Frequent Flyer Tips for Travelers New to Loyalty Programs

Hopefully you’ll never find yourself in a situation where you’ve allowed some of your frequent flyer miles to expire. Whether it’s 100 or 100,000 they represent miles that could have been used for a free flight or other award redemption. Fortunately, many loyalty programs have rules that enable you to restore lost miles to your account.

The best programs have a flat fee or return the miles complimentary on request. Most, however, use a sliding scale that can make it very expensive to restore large balances. Think carefully about how much you value those miles and what you might use them for before spending several hundred dollars to get them back. Finally, a few programs don’t offer any opportunity to restore lost miles. This post at least describes a few ways that their life can be extended if you act before they expire in the first place.

When Do Airline Miles Expire?

*after last qualifying flight

American Airlines (AAdvantage)

Miles earned with American AAdvantage will expire after 18 months without any account activity in your AAdvantage account. If they expired on or after December 2002 (which applies to most people reading this post), then they are eligible for reactivation. American Airlines charges between $200 and $600 depending on how many miles you’d like to restore.

• $200 to restore 1-50,000 miles
• $400 to restore 50,001-75,000 miles
• $600 to restore more than 75,000 miles

United Airlines (MileagePlus)

Unlike American Airlines, United places a time limit on how quickly you must act to recover any lost miles. They can only be restored within 18 months after they expire. Fees are also much higher than with American Airlines if you wish to reinstate a very small number or a very large number of miles. Most travelers will only find it worthwhile to restore 50,000 miles or more — otherwise, just pay for the ticket with cash.

• $50 to restore 1-5,000 miles
• $200 to restore 25,001-30,000 miles
• $400 to restore 50,001-75,000 miles
• $600 to restore 100,001-125,000 miles
• $1,200 to restore 200,001-250,000 miles
• $2,500 to restore more than 500,000 miles

There are other intermediate price points not listed above, but you can view all of them by reading the complete terms and conditions. If you decide to proceed, log into the United website through this dedicated page.

Alaska Airlines (Mileage Plan)

Alaska Airlines claims that miles do not expire, although it reserves the right to close and delete an account that is inactive for 24 months. (Is there a difference? Supposedly this means that there’s a chance no immediate action will be taken.) Miles can be re-instated up to one year after they are “deleted” for a flat fee of $75.

Southwest Airlines (Rapid Rewards)

Rapid Rewards points will expire after 24 months without account activity, and there is no policy for reinstating points after they have expired. Most people report no luck in their requests to have miles returned; they are likely lost for good.

Hawaiian Airlines (HawaiianMiles)

Any earning or redemption activity in your HawaiianMiles account in the past 18 months will prevent your miles from expiring. Once miles have expired, they can be re-instated for a fee. This is not disclosed online, but multiple reports suggest the cost is roughly $30 per 1,000 miles. This would place it among the most expensive fees of any program, and it is probably not worthwhile to most people. Just buy the ticket with cash.

Air Canada (Aeroplan)

Aeroplan has one of the most strict policies, letting miles expire after just 12 months of account inactivity. In addition, there is no cap to the fees you must pay to have them restored. Expect an administrative fee of CAD$30 plus CAD$0.01 per mile. For example, restoring 50,000 miles would cost CAD$530.

British Airways (Avios)

Avios expire after 36 months of inactivity. There is no policy for reinstating Avios after they have expired, so they may be lost for good, but some people report success if the miles were lost recently. Miles that are returned may come with an additional requirement, such as new activity within the next three months, or else they’ll expire again — and for good.

Singapore Airlines (KrisFlyer)

KrisFlyer miles don’t expire all at once. Instead, individual miles expire three years after the month in which they were earned. This means that more recently earned miles will remain available for use. Keep this in mind when looking at your account balance and saving up for a large redemption.

Although expired miles will not be returned, the expiration date can be extended an additional six months (for general members) or 12 months (for elite members) at a rate of $12 for every 10,000 miles. Alternatively, you can redeem 1,200 miles instead of paying $12. These fees are levied online and increase to $20 or 2,000 miles when requesting an extension in person or by phone.

Cathay Pacific (Asia Miles)

Like with Singapore Airlines’ KrisFlyer program, individual Asia Miles are valid for 36 months after they were earned. Miles earned more recently will not expire. However, you can extend the validity of miles that are about to expire.

All members pay the same fee of $40 per 2,000 miles to extend their validity by an additional 36 months. This fee only applies online; in-person or telephone requests will cost $100 per 2,000 miles. Although both fees are high, the extension is particularly long and might make this transaction worthwhile.

