Your Frequent Flyer Number is the key to earning free flights and saving some serious money on your travel.
A frequent flyer number is an identification number that is assigned to a customer of an airline. This number allows customers to earn miles or points each time they fly.
These miles or points can be redeemed for rewards, such as free flights, upgrades, and lounge access. Frequent flyer numbers also provide customers with special benefits, such as priority boarding and discounts on baggage fees.
The best part is, you don’t really have to be a ‘frequent flyer’ to earn free flights.
In fact, many of the best ways to earn free flights, don’t involve flying. You can earn them for using your credit card, shopping for groceries, or for stays at hotels etc.
But hey, you still need to get a frequent flyer number before you can start collecting those miles and enjoy free flights.
Why get a Frequent Flyer Number?
The benefits of having a frequent flyer number with an airline can be great. For one, it can help you rack up miles and points faster. This means you can get free or discounted tickets sooner.
Additionally, some airlines offer perks like priority boarding and special check-in lanes.
By having a frequent flyer number, you can also take advantage of other benefits like airport lounge access.
So, how do I get a Frequent Flyer Number?
Getting a frequent flyer number is not as complicated as one might think. In fact, many airlines offer several methods to sign up to make it easy for customers to obtain their number.
There are a few ways to get a frequent flyer number. You can sign up for one when you book a flight, or you can sign up online before you book a flight.
If you’re uncertain whether you want to fly somewhere, signing up for a frequent flyer number is a good way to find out if the airline offers good deals.
To get your own Frequent Flyer Number, all you need to do is signup with the airlines you fly the most. Signing up for a frequent flyer program is free.
However, there’s a catch. Not all airlines have a frequent flyer program, especially low-cost carriers.
Here is a list of all Frequent Flyer Programs globally.
It is recommended to stick to 2–3 airlines for all your travel to maximize your miles earning.
How do I earn frequent flyer miles?
Good news is that you earn miles even when your ticket is booked by your company or a friend or an agent.
You can search for the cheapest flight on Skyscanner and still earn miles, irrespective of the website or app you book your flight on. You just need to quote your number at the time of check-in. However, some airlines offer bonus miles for booking directly with them.
Quote your frequent flyer number every time you fly and miles should automatically get credited to your account.
The safest way is to log in to your frequent flyer account and book your ticket from there. That way, your frequent flyer number is automatically added to the booking.
If not, remember to add it when you check in.
Earn frequent flyer miles with your credit card
Many credit cards offer bonuses for signing up, and some even give you a few thousand miles just for using the card.
Be sure to read the fine print because some cards may have higher interest rates than others.
Check your local banks’ websites to find out the best frequent flyer credit cards available.
Combine promotions to maximize your savings
Frequent Flyer Programs offer benefits not only to flyers but also to airlines, making them highly advantageous for both parties. These loyalty programs have become the most profitable aspect of many airlines’ businesses globally.
Consequently, this success has resulted in numerous additional promotions and partnerships to help individuals maximize their rewards.
Although you will need to do a little research to figure out the best tie-ups for your favorite loyalty program, here are some examples to help you get started.
- If you book a flight ticket via a cashback site like TopCashBack, you can earn additional cash back over and above your frequent flyer miles, and credit card points.
- You can earn points towards free nights at Accor hotels, when you fly Air France, KLM, Qantas, or Qatar. You can read more about it here. Interestingly, these points are in addition to your airlines frequent flyer miles, credit card points, and cash back that you can earn.
- Marriott has similar partnerships with United, and Emirates.
You can subscribe to our promotions newsletter to keep an eye on such offers in the future.
How do I spend frequent flyer miles?
Airlines have different policies for how often you can earn miles and how many you can redeem at a time. Typically, you need to have enough miles for a free flight before you can redeem them.
If you’re not close to having enough for a free flight, don’t worry. There are plenty of other ways to use your miles too, like upgrading your seat or getting a free hotel night.
However, redeeming your frequent flyer miles for flights gives you better value, almost always.
Redeeming in itself is pretty simple. Just logon to your account and search for the option to ‘Redeem’ or ‘Use Miles’. There is a quota for miles ticket in every flight. Last-minute flights and peak season tickets are generally not available on miles.
You need to plan your holiday a little in advance. You can also use your miles to get an upgrade.