Is it possible to earn miles from flights. Earn Miles Fast - An In-depth Review of the Best Bank Cards for Travel

Information on how to accumulate miles for a plane is very relevant and interesting. We will list the best cards of banking systems and briefly describe the conditions for accrual and how to spend the received bonuses. After all, everyone will want to take advantage of a free or cheaper flight in the desired direction.

Today, airlines are increasingly offering their regular customers a so-called loyalty program. Banks are also joining it, helping people to quickly increase the conditional miles on their account, even when making daily purchases, which can then be used personally or transferred to close relatives.

Benefits of "mile" cards

Accrual bonus miles originally appeared with individual airlines. In this way, they took care of their regular customers to choose flights of the same airline. Over time, a similar system has spread to bank cards, as well as some other financial and tourist institutions.

For ordinary people, the benefit is that when they use certain services of a particular company, they receive conditional bonuses as a gift. Having collected a certain number of them, you can buy a plane ticket for free or almost free of charge or get other privileges while traveling. The specific conditions always depend on which carrier or bank you cooperate with.

Thus, the airline credits the passenger with bonus miles for the purchase of each ticket. At the same time, there is an increase in the status of the client, which also brings additional benefits. The more often you use the services of a carrier, fly longer distances, purchase expensive tickets, the faster the system accumulates conventional miles on your account.

Let's list the basic principles of their use:

1. Qualifying bonuses are awarded for each flight you make with a specific carrier or one alliance.
2. You should find out in advance what system they are assigned by. So, the more expensive the ticket and the further the distance, the more conditional miles you get. Carriers have separate tables that provide numbers and coefficients for accurate calculations.
3. The time frame is also taken into account. That is, every six months, a year or two, you need to make at least one flight so that the bonuses do not "burn out". Very often people are faced with the fact that they did not take into account this condition and all their accumulated miles disappeared at the most inopportune moment. Therefore, it is important to adhere to the established rules when participating in a specific loyalty program.
4. When making periodic flights, in addition to conditional bonuses, you also get a status upgrade, which is very beneficial. Among the privileges that can be opened are: priority in the queue at check-in and boarding, access to VIP-lounges of the airport, an increase in the free luggage space per person, etc.
5. Sometimes tickets for bonus miles are completely free. In other cases, you have to pay fuel surcharges, but even then the flight is much cheaper.
6. You can spend the accumulated units not only on yourself, but also on your friends or relatives.
7. There is a special system for recalculating bonuses, according to which you can purchase not only economy class tickets, but also use business class when flying. And more often than not, this turns out to be a more profitable advantage than just purchasing a free seat.
8. By connecting a bank card or other cooperation programs, you can receive bonuses even for simple daily financial transactions. However, in this case, your client status will not increase. But you can earn free miles very quickly.
9. Similarly, it will be possible to spend the accumulated conventional units on other products of partners. At the same time, it is advisable to get a catalog that lists all the options and prices for the services of airlines and other firms.

But in order to take full advantage of such benefits from the loyalty program, you need to carefully study all the conditions and rules. Very often people remain dissatisfied only because they turned out to be inattentive and superficially scrolled through the cooperation agreement.

Aeroflot terms

Aeroflot remains the most popular carrier in Russia. This airline has a lot of flights both in our country and abroad. And if residents of Moscow or St. Petersburg can still choose bonus programs from other airlines, for example, European ones, then in remote regions they are most often forced to cooperate with this particular carrier.

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But it is worth noting that the accrual of bonuses remains quite profitable. So, you can get a card for accumulating miles at any bank in Russia, while additional benefits are opened for partner programs. For example, for every 20-30 rubles spent, a credit card is credited with 1 free mile. True, most often there is a condition under which you need to use the services of a carrier at least once every two years.

It is advisable to look at the accumulated miles before the planned trip, for example, in your personal account, and clarify the conditions for their use in order to calculate exactly where it is more profitable to fly, how much the flight will cost and other nuances. Also, by analogy, it is possible to spend them on renting a car, hotel room and others. tourist services.

But it must be remembered that Aeroflot does not fully offer free tickets even for regular customers. In each case, you will have to pay at least fuel surcharges. Therefore, it is much more profitable to use the loyalty program when booking a seat in business class. Then the price will be the same, but you will get a lot more benefits during the flight.

Pay attention to the so-called territorial grid. Depending on the settlement, in which the passenger is located, and from which he will fly on the bonus ticket, the need for conditional miles spent on the same flight is also significantly different. For example, the most profitable destinations are from the "Russia 1" zone to Europe, since passengers have to save much less conventional units in their account to make a trip.

Remember one more nuance. There is a difference in the cost of fuel surcharges depending on the direction of the journey. So, when flying to Kazakhstan (Karaganda), they will be in the region of 350 rubles per person. And if, for example, go to Kamchatka, then - 4300. Therefore, it is very important to calculate in advance for which tickets it is worth using bonus miles, so that the trip is as profitable as possible.

Aeroflot often holds various promotions and contests, in which passengers also have the opportunity to earn extra miles on their account or use them at a better fare.

Bank cards

If you open a credit or debit card with a bank, you can also earn extra miles for future travel.

The conditions in each institution are slightly different, therefore, in order to choose which card is better in this regard, you need to carefully study all the features of the accrual of bonuses for a specific partner offer. For example, we will briefly list the most popular systems.

It is considered one of the more advantageous offers, as when you pay for purchases with a credit card of this bank, you can get much more miles for free flights. Of the minuses, it should be noted that in this case, conventional units are debited according to a special system - multiples of 3000. So, if you need to pay 11,500 miles, then 12 thousand will be withdrawn from the account, and if 12,500 miles are needed, then 15,000.

