Can I Lose My Frequent Flyer Miles?

Earning frequent flyer miles takes work and time, and you have been willing to put in that effort and the time necessary to store up a wealth of miles. Although, there are times when miles expire and are no longer available to you, leaving you with no rewards at all. These programs are offered by multiple airlines, and are propelled by trying to gain customer loyalty. In reality, would you really choose to buy an airline ticket from one company at the same price as your company and not get the air miles for it? Or, does it not matter if you might lose those miles? It is important to investigate this before choosing a frequent flyer program to join.

Expiration

It is a fact. It is true. It is inevitable. Some airlines do have policies that call for expiration of miles after a certain period of time. Of course, this is an important factor to airlines because they want to provide some incredible incentives and rewards that people will want to use their air miles before they expire. Although it can save people a lot of money, many people dont take advantage of their air miles, which also has a huge role in the reason they have expiration dates. It is very easy to find out if your frequent flyer miles have an expiration date. All it takes is some reading of the fine print in your program information, and it should be extremely clearly expressed.

Business Going Bust

These days there are many different airlines that are going out of business and claiming bankruptcy. After the September 11th attacks on the United States this became the reality for many airline companies. At this point, many people that are involved in these frequent flyer programs would be concerned that they may lose all of their earned miles, but this is the case no matter what. There are clauses in all frequent flyer programs that allow airlines to discontinue the honoring of air miles at any time they choose, although many do not unless facing bankruptcy. There is a good side to all of this havoc; if a company is going bankrupt it usually means that the company is going to be purchased by an existing airline. Typically, the purchasing airline will work out an agreement to honor your air miles, some if not all. Although, if a company does need to liquidate that will ensure a loss of frequent flyer miles across the company.

Frequent flyer miles are offered to keep a customer loyal to an airline. Airline companies rarely refuse to honor earned air miles, and as long as you are staying loyal these companies should not be facing bankruptcy. But remember, most people do not take advantage of their miles, thus there is a very low liability in relation to these programs.

Shelly Walther has written several articles on travel and leisure and enjoys traveling herself. She has been to many places including Norway, her most recent adventure. More of her work can be found at http://www.FieldTravel.com.Rebeka Blog58854
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