If you do already have elite status on one airline and you're thinking of switching to another you should really checked to see if the new airline has a status match program.

I do this myself recently I had a trip to Singapore planned and the prices on Air Canada were very expensive for the dates I needed to travel so I checked the delta website and they had reasonable fares and also a status match program. You can find info about their program here.

All I had to do was send proof that I am an Air Canada elite member, and they confirmed that if I flew over 16,000 miles in the next three months that I would get gold stars on delta. My trip to Singapore was going to be more than that. 

So I did the status match and the trip, and now I have Delta Gold status in addition to my Air Canada E75K status until the end of February 2014.

I am not sure if I will fly enough on Delta to keep this but I like to have options.

Additional ways to find miles and points

Here is an idea for all of you collectors of airmiles or points. I am a big believer in getting as many points as possible, as long as it does not interfere with your normal spending pattern.

The idea is- when you about to buy something, there is a quick and easy way to check that you are getting as many points as you can-

1. By checking the website of the points or miles program and
2. Another way is by checking at the website of the place you are going to buy from.

Here is an example of each of these that I use:

For the first one, I love books and I read a lot. I usually buy my books online (either at Amazon or at Chapters/Indigo) because of their selection and price. As I am also an Airmiles collector, from visiting the Airmiles.ca website I have found that I can go to http://www.airmilesshops.ca/, go in to the Amazonwebsite from there, and collect additional Airmiles on the same books at the same prices that I would be buying them at anyway. This also works for dell.ca and a bunch of other online retailers. 
 
Here is an example of the second kind. Many people like the fact that Airmiles can be collected in stores like grocery stores, pharmacies. However, to be aware of all of the opportunities, you should check the website of your favorite store. I happen to shop at a grocery store called IGA for most of my groceries because a) it’s near to where I live, and b) I can collect Airmiles. It is well known that you can collect Airmiles there as the cashier will always ask fir your card, however, it is not very well known that lGA has an online flyer every week at www.iga.net that can give you extra Airmiles if you print out a coupon online and use it at the store. It may not always be useful as the coupon requires the purchase of a specific item or of a certain amount of groceries, but if you are going to go there anyhow it is worth it to look before you go.

The check only takes a couple of minutes… why not do it?

In my last post I talked about frequent flier miles and some basic rules to consider. Aside from the obvious, which is collecting frequent flier miles directly from the airlines, there are many other ways to collect miles. Here are a couple of ideas:

·         Car rental agencies have their own programs, but they will often also give you frequent flier points as a bonus for renting with them.

·         Credit card companies are probably the best way to collect additional miles; many cards will allow you to collect one mile per dollar spent on the card. If you travel for business this can add up to a lot of miles. I have averaged 50,000 spending per year in the last few years which is enough for 2 short haul flights in North America or one flight to Europe ever year. Even if you do not travel for business if you put most of your expenses on credit cards it will add up to a lot.

·         There is a third category which will also give you miles but in actual fact you are probably better off signing up to their own programs and that is hotels. Hotels usually have points programs of their own which can be very useful. Starwood hotels has a very good program called preferred guest which allows you to collect points to use for hotel rooms, but it has one other special feature- these points can also be converted to points on most major airlines- so if you are missing some points for your next reward ticket you can transfer it from your preferred guest account.

If you get a credit card which is partnered with Starwood preferred guest you have the best of all worlds- you will collect a lot of points for hotels which can be transferred to airlines if needed. In Canada we have the MBNA MasterCard and in the United States there is the American Express for this.

Some people do not bother collecting points or frequent flier miles. I used to be one of those people. However, I had been traveling quite a lot for work and one day my boss asked me how many British Airways points I had (as I was usually flying BA). When I told him that I was not a member of their frequent flier club he told me to join immediately and to log my previous six months of flights. Upon doing so I immediately collected 50,000 BA miles, which is enough for a trip from North America to Europe. Wow. That’s how I became very interested in points and miles.

There are a few basic rules to consider when collecting frequent flier miles- or any kind of points for that matter. These are my top three-

The first rule is to always collect them where you can. They do not cost you anything and they can add up to future flights, hotel stays, or merchandise. My rule is- if you can collect some kind of points you should – and if you are not already a member of their plan- join. It’s free and may add up to something later. The only exception to this is when the item that you are purchasing costs more to collect the points (unusual but it happens).

The second rule is to try and stick to the same points programs, so have primary and secondary programs- it is better to have 60,000 Aeroplan points, for example, then 30,000 Aeroplan and 30,000 BA. The first one can give you a trip to Europe or 2 tickets around North America; the second can’t even get you to Europe. This may seem like it contradicts the first rule, but it does not- try to use your primary program first, then your secondary one, and so on…

The third rule is the importance of understanding expiry, because you do not want your points to go to waste. Either try to use points without expiry, or if your points do expire, know the rules related to this. For example, many people in Canada collect Aeroplan points, but many are not aware that they expire after 3 years of inactivity on the account. Inactivity does not necessarily mean flight inactivity; Esso gives you 1 Aeroplan point for buying $3 of gas; so if you have not collected Aeroplan points in  2 1/2 years you can just buy $3 of gas to collect 1 point and keep the account active. Don’t find out the hard way that you have lost all of your points.

I am going to get into more detail of points programs in future posts. Stay tuned…