Have you just discovered the world of points and miles? Here are the 10 basic rules for winning at this game
More and more users are coming into contact with our website, social channels and videos on YouTube and [...]
More and more users come into contact with our website, social channels, and YouTube videos, and I receive more and more questions. Therefore, in addition to TFC responds I decided to write this "newbie" specification.
In this article:
The topic points and premium tickets is not very popular in Italy, but thanks to projects like ours More and more often I find other Italians on the net talking about loyalty programs, status, points and other topics related to this world.
Over the years here on TFC we have written dozens of guides, made summaries "for dummies", but I realize that finding everything in an archive of over 5 thousand articles is not easy, so I decided to make this brief summary And to connect key resources, not enough to know everything, but I think it will be a key starting point.
It's a game, but you have to study
Very often those who criticize my philosophy of being a serial accumulator of points and miles tell me. "it's a job, I don't have time to get into it.", true it is not easy, you have to apply yourself, But that's the way life is, if you don't study you will never get your license, the same goes for tickets and award nights, if you want to save miles and thousands, if you want to treat yourself to experiences you could never afford then I guarantee you can do it, if you have no desire/time/patience or are filthy rich then move on.
This game is based on collecting points of the various loyalty programs, no matter whether we are talking about the Esselunga card or an airline. Every expense that can earn you points must be pursued, and if you can accumulate more points with the same expenditure you have to.
First of all, you need to understand what aviation alliances are and how they work, as in elementary school they explained to you that you can't mix apples with pears, so it applies to the world of points. Not all points are equal, you cannot join points from different programs together.
Points expire, points are not just accumulated by flying, some programs allow you to merge all the accounts in your family Or with friends. You don't have to be rich, you don't have to spend a lot. In short, this world is open to those who fly once a year and those who fly 3 times a week.
Each flight can allow you to accumulate points, But there are travel classes that do not generate any accumulation, which is why there are services that allow you to Calculate what will be gained from that particular ticket On the different loyalty programs.
Don't know what award tickets are? Simply put, they are tickets that are redeemed using accumulated points, not necessarily flying. It is not cash&miles, it is a different thing.
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TFC's training center
The training center of The Flight Club is about to be established, viz. Italy's only academy created to explain the world of points and accumulation strategies at 360 degrees. If you would like to join our waiting list. just go to the site and prepare for the official launch in mid-September.
Never leave a single point on the street
Loyalty in this game pays off, always. The serial accumulator must try to collect as many points as possible, taking advantage of bonuses and multipliers. Looking for bids, identifying options that allow you to accumulate more points with the same expenditure.
One of the best ways is to Use a credit card that allows you to accumulate points with everyday spending, my advice is to forget the existence of the ATM, never pay for anything with cash, not even coffee at the bar. If possible accumulate points on the store's loyalty program, paying with the right credit card and in this way do what is called Double Dipping.
Never lose sight of your own points
Forget about having a pile of points, don't keep track of when collections expire, miles expire, depreciate, and cannot be refunded if used incorrectly. My advice is to make yourself an excel file to keep track of your assets, and especially watch out for theft.
Enable dual authentication, check accounts regularly through official airline apps, never take anything for granted.
Never spend more than you have to
The ABC of this game is simple, Getting something more by spending what you have to spend. It's not one of those supermarket offers that tells you, "Spend 20 today to get 5 off tomorrow," in this world you must accumulate without EVER spending 1 euro more than you owe.
This also applies to status. There is no point in chasing an elite level if you do not take advantage of it, there is no point in making one status match just to get the card because these opportunities are "once in a lifetime" so keep it in the barrel for when you can take advantage of it at 100% to travel better and/or save money.
Tu is mei than uan
Do you remember this historic advertisement? Here it is the basic rule is just that always try to accumulate more than one point, learn how to maximize bonuses, cumulate offers and get the most by spending the least.
If you can accumulate points on several cards at the same time do so, pay with a credit card and try, thanks to online portals to multiply the points you can get on your hotel room, car rental, new cell phone. In short, there is no expense that cannot generate points, but above all look for ways to get more points with the same expenditure.
It is also possible to simply make points answering survey questions.
Take advantage of bonuses and maximize the use of credit cards
Our slogan is "the first rule is to have the right card," and this means that the first step to start accumulating points is to have a credit card in your pocket with which to start accumulating points. There are not many, but still in Italy there are several credit cards that allow you to accumulate points starting with a rich welcome bonus.
For example, you can become an American Express customer also get 180k MR points as a welcome bonus And then every year you can get to accumulate even 300k free points thanks to the Refer a Friend promotion.
But it is not only American Express that gives points for each transaction, Revolut has also been allowing points for a few months. which can then be converted into airline miles to fly with many companies.
Then there are company-specific credit cards, For example, in Italy theITA Airwyas Credit Cards from American Express allow you to get benefits, status, extra points with each expenditure made.
The same applies to the Lufthansa Gold Miles&More Mastercard which has the very important benefit of never letting holders' miles expire.
There is nothing wrong with wanting to try to enter this world, try a card and if you don't like it or don't feel ready cancel it after taking advantage of the bonus.
It always takes a definite plan
The goal must be clear. We have published dozens of success stories on our website, no matter if you are single, a honeymoon couple or a family.
Points can be used to fly first class or economy, can pay for the hotel in the Maldives, the Disneyland vacation, or simply to reduce the expense of the New York City vacation.
The key thing is to decide what you want to achieve, to accumulate for that goal and then use them before moving on to the next goal. It doesn't matter if it takes a year or three, the important thing is that in the end you get something special that you otherwise could not have gotten or would have cost much more.
The points are not all the same, the ones you can transfer are better
Coop's points are different from ITA Airways' points., Avis's are a different thing from Membership Rewards. This means that each program has its own rules., its methods of use.
There are points that cannot be converted to other points, you can't join the dots from two different programs. The best points are those that are not tied to a specific vector or to a retail chain, for example with the Payback card, in Italy, you can accumulate in so many ways and in different signs and then turn them into something else.
The same goes for credit cards, there are those that generate neutral points, for example the American Express Membership Rewards that you can then transfer to another program and those instead tied to a company such as but the Lufthansa Miles&More Gold Mastercard.
The main rule of this game is one: earn&burn
One should not think of accumulating points for retirement, they are not stocks that will then revalue, in fact the exact opposite points depreciate over time and this reduces the value, which is why you have to accumulate and use, especially if we are talking about airline miles or supermarket points, because especially in Italy they expire often, while the devaluation of points Is always just around the corner.
Flexibility is what helps dreams come true
If you always want to leave from the airport close to home, if you want/can only travel at certain times of the year, it will not be easy, but not impossible.
- An award ticket does not have to be round trip, you don't necessarily have to take the same airline or take off and land from the same airport.
- If you want to use the points to pay for the hotel you have to be flexible, not so much about the destination, but about the sign.
- An approach flight can save tens of thousands of miles/points, and this means that you will be able to redeem a second experience more quickly.
I give a practical example: if you want to fly to the east with Singapore Airlines. Starting from Istanbul, compared to Milan can save over 30k krisflyer miles on a business class round-trip ticket, while Turkey's capital can be reached with very little expense from Italy.
The same is true if you fly with different carriers the outbound and return, with the possibility of mix&match and build the best itinerary by not having to return home starting from the arrival airport.
In conclusion
We have over 100 guides, we have a column called TFC responds and especially a Facebook group called The Flight Club The Platinum Group With over 6500 members helping each other grow in this world