Among the conditions of use, the following are distinguished:

• when booking hotels, 10% of bonuses are credited from a credit card;
• for tickets the tariff is slightly lower - 5%;
• there are others Special offers, which can be found in the catalog.

If you regularly use this card and pay off debts in a timely manner, then miles will very quickly accumulate for a free flight within Russia or even to Europe.

Alfa Bank

Has a program called AlfaTravel. She unlocks the following privileges:

1. Increased charge for the purchase of tickets not only for airlines, but even railroad, as well as when booking hotels through a local site. But in this case, the cost of services may be higher than at other sites.
2. There are advantages for clients in the form of Priority Pass, unlimited roaming Internet for two weeks, some discounts when using various travel services.

It is worth noting that this bank has a whole tariff scale for cards, and in each case, bonuses are accrued for a particular action. Therefore, you need to familiarize yourself with the existing conditions in advance in order to choose a more suitable and profitable option for yourself.

Bank opening"

This bonus program implies the accrual of conventional units, which can then be spent on the same services - air tickets, hotel reservations, etc. But among the rules of use there is a mandatory purchase only through their Internet service. But among the advantages it should be noted that here you can write off bonuses in any amount, without a "step", as in Tinkoff.

Depending on the chosen tariff of the credit card, the conditions of accrual are slightly different:

• 3-4 rubles for every 100 rubles spent;
• the size of travel insurance - 35,000-100,000 euros;
• there are additional benefits for the Premium account ( accessible internet in roaming, flight delay compensation, free transfer, etc.).

At the same time, you can pay for the ticket both in full with accumulated bonuses, and in part. The percentage of miles accrued is rather big - 3-4%. They are allowed to enter the business lounges at airports while waiting for the plane. But in this case, there are also disadvantages, for example, the increased cost of services, not always favorable conditions, and insurance does not cover the costs of staying in certain countries.

Sberbank

The most widespread loyalty program for our compatriots, working directly with Aeroflot airlines. In general, the conditions for the accrual / use of bonus miles are similar here:

1. They give welcome bonuses for opening an account - 500-1000.
2. For every 60 rubles spent, they give 1-2 miles, depending on the type of card (Classic, Gold, Signature).
3. There are discounts for car rental.

Selected nuances

When using free bonuses, you must strictly follow all the rules that apply to the system. Let's highlight the most important ones:

• Remember that on vacation, holidays, rush tourist season it is very difficult to purchase tickets to certain destinations, since they are booked almost a year in advance.
• It is possible to transfer bonuses to other persons, but in a limited amount, depending on the carrier, the status of the client and the bank.
• Stopping at the transfer point is allowed only up to 24 hours.
• It is more profitable to purchase round-trip tickets.
• Always consider fuel surcharges as they are sometimes too high.
• From time to time it is necessary to use the services of the airline so that the bonus miles do not "burn out" and they can be debited.

Video: how do miles work?

Example

In order to understand in more detail the calculation and use of bonuses, we give approximate indicators. For example, using a regular Standard card in any bank for a year with spending 40 thousand a month, you can collect about 7900 miles. Making at least one flight a year while on vacation, for example, from Yekaterinburg to Athens and back, you get at least 5600 miles.

Using a bank card to pay for tickets, another 770 conventional units are added. And, for example, after collecting 500 welcome miles and the same amount for participating in the promotion, you have added 1,000 to your account. Using the same hotel booking system, you can add up to 1,000 USD to your balance. That is, by paying for the stay with a card. And another 250 is added for car rental.

In total, in total for a year and one vacation, there are already 16 520 bonuses. They can be spent in different ways. For example, having accumulated 20 thousand miles in a year and a half, it will be possible to fly to Istanbul or St. Petersburg from Yekaterinburg. In this case, only the fees of 3,000 rubles will remain to be paid.

It is impossible to immediately tell which of the cards or programs will be more profitable and better. It all depends on the specific conditions of use. Therefore, it is worthwhile to carefully study the rules, interest charges in each bank and from individual carriers in order to determine which of the systems will be more profitable for you to fly.

To increase the number of customers, many of the world's air carriers develop and apply incentive bonus systems. Such systems are often associated with the accumulation of flight miles and the provision of various discounts for a certain number of them. Moreover, discounts are valid both when booking tickets and paying for services, as well as when shopping online in stores. All that is required of a passenger is to fly the aircraft of this company.

Aeroflot's subsidiary Pobeda

The largest Russian air carrier Aeroflot provides services for the delivery of passengers and cargo to the vast majority of Russian and foreign airports. The company has a high reputation in the world and is popular with air travelers.

For passenger transportation Pobeda Airlines, a subsidiary of Aeroflot, was established at reduced prices. It traces its history back to 2014, when for the first time a low-cost carrier's liner took off from Vnukovo to Volgograd. Since then, this very Moscow airport has been the "home" airport for "Pobeda".

New routes are constantly being added to the existing routes of Pobeda flights, and the number of routes has exceeded 40. The most attractive moment for passengers when choosing flights with Pobeda are cheap air tickets, the cost of which is much lower than that of the parent company Aeroflot. The price of tickets for low-cost flights starts from 999 rubles. in any direction.

In addition to low prices, among the merits of "Victory" is high punctuality. Among all Russian air carriers, it ranks third at the end of last year in this category.

The advantage of this airline is the possibility of connecting flights when tickets are sold to the end of the route, which is not always provided by other low-cost airlines.

