Yes, it has happened! As I had predicted in my last post, BMI has announced that in parallel with it’s exit from Star Alliance, it will allow for BMI Diamond Club Destination miles to be transferred to British Airways Executive Club Avios and vice versa. While the two programs have not been merged, they are…
Elite Status
All about Elite Status
Things to do before the United.com – Continental.com change over this weekend
United and Continental are taking the next big step in their merger this weekend – moving to a new common website. From what I have seen and heard, the new website will be based on the existing continental.com site. I personally liked the Continental site better than United’s. There is a reason United’s site was…
Merry, er… Mileage Run
Its December. Holiday season, travel time for people to visit family, winter vacation time, but for the mileage junkie (sorry, the ‘mileage aware’ traveler), it is the time to make sure they make their status level. It is the time for the Mileage Run. I have been fortunate that every year I end up so…
All about Airline Upgrades – Part II
In Part I of this article on Airline Upgrades, I discussed the different types of airline upgrades airlines offer and how to get them. One has to understand here that there are only two reasons airlines offer an upgrade: They have unsold First or Business class seats that they are trying to get revenue for…
The Economics of Airline Miles – Part V
The Economics of Airline Miles: Part V – Is it all really worth it? The ‘Economics of Airline Miles’ started off as a single article I was writing on the topic of the ‘Value of Airline Miles’ to us, the travelers. It grew and evolved and took on a life of its own. It is…
Starting a New Year of earning Miles and Status
Here we go again – Starting a New Year of earning Miles and Status: If you are like me, you logged in to your primary mileage account, the one you have Elite Status on, on Jan. 1st and saw a big fat Zero in your Status Miles (EQM) total. For almost every airline in the…
Fast Track to Elite Status
How to Maximize Elite Status Miles In my last article I talked about How to Maximize your Airline Miles. But as I discussed in my article on the Value of Elite status, while earning award miles is great, earning status miles and hence qualifying for different Elite levels is where all the real returns begin.…
Airline Elite Status – the What and the How?
In my last article – The Value of Elite Status, I discussed why you should have a goal to be an Elite on the airline program you earn miles on. I discussed the benefits airlines offer to their Elite Customers. This article was Part 2 of my series on the Economics of Airline Miles. In…
The Economics of Airline Miles – Part II
The Value of Elite Status As I mentioned in part 1 of this series on the ‘Economics of Airline Miles – The Value of Airline Miles‘, to me the most valuable miles I earn are status miles (EQM). That does not mean that award miles (RDM) are unimportant to me, but earning Elite Status is…
Never Fly for Free!
Why you should never redeem miles for an award ticket for yourself. For a Frequent Flyer like me who does not travel so much that I make the highest Elite level on an airline with no struggle, I have an axiom: He who earns the Miles should never redeem the Miles on himself for a…