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Whether or not you plan to travel, you can likely put your frequent flyer points to good use.


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What Can You Use Your Frequent Flyer Points For?

October 28, 2009

You’ve spent a year or so racking up frequent flyer points on your rewards card. You know you can redeem them towards travel plans, but what if you don’t plan to travel soon and if your credit card company lets points expire after a certain period of time? It might be a “use it or lose it” situation. No need to worry. Whether or not you plan to travel, or if you have enough points for a full plane ticket, you can likely put your frequent flyer points to good use.

Here are some of the things you might be able to get when you redeem your accumulated frequent flyer points:

1. Get a free flight.

This is probably the most common thing people think about when they use a frequent flyer card like the Qantas American Express Premium credit card. You can generally use your frequent flyer points either towards a one way flight or a return ticket with eligible airlines. Airlines might limit the number of free seats available to frequent flyer club members on any given flight though.

2. Get free seat upgrades.

If you have a long flight planned, and you’re not thrilled with the idea of sitting in economy but also aren’t crazy about paying more for an upgraded seat, you might be able to get it without paying more by redeeming some of your frequent flyer points. Seat upgrades with frequent flyer points are generally limited depending on the number of seats available on the day of your departure.

3. Get travel merchandise or other products.

Some frequent flyer programmes, like the Qantas frequent flyer programme, also offer you a catalogue of merchandise you can purchase using frequent flyer points. The Qantas Frequent Flyer Store for example offers everything from iPhones and travel products to cookware and fragrances.

Don’t pass up a frequent flyer credit card just because you’re not much of a traveller. If a frequent flyer card offers you a better chance to accrue rewards points than other types of rewards cards, you might be able to earn more points while being able to redeem them for the same types of products.

When comparing frequent flyer credit cards one of the most important things to consider is what limitations will be placed on you, especially limitations on how you can redeem your points. For example, some frequent flyer cards might only allow you to redeem points with one airline while others have partnerships with several airlines. Choose one that you can redeem with an airline you’ll actually use.

Other potential limitations to keep an eye out for include points caps, whether or not points will eventually expire, and whether or not the annual fee is low enough that the points earned will equal a higher dollar amount on redemption (there’s no point in building up $100 worth of points if you’re paying a $200 annual fee just for the privilege).

As with comparing any type of credit cards, don’t forget to compare the fundamentals too — interest rates, annual fees, interest free days, and other perks like free international travel insurance.

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One Response to “What Can You Use Your Frequent Flyer Points For?”

  1. [...] 1.    Cash back 2.    Merchandise / shopping vouchers (like gift cards) 3.    Frequent flyer points [...]

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