KLM/Air France (Flying Blue)

Miles will not expire in Flying Blue as long as you take a qualifying flight every 20 months. Be aware that this policy excludes other forms of account activity from delaying expiration. In addition, Flying Blue does not have a policy on restoring miles after they have expired, so they may be lost permanently.

If you think you’ve mastered the world of maximizing points and miles, think again. Get ready for these great ways to double dip your earnings when you travel.

Many airline loyalty programs today have one of two approaches toward keeping miles valid for redemption. Some say that miles have a fixed expiration date, no matter what you do. Others say the miles will remain active indefinitely as long as you have an “active” account.

Hurdling through the air at 500 miles per hour at an altitude of 35,000 feet is a marvel in itself, but today’s on-the-go society wants more. Airlines are responding by adding new-fangled entertainment systems and wireless internet access. But, that isn’t enough. Passengers don’t want to pay an arm and a leg for it. Luckily, there are some airlines that connectivity is a modern-day necessity, not a luxury, and they provide free Internet to help pass the time. Hop aboard one of these airlines to take advantage of it and remain productive inflight.

There are a lot of travel rewards cards to choose from. Some are co-branded with airlines, and others are part of rewards programs, like American Express Membership Rewards and Citi ThankYou. No single card is right for everyone, and deciding which one to get depends on how you plan to use the card and what you want to do with your points or miles.

We are all familiar with the points and miles game. Signing up for cards with big bonuses, using specific cards for certain types of spending, staying abreast of promotions and watching out for deals on travel. However, there are some things you may not have considered when applying for a travel card or booking a flight. Things that may be important especially if you are a frequent traveler like free baggage check, lounge access, member status and other ancillary benefits.

Planning the perfect travel award can be difficult and time consuming, which makes it especially frustrating when those plans go astray.

If you travel overseas with any kind of frequency, you already know what EMV cards are. And if you don’t, you might’ve noticed the new types of terminals in stores here in the U.S. Instead of swiping your card, you’re often asked to enter it into the slot in front of the terminal.

In the complex world of airline award travel, there is some terminology that needs a bit of explaining. If you understand the terms it will make your travel planning much easier. So let’s talk about how it all works and decipher the jargon along the way.

There are two types of travel rewards credit cards. Airline and hotel co-branded cards help you earn miles or points in one frequent flyer or hotel loyalty program. General rewards credit cards, on the other hand, let you use the points you earn on any kind of travel, be it airlines, hotels, cruises, or car rental.

Paying a fee to check your luggage on any airline can seem insulting. After all, you paid good money for your ticket and now you have to shell out more dough just to check your luggage. It’s a drag but it’s a reality in air travel today. JetBlue levies various fees for checked bags—regardless of if you booked a Blue, Blue Plus, or Blue Flex fare. We’ll tell you how to avoid those fees.

Mileage Plan elite members can check a certain amount of luggage for free on Alaska Airlines flights. The rest of us may need to cough up some cash. Here’s a look at how much checked bags cost on Alaska Airlines and ways to skirt the fee whenever possible.

Delta Airlines is not immune to the dreaded checked bag fee. If you aren’t careful, you could pay a ton when checking bags on your next Delta flight. Here are a few methods to help you avoid those extra fees.

Paying extra to check your bag on any airline stinks, but it’s the new normal these days. However, savvy travelers like you can get around these fees. We’ll show you the ways in which you can avoid baggage fees on American Airlines flights.

MileagePlus elite members score free baggage allowance on United Airlines flights, but that’s not the only way to avoid these onerous checked bag fees. Let’s take a look at the ways you can save money by getting your bag checked for free on your next United flight.

Most travelers will tell you that trip insurance is a must-have whenever you’ve got an expensive or extensive vacation planned. There are a host of circumstances—mostly unexpected—that can crop up and force you to cancel a long-planned vacation or even a last-minute getaway.

American Airlines AAdvantage miles expire 18 months after you earn them unless there’s some activity in your account. Luckily, you can reset the expiration date by either earning or redeeming miles, which means that there are dozens of ways to keep your miles fresh for your next award flight.

If you take the time to earn miles, you need to be aware of the rules for keeping those miles. Some airlines will claw back your miles if there isn’t any account activity within a certain number of months. In the case of United Airlines, you will forfeit your miles if you do not earn or redeem miles for 18 consecutive months. Let’s talk about what you can do to keep your miles.

American Express Platinum Card Advantages

There is only one thing in life that is better than traveling, and that is traveling free.

Flying Blue, the frequent flyer program for Air France and KLM, is offering three ways to earn bonus miles when you stay at hotels around the world. So if you’re planning a holiday getaway, make your reservations count for a little more, and earn enough miles to take another trip in 2016.