What are the benefits of a Frequent Flyer account?
Did you know that after completing a flight, a certain amount of miles or point are being generated? These points have a value and if you collect enough of them, you can get a free fight! Or basically free, you still have to pay taxes.
What is an airline alliance?
An airline alliance is a group of different airlines choosing to cooperate with each other. This means that there’re several benefits for the customers. The member airlines will together provide a greater variety of destinations and more convenient connections. It means that if your flight gets cancelled or any problems occur, it’s easier for the airline to help you as a customer. This also means that the frequent flyer benefits will apply for all the member airline, not just for the airline you signed up for.
There are three big airline alliances; Star Alliance, OneWorld Alliance and SkyTeam Alliance.
- Star Alliance consists of 21 airlines, including Lufthansa, SAS, United Airlines and Thai Airways.
- SkyTeam consists of 20 airlines, including with Delta, KLM, Air France and Aeroflot.
- OneWorld consists of 13 airlines, including American Airlines, Cathay and Qantas.
What are the benefits of a frequent flyer account?
1: Earning and redeeming points
Flights usually generate points. Collect these and redeem them for a flight with any of the member airlines. Meaning, if you collect points mainly by flying SAS or United Airline, you can redeem the points for a flight with Thai Airways.
2: Lounge
All the alliances have the benefit of offering you a lounge, when you have reached a certain level as frequent flyer. It might not be a lounge on every airport, so make sure to check this before flying. Having access to a lounge, makes the travel a lot more comfortable. You have a quiet place to relax before flying or between connecting flights, where you can have a drink and a bite to eat.
3: Priority check-in and boarding
This is also something that is only offered to the most loyal customers, meaning you have to reach a certain level as frequent flyer. This benefit makes the process of checking-in a lot faster and usually also allows you to use fast track through security. This reduces your time in any line at an airport.
4: Baggage
Depending on your level, your baggage can get some extra care. They can add a tag, making sure your bag gets priority handling, all the way from check-in to the carousel. They will also allow you to bring more baggage than you would normally get.
5: Speed and ease
In general, all the processes at the airport is speeded up if you reach a certain level as frequent flyer. It also makes it a lot easier if, for some reason, there are any problems with your flight.
How to choose an alliance?
Step one is basically choosing to register as a frequent flyer with an airline that’s part of an alliance. While trying to figure out what airline to choose, keep in mind that you’ll earn more points with the airline you registered with, than any of the other alliance members. That’s why I would recommend an airline that has a variety of flights at your local airport.
Bottom line: Register as a frequent flyer will help you to get basically free flights, you just have to pay some small fees and taxes. This doesn’t just apply for economy class tickets, it also includes business and first-class tickets. This means that you can actually fly business or first class for a really low cost!
Last tip: If you have a credit card, make sure to have a credit card you can earn frequent flyer points with!
