Strategies for Using Miles
Look first on the website, but bear in mind not every partner's seats will be visible.
Call the airline when you've got plenty of time to chat up the award agent. If the agent isn't into a serious effort, call back until you get one who is.
No seats? Call back every few days.
Be willing to shift your dates a little.
Be willing to stay overnight near an airport.
Use your miles for expensive tickets; don't blow them on a ticket you can buy for a few hundred dollars.
Award tickets usually are more available and require fewer miles in the off-season.
Fly midweek, when mileage tickets are easier to snag.
Sign up for airline frequent-flier e-mail letters; pay attention to double-mileage offers and reduced-mileage sales.
Try to keep elite frequent-flier status on your airline of choice. That can be an art in itself, as only miles flown count toward elite status. Even if they don't count toward elite status, more miles mean more benefits. Use credit cards that earn miles on your preferred airline; stay at hotels and book rental cars that earn miles on your airline of choice.
- Miami Herald
