Frequent flyer miles. Car rental points. Hotel stay credits.
Loyalty points of one sort or another have become a mainstay in many people’s lives. Whether flying, eating or getting car repairs done, it seems like everything we do racks up some kind of points with some loyalty program somewhere. While some people tell stories of exotic vacations paid for entirely with these points, others never seem to benefit from them. Well if the later is you, here are some tips for maximizing those points for free or nearly-free travel.
Familiarize yourself with the primary programs that you use. What airline do you fly the most and have the most points with? What rewards credit card do you use? What hotel chain do you stay at the most? Know how these points can be accumulated, but most of all, know how they can be spent. Some airlines, for example, will only allow you to use frequent flyer mileage for air travel, while others give the option of redeeming for hotel stays, gifts and more.
Book early if you are planning to use airline miles for a trip. Most airlines typically allot a very small number of seats per flight for award redemption. Once those seats are gone they either won’t allow awards to be used or they drastically increase the number of points needed to get the flight.
Be flexible. A Dallas, Texas couple wanted to celebrate their April anniversary by using USAirways miles to fly round trip to Europe. They needed 90,000 miles each, which was far more than they had. So, they backed up their travel dates into February to take advantage of “off-peak” days and got tickets for 35,000 miles each–a 61% savings. Now you may not have that kind of flexibility, but sometimes just changing the days of the week that you travel will reduce the needed miles (weekends typically require more points).
In our next two posts, we’ll look at more tips for maximizing your loyalty program points.