The author is not affiliated with any airline or frequent flyer program, and makes no claims with respect to certain programs that do not allege that he is a better style of program, in a comprehensive sense. The intent of this article is for travelers with a fair comparison of the options available to enable them to make informed decisions that fit their individual situation.

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American Airlines has their AAdvantage program in 1981. United Airlines quickly followed with the factMileage Plus. Today, almost every airline has its own frequent flyer program.

As they spread, these programs have developed beyond their original purpose of promoting aviation, today they are divisions of its own. Instead of the actual miles flown will be limited to members of miles for restaurants, stores earn, and with a credit card. You can also redeem their miles for gifts, electronics and other goods as well as traditional and complimentary ticketsUpgrades.

With these extensions, but also has a price: airline miles expire.

Now I know what you think. I tell you that you have spent all this time to build miles, they will disappear before you can use it. Well, maybe. That actually depends on the airline.

Not all frequent flyer programs are the same. On the one hand, the programs are of the traditional carriers, a term given to the seven airlines that remain from the periodof regulation. We (those who call the major airlines, but that's a category on the basis of revenue, today they are not the only ones to qualify.)

The traditional carriers - American, United, U.S. Airways, Delta, Northwest, Continental and Alaska Air - typically award travelers a frequent flyer mile for every actual mile flown, plus bonuses, and apply regardless of other offers. The miles are valid for three years from the date of last activity, defined as the last time thatMiles were to be earned or redeemed. This is important because you have your miles with a legacy airline with only one activity every three years.

On the other side of the coin, the low-cost model, the popularity of leading airlines such as Southwest, AirTran favors, and JetBlue. The low-cost model assigns points or credits based on travel within the region. These points generally expire one year after the date of issue, specifically, and special offers, depending on the carrier,there can be no possibility to extend it.

Well, a few considerations. Above all, not every low-cost carrier of the low cost model follows. Frontier Airlines, for example, is a low-cost airline, but its EarlyReturns frequent flyer program uses miles instead of points, and they do not expire as long as the activity in a two-year window.

Secondly, while the legacy airlines to frequent flyers can buy their magazines, cameras, and other goods, the programs run by the low cost --Makers tend to focus on air travel (ie, free tickets and provide for the few low-cost carriers that two classes of service, upgrades). All things being equal, it usually takes fewer flights to the credits you need to get a free "anytime" ticket with a low-cost airline, as it takes to enough miles for the same ticket with a Legacy carriers earn merit.

In this sense, if you want to join a frequent flyer program, here are some tips that will help you to decide what kind ofProgram to join to get the most benefit from your personal travel habits:

Select a single airline, and do your best always fly with that carrier. If you have your airline partner of choice, you can fly with them, but do not sign up for their loyalty programs. Miles can not realistically be combined or transferred between accounts, even between partners. Consider where you want to travel. If you earn miles to take a trip outside of North America, you have to order one of thetraditional airlines as the main airline. (No low-cost carrier currently has its own or with partners service outside of North America.) If most of your trip is in the United States and you travel often, you win free tickets faster with a frequent flyer program that follows the low -- cost model. If you do not travel often, go with a program that uses the older model. The crucial factor is that there is a way to expand your credit card, so that they do not expire. They do not want to 96Loans and find out that the first 20 two days running before you had the four you had free for the 100-credit 's fare.There no doubt that it already requires some effort to the operation of frequent flyer programs and the true mastery need to learn is really a challenge. If you follow the guidelines presented here, even if you can make informed decisions to make to help you get the most out of your travel and enable you to more of the world on whatever budget you can afford to see. That's whatAsk.

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