A Cheat’s Guide to Scoring the Maximum Airline Loyalty Points

Once you have been bitten by the travel bug, your heart constantly yearns for more and more adventures. And when the reality of costs and logistics hits you, you settle down for one vacation every year or two. Airline loyalty points hold the key to help you get more, travel more and explore more. However, most people are reluctant to delve into this concept because it seems too complicated to figure out (and sometimes too good to be true).

This cheat’s guide will help you maximize your airline loyalty points and redeem them effectively to feed your ever-growing wanderlust.

Register for Loyalty Programs

This is, of course, the first important step toward raking in those loyalty points. Research, shop, compare, and then sign up for the most profitable loyalty programs. Your travel habits, preferences and frequency are the best parameters to evaluate which program is best suited for you. But then, almost every loyalty program out there is available for a free sign up, so there is no reason to hold yourself back from creating an account with every airline, travel website or chain of hotels you frequent. It only means a few extra promotional emails in your inbox, but hey, you can handle that for the sake of a good deal.

Use an Online Mileage Manager

Now, it can be hard to keep track of all those miles and loyalty points you have accumulated across different programs. An online mileage manager does this for you and helps you stay on top of your loyalty points’ game.

Read More: 8 Simple Airline Hacks for the Smart Flier

Shop the Right Credit Cards

If you don’t have a credit card already, or are contemplating getting a new one, it helps to settle for one that has a robust bonus and reward points system, so that you can get the maximum bang for your bucks.

Go Cashless

A credit card won’t earn you rewards unless you use it extensively. Go cashless as far as possible, and in turn, pay off your credit card bills every month to make sure that the points you have accrued can be used to rake in more points.

Read More: Flying Smart: Flight Guidelines for the Informed Traveller

Cash-in on Partner Deals

Most airlines have tie-ups that allow passengers to use points accumulated through one airline’s loyalty program to travel on another. However, this information isn’t out there in the open. Hunt for any such tie-up program to use your loyalty points more effectively.

Dine at Participating Restaurants

Most airlines and hotels offer exclusive dining programs, where guests can earn credit rewards, bonus miles or loyalty points for dining at a participating restaurant. It is a good idea to keep track of these and earn some points while you indulge in your favorite cuisines. Just make sure you link your credit card to your loyalty membership account, so that the points/miles are automatically added to your account.

Stay Current with the Hottest Deals

Spend your leisure time surfing the internet for a lowdown on the hottest loyalty program updates and latest offerings and deals. There are several Twitter handles and online forums catering exclusively to avid loyalty point collectors. In addition to valuable information and updates, you could also get some valuable pro-tips from experienced users on these platforms.

Read More: 5 Useful Tips For The Frequent Business Traveller

Book Outright, Don’t Upgrade

Many airlines are stingy about allowing travelers to upgrade low-priced tickets using loyalty points. A better strategy is to straight away use your points to buy a business-class ticket, if you have enough points to afford it, instead of upgrading at the last minute. You’d be surprised to learn that the former will cost you way less.

Earn Points with Online Shopping

If the airline or hotel chain you have a loyalty program with, has a shopping portal or a tie-up with an e-commerce retailer, it pays to direct all your online shopping to these websites. These portals act like mileage malls, helping you stack up points and miles for every rupee spent, in addition to adding rewards on your credit card. If you are a frequent online shopper, these can add up very quickly.

Eye Expensive Routes and Seats

Now that you have loyalty points in your kitty, use them wisely to procure the most expensive routes and seats. These cost a lot less when booked through loyalty points than they do with cash bookings.

Thoughtful spending is the key to maximizing the returns on your loyalty programs. Dig deep into the knitty-gritties of the airlines’ loyalty programs to score the right bonuses.