Disadvantages of "Victory":

1. The requirements for baggage are too strict. You can take one item with you on the plane, weighing a maximum of 5 kg and limited by dimensions of 360x300x270 mm. For baggage that does not match in weight and dimensions, you will have to pay an amount that reaches and sometimes exceeds the cost of a travel document.
2. You won't be able to get food on board, even for an additional fee.

Aeroflot Bonus program

For those who fly with Aeroflot, the main Russian airline has been using a bonus program for many years.

Its main components:

1. With the miles you have accumulated, you will be eligible to fly Business Class.
2. You can use the free ticket not only yourself, but also transfer it to your relatives and friends.
3. You will be notified on a priority basis of all offers and promotions.
4. Discounts from partner companies (hotels, restaurants, shops, mobile operators, etc.) included in the system will be available to you.

Miles accrual, which is not yet available to Pobeda customers, is already being used by members of the Aeroflot Bonus program. For one flight with Aeroflot-Russian Airlines ( charter flights not taken into account) you will be credited with miles, the number of which is determined by the distance traveled and the class seat... With one condition: there cannot be less than 500 of them.

Miles are additionally accumulated if you fly with partner air carriers and pay for the services of partner companies. The sums of money are converted into miles, which are then converted into bonuses.

Pobeda Airlines is still developing a bonus program, although it is already applying separate promotions.

Are Aeroflot miles accrued when flying on Pobeda

Since Pobeda is closely related to the parent company, you might think that if you fly on a low-cost airline, Aeroflot miles will be accrued in the same way and bring bonuses. However, it is not.

Pobeda does not participate in the parent company's bonus program and does not plan to join it in the foreseeable future.

Bonus program "Victory"

Despite the fact that the airline does not yet have a broad program for providing bonuses, representatives of the low-cost airline state about its possible implementation. It is not known whether Pobeda will count miles, like other airlines, or apply other options for granting bonuses.

Not only individual promotions and special offers are now available, but also a coupon and promotional code system has been launched.

If you often use the services of this carrier, you can get a promo code on the website when buying a ticket online. Bonuses are offered for the cheapest tickets for a specific flight or discounts on payments for various services, for example, for choosing a seat.

The head of Pobeda A. Kalmykov said that the company is considering the possibility of creating a bonus program similar to Air Asia BIG. This is a valid bonus system that offers its customers the following opportunities:

1. Pay for the services of partner companies - hotels and restaurants, online hotel booking services, car rental companies, etc., then transfer the sums of money into points that allow you to apply bonuses.
2. Purchase tickets for flights from AirAsia, accumulating points for each performed flight.
3. Use partner credit cards, for example, "AirAsia-Citi Platinum Visa Credit Card" and receive points and bonuses when booking tickets and paying for company services.
4. Exchange accumulated points for free flights (starts from 500 points). If you don't have enough points to pay the full cost, you can add cash.

In addition to the range of flights, the number of bonus points also depends on the member's status, which increases with the growing number of flights performed.

AirAsia is a low-cost airline from Malaysia with some of the lowest ticket prices in the world. His successful experience in the implementation of incentive bonuses proves that low-cost airlines can attract customers not only with an initially low price. Partner firms are eager to participate in the program, since the services of budget companies are used by a huge number of air passengers.

Until the incentive program is accepted, use special offers and promotional codes when flying with Pobeda. They are a kind of bonuses, not cumulative, but one-time.

What is a mile and what are they like?
A mile is a tool for linking a passenger to a specific airline or to a heap of related airlines (called an alliance). Aeroflot does not benefit from your flights on the board of a competitor S7. S7 loses money when you fly UTair. Etc.

Miles are common and quasi. Whoever is interested in both types and materiel - read the entire article.
Those who do not like longreads can read about the most profitable way to accumulate and use miles according to Travel Radar.

How can I make you prefer Aeroflot over Utair on the same destination on the same date?
You need to either give a lower price for the ticket, or offer something else that will interest you. Something that will tie you up and remind you to buy new ticket for the same airline. What? The airlines are fed about the same, the range of services they provide is similar, you can't lure all of this. But you can promise a free flight. Free not now, but sometime later, when you collect the required number of Aeroflot miles or miles of some airline from the alliance that Aeroflot is a member of.

And now you are already registering with Aeroflot-Bonus. And you continue to pay for tickets only to Aeroflot, because you save 20,000 miles for a free ticket from Moscow to Yekaterinburg and back.
The price of such a round trip ticket for money (at the time of this writing) is 8140 rubles fare + 3366 rubles for taxes.
For 20,000 miles, according to the rules, you "buy" only the fare of 8140 rubles, the fees will have to be paid in cash. Yes, in many loyalty programs you will only receive a fare for miles, and taxes will be out of your pocket.
Let's remember these numbers and move on to what 20,000 Aeroflot miles really are and how to get them.

Consider the basic options

Option 1: Earn Miles by Flights

In general, to accumulate 20,000 miles on Aeroflot flights, you must fly 20,000 miles. Of course, not at once, but nonetheless.
For example, the distance in land miles from Moscow to Yekaterinburg is 887 miles. This means that you have to fly about 11 times from Moscow to Yekaterinburg and back to get 20,000 miles and your free ticket. This will be a ticket from Moscow to Yekaterinburg and back, or by another route, which also costs no more than 20,000 miles.
Once again: you need to pay 11 * (8140 + 3366) to accumulate 20,000 miles (and this is not a fact, the details are in the paragraph below).
Miles can be gained by flying faster, there are many details and nuances.
For example, booking rates. More expensive tariffs give more miles for the same overland distance. That is, instead of 887 miles, you will be credited with 1,330 or even 1,774 miles if instead of economy you bought business class.
The same feature works in the other direction - the cheapest (discount) fares either do not imply accrual of miles at all, or the accrual of miles will be in a smaller amount: 50% or even 25% of the number of land miles of distance.
In other words, you can fly and then find out that you should have overpaid for a ticket with Aeroflot in vain, because the fare was not high and you did not receive anything.

