NorthWest because they fly direct.

For flying to Maui, we would go with AA because they are easiest to redeem on.

For hotels, we like Starwood.

I like United for some ski trips and travel to places like Chicago and California...

I therefore have a membership on each of those programs and also, it is noted that with the airlines, at least, there are "alliances" that help serve you when flying on other carriers!

Learn about the credit cards that give you points/miles, and get to know what these partnerships of airlines are (found on airline web sites and also in here) and pick one of each, should that match your needs.

I would also always stress this point:

Whenever you deal with ANY mile promotion or offer of ANY kind, SAVE all paperwork, receipts, tickets, voucher copies, and whatever else goes with it until AFTER you see your miles post. There's nothing worse than to be promised something only to see nothing and then have to go prove it later on un armed.

Good luck and welcome to FT!

:)MM