Frequent Flyer Programmes

What Are Airline Miles?

If you are new to flying, you might have seen or heard about airline miles or points. At a first glance it might not be clear what they are and why people go out of their way to build up their tally. So, let’s break it down into simple and understandable bullet points.

So What Are Airline Miles?

Simply put they are points that airlines offer to travellers that book flights. The condition is that of course you need to sign up for the airline’s frequent flyer rewards program in order to earn miles.

In essence miles become like a parallel currency once you start growing your balance. You can earn miles in many different way and spend them on flights as total or partial payment method or transfer them to another loyalty program, like a hotel’s program.

If you are a frequent traveller signing up for a frequent flyer program and building up miles is a no brainer. However occasional travellers often too quickly dismiss the value of building miles. It doesn’t take all that much travel to actually reach a threshold that allows to claim some sort of reward.

So long story short Airline Miles are loyalty points that you can earn and spend on travel and other services and goods. Just think of it as getting a little percentage of your spend back.

Korean Air Airbus A330 at Gimpo international Airport in Seoul. The South Korean carrier uses Skypass as its Airline Miles system to earn and spend loyalty points.
Korean Air Airbus A330 at Gimpo International Airport

Other Airline Miles Perks

Also building up your airline miles account, regardless of which airline you do it with, will bring a number of other perks along. Along with being able to redeem rewards in exchange for those miles, if you travel enough you might get access to higher frequent flyer tiers that come with exclusive perks, such as:

  • Priority check-in
  • Priority boarding
  • Extra baggage allowance
  • Faster mile accrual
  • Lounge access
  • And many more

Each loyalty program is unique and has its own nuances therefore you’ll need to build some knowledge on it or follow me to get the info you need. If you have a question just leave a comment and I’ll try my best to help you get the answer you need.

Where to Get Started?

Well you can subscribe to my newsletter to get more insights on a regular basis about tips, tricks and latest offers. But that aside you might want to start signing up for an airline loyalty program that allows you to earn airline miles. Best thing is to do it with the airline you fly most regularly with and possibly before your next flight, although you can also claim miles on flights you have already flown.