Output: a great way when you fly very often and you can choose any one airline. In other words, business trips. In other general cases, the miles earned on flights rarely outweigh the benefits of buying a cheap ticket from another airline. We repeat once again that what has been described is true for any program of any airline or alliance, and Aeroflot is just an example here.

Option 2: miles for paying for goods and services with bank cards.

Various banks issue credit or debit cards in partnership with airlines. The co-brand is called. The mechanics of earning miles using such co-brands is the same everywhere: you spend some rubles paying for various goods or services with a card, and the bank credits some miles to your account in the airline's loyalty program in return.
And again, let's take Aeroflot as an example. He cooperates with all sorts of banks, the co-brand with Sberbank is best known. Each 60 rubles spent using a Sberbank-Aeroflot card will earn 1 mile in Aeroflot-Bonus.
If the card is not an ordinary one, but a “gold” card, the conditions are even better: they spent 60 rubles and got 1.5 miles. If the card is not gold, but of the highest category (Signature) - 2 miles for every 60 rubles.
But it's time for us to go to Yekaterinburg for free again, and for this we want to get 20,000 miles. How many goods do we need to buy with a Sberbank card to get what we are looking for? Diligently multiply 20,000 by 60 and get 1 million 200 thousand rubles. There is no mistake: in order to earn 20,000 Aeroflot miles to your account by paying with a Sberbank card, you need to be able to spend 1,200,000 rubles on it. Well, or 800,000 rubles, if the co-branding card of Sberbank is "golden". And all this for the sake of saving 8140 rubles, because the fare from Moscow to Yekaterinburg and vice versa costs about the same, which we will buy for 20,000 accumulated miles.

Output: long and unprofitable (why it is unprofitable - read below in the section about quasi-miles). If you decide to accumulate miles in this way, carefully approach the study of the question not of how to accumulate them, but of how to rationally spend them.
For example, spending miles on a flight from Moscow to Yekaterinburg is foolish, however, spending miles on a business class flight to the far abroad is often more profitable than buying the same ticket for money. Look carefully at the calculator of miles required for flights (it exists in one form or another for each loyalty program), and count carefully. Of course, it's best to do this before you open your bank card, not after.

Option 3: buy miles.

Let's make a reservation right away that direct purchase and sale of miles is prohibited by many loyalty programs. If we talk about Russian programs, it is prohibited in all. But people often use the rules-permitted mechanism for transferring miles to other members, bypassing this limitation. And if you find a person with too many miles, he can write you a ticket for them in exchange for material gratitude. The rules of the program are not violated, the ticket has been received.
Since no such exchange services officially exist, we will not discuss them in this article.
Just to mention that a ticket from our example worth 20,000 miles will cost about 12,000 rubles with this method when buying miles + you will have to pay additional fees (they were written about above). So the savings on the selected example with Yekaterinburg went into the negative zone.

Output: the method saves money (sometimes) and time, but requires experience and proven sellers. The Internet is teeming with scammers who sell either stolen miles (from hacked accounts) or tickets bought with stolen cards, disguised as tickets issued for miles. Don't fall for all these gray schemes.

We have described three basic options for earning airline miles. Let's summarize the pros and cons.

Pros of airline miles:

• weak, but still the opportunity to fly in business class is significantly cheaper than for money or quasi-miles. Strictly speaking, Aeroflot miles should be spent exclusively on long-distance business class tickets. Only then does the accumulation of these miles make sense.
• the possibility of obtaining a status in the loyalty program, which will give additional benefits. There are many such advantages and they are very different. They depend on the status itself (silver, gold, platinum, etc.) and on the specific program. Typical examples of status benefits include additional baggage allowance, free access to the airport's business lounge, priority boarding, etc.

Cons of airline miles:

• It is difficult for the average traveler with three flights a year to earn enough miles for a ticket through flights or co-branded expenses.
• the need to pay taxes in addition to the "free" mile ticket
• As a rule, there will be no or not enough tickets for miles on the flight or date you need (mile tickets always have quotas on board). If the flights are on peak dates (for example, summer to Barcelona), it is often extremely difficult to fly over miles, there are simply no seats.

Now let's move on to another way to reduce the cost of flights.

Quasimiles

Quasimiles cannot be collected on flights and they are not a tool for linking a client to a particular airline and alliance. As a consequence, quasi-miles do not apply to any loyalty program or airline.
This is a flexible way to buy tickets from almost any airline as if the ticket was being bought for money.
There is only one option for accumulating quasi-miles: to find a bank card with the required quasi-miles program and try to use only it to pay for all your purchases. On this moment There are many such programs, for example:

• "AirBonus" from Avangard Bank
• All Airlines from Tinkoff Bank
• "Alfa Miles" from Alfa-Bank
• "Multi-Card" from VTB24 Bank

The mechanics of the programs are the same: you spend money, and the bank credits you with quasi-miles to the mile account opened with it. The accrual is carried out according to the algorithm established by the banking conditions. After accumulating the number of miles up to the value stipulated by the rules, you buy a ticket from any airline for them as if it were not miles, but rubles.
Example: under the terms of the "Multi-Card" program from VTB24, 4% of their value in the form of miles will be credited for purchases. We spent 80,000 rubles in a month using a card, got 3200 miles. Let's go to Personal Area and bought any ticket of any airline worth 3200 rubles. And that's all.

