Travelling is a very integral part of our lives. We travel for personal leisure trips or for business purposes. The pricing of tickets across all sectors whether its domestic or international has become really tricky I would say. Booking in advance has been the mantra always with everyone but not always you can plan something in advance especially if its business related. In this case you need to be little aware and systematic of your frequent flyer program of your preferred airline.
Frequent flyer program of any airline is a very good way of flying cheap at times. Sometime back in a survey by the American Small Business Travellers Alliance it was found that 30% people were flying more than five times annually for business and almost 25% took an international business flight in one year. That?s quite a lot of travel.
The best way to travel cheap or save on tickets is to take full use and advantage of frequent flier miles in the airline program. What I remember and have read, the frequent flyer programs started way back in the eighties which constituted a huge gift to returning customers and so on.
Gaining miles on your program is little tricky but easy. Following are few ways what i?ve used to gain miles -
* Stick with 1 Airline ? choose the best suited and favourite airline of yours and stick to it. Few rupees here and there in the tariff shouldn?t be a concern till it?s your preferred airline.
* Co-branded Credit Card ? You should a co-branded credit card in which whatever you spend on your card gets converted into miles at the end of every billing cycle. One of the best programs like this which I also use is Citibank ? Jet Airways Platinum card. With this card I get couple of discount and upgrade vouchers also every year. These cards have sign up bonuses and renewal bonuses also.
* Aware of Bonuses ? You should be aware of bonuses which the airline program gives to all users and flyers. There are bonus programs or bonus promotions by airlines from time to time like bonus on web check in or tele check in, etc which you need be aware of.
* Affiliates and Partners -Lot of airlines have tied with restaurants, magazines, cab services, malls, jewellery brands, fuel companies, etc. So whatever you shop you get certain miles for spending. This is a very good way of increasing miles but need to very aware and updated on the tie-ups.
* Airline Boutique ? Many airlines have made their own shopping zones online and offline and spending their can ear good number miles.
* Buy Miles ? many airlines have this facility of buying miles. In case you are few miles short for a free ticket or upgrade , you can pay to buy and complete the miles required.
* Tracking of Miles ? You should always be aware of status of miles and expiry of miles. It happens a lot of times when we forget to check our miles and they get expired without using.
* Subscriptions ? There are tie-ups with magazines, journals, websites, clubs etc which can earn you miles. In addition to that any spends on those particular sites and places add up the miles count.
* Status Upgrade ? As you use the same airlines again and again , you go on to the next level of membership after completing a particular number of flights in particular duration of time. As the membership level goes up earning of miles becomes better with more premium miles.
These are few points I?ve remembered in last few years which have definitely paid off in cheaper and comfortable travelling. Also, there are lot of forums and clubs online like Flyertalk.com where lot of info about the travelling can be obtained and shared.
Happy & Cheap Travelling ! Bon Voyage.
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