Should You Use Frequent Flier Miles?
photo credit: WTL photos
Frequent Flier Miles have always been the airline’s gift to its most frequent customers, and a great way to earn a free trip. Now, though, frequent flier miles seem to be losing their value, as high oil prices, airline bankrupcies, and economy problems rock the market. Today, fliers need to ask themselves, “Should I cash in my frequent flier miles?”
Today’s frequent flier shoppers may be surprised to see their complimentary tickets accompanied by rising booking fees, fuel surcharges, baggage surcharges, and other additional costs, in addition to more blackout dates, higher mile costs to purchase tickets, and stricter policies on cashing in. For many airlines, in fact, these fees can add up to several hundred dollars, making frequent flier travel less convenient and more expensive than every before.
Joe Brancatelli, from JoeSentMe.com, says that the airlines are effectively “inflating the currency and then having less product to buy and charging you fees to do it — it’s hyper-inflation,” he says, just like “Zimbabwe.” Indeed, it does seem unfair to reduce frequent flier miles’ values, and then offer less availability, but it’s a fact that fliers must live with.
Before buying with frequent flier miles, read the fine print. You need to know if you’ll get cash fees back in case of cancellation, what surcharges you’ll be expected to pay, and many other answers. Remember that airlines are hurting, so they need to protect their bottom line. Now you need to protect yours.
This entry was posted on Saturday, August 30th, 2008 at 4:19 am and is filed under Budgets & Money Management. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
