Tips & Tricks to Maximize Your Travel Benefits
The term "Frequent Flyer" has been popularized by news shows, travel articles and most recently a movie called, Up in the Air. Surprisingly, however, most people know very little about how these programs work and how to maximize their use of them.
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For a vast majority of the population who may have a credit card linked to an airline, they usually confine their use of these to purchases or miles actually flown on that one airline. Over time, this may result in an award, such as a domestic air ticket, but that is just the tip of the iceberg.
With just a little bit of time and education, an individual or family can vastly increase their reservoir of these miles (or points) and can use them for additional free airfares, hotel stays, merchandise and more.
Just how big is the frequent flyer business? Consider these statistics:
- 180 million+ travelers are enrolled worldwide.
- In 2004, 20 million rewards were redeemed in the U.S.
- Loyalty programs grow at a rate of approximately 11% per year.
- The fastest growing segment is "mileage consumers" not "frequent flyers."
- There are over 9.7 trillion in miles in current liability among all frequent flyer programs (2004).
- Over 50% of miles are not earned by flying.
- What does an award actually cost an airline? Approximately $24.
- There are more than 90 frequent flyer/frequent guest programs worldwide.
- In 2008, 1 in 10 passengers traveling on American Airlines were using award tickets.
As you can see, this is not some small operation. One airline executive is claimed to jokingly have said that airlines make more money from loyalty programs than they do from selling air tickets.
Joke or not, what's not to love? Frequent Flyers can get free flights, upgrades, car rentals, hotels stays and can use certain reward cards to earn miles and/or points at places where they may normally shop. Retailers like 1-800 Flowers, Sears and others have recognized the value of loyalty and have hopped on the FF bandwagon.
Why pay for travel when you can fly and stay for free? Frequent flyers know how to get special deals, perks, and upgrades that the general public knows nothing about. In fact, you don't even have to be a frequent flyer to earn miles that you can use for free and upgraded travel with special credit card programs that earn you mega-miles for every penny spent. Learn where to find the best mileage programs, how to easily start accumulating points for free hotel stays, the importance of credit reporting, and more. Ron Stern is a Ft. Collins based travel guru, photographer, travel writer, and columnist. Let him show you how to travel better and more than you ever dreamed possible.
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( This is a downloadable eBook )