Frequent Flyer/Airmiles

The_Dreamer

Hi,

I'm a student and I've recently started to travel more (at first I only did it because it was necessary for my course but I've discovered that I like it, so I'd like to do more). I keep seeing things about loyalty programs and air miles and it sounds like a good idea for me to start building them up sooner rather than later as I plan to do a lot more travelling in the future but, to be honest, the more I look into it all the more it just confuses me.

I was wondering whether anyone could explain air miles to me (how to earn them, how to use them etc.) or point me towards an "Air Miles for Dummies" type guide? I'd appreciate any advice you could give me about where to start with this.

A few things things about me...

I'm based in the UK.
I'm a full time student.
I hope to be able to plan trips to European countries, Asia and America (these are long term goals).
I have a small amount of debt that I am currently repaying (not to mention the debt from my student loans that I'm accruing ).
I have a bad credit rating so applying for things that require a credit check can be hit and miss. (I was turned down for one contract phone but accepted for another).

Caz3121

given your comment about bad credit maybe assume that the credit cards are not an option for now so you are talking about airmiles gained from flying (or maybe transfer Tesco points)
Each airline will have it's own program but there are 3 main alliances - OneWorld, SkyTeam and Star Alliance which cover a large % of the airlines with other airlines operating outwith these alliances.
Flyertalk is a useful forum for all things points related
I am assuming you will not be travelling enough each year to build status so will be gathering points to use for future flights - earnings and spend amounts will vary by program but it is likely that if you were to travel a route 8-10 times you should be able to earn enough miles to book a flight on that same route but note that you will need to pay taxes so things like long haul economy are usually best booked with cash and not miles as the taxes make up such a large % of the overall cost. Also note that different programs will expire your miles after a certain time...there is unfortunately no one-size-fits-all so it is a case of working out which program(s) are best for your flying pattern

The_Dreamer

Caz3121 wrote: »

.

Thank you for your response.

I did do a soft check which showed an 70-80% chance of being accepted for a couple of cards but, as I'm sure there are other factors at play, I think you're right that it's probably safer to assume it's not an option for the moment.

I'm not sure how I can go about improving my credit so that I can apply in the future. I need to look into that some more as well.

I don't really know what status is/how to get it (I am really new to this whole idea, so I'm pretty clueless all around right now). I'll probably only be flying 3 or 4 times a year (once my degree is finished) and mostly short flights within Europe to begin with, so I would imagine that's not enough for it anyway.

jpsartre

Honestly, it's pretty hard to make much in the way of point flying on cheap economy tickets, either shorthaul or longhaul. E.g. LHR to CPH with BA earns just 149 Avios in the cheapest fare classes meaning you'd need to do 27 return flights on that route to earn enough for just one return reward booking (which costs at least 8000 Avios). It's similar on other airlines. Realistically, you either need to fly longhaul in premium cabins/on highly flexible economy tickets or supplement your points balance with points from creditcards or through Tesco.

The_Dreamer

jpsartre wrote: »

Realistically, you either need to fly longhaul in premium cabins/on highly flexible economy tickets or supplement your points balance with points from creditcards or through Tesco.

Do you mean with Tesco Clubcard points? I've read that they can be used to get Avios points, but I'm not sure how it works.

budgetflyer

You need to have a look at https://www.headforpoints.com. There you have the Avios University which is a must read guide to collecting Avios.

jpsartre

The_Dreamer wrote: »

Do you mean with Tesco Clubcard points? I've read that they can be used to get Avios points, but I'm not sure how it works.

Yep, that's what I meant although I don't find it as lucrative as it was a couple of years ago. These days I get the great majority of points from creditcards. As Budgetflyer says, Headforpoints is a great place to start if you want to learn more.