How about an Air Miles hints 'n' tips board?

IM

Not sure if this is the best place to post this, but here you go...

Is there any mileage (excuse the pun...) in a board to discuss Air Miles?

I know that most of the people on MSE are sensible enough to collect airline-specific miles through their credit cards and supermarket spend etc. However, I'm sure that there are many who, like me, started collecting Air Miles ages ago and have a stock they would like to spend.

Moreover, with major players like Tesco, The Times, Shell etc. all offering Air Miles as part of their loyalty programmes, there must be a vast amount of collecting going on.

The problem is, that https://www.airmiles.co.uk is an extremely impenetrable website to try and figure out.

Essentially, it works as a regular travel site, offering flights, hotels, holidays etc. - but you have the choice to pay in cash, miles or a mix of the two. The problems lie in the fact that there is no transparency about what the cash-equivalent value of Air Miles is, and no apparent consistency in what you can get for your savings - is it best to use your miles for weekend hotel breaks in the UK, or to save up for years and get a long-haul trip?

For example, if you are a Tesco customer, you can exchange one of their vouchers for 60 Air Miles or 600 BA Exec Club miles. I know that 12,000 BAEC miles will get me a return flight to Europe (https://www.britishairways.com/trav...cclub/_gf/en_gb) but I haven't got a clue how many Air Miles I'd need to reap the same benefit. I also know that shopping at Tesco equates to 1.2 BA miles per £1 spend, and can compare this with other loyalty/cash-back programmes - but again, there is no equivalent point of reference for Air Miles.

The opportunity to discuss collection and utilisation strategies, and to highlight any particularly good offers to get the most out of our spending, would be a real bonus - and I've not been anywhere else on the web with such a forum.

Any else think this is a good idea - or am I alone?

Martinslovechild

I still work on the assumption that when Airmiles don't have any special deals on the go (e.g. Shrink The World), then 1 air mile = 1 mile of actual travel. Therefore, a trip to Sydney would be 10000 miles there PLUS 10000 miles back. There's a minimum of 450 miles per trip (Manchester -> London return for example).

Like you, i've been saving Airmiles for years but have only redeemed them once (for a small trip to Jersey). However, in the 15 years i've been collecting them, it's taken me only 4 years with Qantas Frequent Flyer points to save an amount to get me to Auckland for free (whereas i'm only half way there with Airmiles).