Quasimiles are devoid of all the benefits of miles from any airline. But there is good news: they are devoid of all their disadvantages.

• Accumulating quasi-miles is a little easier. For example, to collect quasimili for a ticket from our example (Moscow-Yekaterinburg-Moscow), you need to spend about 640 thousand rubles on the Avangard bank card. This is not 800,000 or 1,200,000 at all, as in the example with Sberbank.
• Buying for quasi-miles is equivalent to buying for money, so the fees are already in the price, you do not need to pay anything separately.
• The ticket can be purchased regardless of the availability of miles (as would be the case with airline miles). Are there tickets for the required dates for the money? You buy them for quasi miles. No quotas, restrictions and inconvenient dates.

Of course, quasi-mile programs have their drawbacks. For example, according to the conditions of some banks, in order to be able to buy a ticket, you must first collect a certain minimum number of quasi miles. There are also restrictions on the number of tickets purchased per year, for example, no more than 10 tickets.

General conclusions

• If you fly several times a year and choose tickets according to the principle “convenient and as cheap as possible,” quasi-miles are suitable for you.
• If you fly very often and have the opportunity to buy tickets for only one airline, choose the miles of the airline you fly most often and save them.
• If you like to use bank cards and want to spend money profitably - quasi-money again.
• If you have read and did not understand anything - quit this business and figure out how to make more money. And already travel on them cheap.

Everyone has heard about them, many have seen, but few were able to get to know them personally. What are these mysterious miles that most airlines present to their frequent flyers? Today "Aviation tips from the site" will tell you about one of the most difficult programs for travelers, namely, the system of earning miles!

To begin with, many airlines have such bonus programs, but it is much more convenient to use similar offers from airline alliances, which include several carriers at once. This allows you to accumulate miles faster, and then spend them more efficiently. Below is a list of the largest air alliances ...

The largest Star Alliance includes Air Canada, Air China, Austrian, Brussels Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, SAS, Singapore Airlines, SWISS, TAP Portugal, Turkish Airlines and others.

Slightly more modest is the SkyTeam alliance, which includes the following air carriers: Aeroflot, Air Europa, Air France, Alitalia, Czech Airlines, Delta Air Lines, KLM, Korean air and many others.

The smallest Oneworld alliance includes such airlines as Airberlin, American Airlines, British Airways, Finnair, Iberia, Qatar Airways, S7 and others.

What is the benefit of earning miles?

The most enjoyable use of bonus miles is buying with them award ticket, which you will get for free or you will have to pay only taxes and fees. By the way, either you or your friends can take the flight, since miles are not personalized and you are allowed to give them.

It is worth noting that it is not easy to earn the required number of miles for a whole ticket, but they can be spent on other pleasures of life, such as:

• upgrading the service class, that is, buying an economy class ticket, with the help of miles, you can find yourself in "business";
• an increase in passenger status, which entails an increase in baggage allowance, an invitation to special lounges at the airport, and then to priority boarding, as well as the accrual of more miles for flights;
• receiving serious discounts on other travel services, for example, for hotel accommodation or car rental;
• or discounts on the purchase of various products from the "mile catalog", from clothing and accessories to electric drills and vacuum cleaners.

Who benefits from saving miles?

In order to successfully accumulate and then spend miles, first of all, you need to frequently use the services of one airline or one airline alliance. Therefore, if you fly with a variety of airlines or spend your entire vacation at the dacha, you are unlikely to be pleased with the mileage programs. But they are suitable for those who travel a lot or go on business trips, giving preference to some specific air carriers.

Qualifying and non-qualifying miles

Miles can be of two types: qualifying (they are also status) and non-qualifying (or bonus). The first ones are credited directly for flights. The main purpose of such miles is to upgrade the passenger status from the simplest to the elite, which gives the maximum benefits. However, qualifying miles can also be redeemed for an award ticket.

Non-qualifying miles are issued for using the services of partner companies of the program (banks, restaurants, shops, etc.). In this case, the passenger's status does not change in any way, and miles can only be spent on award flights, upgrading the class of service on the plane and other one-time pleasures (while a high status is usually assigned to a passenger for a year).

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It is important to understand that without earning qualifying miles, you will not be able to use the accumulated non-qualifying miles. In other words, a flightless passenger does not deserve any privileges, even if he makes a lot of purchases from partner companies! The period of earning miles also plays an important role. Usually it is 1-2 years, after which all unused miles from the non-rechargeable account expire.

Earning miles

The most logical way to earn miles is to fly. However, do not forget that you need to fly either by some one carrier, or (which is more convenient) by airlines from the same alliance.

In order to inform the airline about your participation in the accumulation of miles, when booking a ticket, you must enter the personal number of a frequent flyer or show the program card when checking in for the flight. It does not matter where exactly the reservation was made - on the official website of the carrier, at the air ticket office or on the website of the online agency. It is also worth considering that if you bought a ticket, but the flight on it was not completed (the reservation was canceled or you simply missed the plane), then miles will not be credited.

The number of miles earned depends on several factors: the class of service (economy / business), the flight distance and the fare at which the ticket was purchased. You can see how many miles you will receive for a particular flight in the special tables for earning miles in the airline's rules.

