Lately it seems that there’s been a push to earn frequent flyer miles. You can get some huge welcome bonuses from credit cards and you can even earn miles from shopping portals. These are great additions to actually earning frequent flyer miles from your flights. But what about earning miles from your flights? The truth is, you can’t assume your flight qualifies. From the way you book to how you pay, you might be missing out. Here’s what you need to know to determine if your flight is earning you miles.
Frequent Flyer Miles
Most major airlines no longer award miles based on actual flying miles. They award miles based on the ticket cost. This is why you’ll see that you generally have to pay for your ticket to earn award miles. It’s also why certain economy fares don’t earn miles. These fares should disclose that they won’t result in miles, but you should always check prior to booking. And the most important thing to remember is that you have to link your frequent flyer number to your ticket. This is especially important if you aren’t booking through the airline’s portal.
Flights That Earn Miles
Like we mentioned above, paying for your ticket will most often result in the accrual of miles. Gift cards or travel vouchers are also categorized as cash purchases so you can earn miles with those forms of payments. You can also be eligible if you use credit card miles. American Express and Chase Ultimate Rewards are just two types of rewards that let you transfer your points to airline partners when you book with their travel portal. Airfare booked with these will earn miles!
Flights That Don’t Earn Miles
Most airlines do not award miles on airfare purchased with miles. This is different than transferring credit card points and booking with the credit card’s portal. This is pretty straightforward. You do want to remember that certain economy fares won’t earn miles and you’ll want to research that before you book your ticket. You might also miss out n points when you book a flight on the wrong marketing carrier. So while your airplane may have one name on it, if a different carrier markets it you might not earn miles.
Companion Flights
Companion flight perks are offered to certain credit card holders or elite tier frequent flyers. Some will award miles while others don’t. Here are some of the most popular companion fare perks:
- Southwest Companion Pass: This pass is awarded to a frequent flyer that accrues a certain amount of miles within a calendar year. They are then allowed to chose one companion and they can fly free with you for the rest of the calendar year in which you became eligible plus the next full calendar year! The companion pass will not accrue frequent flyer miles, but your airfare is eligible if don’t uses miles to book it.
- American Express Platinum Delta SkyMiles: Once per year cardholders are able to book a companion fare on Delta. Only the cardholder’s flight will earn miles.
- Alaska Airlines Visa Signature: Like the American Express Platinum Delta card, this credit card offers an annual companion fare on Alaska Airlines. However, unlike Amex, both the cardholder and the companion can earn miles on their flights.
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