Ideas on Redeeming Low Balance Frequent Flyer Accounts

By Mike Grasso

I'm often asked what to do with a few thousand miles stored in a frequent flier account. Since most airlines require 25,000 miles for a free domestic award redemption, it may take quite some time to bump that mileage balance high enough for a free flight. One idea is to redeem miles for a magazine or newspaper subscription, which require as little as 400 miles.

Here are some examples:


Magazine subscriptions
-12 issues of Conde Nast Traveler for 600 miles AAdvantage miles
-12 issues of Wired for 400 SkyMiles
-50 issues of Business Week for 1600 AAdvantage miles

Newspaper subscriptions (mileage may vary by market)
-8 weeks of the San Francisco Chronicle (7X weekly) for 1534 SkyMiles, 1840 AAdvantage miles or 2300 MileagePlus miles.
-39 weeks of the Wall Street Journal (6X weekly) for 2626 AAdvantage miles or 3282 MileagePlus miles.

Many airlines also allow you to redeem miles for dining certificates and airport lounge access. You can even donate small sums of miles to charity. To take advantage of these and other offers visit your airline's frequent flyer page to view all redemption opportunities.

Earn 150 American Airlines Miles Watching a Short Bose Demo

Watch a two-minute video on the new Bose QuietComfort 15 headphones and earn a quick and easy 150 AAdvantage miles. See the in-store demonstration of the slick headphones by October 14th and earn 350 miles. Purchase them by November 14th and earn 1,500 miles. Full details.

Register Now for Double Elite-Qualifying Miles on American Airlines

Similar to the promotion offered this past Spring, American Airlines is offering double elite-qualifying miles for all flights between September 2 and December 15, 2009. Another similar offer, targeted to existing elite members, rewards members who reach additional mile/point milestones. Register for both these promotions today.

American Airlines Now Offering One-Way Award Redemptions

Beginning today, American Airlines customers will be able to redeem one-way award travel for half the miles of a round-trip. Currently, all other major U.S carriers permit one-way award travel, either by booking a one-way trip or simply not utilizing the return segment, but the airlines still charged customers as if it were a round-trip. Now, for example, a one-way flight from San Francisco to Boston is available for as little as 12,500 miles. 

Here are some benefits: 

-It's great for people who don't have a mountain of miles in their AAdvantage account, but have enough to cover mileage for one direction.

-You can opt to use miles for the direction in which airfare is high, then purchase a separate one-way ticket for the less expensive direction. 

-You can redeem miles to fly into one city, and redeem miles to return from a different city. 

(Example: San Jose-Dallas and Austin-San Jose). 

-You can mix and match classes of service and book multi-segments on a particular trip. 

Here is one drawback:

-There are fees associated with some award travel, which essentially could double if you book two separate one-way tickets. Those fees include close-in processing fees (booking award travel within 21 days of departure), and re-deposit fees should you decide to cancel your trip. 

Earn Double Elite-Qualifying Miles on American Airlines

Link now active
American Airlines is offering a double elite-qualifying miles promotion for travel between March 18 and June 15, 2009. Simply register* your American AAdvantage account for this promotion, then fly any American Airlines, American Eagle or American Connect flight during the promo period to earn your bonus.

Elite-qualifying miles are used to calculate various elite levels within the AAdvantage program.
For example, if you flew 12,500 qualifying air miles during this promotion, those would convert to 25,000 elite miles, earning you a Gold-level status with the airline.

*Note, as of 11:30 PM Monday evening, the promotion was not yet open for registration. You may need to wait until the start of the promo period to register.

Triple American Airlines Miles From Boston and California

Starting March 2, 2009, American Airlines will offer triple miles for flights from Boston to San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego*. According to the terms, after registering (promo code: BOS3X), customers who purchase a new ticket and fly between March 2 and May 31, 2009 are eligible for the bonus miles.
*Nonstop San Diego-Boston flights begin April 7, 2009.

Register for AAdvantage To Earn 1000 Miles

American Airlines has brought back the new member sign up bonus to AAdvantage, their frequent flier program. If you don't already have an account, now is the time. Earn 1000 points just for registering! Even if you never fly American, you can still redeem 1000 AA miles for a wide selection of magazines, including Conde Nast, Fast Company, and Men's Vogue.
Click here to sign up.  (corrected link)