Keep Frequent Flyer Miles from Crashing

[Valerie S. Johnson]

By Valerie S. Johnson

It was a great idea when it started a few decades ago. Fly your favorite airline and earn points for every mile you travel. Amass enough points and you can redeem them for free travel. And “free” is our favorite word in saving money, right?

Unfortunately, frequent flyer programs quickly became a victim of their own success. The airlines allot only a small number of seats on each flight to the free flyers. Travel often must be booked in advance to use your freebies. And all those pesky taxes and fees still apply, so really there is no such thing as a free flight.

To add insult to injury, the airlines started imposing sunset dates. Your miles are not good forever, so you must fly 'em or lose 'em. Your accumulated miles on a particular airline can expire if you don’t fly or redeem them in as short a period as two years. Fortunately, there are several ways to keep frequent flyer accounts active other than by air travel. Most award programs count certain car rentals, hotel stays, dining, online shopping, and magazine subscriptions as ways to keep your account alive.

You can elect to keep track of the program requirements and the age of your miles for each individual airline you frequent. Or, if you travel on several carriers, you can try a site like www.mileagemanager.com which, for an annual fee of $14.95, provides a single consolidated statement and email notifications about promotions and your upcoming expiration dates. USA Today's MileTracker is a free tool which can organize your program data and provide some information about expiring miles.

And now, it’s time to put that tray table in its upright and locked position.