Educational Posts on Loyalty Programs

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Should You Pay Cash or Use Miles?

Not everyone can earn a significant number of frequent flyer miles quickly, so once you do have enough for an award, you treat those miles like gold. After all, they are a precious commodity that can help take you all over the world, but sometimes you just need to get home to see grandma. When should you pay cash for your airline tickets and when should you use miles? Here’s some advice.

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How to Book Free Spirit Awards

While Spirit will never win a popularity contest, it’s hard to argue with its financial success. It was profitable even in the hardest of times, when every other airline was struggling to stay afloat. Spirit Airlines has only one competitive angle: low price. And for that price, it provides only one service, transporting you from point A to point B. Everything else costs extra.

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Spirit Airlines Free Spirit Program Review

Free Spirit, the frequent flyer program for Florida-based budget carrier Spirit Airlines, is very controversial. On the one hand, it is very restrictive. Your miles expire after only three months of inactivity, unless you have the Bank of America Spirit Airlines World MasterCard (see below).  Most programs give you at least a year, and some up to two years. On the other hand, Free Spirit miles can give you amazing and unbeatable value if you’re in the right place at the right time.

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Managing Multiple Credit Cards: Ninja Tips

If you’ve discovered the power of tapping into your good credit to sign up for new credit cards in order to snag hefty frequent flyer mile bonuses, the inevitable has probably already happened: your wallet is stuffed to the gills with plastic.

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How to Book an Award With Capital One Venture Miles

Capital One Venture is a program that’s easy to use, allowing you to redeem miles earned with credit card purchases for travel. You can purchase award travel through their shopping portal or erase travel purchases from your statement.

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Combine Your Points and Miles With Frequent Flyer Household Accounts

One of the most annoying things about frequent flyer programs is that there is often no easy or free way to transfer miles from one account to another. If you fly often for work but your spouse doesn’t, there are probably times you wish you could move some of your miles to your partners account.

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The True Price of an Award Ticket and How to Avoid Fuel Surcharges

If you’re collecting miles and playing the frequent flyer awards game, you’re probably already familiar with the airport taxes, fuel surcharges and other fees that often get added to your ticket. So when you finally earn that “free” flight you’ve been saving up for, you don’t expect it to be completely free.

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How to Book Flights with American Express Membership Rewards

American Express Membership Rewards is the granddaddy of programs offering point transfers to major airlines like Delta, Hawaiian Airlines, JetBlue, ANA, British Airways, Singapore Airlines and Virgin Atlantic among others. Having a stockpile of Membership Rewards points gives you the flexibility to book award flights on 17 different airlines without having to accrue miles in all of those programs.

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Aeromexico Club Premier Program Review

Like many aspects of Mexico’s tourist industry, Aeromexico and its frequent flyer program meet some, but not all North American travel expectations. For example, Aeromexico offers feeder co-branded credit cards with exceptional value, but it also requires you to call its frequent flyer program for things you’d expect to be able to do quickly and simply online.

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Earning Miles for Paying Taxes

No one likes paying taxes to Uncle Sam, but its something Americans must do every year on April 15. If you’re like most frequent flyers, you’re looking for ways to earn a few miles for paying your share. Here’s some advice to help you maximize your earnings at tax time and a warning about why paying taxes with a credit card is usually not the best idea.

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How to Book an Award with Barclaycard Arrival Plus Miles

Despite not having any transfer partners, the Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite MasterCard is still a great tool for getting award flights. In addition to a 40,000 mile sign-up bonus, this card has great earning capabilities and the flexibility to redeem your miles for most of your travel expenses.

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Qantas Frequent Flyer Program Review

No, Qantas is not an indigenous Australian word for the airlines trademark Kangaroo, like Singapore Airlines mythical Silver Kris bird. It is actually an abbreviation for the airlines earlier name, Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services. That gives you a clue as to how long Qantas has been in business.

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Program Devaluations for 2015

Program devaluations are the bane of every frequent flyer. You go into this pastime with your eyes open. You study the program rules and award charts and make a plan to earn the miles that will net you award flights to your dream destination.

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How to Book Hawaiian Airlines Awards

If you’re saving frequent flyer miles, there’s a good chance that you have plans to use them to get to and from Hawaii. Travel to these gorgeous islands is a rite of passage for nearly every loyalty program enthusiast.

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SAS EuroBonus Program Review

SAS EuroBonus Program Review

Who Is SAS EuroBonus Good For?

The Scandinavians have a reputation for doing things simply but efficiently with a unique mix of pizzazz and understatement, and you shouldn’t expect anything less from their loyalty program.

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Programs and Destinations with Reduced Mileage Offers

Some airlines like American Airlines have predictable off-peak mileage discounts to various destinations, but there are also several programs that offer reduced mileage bargains throughout the year.

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How to Book JetBlue Awards

JetBlue has been a favorite of frequent flyers since the low-cost airline came on the scene in 2000. Despite offering very affordable fares, the carrier didn’t skimp on service and that helped build a loyal customer base as well as industry accolades. In fact, JetBlue has won JD Power and Associates’ award for Top Low Cost Airline for Customer Satisfaction for 10 years in a row.

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Korean Air SKYPASS Review

As a North American traveler, you might not think Korean Air’s SKYPASS is the best frequent flyer program for you, but you might be surprised.

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Reward Credit Card Lingo

In our series on points and miles terminology, you’ve learned about the lingo used by airlines, frequent flyer programs and for award bookings. Here are the words you need to know to maximize your points and miles earning through credit cards.

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How to Book Japan Airlines Awards

Japan Airlines (JAL) is the flagship carrier of Japan. JAL’s planes and service in all cabins are consistently rated among the best in the industry. Their award program, JAL Mileage Bank (JMB), is flexible and offers some great redemption rates on flights between the U.S. and Japan. They are also a member of the powerful oneworld alliance.

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