Air Miles

Ozzie1969 · Post by **Ozzie1969** » 05 Sep 2004, 18:19

Forgive me for being so ignorant, but how can I check my amount of airmiles with an ever increasing number of airlines?

Post by **sn26567** » 06 Sep 2004, 09:15

You can usually register to the website of the airline, get a login and password, and check your miles. From my personal experience, I know it works with LH Miles and More, SN Privilege, Delta and Continental.

Ozzie1969 · Post by **Ozzie1969** » 06 Sep 2004, 13:55

sn26567 wrote:You can usually register to the website of the airline, get a login and password, and check your miles. From my personal experience, I know it works with LH Miles and More, SN Privilege, Delta and Continental.

Thanks for the information! I'll try and find if I'm due any free flights yet (fat chance!). Do air miles from one company count on another company that's part of the same alliance? (I guess not, but you never know)

Post by **sn26567** » 06 Sep 2004, 14:06

Ozzie1969 wrote:Do air miles from one company count on another company that's part of the same alliance? (I guess not, but you never know)

Usually yes: in July I used my Lufthansa FF miles for a trip to WAW during which I flew on LH, LO and OS, all for the same price (i.e. FF miles).

In 2000 I flew to San Francisco via Chicago with SN (Sabena!) and AA, coming back via ZRH on SR (Swissair!), all with my Qualiflyer miles.

Ozzie1969 · Post by **Ozzie1969** » 06 Sep 2004, 14:22

sn26567 wrote:
Ozzie1969 wrote:Do air miles from one company count on another company that's part of the same alliance? (I guess not, but you never know)
Usually yes: in July I used my Lufthansa FF miles for a trip to WAW during which I flew on LH, LO and OS, all for the same price (i.e. FF miles).

In 2000 I flew to San Francisco via Chicago with SN (Sabena!) and AA, coming back via ZRH on SR (Swissair!), all with my Qualiflyer miles.

Wow, it's even better than I thought! But what about air miles earned on airlines that no longer exist? I'm referring to Ansett Australia in my case.

Post by **sn26567** » 06 Sep 2004, 14:42

Ozzie1969 wrote:But what about air miles earned on airlines that no longer exist? I'm referring to Ansett Australia in my case.

Frankly speaking, for Ansett, I don't know. Were your miles accrued on the airline's own programme, or on a programme of an alliance?

When Sabena and Swissair collapsed, the Qualiflyer miles could be converted in either one of SWISS, SN Brussels Privilege or TAP Navigator programmes.

eurojet · Post by **eurojet** » 06 Sep 2004, 15:27

Hi Ozzie1969. If you don't want to wait too long for a free ride, I can only advise you to take the Privilege Amex card, which is linked to the SNBA programme. You already get a nice entrance credit of some 5000 miles, and then for each euro spend you have one mile. In our company, we are travelling a lot, 2-3 days a week at least, and we can take either the company credit card (some lousy Corporate Visa), or we can opt to take our own credit card (all our expenses are paid with our salary, which is before the debit of Amex, so I am never "short"). during a good month (or a bad, depends on how you see it), I easily accumulate between EUR 5,000-10,000 (flights, hotels, taking customers out for dinner, taxis, phones, you name it + my own private expenses, even gym subscription is on the Amex. You really have to be very strict in putting everything you can on the Amex, even the smallest amounts). Add on this the miles earned by flying itself (and even better booking on the web using the SNBA Amex= triple miles), and you end up with a whole bunch of free rides, which I off course donate straight-away to my lady for a weekend to La Espana Querida. Now I only need a Happy Days card! A lot can be discussed and said about SNBA, but their FF-programme is damn generous.

Post by **sn26567** » 06 Sep 2004, 15:43

You're absolutely right, eurojet.

eurojet wrote:I can only advise you to take the Privilege Amex card, which is linked to the SNBA programme. .

Diners Club has a similar link with SN BA. I do myself have a corporate Diners Club card in addition to my private card. Both earn 1 mile for 1 euro spent on the card. If you prefer KLM of BA, Diners Club has the same programme with them as well.

One advantage of Diners that Amex does not offer is the use of lounges at major airports (2 at BRU, in Pier A and Pier B). If you don't travel business class (which becomes rare for corporate travel), relaxing with a free drink (or more...) at such a lounge is an unvaluable advantage.

eurojet · Post by **eurojet** » 06 Sep 2004, 15:49

Hi André,

Amex did give me some 10 SN Lounge vouchers upon subscription, and it seems you get these each year. You need to fly SN to use them though.

nwa757 · Post by **nwa757** » 06 Sep 2004, 16:27

eurojet wrote:Hi Ozzie1969. If you don't want to wait too long for a free ride, I can only advise you to take the Privilege Amex card, which is linked to the SNBA programme.

I would also recomend the Northwest WorldPerks Visa. We have one and it is great! We use it when ever we buy anything. Right now I have like 60,000 miles. Also you can use it for miles on CO, KL, and DL too.

Ozzie1969 · Post by **Ozzie1969** » 06 Sep 2004, 16:50

sn26567 wrote:
Ozzie1969 wrote:But what about air miles earned on airlines that no longer exist? I'm referring to Ansett Australia in my case.
Frankly speaking, for Ansett, I don't know. Were your miles accrued on the airline's own programme, or on a programme of an alliance?

I had actually booked on Malaysian Airlines, but the flight was done by Ansett Australia.

vflies · Post by **vflies** » 07 Sep 2004, 12:41

Hello Eurojet:

Using your card so much, you should have an SNba gold Amex or an Amex platinum card already (that's even more miles or for the platinum which is not linked to SN, lots of privileges, including a free Gold SNba card)

As André rightly said, Diners Club is a long standing SN partner and offers their free lounge access for any airlines you fly and also for other airports, while Amex vouchers are only valid in BRU when you fly SN.

Citibank Belgium also offers a SNba Mastercard for those (many) places where you can't use your Amex or Diners card...

Have all 3 of them and you'll earn miles for everything you charge!

Just one thing: keep an eye on the expiration date of your miles, it can be VERY frustrating to loose a whole bunch of unused miles!

VFlies

vflies · Post by **vflies** » 07 Sep 2004, 12:51

A last word about credit cards:

- Belgium should see more and more such cards develop as most ppl still use debit or visa cards they pay for but don't offer any reward back

- other cards available in Belgium include Citibank AmericanAirlines Advantage Mastercard, Diners Club KLM Flying Dutchman and Diners Club British Airways Executive Club.

- Regular Amex cards offer Membership rewards points that can be transferred to many airlines and hotels and don't expire, so IMO that's even more interesting than the branded SN card

- French Amex Air France Frequence Plus card is currently one of the only cards that earn base miles (rather than bonus miles) and helps you reach elite status faster

- If you really travel a lot, Amex's exclusive Centurion card (yes, the "black" one) includes membership in the top tier of many airlines including BA, Air France, Lufthansa, Delta, Continental, NWA, American, United and JAL...
You'll never fly coach again!

VFlies