10 Rules for Booking Frequent Flyer Tickets
Here are ten helpful tips for booking frequent flyer tickets and making the most of your accumulated frequent flier miles! 1) Persistence is key to finding the tickets you really want. Availability changes pretty regularly and it's important to check back frequently until you find the right trip for your needs. It's quite rare to immediately discover the exact tickets you want but quite common to find them after a few tries. Keep in mind also that trips with multiple stops will require more persistence but is rarely a problem with the right amount of effort. 2) Always try and look as early as possible to increase your chances of finding the right tickets but don't get discouraged as the date draws nearer. 45 days can generally be a really beneficial spot as far as finding tickets as the availability starts to shift and more flights are added. Just keep checking periodically no matter how close it's getting. 3) Frequent flier tickets are part of an incentive program that rewards you for loyalty to particular airlines. That does not mean they are totally free of charge. Booking the flights via telephone and rush fees are just a couple of examples of things that can incur fees but such charges are par for the course and should be expected. The amount of money being saved by the absence of actual ticket cost more than makes up for the small charges you'll incur in the course of booking your flight. 4) Choosing the reward program that has the right advantages for you is very important. Generally Star Alliance and Oneworld have the most available incentive flights and easy to use search tools. Delta can be tricky because they don't support any software to check for flights on partner airlines. ANA's search tool will help you find flights for Star Alliance and Qantas will help with Oneworld. 5) While normal telephone fees and the like are a necessary occurrence you must watch for certain bogus charges. Often times a large fuel surcharge or additional charges for international flights can add up to unbelievable amounts. The most effective way to keep tabs on this is extensive blog research and user reviews on different reward programs. 6) Air Canada has the lowest threshold of points before they give you Star Alliance Gold status, plus you get Lounge access in addition to that. Another perk of watching blogs and user reviews is finding out the best up to date information on who gives you the most rewards. 7) Use your miles however you want to. Whether you choose to save for extended periods for long trips or take a shorter trip with more family or friends you still aren't paying for your ticket so there's no right or wrong way to take advantage of your rewards. 8) Instead of seeking round trip tickets you can often find better deals using two one way rewards tickets. Airlines such as United and American Airlines have extensive competition when it comes to one way reward seating so you can use one to get where you're going and a different one to get back if you so desire. 9) Particularly when booking international flights don't ever overlook your airline options. Using online search engines and blog listings can help with this. Keeping all of your options open is integral to booking the right trip for yourself. 10) Another perk to take advantage of when applicable is booking a stopover. Generally with most airlines this feature is free when using frequent flier miles where it would incur major charges on paid flights. This can add some fun to your flight by getting a chance to run around a new destination at no charge. Elisa Vuelo writes in her up-front style in dealing with travel, cheap flights and personal finance. Get more information on frequent flyer credit cards and programs such as the Qantas frequent flyer program on her website. About Author Elisa Vuelo writes in her no-nonsense manner in dealing with personal financial management. Get more information on frequent flyer credit cards such as the Qantas Frequent Flyer program. Disclaimer: Article submitters are solely responsible for the content of their articles. ArtiLib can't be held liable for the contents of the articles. Report Abuse |
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