Don’t Think Airline Miles Are Worthless – Know These Tips
Airline miles are worthless if they expire or if you hit an earning cap. When we think of frequent flyer mile credit cards we often imagine a constantly revolving number wheel that simply racks up mile after mile far faster than the odometer in your SUV or minivan. We don’t usually think that there will be limits placed on how much we earn. But it might be coming soon. You need to know airline miles secrets.
Beware of Mileage Caps
As of the final months of 2014 few airline frequent flyer mile credit cards had caps on how many miles you can earn. Delta Airlines, for example, offers a variety of different credit cards, each through American Express. What differs about them? They each have a different annual fee, earn miles at different rates and include various bonuses. But none of them list, as of late 2014, a cap on how many miles you can earn. The only restrictions are:
- You cannot earn a sign-up bonus if you have this card now or had it in the past.
- Often, to receive the bonus you must charge a certain amount of money on the credit card within a certain amount of time.
- For some bonuses, such as companion travel tickets, you may have to pay taxes on the bonus.
These restrictions are common to mileage earning credit cards. In addition, cards like this one can give you more than just free travel. They can help you to earn upgrades to a better seat, priority boarding, free check-on baggage, in-air meals and more.
Times May be Changing
While few airlines have caps now, according to some sources times are changing and airline miles redemption facts are changing as well. In Australia, for example, it is becoming more and more common for airlines to have caps on how many miles you can earn. For example, the Qantas Airline credit card only provides frequent flyer miles for the first $2,000 spent each month – anything above this and you won’t earn any miles.
If you figure you don’t need to worry because you don’t live in Australia and visiting there is a far off dream then think again. Qantas says they are simply following suit as other airlines begin to impose similar caps. How long before such policies start to hop the pond and impact how many miles you can earn? We don’t know, but you can bet that the airlines won’t be advertising these new policies very loudly. So are airline miles are worthless? Of course not. You just need to know the facts.
Read the Fine Print in Bonuses or Your Airline Miles are Worthless
With airline mileage points, as with many things in your financial world, it is important that you be informed which usually means reading the fine-print and asking questions. Be sure to look over your airline mile card information for anything about limits on what you can earn, for restrictions on bonus points and so forth. If you still aren’t sure or do not understand what you read then give the company a call (or see if they have an online chat customer service center) and ask what their caps and other policies are.
Source:
http://www.news.com.au/finance/money/frequent-flyer-points-caps-cut-credit-card-rewards/story-e6frfmci-1227073185619
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