Making the Most of Miles

Ed Perkins, Author of Online Travel , says, depending on how much trouble your particular airline is in, your points could be safe.

Airlines & Bankruptcy

"When an airline files for chapter 11, bankruptcy, nothing happens to the miles… They stay there, people can still use them," says Perkins.

However, if your airline files for chapter 7, and is permanently grounded, your miles could go belly-up too. "The situation now is something that the industry has never faced before so [it's] anybody's guess about what would happen in that situation," according to Perkins.

What to do with unused miles?
Perkins says, consumers have a few options:

Use Your Miles:
According to Perkins, the best thing you can do is use your miles as quickly as possible. "Miles do not improve with age."
Convert Your Miles:
Many airlines have deals with other rewards programs. This enables you to use your miles to pay for hotel stays, cruises, rental cars, magazines and even merchandise. There are even Web sites like Mile Point where you can cash in certain airline miles for discounts at participating online retailers.
Give Your Miles Away:
Give the Gift of Flight! According to InsideFlyer magazine, "charities can take the miles and fly ill children to hospitals; they fly volunteers and physician researchers all over the world." Donate your miles to charity and receive a tax write-off.
Miles Become "Anything Points" on eBay:
eBay recently began accepting miles as payment for vendors. According to Perkins, "You can trade your miles in for online currency... to buy merchandise on its Web site."
Give Miles Awards to Someone Close: "What you can do is give a trip that you earned with miles away but only to a limited group of people… like your spouse, relative, or business associate," says Perkins. That way they still hold value for someone.

But Beware!

"Your miles are worth a lot more using them for flying benefits than they are if you trade them in," says Perkins. He adds, "It's like a foreign currency situation you get a really bad exchange rate [if you convert them]."

Did You Know?
Flight delays cost airlines a total of more than $3 billion per year, according to the Department of Transportation.

Check the status of your scheduled flight: Call a day or two before your flight to reconfirm your reservation. Flight schedules sometimes change, so it's wise to double-check. However, most cancellations happen the day of the flight.

The Internet has become a great resource to check on flight status. The FAA has airline updates, plus other airline information.

Read more smart consumer tips and strategies
from Fox11 Eyewitness News Online

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