August 10, 2018, 00:37 / Personal account Exclusively by subscription

How to earn a free air ticket

Airline loyalty programs are beneficial if you fly frequently Emma Terchenko The best privileges go to those who have flown enough to get one of the elite statuses in the loyalty program / Maxim Stulov / Vedomosti

“I try not to spend a single cent unless it trickles into my miles account,” said George Clooney’s character Ryan in the movie “Up in the Air.” As part of his job, Ryan took at least one flight almost every day; by the end of the film, he managed to accumulate 10 million miles and receive lifelong privileges from the airline. If this lifestyle isn't for you, the benefits of earning miles may not be as obvious.

However, airline loyalty programs are popular among passengers. in the Aeroflot 7.5 million people (30% of all passengers) participate Bonus program from Aeroflot, 2.5 million people from S7, 1.7 million people from Utair ’s Status program, and Ural Airlines’ Wings program. » – more than 20% of passengers. “But not everyone actually uses the accumulated miles: according to our estimates, only 20-25% of loyalty program participants have accumulated enough bonuses to be able to spend them,” says Deloitte Digital CIS manager Maxim Shapirovsky.

Privileges are not for everyone

Each carrier has its own system for calculating bonus miles. Their number may depend on both the flight distance and the ticket price. For example, from Utair you can get 3-7% of miles from the ticket price, depending on the status of a member of the loyalty program, and from Air France and KLM - from 4 to 8 miles for every euro spent on a ticket. has the same system Lufthansa , but with a coefficient of 4–6. Depending on the distance, fare and class of service, miles are awarded to Aeroflot, S7 and Emirates, among others. Typically, miles are received immediately after the client has completed the flight (Aeroflot, Emirates, Lufthansa, Air France, Utair) or has checked in for the flight (Ural Airlines). To receive Aeroflot miles, the loyalty program participant number must be entered into the booking or at check-in for the flight; after the flight, this can also be done within three months, a company representative clarified.

The best benefits go to those who have flown enough to earn one of the elite statuses in the loyalty program. For example, to achieve the minimum “Silver” level in the Aeroflot bonus program, you need to make at least 25 flights in a year or earn 25,000 qualifying miles (on average 1 qualifying mile per 1 mile of flight in economy class), in “Wings” from Ural Airlines - 20 flights per year, and in Miles & More from Lufthansa - 30 flights or 30,000 miles. In addition to various privileges (additional baggage, check-in at a separate counter, etc.), statuses increase the amount of bonuses compared to ordinary members of the loyalty program. Since August, S7 has introduced new statuses for passengers in addition to the elite Silver, Gold and Platinum (achieved after 20, 50 and 75 flights per year): Junior, Master, Expert and Top - after 4, 8, 12 and 16 flights, respectively. At the first two levels, such clients have access to an additional 10–15% bonus miles, a 30% discount on the first purchase of tickets on the website using an S7-Tinkoff card, and the opportunity to choose a seat for free.

Help from a friend

Bonus miles are divided into qualifying miles, which allow you to qualify for an upgrade to frequent flyer status and provide additional privileges, and regular miles, which are usually awarded for using the services of airline partners or as additional bonuses for participants in elite-level loyalty programs. Most carriers give miles for booking hotels, renting a car and other purchases from their partners, for spending on co-branded cards of partner banks. For example, Aeroflot has four partner banks, depending on the type of card issued by the bank, you can receive up to 2 non-qualifying miles for every 60 rubles/1 euro/$1 spent.

Some companies have other ways to earn miles. S7 also credits them for online check-in for a flight, use of a business lounge, upgrades to service class, etc. For example, you can even buy additional miles from Turkish Airlines - 1,000 miles will cost $30.

S7 is radically changing its loyalty program from August 1

Its participants will be able to receive privileges after the fourth flight

You can also earn (and spend) miles with carriers that are members of the same international alliance. There are three major alliances – Skyteam, Oneworld and Star Alliance. Among Russian airlines, Aeroflot is part of Skyteam, whose 20 members also include Air France - KLM, Alitalia and Delta. S7 is part of the Oneworld alliance along with British Airways, American Airlines, Finnair and others. Star Alliance companies include Lufthansa, Swiss, Air China and Turkish Airlines.

“The miles of alliance partners are also qualifying, that is, they bring you closer to [elite] status in the loyalty program of the “native” airline,” explains the creator of the frequentflyers.ru portal, Ilya Shatilin.

