I'm planning a trip to Los Angeles to visit my sister for the 4th of July, and I have a bunch of frequent-flyer miles on Delta, Continental, American and British Airways that I can use. At one point in time Frequent-Flyer programmes were definitely worth the effort- that was when you could still get an economy round trip for 25,000 miles. Over the years it has gotten progressively harder and now, it's almost well-nigh impossible. I forfeited 35,000 miles on US Airways because I was never able to find available flights for the amount of miles I had, in spite of the fact that I am usually rather flexible on my travel dates.
This coming trip to L.A. I am also flexible, the only definite is the 4th, but even though I started searching well in advance, not much is available, and forget the 25,000 mile round trip tickets. In fact, out of curiosity, I searched Continental's calendar from now until February 2013 and there was only one flight day available (in November) where you could use 12,500 miles, and that was for ONE WAY. Everything else would cost either 25,000 or 50,000 miles one way. And oddly enough, Business/First Class can be had for the same amount of miles as Coach. Now who is going to choose Coach? Very frustrated, I decided to call Continental to ask whether they had done away with their 25,000 mile round trips, and although she said no, that wasn't the case, she was unable to find anything for less than 50,000 miles round trip. Since I only have a little over 26,000 miles, her only recommendation was to use those miles for one leg of the trip and purchase a one way for the 2nd leg. Apparently, they have some good deals.
I found some flights on Delta, but it will cost me over 35,000 miles. I think American has some 25,000 available, but at ungodly hours.
I have the most miles with British Airways, which I accrued through their amazing credit card deal, but I want to save those for an out-of-the-country trip. I did stop using the card, however, and am about to cancel it, since they actually charge you a fee to use it!
But is it worth being loyal to an airline since they have made it such a challenge to actually use your miles? Frankly, I don't think it is. There are so many great deals that come along, especially if you buy a package which includes hotel, flight, and a car if you need one. And there will always be fare wars. If you travel you might as well get the frequent-flyer miles, but don't necessarily plan on being able to use them.
And the best way to make sure that you don't lose those miles is to get an airline credit card, one you don't have to pay for, that is. And as long as you use it once in a while, you will keep your miles current, and add some, to boot. Maybe some day you'll be able to use them.
Time Magazine has an interesting article, written in 2010, about this problem. And it's only gotten worse.
