using frequent flyer miles is frustrating

It used to be a LOT easier to take advantage of frequent flyer miles. I discovered the usefulness of airline miles back in the early 1980's while living in New Jersey. At that time, it was possible to upgrade virtually any Continental ticket from Coach to First for just 5,000 miles, as long as you booked early enough. Once I started using a credit card that earned OnePass miles, I never had to sit in coach.

Even in the 1990's after moving to California, I had a lot of success getting upgraded. Virtually every seat was eligible, and USAirways even had an award that allowed using miles for a 50% discount on any fare including First. I enjoyed a couple of years as an Alaska Airlines MVP Gold later in the 1990's which got me upgrade certificates that could be used at time of booking to secure an upgrade.

But no longer. While I've got a ton of airline miles, as well as Amex and Diners Club miles, it's increasingly difficult to use them. I recently had to book a round-trip flight from SFO to ATL for this coming October. It was possible to use 80,000 miles to score a round trip ticket in First — with a 6 a.m. departure on the outbound and a late afternoon return, times that did not work for me. As a discounted first class ticket was only $1100, that didn't seem a judicious use of 80K miles.

It takes an expert to get the best value from our miles. It's a full-time job just keeping up with the airlines' games, but fortunately there are experts out there who can help mileage amateurs get the best value from our miles. I have used Points Pros. Ben and his crew know how to find available reward seats and they'll take care of getting the award tickets booked. Ben helped me use a combination of British Airways, Alaska Airlines, and Diners Club points to score a pair of tickets on Cathay Pacific in their incredible First. His charge? Just $150 for the first passenger on an itinerary and $100 for any additional passengers. Worth every penny!


frequent flyer miles (search here on Google)

copyright (c) 2012 by David Ourisman LLC. All rights reserved. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website..