Baby Boomer Travel (part 4)

We have looked at the advantages of airline/alliance selection to maximize miles, but now we will discuss strategies in gathering those eggs into the nest and ways to ensure we get the most miles for our dollar. Airlines' partner hotel and rental car companies, award miles to your airline account as long as you meet the requirements for earning those miles. That said, the various programs become very convoluted. The "partnering" programs necessitate selecting a "Primary" airline/alliance and then picking two or three hotel chains and car rental companies to complement them. This will keep your migraines to a minimum. Plans and benefits are so wide ranging that once again, I will deal in generalities and try to show you where and how to look for the maximum miles.

The airlines themselves offer many bonuses ranging from purchase on-line to Kiosk check in. They also offer additional miles when you book your vacation through their provider, which may or may not be owned and operated by the airline, and generally offer bonus miles on specific routes with inaugural service. The best way to see what is offered is to visit the airline's web site and click on their specific Frequent Flyer program and then special offers, bonuses and the like. Airlines also offer bonuses by mail and are often targeted at individuals or specific geographical areas. Your mileage statement may reveal such offers and while you may think that an envelope contains only junk mail from the carrier, always read the accompanying material so you do not miss out on these wonderful offers. Airlines are also e-mailing bonus offers to specific demographic targets. Briefly, sharpen your wits and look for these kinds of the offers from airlines:

•  On-line booking bonuses (to please their customers and counter this, many on-line reservation services also offer this),
•  Bonus for E-tickets,
•  Kiosks check-in bonus,
•  Route specific bonuses,
•  Bonuses for connections through specific hubs,
•  Class of service bonus,
•  Segment bonuses (flying a specific number of segments in a given time frame),
•  Bonuses for doubling your miles flown or segments flown in a previous year during a specific period,
•  Vacation bonuses (offered for using the airlines vacation planning services); and
•  Market specific offers which require pre registration.

It seems lately that the airlines' partners, who change affiliations most, along with their plans, are the rental car companies. Many have changed the way they award airline miles very drastically from allowing only half normal earnings on some Government/Military rentals to awarding miles by days rented or dollars spent. Some rental car companies even have their own frequency programs that can enhance your perks with them. The rule here is to weigh the costs versus an award in selection your rental car company. Remember that all that glitters is not gold! Read the offers carefully.

Hotel plans are going the opposite way of rental car plans in that they are consolidating and simplifying. The hotel frequency plan that is best for you is simply the one which meets your needs and offers the best value and bonuses tailored to your travel. The plans vary so dramatically in nature and scope that I have provided some links to help you choose from the most popular. As with airlines, it is important to strive for at least entry elite status. This will provide bonus miles or points for free travel sooner. Remember too that all offer some sort of senior discount along with points and miles.

Hilton HHonors: http://www.hilton.com/en/hhonors/index.jhtml
Marriott Rewards: http://marriottrewards.com
Starwood Preferred Guest: http://www.spg.com
Best Western Gold Crown Club: http://www.goldcrownclub.com/
Choice Hotels Guest Privileges: http://www.choicehotels.com/
Radisson Gold Points Plus: http://www.goldpointsplus.com

Plastic and long distance carriers are other ways to earn miles and points. Managed properly you can amass more miles than just about any other method, more on this next time. Please feel free to send your travel questions on any topic, not just "how to," to: Bob-Jones@BookingWiz.com