Collecting Points and Miles: Your Ultimate Get Started Guide

Hello, Adventurous Travellers, and Happy Sunday!

Whether you're new to this newsletter or have been getting it for a while and don't know where to start with points and miles, this issue is for you!

Once you've mastered the basics, you can take advantage of all the advice we give in our newsletters and the free Facebook group.

From now on, we will try to include some beginner's guide sections in our emails.

Collecting points and air miles can open up a world of free flights, upgrades, and even hotel stays.

Before collecting miles, you should be aware of the many airline loyalty programmes, which ones to sign up for, and other ways to earn points.

Whether you're a frequent traveller or someone who dreams of that bucket-list trip, knowing how to earn points can help you get closer to your travel goals without breaking the bank.

Let's get started:

• ✈️ What are Air Miles? Master the basics of collecting air miles to earn free flights!

• 📋 The Best Airline Loyalty Programmes: Find the best ones to sign up for to get started.

• 🌍 Airline Alliances: Find out what an airline alliance is, the three major ones, and how you can earn points when flying with multiple airlines.

• 🏨 Earning Miles with Hotel Stays: Find the leading hotel loyalty programmes and how hotel stays can earn you air miles.

✈️ What are Air Miles?

Let's start right at the beginning. You'll know that air miles can get you free flights and other things, but what is an 'air mile', and how do you get them?

Air miles (often referred to as frequent flyer miles) and points are loyalty rewards offered by airlines, credit card companies, and other businesses to encourage spending.

The more you spend, the more points or miles you earn, which can then be redeemed for various rewards, such as flights, seat upgrades, hotel stays and more…

While some airlines have their own dedicated loyalty schemes (e.g., British Airways Executive Club and the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club), many credit cards and retail brands offer loyalty programmes where points can be transferred to airline miles. For example, American Express Membership Rewards points can be converted into Avios, hotel points, Virgin Points, and more!

The main way to use air miles is to book free flights. You usually have to pay taxes and charges on the flight.

You can search for the flight you want to take (e.g., on the British Airways website under 'Book a Flight with Avios'), or you can be tactical and find the best 'redemption' offers, where your air miles are worth more, and you get a better deal.

We often cover these offers in our emails.

📋Joining Airline Loyalty Programmes

To get started, I would recommend signing up for these loyalty programmes:

• ✈️ Avios (British Airways Executive Club): Avios is one of the most widely recognised frequent flyer programmes. You earn Avios points (air miles) by flying with British Airways or its partners.

• ✈️ Virgin Points (Virgin Atlantic Flying Club): Virgin Points are another popular option, especially if you fly regularly with Virgin Atlantic. They can be earned through flights, credit card spend, and other retail partners and are redeemable for flights, cabin upgrades and more.

• ✈️ Emirates (Emirates Skywards): The Emirates Skywards programme is perfect if you often fly with Emirates, but it also has a wide range of global airline partners, including Qantas, Japan Airlines, and South African Airways.

• ✈️ Miles and More (Lufthansa): Europe’s largest frequent flyer programme. You can collect points when flying with Star Alliance members like Swiss Air, Austrian Airlines, and United Airlines.

🌍 Flying with Airline Partners

You don't have to fly exclusively with British Airways or Virgin Atlantic to collect points. Both airlines are part of wider alliances (oneworld and SkyTeam, respectively), meaning you can also earn points when you fly with their partner airlines.

Understanding airline alliances is key to maximising your rewards. These alliances are partnerships between multiple airlines that allow you to earn and redeem points across different airlines within the same group.

For example, British Airways is part of the oneworld alliance, so you can earn Avios when flying with airlines like American Airlines, Qatar Airways, and Cathay Pacific.

Virgin Atlantic's partnership with Delta, KLM, and Air France allows you to earn Virgin Points when flying on these airlines.

The main alliances include:

oneworld

The oneworld alliance includes top airlines such as British Airways, American Airlines, Qatar Airways, and Cathay Pacific.

The British Airways Executive Club (Avios) is the best programme to sign up for if you're UK-based. Once you're a member, you can earn Avios on British Airways and any flights with oneworld partners.

Avios can be redeemed across all these airlines, meaning you can access a global network for your redemptions.

Star Alliance

The largest global airline alliance, featuring airlines like Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, United Airlines, and Swiss. In the UK, the most popular Star Alliance loyalty programme is Lufthansa's Miles & More.

By joining Miles & More, you can earn points on all Star Alliance flights, including those with airlines like Air Canada, ANA, and Turkish Airlines.

SkyTeam

SkyTeam is another major global airline alliance that includes airlines such as Virgin Atlantic, Delta Air Lines, Air France, and KLM.

Virgin Atlantic's Flying Club is an excellent programme to join in the UK, especially if you fly with Virgin or its partners.

With Flying Club, you earn Virgin Points that can be redeemed on Virgin Atlantic flights and with SkyTeam airlines like KLM and Air France.

