Your Introductory Guide to Airline Miles

If you are a frequent flyer, you must have heard the term, 'Frequent Flyer Miles'. But, have you ever wondered what they are all about and what is their significance? Not yet, don't worry; you would start calculating the earnedmiles right after completing this article.

This piece of writing would help you understand nitty-gritty of airline miles.

Let's start with the definition

Airline miles, commonly known as frequent flyermiles or travel points, are basically part of a loyalty program offered by airlines. And you earn a score of miles based on how far you fly. And if you use them correctly, you can save lots of money on traveling. This means, you can use the accumulated miles to buy tickets.

It sounds lucrative. Right! But you need to understand that they are not always easy to use. And it could be little confusing for you to understand how to use a heap of miles accumulated over several air travels.

Let's demystify airline miles.

First of all what you need to understand that the term 'miles' does not refer to the actual number of miles you can fly, rather, it represents to the number of miles you have flown. For instance, if you have flown 2,734miles (distance between Seattle and Miami), it does not mean you would get another free flight.

Miles that you accumulate are basically points in a rewards program. For example, if an airline offers you a free roundtrip domestic ticket for every 20,000 miles, this means, you need to take about four or five round trips flights between Miami and Seattle to claim the offer.

Along with this, you can use rewards points for buying stuff. Or you can even sell miles for cash through a broker. You can also transfer miles to a family member or friend provided that they have an account of the same airline that you travel through.

This is how you can sell miles for cash

If you are interested in selling the accumulatedmiles for cash, you will first have to approach a mileage broker to whom you need to provide certain details such as your contact information, preferred travel dates, service class, (business, first, etc.) airline, and the price you're looking for per mile.

Once the broker gets a buyer, you have to send themiles to the buyer's account, and you will get the money.

It would be wise to approach a mileage broker in case you are interested to buy or sell airlines miles.