Free air miles can be a valuable reward for travel loyalty. Travelhammer encourages you to enroll in frequent-flyer mileage programs for the free benefits they provide. When you consider the fact that you will pay the same price for your airline ticket whether you use the program's benefits or not, you can only come out ahead by taking the airlines up of their offer. Enroll each time you use a new airline and watch your free mileage start to roll in.

Benefits and Restrictions of Airline Mileage Programs

The Benefits

As a member of an airline's frequent flyer program, the airline:

• May offer you discounts and special offers just for being a member.
• May offer you special privileges such as pre-boarding (usually for high-mileage members only) or waive extra-person charges for hotel rooms.
• Gives you future benefits, because you never know when your travel frequency will increase. If your travel increases, your miles and points become more important and useful.
• May give you discount coupons on hotel and vacation stays.
• May provide you with special credit card offers that will help you top off the miles you've already earned. For example, some airlines offer their frequent flyers a credit card that earns 10,000 points just for signing up. In many cases, the cards require no fee for the first year. Other airlines offer a free companion ticket just for signing up. See the article Airline Credit Cards and Travel Rewards for more information.
• May allow you to add to your airline points through other activities besides flying, such as using your airline-affiliated credit card, staying at hotels, renting cars, and using your long distance phone carrier.
• May give you more leverage if you have problems with them.

The Restrictions

Some airlines are pulling back the reins on allowing their frequent-flyer customers to redeem points. Because the number of paying airline customers is increasing, you'll find redemption restrictions becoming more common. Watch for restrictions such as:

• More "blackout" dates, when no frequent flyer tickets are issued. These blackout periods typically include holidays.
• Required Saturday night stayovers.
• An increasingly smaller percentage of seats set aside on a plane for frequent flyer use.
• An increase in the number of mileage points needed for free travel. You're usually safer sticking with an airline that holds firm on the number of points required for a free trip.
• A smaller selection of "other" airlines on which your frequent flyer program will allow you to redeem points.
• Heavier restrictions on your ability to "gift" your mileage points to family members or friends at all times during the year. Some airlines may restrict you from sharing points during high-demand periods (such as during the holidays), while other airlines may disallow you from sharing points with family and friends altogether.

In contrast to increasing restrictions, some airlines are allowing you to cash in points for free merchandise. It's up to you to determine if this is a good deal.

Maximizing Your Miles

Here are some ways you can rake in the miles and make the most of your mileage program:

• Read our section on airline credit cards to see if any are right for you. These cards will allow you to earn points on everything you purchase (including airline tickets). In some cases, you may even be able to pay your utility bills with these cards.
• Visit our section on hotel points programs and learn how these points can be transferred to your airline mileage account.
• Check with rental car companies and see if they'll allow you to earn airline miles when you rent a car. Be aware that some rental car companies require you to fly on the same airline that you wish to apply your rental miles to.
• Read all material that accompanies your mileage statement. These mailings typically contain special deals that allow you to rack up miles faster.
• Visit the airline's web site at least once a month and review their frequent flyer section for special deals. It's a good idea to visit the site monthly if for no other reason but to verify that the miles you think you accumulated actually got posted.

Purchasing Miles

If you don't have the time to try the mileage strategies listed above, you might want to consider purchasing a few points. Contact the airline you're collecting points on. While many airlines have caps on the number of miles you can accumulate, their purchase price is usually the lowest.

Tracking Your Miles

Occasionally mileage points will vanish before they can make their way into your account. Here's how you can make sure your miles get posted:

• When checking in at the airport, tell the airline's passenger service agent that your frequent-flyer mileage number should be applied to this flight. The agent should then check the computer reservation system and make any required corrections before handing you a boarding pass.
• Verify that your boarding pass has your frequent-flyer number printed on it, and make sure you receive a ticket stub or receipt with your mileage number on it as well. Hold on to this until you can verify that your miles have actually posted. Miles obtained from airline partners (especially international partners) may take up to two months to post. If your miles do vanish, contact your airline mileage program as soon as possible.
• Keep all rental car and hotel receipts until you can verify that they've been properly posted. As you are handed a receipt, determine where your frequent flyer mileage number is shown on it. You should always be provided with documentation of the mileage program transaction.