In addition to flights, you can use other services provided by partner companies of the program, and, again, earn miles. Hotels, restaurants, car rental, mobile operators and many others will be happy to give you coveted air points.

The most profitable and convenient way to accumulate non-qualifying miles is to use the cards of partner banks. The more purchases you pay with this card, the more miles you get. By the way, there is a little trick here! When visiting shops, restaurants and other establishments with friends, offer to pay the general bill with your card, so other people's purchases will also bring you miles.

How to spend miles

In addition to the already mentioned bonuses directly from airlines, as well as discounts on services and products of program partners, you always want to spend miles on flights, getting the same cherished free ticket (you need to remember about the possible payment of fees).

Each airline and alliance has a lot of pitfalls that need to be considered when looking for bonus tickets, but there are also unspoken general rules:

• When choosing an airline for a flight, pay attention to how high fees (in real money) it may additionally request for a ticket paid for with virtual miles. Although it may not ask for anything at all!
• It is beneficial to spend bonus miles on business class flights, especially over long distances, when comfort is of great importance, and such tickets are very expensive for the money. True, it is worth considering that you will need a lot of miles for this.
• If you do not have a lot of miles, choose flights for closer distances, but in business class. In this case, the fees are usually the same as for the "economy".
• Unlike buying with real money, you will not receive a discount on your round-trip ticket with your bonus miles.

How to earn miles with Aeroflot Bonus

Since different alliances and airlines have a lot of such subtleties, we decided to analyze in detail the secrets of the Aeroflot Bonus, the most popular program for earning miles in Russia.

1. First of all, it should be noted that Aeroflot does not have completely free tickets. The surcharge of various taxes in cash is compulsory for everyone, even for the most frequent flyers. However, the amount of these fees can vary greatly.
2. It is profitable to buy a round-trip ticket for miles at once, because one way it will cost only a little cheaper.
3. The entire map of the world is divided into zones, the membership of which determines the number of miles required to depart or arrive from / to a particular city. Sometimes it turns out that airports that are relatively close to each other are located in different zones, so it is profitable not to depart from hometown, and from the neighboring one. For example, a flight from Krasnodar (Russia-1 zone) is cheaper than a flight from Sochi (Russia-2 zone).
4. To save miles and at the same time to make your trip richer will help a flight not to your final destination, but to another Big City located nearby. For example, flying to Venice (Europe-3 zone) is always more expensive than to Innsbruck (Europe-2 zone), and a trip from the second city to the first can be a great addition to the trip.
5. To get a bonus ticket for popular dates and destinations, you should be puzzled by the search in advance, but still there is a chance that you may not find what you need. The problem is that Aeroflot has a limited number of tickets that can be paid for with bonuses, which is especially felt when looking for flights in the hot season and to the most interesting destinations.
6. In addition to regular airline sales, keep an eye out for special mileage promotions, during which tickets to certain destinations can cost you far fewer miles than usual. Please remember, however, that taxes and fees will still have to be paid in full.
7. It is very convenient to accumulate Aeroflot bonus miles by paying for goods with bank cards, since the airline cooperates with several banks, one of which is the most popular in the country.
8. But accumulating miles using the services of Aeroflot itself sometimes turns out to be completely useless. The fact is that some airline fares do not provide for the accrual of bonuses for flights, and for tickets purchased under the promotion, you can get only a quarter of the possible number of miles.
9. Remember that the accumulated Aeroflot bonus miles expire after two years, if during this time you have not made a single flight on the flights of the airline itself (at a fare with miles accrual) or partner carriers. the Skyteam alliance... In addition, you will not be able to purchase an award ticket for miles (even if you retain them) if you have never flown by Aeroflot itself or its subsidiary Nordavia during the specified time.

As you can see, the process of accumulating and spending air miles is quite complicated and painstaking, so not everyone is engaged in it. In addition, such programs are not suitable for everyone.

However, if you fly a lot and can figure out the intricacies of alliances, miles and bonus tickets, then this will really help you save money or please yourself with unnecessary trips.

Now I’ll tell you how to fly business class and not pay crazy money for it. As you know, almost every airline has bonus programs where passengers are encouraged to accumulate miles, which can then be redeemed for tickets. So, if you approach the accumulation process wisely, you can fly with comfort and practically free of charge several times a year.

First you need to decide with whom to fly and save miles.

Airlines have miles and banks have miles. For example, Alfa-Bank and Tinkoff Bank offer their customers bonus programs, where miles are also accumulated, which can then be exchanged for tickets. But in fact, this is a kind of cashback with a fixed rate.

Airlines miles are much more interesting. There are qualifying and non-qualifying miles. The first ones are credited to you directly for flights by this airline, and they affect your status. Each airline has different membership levels (silver, gold, etc.). The higher your status, the more privileges you get. It all depends on the airline. For example, Aeroflot offers you business-class check-in, the option to select a front-row seat with increased legroom at no additional cost, and access to business lounges. Also, high status will allow you to sometimes get business class seats at no additional cost. For example, if the flight is overcrowded, then some passengers may be transferred from economy to business. As you guessed, such a gift is waiting for the one whose level is higher. I have been transplanted from economy to business several times.

Some airlines have even more privileges. American "Delta" transfers passengers of elite levels to business class free of charge, if there are vacant seats. This rule applies only on domestic flights, but it's still nice;)

Major airlines form alliances. There are three of the largest: SkyTeam, OneWorld, and Star Alliance. Accordingly, you will receive bonus miles for flights on all airlines of the alliance, even if you do not have their bonus program. For example, if you have an Aeroflot bonus card, then you will receive miles and privileges for flights on all airlines of the alliance.

