If you’re flying a lot today and you’re not benefiting from it, you should be!  Did you know that just about every airline out there offers some sort of frequent flyer program?  I say that as long as you’re flying with a particular airline, why not be rewarded for it?

Instead of signing up for the first program you see, it’s important that you do your research so that you get the program that works best for you and your travelling needs.

Start by looking at your local airport

Is your local airport a hub for a particular airline?  If so, you may want to consider joining them because you’re going to find that 80% of the flights leaving there are going to be affiliated with that airline.  Not only that, you’re going to be able to get better deals on tickets from a hub airport compared to an airport where the airline company doesn’t frequent that often.

Look at the program partners

Most airline companies don’t work with just themselves but they work with other partners as well.  See who they work with because you will most likely get deals with other hotels, car rentals, restaurants and more.  If you find that they have partnered up with someone you frequent, you may want to consider going with that program.  Also, make sure that you check out to see what kind of discount you’ll get because just because they partner up with someone, it doesn’t mean you’re going to get the best deal.

Look at how the miles work

The point of the frequent flyer program is to make the most out of your flying.  Since you’ll be rewarded for how much you’ll fly, you want to get into a program that offers the best rewards for the miles you fly.  For example, one program may offer you a free plane ticket after 25,000 miles while the other one may only offer you one after 35,000 miles.

Always look out for the expiration date

One of the main things that I look out for when choosing a frequent flyer program are the expiration dates.  If the miles expire, this isn’t good because you won’t want to redeem them in the future and find out that you can’t because they are gone.  A good program won’t expire your hard earned points.

When considering a program from the main airlines, make sure you consider all of these tips when applying for one.  The nice thing about these programs are that they are generally free and if you don’t like them, you can always walk away and use a different one.