George Clooney may be the hero of the new movie Up in the Air, released yesterday, in which he plays a man on the cusp of attaining his ten millionth frequent-flyer mile. But for me the patron saint of the frequent flyer is, obviously, Bruce Forsyth.
Forget his cheesy catchphrases “Nice to see you, to see you . . . nice” and the Strictly-inspired “Keeeeeeep dancing”. Brucie’s 1980s quiz show Play Your Cards Right and its rallying cry “Points make prizes” have been adopted by a generation of travellers who know that the right credit card, car hire or hotel booking — even where they change holiday money or their choice of supermarket — can bring extra points that add up to prizes, in the form of upgrades and “free” flights.
(Of course, “free” in airline terms also means paying taxes and fuel surcharges that can add up to about £190 on an economy return to the US.)
Airlines, with the possible exception of Ryanair, want to encourage your loyalty, to draw you into a position where you never think about flying with another carrier. They do this ego stroking by giving you a little plastic tag bearing your name. When
you’ve flown with them some more, they give you a silver or a gold one. You can put it on your hand luggage and feel superior to the bald man in 12C because his card is only blue.
Whisper it, but British Airways even has a status above gold. Its Premier level is by invitation only, offered to a select handful of customers. What are the benefits? “It opens doors,” a spokesman says in hushed tones, refusing to divulge any more information.
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For the mere mortal, a holiday flight here and there is not going to rack up points very quickly, although my parents recently used mileage they had accrued over five years of occasional flying for a last-minute trip on Air Canada to Vancouver. But there are ways of speeding things up.
Take BA, for example. If you book car hire with Avis, change your holiday money at Travelex, shop at Tesco or online with John Lewis and stay at Marriott, Radisson or Hyatt (among others), you could accrue British Airways Executive Club points.
You will earn even more if you slap it all on the airline’s American Express-affiliated credit card. Once you reach silver level, you can pre-book a seat (normally possible only within 24 hours of departure), swan about in the lounge and check in at the business-class counter even if you are travelling economy.
“You’re also much more likely to be considered for an upgrade,” says Tom Otley, the editor of Business Traveller. He advises travellers to consolidate into a single programme that best suits their needs, whether it’s BA, Virgin or bmi.
“Airlines will generally over-reward customers who aren’t based in their home market, because they have to try harder,” Otley says. So consider Qatar or Etihad if you travel to the Middle East or Asia, or KLM and Lufthansa if you fly via the Continent.
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Looking at an airline’s partnerships can also be profitable — a flight on Korean Airways, for example, could build points that can be used if you’re flying to the US on Delta. (One World, Star Alliance and Sky Team are the three main groups to google.) Often the best use of frequent-flyer points isn’t a “free” ticket with taxes that are anything but free.
Instead, upgrade a purchased ticket. Buy a return premium economy ticket on Virgin from Heathrow to Johannesburg, for example, then an economy return from London to Tokyo, and you could bag enough points to upgrade a subsequent economy ticket to New York to premium economy.
Who knows, you could find yourself sitting next to Clooney or even Brucie. All you need to do is keeeeeeep spending.