Here you need to choose the airline, the bonus program of which you open. It makes no sense to have both Aeroflot and AirFrance cards, since they are part of the same alliance and have essentially the same bonus program.

If you live in Russia, the first thing to do is open an Aeroflot card, since the national carrier has almost monopolized the air transportation market in the country. If you plan to fly frequently, for example, across the States, then you can consider the Delta bonus program (they are also part of SkyTeam) instead of Aeroflot. The rest of the cards must also be opened. S7 is represented by OneWorld Alliance in Russia. Star Alliance Russian airlines no, but it includes, for example, " Turkish Airlines"," Lufthansa "and many other popular airlines.

Now you have to accumulate miles. The most obvious way to earn miles is to fly the airlines you want. As I wrote above, in addition to earning bonus miles, you will increase your status and have various pleasant bonuses. But you can't save much like that. If you don’t fly all the time, then you will have to save up for a normal bonus ticket for several years.

To more actively accumulate miles, you can contact partners. For example, many banks have joint projects with airlines. For every dollar spent from your bank card, you will receive a certain number of miles.

In addition, many hotels give miles. For example, if you have an Aeroflot loyalty program, you can earn 500 miles for staying at Radisson or Kempinski hotels and up to 2 miles for every dollar spent at Marriott or Intercontinental. Miles are also given by rental offices. For example, "Eurocar" and "Avis" give 1500 miles each for the fact of car rental. Each airline has dozens of partners, so carefully study who gives bonuses for what.

So you've accumulated miles and now is the time to spend them. You have to spend miles to buy bonus tickets! And this is where the fun begins. You must not only be able to save miles, but also spend them correctly.

The task for all the participants in the competition is this: we try to fly in economy class to Omsk and New York at the end of May for one day (on May 28, departure, on May 29 - back) *. If someone is unable to offer economy class, we take the most cheap ticket... Then we try to figure out how many miles to spend on the same trip.
* Prices were measured in April, when there was a slightly different course and tickets were available.

Let's start with Aeroflot! Bonus miles are accumulated quite quickly, especially if you buy expensive tickets. But you need to understand if they are easy to use.

For example, to Omsk and back to Moscow at the time of the proposed purchase, you can fly over 20,000 miles in economy class.

Hopefully, the designer of Aeroflot, who came up with the idea of ​​writing in blue on a blue background, has already been given to crocodiles to eat.

Now, uncheck the "Pay with miles" box. We see that the cheapest ticket to Omsk costs 10,000 rubles, and from Omsk to Moscow - 9,000 rubles. That is, the rate goes approximately 1 to 1, but they decided to round the miles up to tens of thousands.

Let's see how things are with New York:

In economy, the total cost of tickets is 37042 rubles, taxes are included. Business class is much more expensive, 135,637 rubles.

If you try to buy a ticket to New York with economy bonuses, then the mile rate drops sharply.

We spend 70,000 miles on round-trip tickets! Moreover, you will have to pay separately fees in the amount of 16,477 rubles. For the sake of purity of the experiment, let's calculate the exact course. The fare to New York and back without fees is 18,055 rubles. It turns out that if you pay with miles, you will have to pay 3.88 miles for each ruble!

One of the secrets of flying with miles: the higher the class of service, the more profitable it is to spend. As we have already found out, a business class ticket to New York and back costs 135,637 rubles. The bonus ticket will cost 110,000 miles. We subtract taxes from the ruble price and find out that the course of the Aeroflot mile in this case is 0.92 miles per ruble, which is an excellent indicator. The problem is that it is very difficult to buy such a ticket for miles.

See, the round trip business mile is sold out.

I was just trying to find business class tickets for the summer and found that there was nothing ...

Just in case, I checked Aeroflot's mileage course for flights to other cities in Russia and neighboring countries.

It costs 7,500 rubles to fly to St. Petersburg on the same days (this is an economy one). Bonuses - 20,000 miles. And don't forget about the fees, which are always paid separately in the case of miles. But you only need to pay 30,000 miles for the business. The course could be in the region of 1.5 miles per ruble, only tickets, again, have already been sold out.

In general, in almost all cases the same rule works: an extremely unprofitable mile rate when buying tickets in economy class, and a rather profitable one when paying with business class miles. Okay, everything is clear with Aeroflot. Let's see what others have to offer.

Apart from Aeroflot, of the Russian carriers, only S7 Airlines (a member of oneworld) is one of the three largest international alliances. S7 has a Priority bonus program.

Well, let's try to fly to Omsk. Economy round trip for 16,200 rubles, very good.

S7 has a table allowing you to find out how many miles tickets for direct flights of the airline will cost. Omsk, for example, is part of the Russia 2 premium zone, and a one-way ticket to it will cost 15,000 miles in economy and 25,000 miles in business class.

We choose to pay with miles. 30,000 miles + another 3.5 thousand rubles as taxes. It turns out that the course is 2.3 miles per ruble.

A ticket to Omsk and back in business class for the same dates will cost 49,200 rubles.

For the same tickets, you can give 45,000 miles and pay an additional 3560 rubles. Let's calculate the course. We remove the fees and find out that when flying in business class, the course can be 0.98 miles per ruble. This is a very good course! The low-cost business class rule works here as well.

The catch is that we are talking about the Business Optimum mile fare, which implies that the number of available seats on the flight is limited. Airlines allocate only a few seats on the flight that can be purchased with miles. But it's still a good option if you are used to planning your trips in advance. After all, if you pay in rubles, a business (for example, the same tickets to Omsk) is 3 times more expensive than the economy one, and if in miles, then less than 1.5 times.

