Airline miles cards are amazing, as they allow travelers to save a lot of money when they choose and use them correctly. However, making a choice from the various ones available is not easy. For making the choice and use of airline miles cards easy and rewarding for you, here we are with some help. Read further to find out what frequent flyer miles are all about and tips to choose the ones that suit you the best.

What are airline miles?

Also known as travel points or frequent flyer miles, airline miles are rewards that airlines or credit cards offer travelers as a part of their loyalty program. Based on how far you fly and how much you spend on your credit card, you can earn miles. Thereafter, you can use the accumulated miles to buy tickets. Miles here do not refer to the actual number of miles you can fly but to the number of miles that you have flown.

You can get airline miles points in two ways – by signing up with the airline directly or by signing up for a credit card offering reward miles. While choosing the best airline mileage credit cards, you must know that some credit cards work with specific airlines while others are eligible for any airline. As both have their fair share of advantages and disadvantages, you can make an informed choice accordingly. Similarly, every airline has its unique frequent flyer program. Therefore, you can choose to frequently fly with specific airlines for use airline miles cards.

After gaining comprehensive insights into the airline miles world, it is time for you to understand the procedure of securing the best credit cards for airline miles. Following are some tips worth considering.

Shortlist airlines

To pick the best air miles cards, your first step should be to choose the airline that you can frequently fly with. It is quite possible that not every major airline flies to your area. Therefore, the easiest way to shortlist airlines is to choose the ones that fly out of your home airport and leave the rest. Thereafter, you can further zero in on the airlines that suit your budget and offer flights to destinations you desire to travel to. You can visit airline websites for retrieving all the information quickly and for making the right decision.

Focus on the places you want to frequently visit

To get the most of the frequent flyer programs offered by airlines, you need to figure out the places you would be traveling to frequently. It can be places where your loved ones reside or some destinations that you must visit every now and then due to your work. Big airlines usually fly to almost every destination, while the regional carriers have limited travel schedules. However, as mentioned above, choosing an airline that flies from and to your home airport is beneficial. Therefore, do your best to search airline websites for flight availability and for lucrative fairs they offer for destinations of your choice. You should also check airline partners that can be a good way for availing airline miles cards. As these airlines are owned by the same parent company, they allow travelers to use reward points of one airline for another and more.

Compare credit card programs

Once you have shortlisted the airlines you would be considering to travel frequently with, you should start comparing their credit card programs. Most airlines offer several airline miles credit cards to choose from, which differ in the number of rewards and perks. Different cards have a different annual fee, as the more the card offers, the higher the fee. The cards that come with a higher fee offer a number of advantages, including, but not restricted to, quick miles earning and a better travel experience.

Choose the most befitting airline card

To ensure that you pick the most suitable airline card, tally reward points of all the cards and consider their additional benefits and perks to decide which one offers you the most value. Sometimes it is wise to choose cards that have less annual fees while for other times; it is good to go with cards that have a higher annual fee because they get you to your desired destination sooner.

Some of the additional benefits and perks that airline credit cards offer include free checked bags for cardholders, priority boarding, free upgrades, in-flight purchase discounts and airport lounge access. Yet another useful tip that you can consider is to choose a flexible airline credit card. These cards give you more options to redeem reward points for travel. Some of them allow you to transfer your points to a selection of other airlines while others give you the freedom to book your tickets using any airline or travel site.