You may be one of those people in the world who are lucky enough to travel frequently. Even if your primary flight purpose is for work, you are still the envy of those who don't get to fly that often. Of course, you are even more lucky if you get to fly often for leisure reasons.
It doesn't really matter why you fly often, but rather that your frequent use of airplanes earns you the right to claim your reward. This reward comes in the form of the well-known frequent flyer miles redemption program to which you belong.
For those who are just tempted to redeem miles on any old flight, think again. It takes a quick, simple decision to pick the first destination and time that comes to mind. With a little research and some simple travel hacks, you can find better value for your flyer miles.
Here are 4 great ways to get value from your frequent flyer miles
Treat your flyer miles as cash
Many people assume that their flyer miles are free. Spoiler alert! Ever heard of TANSTAAFL? This acronym means that "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch". You've already paid for those miles, so don't waste them. Think of these miles as cash in your hand, and you will be less likely to blow them on expensive trips. In other words, spend wisely and you will have more flyer miles to spend on other recreational trips. Knowing how to extract the best VALUE from your flyer miles is key to getting the most from your trips.
Find out how to calculate the value of your frequent flyer miles
Your typical range to redeem miles is from 0 to 4c. Zero is obviously a no-go zone but once you start to receive 1.5c rate per mile, then you're talking about getting value for your buck.
From 1.5c to 2c is the typical acceptable redemption rate for economy flights. If the price falls under 1.5c, then you should look for a different flight. From 2c to 4c on business class flights is a good return. If this is the figure you have calculated, you know that the cost of your investment is definitely paying off.
But how do you calculate this value? Simple. Look at a great travel hacks equation below to understand how to find out the cost of a particular flight. It might seem confusing, but it's actually really simple.
The redemption value of your cents per mile (CPM) is the cost of the ticket divided by the number of miles redeemed.
Example: A round trip on economy from Los Angeles to London costs $900. The redemption miles to pay for this trip are 60,000.
Your cents per mile (CPM) then looks like this: $900 (ticket cost) / 60,000 (redeemable miles) = $0.015 x 100 = 1.5 CPM. This is good value for your flyer miles.
Do your research – check different flights and airlines
When your calculations are just not adding up and your CPM is falling below the 1.5c mark, then it's time for another travel hack. Perhaps a flight at a different time (really early in the morning or late in the evening, for example), will reap better rewards. Let's face it. A little more effort will probably get you 2 extra "free" flights instead of one over time. Go the extra mile by taking a little more time to do your research. Remember that your frequent flyer miles are as good as cash in the hand.
From economy class airline tickets to business and luxury class seats
More travel hacks indicate that you will in all likelihood get a higher CPM in your calculations when investigating the prices for business and luxury airline tickets for the same flight route. The big drawback to this calculation is that the flight will obviously cost far more, and you will need to cough up many more flyer miles for the same trip. Using a business class trip from Los Angeles to London at $5.230 a ticket, you will need to part about 300,000 miles to get a 1.7 CPM. Good value for your miles, but is the dollar cost and 5 times the miles worth it? Redeem miles wisely!
