Frequent flyers amount for just 15% of passengers on America’s biggest airlines, but contribute 50% of their revenue. This means that, as a regular traveler, you are extremely valuable; they want to reward you for your loyalty. You are probably already reaping these rewards in the form of frequent flyer points, but you might be feeling like you’re not receiving enough. With a few simple tricks, you can hack your frequent flyer points and meet your goals more quickly. It’ll make travel more affordable so you can keep moving for longer.
Pay For Everyone
If you save money with a financial institution, then you may already have linked your card with your frequent flyer points. These offer bonuses for making purchases such as eating out or going to the cinema. One way to make these points add up more quickly is to be generous and pay for everyone. You generally get points per dollar spent, so paying for a group of eight diners will earn you eight times as many points. Even if you are alone somewhere, why not pay for a stranger’s coffee? You’ll feel good, but you’ll also earn flyer points. Of course, this will get expensive quickly, so consider politely asking your friends to reimburse you in cash later. That way, you’ll earn points quickly without spending any more money.
Check for Competitions and Surveys
Whichever airline you have signed up with, you’ll want to keep in close contact with them. Check that you are receiving their emails and that they aren’t going to the junk folder. These often contain competitions you can enter or surveys you can take in return for points. There’s a bit of luck here, but the chances are you have missed an opportunity or two to quickly grab a few points.
Don’t Be Scared to Switch
Building customer loyalty is a hugely important part of business. That small group of frequent flyers are in high demand from the various airline companies. As a result, you can gain points just by switching or threatening to switch. For instance, Virgin have offered big points for anyone switching from Quantos. If you told Quantos you were planning on switching, they’d probably offer you a chunk of points to stay.
Frequent flyers are a privileged group of passengers. Airlines want your continued business and will reward you with valuable points wherever possible. Use the hacks above to increase the rate at which you receive points and make your frequent trips even more valuable.