MAY 22, 2003

PERSONAL BUSINESS


Making the Most of Your Flier Miles
Business owners, sales reps, and the like rack them up in so many different ways. Here's how to avoid squandering a valuable asset


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After Mark Scharff and his wife had twins 16 months ago and bought a house, he decided it made more sense to use his 1 million assorted frequent-flier miles on the ground than in the air. So the Chicago sales rep for a New Jersey scale-and-balance company went to Points.com, where he exchanged miles for retail gift certificates through Holiday Inn (IHG )'s Priority Club plan. Then he bought new kitchen appliances and a big-screen TV at Sears (S ) Roebuck. He also has a $300 credit at Home Depot (HD ), where he plans to buy garden gear.


Scharff once dreamed of trading in his miles for an exotic vacation. But if he had waited to find the time to take one, he might have frittered away a valuable asset. When your miles aren't managed wisely, they become like a depreciating currency, either because airlines keep raising the requirements for tickets or offering fewer free seats. You also run the risk of miles expiring, as they do with United Airlines (UALAQ ) and American.

Unlike Scharff, most people still use their balances for airline tickets. "The best value is to use your miles for their intended use -- free travel,'' says Randy Petersen, publisher of InsideFlyer magazine. When you do that, each mile is worth 2 cents to 9 cents, depending on the market value of the award. But if you can't swap your miles for travel, use them for something -- merchandise, entertainment, or charity -- even though that can reduce their value by 50% or more.

MANAGE YOUR ACCOUNTS.  First, take stock of what you have. This is especially important now because it has become much easier to earn miles -- by charging a wedding, talking on the phone, or taking out a mortgage -- than to use them, at least for free flights.

One way to keep track is through the online account-management services most airlines provide for their frequent-flier plans. If you want one consolidated statement with all of your loyalty programs reported and continuously updated, consider MileageManager, for $14.95 a year. First, you input all your account information, then MileageManager collects future data. The service offers a host of benefits, such as alerting you via e-mail when you have enough miles for a particular trip or informing you of bonus promotions. Go to webflyer.com and click on the drop-down menu at the top of the left column. Then scroll to the MilageManager link. Points.com also offers a consolidated view of program balances free to anyone who registers at the site.

Once you know what you have, decide how to use your miles. If you want free tickets, your best bet is to be flexible and plan well in advance, especially if you want to go to a popular place at a desirable time. Peter Altick, a sales rep for high-end medical gear in San Diego, bagged five seats to Hawaii from Los Angeles on United for Dec. 26 by calling the airlines on the first day award tickets became available -- 330 days before the day he wanted to leave.

PLAN IN ADVANCE.  Because he was flexible about his departure day, Altick immediately booked three seats on one flight and then secured two more seats on another United flight the same day. "The airlines don't like to release five free seats all at once on the same flight,'' says Altick. But a couple of months later, after the airline had a better idea of seat sales, he was able to move everyone to the same flight.

Altick scored by calling months ahead, but some people get lucky by waiting until almost the last minute. That's because a few weeks before departure, if seats are still available, airlines are willing to throw more into the frequent-flier bin. Last August, Susan Stautberg, president of New York-based PartnerCom, a firm that creates global advisory boards, landed a free seat to Panama on Continental Airlines (CAC ) just two weeks before she wanted to leave on Labor Day.

Continued on next page>>  | 1 | 2



By Toddi Gutner in New York

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