💳 UK Credit Cards for Earning Air Miles

Credit cards are one of the easiest ways to collect points and air miles in the UK. Many cards offer generous welcome bonuses and ongoing points on everyday spending. Here are a few to consider:

• American Express (Amex): The Amex Gold and Platinum cards offer some of the best rewards. You earn Membership Rewards points, which can be transferred to several airline programmes, including Avios and Virgin Points, at a 1:1 rate.

• British Airways American Express: This card allows you to earn Avios directly, with additional bonuses when you spend with BA. The free version earns 1 Avios per £1 spent, and the premium version earns 1.5 Avios per £1 spent. The Premium Plus version of this card offers a valuable 2-for-1 companion voucher when you hit a certain spending threshold, allowing you to book two reward flights for the points cost of one.

• Virgin Atlantic Reward Credit Card: Virgin offers two credit card versions—one free and one with an annual fee of £160. Both allow you to earn Virgin Points, with the paid card offering higher points-per-pound rates and more perks. After meeting the spending threshold, you can get a 2-4-1 companion ticket, upgrade to a higher class or 1-2 access passes to the Virgin Lounges.

Pro Tip: If you run a business, you can earn even more air miles with a business credit card. Popular options include the Capital on Tap business cards and the AMEX Gold and Platinum business cards.

Take Advantage of Sign-Up Bonuses

When signing up for a new credit card or loyalty programme, look out for special sign-up bonuses offering thousands of points to meet a minimum spending requirement within the first few months.

For example, the American Express Gold Card often offers a sign-up bonus of 20,000 Membership Rewards points after spending £3,000 in the first three months.

Similarly, the British Airways American Express Premium Plus card offers up to 25,000 Avios as a welcome bonus when you meet the initial spending requirements.

🛍️ Collect As Many Miles as You Can

You can earn air miles on your everyday purchases like food shopping, fuel, and online shopping. Here's how to do it:

• Credit Card Spending: Use your travel rewards credit card for everyday purchases. Whether buying food, filling up on petrol, or shopping online, using the right card can help you build up your points balance quickly.

• Nectar: Sainsbury's Nectar allows you to convert points into Avios.

• Online Shopping: Many frequent flyer programmes have online shopping portals where you can earn extra points or miles by purchasing through their partners. For example, BA has the British Airways Avios Shopping Portal, which gives you a bonus Avio when you shop at participating retailers like John Lewis, Apple, and M&S.

• Car Hire: When you shop through the airline portals, you can earn miles when you hire a car.

🏨 Earn Miles with Hotel Stays

Many hotel chains and car rental companies have partnerships with airlines, allowing you to earn miles on your bookings.

We will be covering the hotel loyalty programmes in detail in another issue.

To get started, sign up for the following hotel loyalty schemes:

• Marriott Bonvoy

• Hilton Honors

• IHG One Rewards

• World of Hyatt

• Accor Live Limitless

🦉 Using Points and Miles Wisely

Now that you've started earning points knowing how to use them effectively is important.

Redeeming points for flights often offers the best value, particularly for long-haul or premium cabin bookings. You can book reward flights directly through the airline's website, where you'll need to pay a mix of points and taxes/fees.

You can use the Smart Redemptions Extension to search for reward flights and see if they are good value redemptions.

You can view the cash Vs points price of flights, see the price differences between airline classes and filter by airline or alliance.

It's also worth watching for reward seat sales and promotions, which allow you to redeem points for fewer miles. We cover these topics extensively in our newsletters!

🎬 Getting Started: Your Step by Step Guide

Step 1: Sign up with one airline loyalty programme in each alliance. We recommend the Virgin Flying Club, British Airways Executive Club, and Lufthansa's Miles & More. Look at the airlines in each alliance and sign up for the loyalty programme with the airline you fly with the most.

Step 2: Start collecting air miles when you fly, even if you fly with another airline in the alliance. For example, if you're signed up to the BA Executive Club, you can still collect Avios when flying with oneworld airlines such as Qatar.

Step 3: Get a credit card that earns you air miles. Credit cards also have amazing bonuses like 2-4-1 vouchers and bonus points, making topping up your balance one of the fastest ways.

Step 4: Do your online shopping through airline shopping portals like the BA shopping store.

Step 5: Sign up for hotel loyalty programmes like Hilton, Accor, World of Hyatt, IHG, and Marriott. Start earning points, which can be transferred into air miles and vice versa for free flights and hotel stays.

Step 6: Get the Smart Redemptions Extension to get the best value on your flight redemptions!

Final Words

In future weeks, we’ll discuss hotel loyalty status, airline status, and the different ways to earn air miles in more depth.

That’s all for this week! We hope these tips help you maximise your travel rewards and have better experiences.

Safe travels, and always aim for the upgrade!

Want to continue the conversation? Come and join our free Facebook group.

Bye for now!

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