Now New York. The ticket to New York is expensive, and the return transfer is inconvenient.

What about miles? It is necessary to give 75,000 miles at once, and pay extra 23495 rubles as taxes. The course in this case is 2.05 miles per ruble. There were no business class tickets at all, so I don't even know what the prices are now.

Well, we understood something about Russian carriers. Let's find out what Aeroflot's SkyTeam friends have to offer.

The American airline Delta has a SkyMiles bonus program, which is combined with the Pay with Miles program. The latter has a clear course in the rules: it allows you to reduce the cost of a ticket by $ 50 for every 5000 miles.

That is, 100 miles are worth $ 1, or 1 mile is equal to 1 cent. The dollar exchange rate is now hovering around 70 rubles / $ 1 (rounded for convenience). It turns out that one cent, aka 1 mile, will cost 70 kopecks, and a ruble = 1.43 miles. A very good indicator, it's a pity that Americans also have restrictions on dates and destinations when paying with miles.

In reality, the situation is as follows. A ticket to New York and back in economy will cost 33,350 rubles, in business class - 142,973 rubles.

Here is the price in miles, with the surcharge for the fees below. The current rate for the economy will be 4.73 miles per ruble, for business - one to one. That is, the story is about the same as with Russian airlines.

For Air France, a flight to New York and back on the same dates costs 37,542 rubles.

The mileage calculator for the Flying Blue bonus system (used by Air France and KLM) assures that the standard economy will cost 50,000 miles.

As with other airlines, the Flying Blue rules state that all additional fees are paid by the member of the program. This means that 19,487 rubles must be added to these miles. The fare without charges is 18,055 rubles, exactly like Aeroflot's. That is, the real mile course will be 2.77 miles per ruble.

Business class will cost 143,168 rubles.

The calculator requires 125,000 miles. Since the fare without charges is 109,115 rubles, the mile rate will be 1.15 miles per ruble.

Let's let down the results:

The maximum mile course in this study was found in Aeroflot... It will apply if you take business class to and from New York. It is likely that business class on other international flights can also be booked at a favorable rate. But Aeroflot has a very blurred low-rate boundary. It practically does not exist, and the worst situation is with the economy on domestic flights: maybe 4 or 5 miles per ruble - try to search for yourself. In this case, you can stumble upon 1 to 1, like in the case of Omsk. In general, be careful.

Have Air France and the "brotherly" KLM course will vary from 1 to 3 miles per ruble; in business, flying is expectedly more profitable. In general, nothing surprising when it comes to international flights.

In the case of SkyMiles from Delta you need to be on the lookout, because you can get both on a very profitable course and on a completely unprofitable course. Roughly the same story as with Aeroflot. In general, if you fly to the USA, it is better to get a Delta card, and maybe more than one - more on that below)

Have S7 there is very profitable offer in business class, and the threshold for a disadvantageous rate is lower than that of Aeroflot. But, again, I don’t know how the situation is with other cities. We need to dig. In general, the offer is similar to that of Air France, although it would probably be more appropriate to compare it with its oneworld partners.

Use it to your health! But do not forget about a bunch of restrictions when buying air tickets for miles. Sometimes it is more advisable to spend them not on tickets, but on an upgrade and other goodies, as well as simply on transfers from the airport.

In general, in the West, and in the USA in particular, it is much easier to accumulate miles than here in Russia. My friend levik from New York told me that the most convenient way to do this is with co-branded credit cards.

There, banks, together with airlines, do not skimp on bonuses if you spend a certain amount on the card. For example, if you get a Delta Gold SkyMiles credit card from American Express and spend more than S1000 from it in the first three months of use, you can receive 30,000 bonus miles. At the same time, in the first year of using the card, the service will be free (hereinafter - $ 95), and you can safely use it.

The secret is that when you close such a credit card, all the miles you earned do not expire, but remain on your bonus account with the airline. If you carefully follow the various promotions and offers, then you can get 100,000 miles quite easily. Americans even have a special site to monitor all kinds of card bonuses.

During the year, you can open several cards, after six months, close each of them, and the miles continue to live and accumulate.

Each major airline there is a partner bank. Delta is friends with American Express, American Airlines with Citibank, and United Airlines with Chase. Lyova is subscribed to all possible loyalty programs, and when he needs to fly somewhere, he simply hits the partners of these airlines, for which it would be more profitable to spend miles. For example, he flew to China with Cathay Pacific, which is a partner of American Airlines.

Lyova most willingly spends her miles on first-class flights (he says they come across them on average three times a year). It turns out that this is more profitable: if in money the business class is twice cheaper than the first class, then in miles the difference is only 20-30%.

No, Lyova was not flying in this airplane. This is a photo from.

In addition to purely "aviation" credit cards, there is a reason to start and ordinary airlines in partner banks. For example, using American Express or Chase cards, you can accumulate "multipurpose" bonus points, and when you see that Delta or United are selling tickets for miles, you can immediately convert these points into miles and buy what you need.

Lev advises to start with the cheapest credit card (often "free"). Here's how to do it when earning miles:

1. Get a cheaper card with a free first year.
2. Spend the required amount on it on time, get a bonus.
3. Keep dormant for almost the end of the year.
4. Just before the anniversary, call and cancel it
5. After a year (or 18 months), you can try again.

In general, if there is an opportunity to get American mile cards - feel free to start, just do not forget to close. Enjoy your flights!