Frugal Travel Guy is a blog about using airline miles along with other methods to get to your destination.
If you’re looking at how to get the most out of your miles, I suggest you start with the beginner’s guide. If you want to get started with miles and points, check out the credit card offers page. If you want to learn how to never pay retail for airfare, check out my strategies for booking travel. And if you want more in-depth information on a particular topic, there are over 200 articles in the archive.
How Much Can I Spend Using Airline Miles?
The answer to how much you can spend using airline miles is more complicated than it would seem. The number of points you have in your account does not directly translate into actual spending power. The value of a single point is highly variable, and this is what makes calculating your spending power difficult. Let’s go over the variables that determine value so we can better estimate our spending power.
What Determines Value?
The first thing to note about points and miles is their value depends on the program you are using. When you are trying to calculate your spending power, you will need to know the different types of rewards each program offers, and their corresponding values. As an example, let’s look at American Airlines AAdvantage program.
American Airlines offers two main types of rewards: miles and perks. Miles are used for flights and upgrades, while perks are used for bonuses like priority boarding or seat upgrades. Perks have a fixed value, while miles fluctuate depending on the flight you book. You can use either type of reward when booking flights through American Airlines or any partner airlines. Let’s take a look at how American Airlines’ rewards compare to other airlines’.
American Airlines vs Other Airlines
American Airlines has
Many people travel with the use of airline miles, but how much can you spend using those miles? Many people have airline miles and want to save as much money as possible. But how much can you spend on an airline ticket?
It depends on what you want out of a trip. If you’re traveling to a large city, you may be able to spend more than if you’re traveling to a rural area. If you’re traveling with your family, you might be able to spend more than if you’re traveling alone.
If you have airline miles, it’s important to consider how much money you’ll need for your trip and how much money will go toward your airfare. It’s also important to consider if your airline has any restrictions on using your miles or other rules that may apply. You may find that some airlines have a minimum amount of time before or after your trip that they require.
Some airlines offer discounts for flights during specific times of day or months of the year. Some airlines offer discounts for booking early or last-minute flights. You may find that the best deals are on off-season travel days, holidays and weekends.
If you’re planning a trip, it’s important to consider the cost of the flight, hotel accommodations and other expenses
“Using airline miles” is a phrase that can be confusing to many people. What are airline miles, and how can they be used?
First, let’s define the term “airline mile” or “frequent flier mile”. An airline mile is a credit given by an airline to its customers based on the distance of a flight. For example, if you fly from Los Angeles (LAX) to New York (JFK), you will receive credits for the distance of that flight. If you are traveling in first class, the ticket price is likely higher than coach, so the number of airline miles will be greater in first class than in coach. The amount of miles is dependent on the fare class purchased and the number of seats available for sale at the time of booking. For example, if there are 10 seats available for sale in first class and 100 seats available for sale in coach, you will earn 10 times as many “miles” in first class than in coach!
There are two types of miles: redeemable miles and elite qualifying miles. Redeemable miles are earned by purchasing tickets and flying on American Airlines flights. Elite qualifying miles are earned by flying on American Airlines flights or purchasing certain other products such as hotel rooms through American
You always hear how you should start your travel planning early and by booking your flights early, you can save hundreds of dollars. But what if you are not able to plan things out that far in advance? Maybe you need to go home for a funeral, maybe you just want to take advantage of a sale that is only available for the next week, or maybe you are like me and just hate planning, but hate paying high prices even more. What then?
Well, good news! I have some tips on how you can get a cheap last minute flight without paying a crazy amount.
1. Be flexible with when and where. If you are able to fly out mid-week instead of over the weekend or if you can be flexible with exact destinations (as long as they are in the same country), this will help immensely. The airlines place their flight sales on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so if flying out on either of those days then you will be guaranteed the best price. Also, destination flexibility is important because sometimes flying into a nearby airport will save you 20-40% off the price of the flight!
2. Use airline miles. Airline miles are an awesome way to get free flights! You earn them by signing up for credit
So you want to fly somewhere. But you don’t know how much it’s going to cost using miles. Trying to figure out how much you can expect to pay when flying is one of the most difficult tasks in the world of loyalty points and miles.
It’s difficult because there are so many variables. For starters, there are over two dozen frequent flyer programs, each with their own rules for earning and redeeming points. To make matters worse, the rules for earning and redeeming points change frequently as airlines update their policies and devalue their miles. And then, of course, there is the variable of availability which may or may not be in your favor, depending on a number of factors (e.g. time of year, size of plane, etc.)
If all that wasn’t enough to confuse anyone, add in the fact that every program has different ways of charging for flights — some use a fixed amount per flight segment (e.g. AA), others charge based on distance flown (e.g. DL), some have different pricing tiers for premium cabins (UA/AA/DL) while others do not (AS), some programs have blackout dates while others do not (UA), etc., etc., etc..
To top it off,
I’ll be honest, this is a terrible idea and I’m really not sure why you would want to do it. To be clear, I would love to go from Boston to Las Vegas for $15. The problem is that the person in Seat 5A paid $500 for that flight. If we let you go for $15, everyone will want to pay $15 and the airline will lose money on every single flight. So we won’t do it.
If you don’t have enough miles for a free flight, you can get one for 10% off. If you don’t have enough miles for 10% off, you can get one at 20% off. And so on until you get down to paying full-price again.
What if I don’t have any miles?
As long as you are going somewhere, we will find a way to sell your seat to someone else who wants to go there too. In fact, if you want to go somewhere but no one else does right now, we may even offer you a deal so that we can fly our plane with passengers on it instead of leaving it empty while we wait for other people who want to go the same place as you do.