Lifestyle partners of an air mile program can help you collect air miles even when you’re not flying. Here’s how to accelerate your air miles stash by shopping, dining, or staying at partner brands of your airline rewards program.
Earning air miles is an excellent way to make flying cheaper and affordable. It can even help you fly in style with free or redeemable upgrades. However, most travellers are put off by the points-and-miles game, because they believe that they have to fly a lot (and with the same airline) before they can start to gain benefits from a frequent flyer program.
What most people don’t know is that it’s possible to rack up miles on frequent flyer programs – even if you don’t fly very often.
All flyer reward programs offer members a whole lot of other ways to earn miles without flying. Some of the alternative ways to accumulate air miles include:
- Shopping at popular retailers via the portals of airline loyalty programs
- Dining at partner restaurants
- Staying at partner hotels
- Using an airline co-branded credit card to pay for offline purchases and more
Here’s why you need to familiarize yourself with the Lifestyle Partners of your Airline Rewards Program
According to air miles expert and frequent flier, Gilbert Ott of God Save the Points, flying – especially on the economy – is the most inefficient method to earn miles. He states that airlines offer travellers low air miles for every mile on the economy.
As a result, it’s difficult for travellers to rack up points just by flying. This is where airline lifestyle partners come into the picture.
There are several alternative ways to earn miles. For instance, members of an airline loyalty program earn reward points when they shop at popular online retailers like Amazon or Flipkart by using the airlines’ rewards portal. All you have to do is log into the retailer’s website via the online portal of the airline reward program. This way, the member can earn a fixed number of miles for every rupee spent on online purchases. Say, 10 air miles for every 100 INR spent, and so on.
Note that the number of miles earned varies from one lifestyle partner to another. For instance, retailer A may offer 10 air miles for every 100 INR spent, while retailer B may offer 15 air miles for the same amount and so on.
How to get the Maximum Rewards with Lifestyle Partners?
Here’s a step by step guide to help you accumulate more air miles with program partners:
- Step 1: Visit the website of your airline loyalty program. Check out all the available partner brands. Most reward programs list lifestyle brands based on categories.
- Step 2: Be aware of all the Partners. Next time, when you book a hotel room or dine out at a restaurant, see if it makes sense to choose a hotel/restaurant that is a lifestyle partner of your rewards program. This way, you can earn air miles when you complete your stay or eat out.
- Step 3: Choose partners who offer the best value. As mentioned above, the rate at which you earn air miles varies from one brand to another. So, look for brands that help you build your points stash faster.
- Step 4: Try to switch to online shopping for all your purchases. This way, you can earn miles on every transaction you make. If possible, try to do online shopping for your family members, especially for big-ticket items like laptops and mobiles using your account.
Earning Air Miles is Easier than you think
With just some time, preparation, and planning, you can quickly build your air miles without flying. Follow the four steps listed here, and you could easily redeem your miles for free flights to your dream destinations.
And, welcome to the miles and points game.
