Confused about air miles! Please advice.

[oldfu]

As everybody else I spent money on credit cards but when I try to evalute advantages of applying for rewads programms I see them as not worth efforts.

 

What your experience and recommendations?

[chris45]

i always fly emirates great rewards (air miles) had so many buisness class upgrades for free and upgraded using miles over the years you can also buy upto 25000 miles a year not cheap but cheaper than booking biz class ,great to be upstairs on the a380

also heard etihad has a great rewards with there miles

[flynn]

I am with Qantas , get points with credit card & use it in my business & the points just rack up, 60000 points for a return trip to bankok, even get points shopping in Woolworths , the airline taxes are getting higher now it's $410 for the trip.

[Bobby_dazzler]

im clueless regarding airmiles. I travel with 2 other friends and they normally give me the cash for the flights , i used an independent travel company last time to book my flights cost around £1700 and they gave me a whopping £5 of the next time i book with them , leads me to think would i be better booking with an airline like emirates . how how many trips would i need to make before i scooped a free flight , i heard you get a free flight to say paris from london for every international flight you book , i dont use my cc so my points wouldnt really add up in any other way

Edited July 6, 2012 by Bobby_dazzler

[oldfu]

The problem looks like is if I stick with one airline say Continental their prices are higher on about 500$ so just to break even I have to spend too

 

much on nonsense and if I fly on multiple airlines I dont earn miles.

[Skalliwag]

I have a BA executive Club card that is paired with my Visa.Every dollar I spend is 1 mile on british Airways or any of their partner airlines.Cathay and JAL fly from Vancouver to BKK,through HKK and NRT.You are in the states,so have a look at a credit card that deal with One World partners.American Airlines is now code sharing with JAL,so if you can find a credit card for AMerican Airlines you should be good to go.I also do a lot of volume on my visa as I use it for business.Its 120,000 points,(or directly dollars),return JAL business class,plus $700 in taxes.It is cheaper to go through HKK,but that is with Cathay Pacific,and seats are limited.Hope any of this helps.

I have been flying on points since 1997.

I think I have saved over $100k by doing this.

[wetwillie]

The problem looks like is if I stick with one airline say Continental their prices are higher on about 500$ so just to break even I have to spend too

 

much on nonsense and if I fly on multiple airlines I dont earn miles.

 

You can fly on any other Star Alliance Carrier and just credit the miles on your Onepass MileagePlus account

[vidman]

Im afraid the "happy Days" of Emirates skywards rewards are OVER big style.

 

In the past you only needed to take 3.5 journeys to BKK to earn a FREE return (UK). being free you could do unlimited free changes as well as nearly always upgraded to Biz (if you had silver status)

 

about 18months ago they changed their structure and now you'd need to do approx 8 or 9 returns to gain enough points for a freeby.

 

I guess there is no negative to applying for membership anyway as it's free but dont count on getting rewarded any time soon.

[ricktoronto]

As everybody else I spent money on credit cards but when I try to evalute advantages of applying for rewads programms I see them as not worth efforts.

 

What your experience and recommendations?

 

I have accrued 1,500,000 miles on American Airlines good for 10 first class trips on Cathay Pacific to BKK worth $16,000 each so I guess it depends on what you think efforts are worth. To me it seems like $160,000.

[Ash_1701e]

The simplest equation is if the cost of the benefits (the credit card) outweigh the overall value of the benefits (the air ticket/s) then its not worth changing your CC to an airline linked one.

 

The costs can be more than just the annual card fee, some airline linked cards have an additional membership fee. Plus if you dont pay off your card every month, most airline linked cards have significantly higher interest charges. Also, on the negative side, it does lock you into using a certain alliances / airlines, such as Oneworld (Oneworld = Qantas, Cathay, BA, AA, LAN etc), meaning if you are the type to look for the cheapest fare only, locking into using only a certain group of airlines (Oneworld or Star Alliance etc) will cost you more for the fares.

 

However, if you fly a reasonable amount, and spend a reasonable amount on your CC, it can be worthwhile. I would suggest if you have anymore than the basic level of status with one airline again it may be worthwhile.

 

Not to RickToronto levels, but for me being a status holder (and earning additional points because of status and using my CC) in Oneworld has furnished many free (on points) flights, a few free (on points) upgrades, arguable advantages for OpUps (Free upgrades in travel class)...and ever so useful airport airline lounge entry (although that's because of status not points). Sometimes upgrading from Economy to Business makes a huge difference to the overall holiday!

[direct_voyage]

You can fly on any other Star Alliance Carrier and just credit the miles on your Onepass MileagePlus account

 

Exactly, pick an alliance and that gives you many options. One trip from LA to BKK I used Asiana, United, Thai, and ANA all of which are star alliance partners.

 

At least for those in the US (may be same elsewhere) you can find some great credit card deals if you look around. I got 50K miles on UA with one credit card app. Only 15K more got me my first free flight to Thailand!

 

If interested in mile programs read up on http://www.flyertalk.com and http://www.boardingarea.com.

Edited July 13, 2012 by direct_voyage

[casinoclub]

As everybody else I spent money on credit cards but when I try to evalute advantages of applying for rewads programms I see them as not worth efforts.

 

What your experience and recommendations?

 

See my post here

 

http://www.pattaya-addicts.com/forum/topic/109891-shout-out-to-footypjman-thanks-for-the-free-first-class-ticket/

[Sexyfarangman]

I have accrued 1,500,000 miles on American Airlines good for 10 first class trips on Cathay Pacific to BKK worth $16,000 each so I guess it depends on what you think efforts are worth. To me it seems like $160,000.

 

With this many miles, I assume that most of your flying has been business related.

[ph6694]

I just used my miles with united for my flight to bkk. business class going out, economy on the way back. I also used the miles earlier this year for a first class flight to Costa Rica. Then again I also use the same card for all my business expenses so that helps a bit.

[wackyjacky]

Go to Flyertalk, Frugal Travel Guy, & Points Guy. I fly to BKK 2 or 3 times a year usually in 1st and I haven't paid for long flight in at least 5 years. It's all about the CC sign up bonuses. wj

[rodbangkok]

i got the thaiairways (star alliance) card (im gold member during fly alot for business trips)

 

i always use the points i earn from business trips to get free fly home every year on christmas time

and 1-2 inland fly in thailand for example last year songkran to samui for free the year before to phucket for free in july

 

also sometimes i use miles on long flights to upgrade from wood class to business class

 

i think its a good think to have but you need to fly often to get enough points for free flights

 

also specially on thai airways you cannot get points if you book discounted rates (need to make sure before booking that the fly you choose is giving you points)

the have different fly classes which give different amount of points

of course business or first class tickets give alot more points

Edited July 18, 2012 by rodbangkok