However, the number of miles received from different carriers of the same alliance for a flight over a comparable distance in the same class may differ, and quite significantly, warns the creator of the aviablogger.com resource, Konstantin Parfenenok.

“Often, the transfer of miles from one air carrier to another within the same alliance is not free - payment is calculated individually between air carriers and can be charged both in the form of miles and in monetary terms,” states Shapirovsky. Sometimes the airline doesn’t credit miles at all, he adds—most often this happens with the inexpensive tickets that most passengers are interested in.

Loyalty Reward

“It is advisable to start accumulating miles only if you fly more than 5-10 times a year and are ready to choose one airline or several airlines from the same alliance. Moreover, it is advisable to buy tickets at high rates, which allow you to earn more miles, and to have a [co-branded] bank card, which will accrue miles for purchases - then you will be able to accumulate miles faster,” says Parfenenok.

Utair has changed its loyalty program

Now you can use miles, like rubles, to fully or partially pay for tickets and additional services

For example, a businessman who flies from Moscow once a month on business to Yekaterinburg and does not have an elite level in the loyalty program will receive a maximum of 4,446 bonus miles for one round-trip flight with Aeroflot. To do this, he must buy a Premium fare ticket in business class, which at the time of preparation of the material cost more than 40,000 rubles. To buy a business class ticket Moscow – Ekaterinburg – Moscow with bonuses once, you need to spend 30,000 miles - a businessman will accumulate them through seven business class flights at the Premium fare on the same route. If he has the highest status in the program (Platinum), he will need six such flights. But in order to save up for a business class flight to the Maldives and back, a businessman at the “Platinum” level will have to fly Moscow – Ekaterinburg – Moscow 23 times. If he flew monthly to Berlin, he could buy a ticket to Male in 20 flights.

When flying from Moscow to Yekaterinburg and back in economy class at the Budget fare, an Aeroflot Bonus member receives a maximum of 2,222 miles. It turns out that he will be able to buy the same ticket with miles only for the tenth such flight. It will cost him the same amount to upgrade to business class.

Some companies make it possible to pay for a ticket partly with money and partly with miles - this system operates in the Skywards program from Emirates, as well as in the programs of Utair and Ural Airlines. The last two completely equated miles to rubles, essentially introducing cashback that can be used for air travel and other services.

Unobvious benefit

The rate for writing off bonus miles is much worse than the rate for accruing them, states Shatilin. In addition, the number of tickets available for purchase with miles is most often limited - according to Shatilin, there are no more than 1-2% of them for each flight: “For popular destinations and in the [high] season, keep track of tickets that can be bought with bonuses, it is necessary much in advance; besides, they may not exist at all.” The exception is monetary programs that operate on the cashback principle, he adds. In addition, as a rule, you can not pay with miles the entire cost of a ticket, but only the fare without fees, Parfenenok reminds: “Fees can reach 20,000 rubles, most often, the longer the flight and the higher the class of service, the larger they are.” For example, a business class flight with Aeroflot on the Moscow-Paris route in September this year will cost 50,000 miles and 22,749 rubles. fees. Flying the same route in Air France business class will cost a minimum of 52,000 Flying Blue miles plus fees. Members of one alliance provide an opportunity for passengers to spend bonus miles from their airline on flights on partner flights, but this is not at all profitable. For example, a business class flight on the Moscow – Paris route on Air France will cost 90,000 Aeroflot bonus miles plus taxes.

Pobeda promises to sell more than 80,000 tickets at a rate of 1 ruble

But the actual price of such tickets will be more than 450 rubles

Before spending miles on a flight, you need to make sure that it is not possible to buy a ticket at a lower price for the same destination from another carrier, Shatilin warns: this is often cheaper than paying your airline’s fees and paying extra miles for the fare.

You need to be careful if the flight is code-shared (one company operates a flight, and its partners can sell tickets for it under their own code. - Vedomosti), adds Shapirovsky: “For example, if you are flying on Air France, which shares code with Aeroflot from the same alliance, then Air France points are not fully converted into Aeroflot points, since in the understanding of the carrier they may have different values. If Aeroflot operates a flight and shares a code with Air France, then you will receive your Aeroflot Bonus points in full.”

Accumulated miles may expire. For example, Emirates and Air France miles are valid for three years from the date of accrual. Utair writes off 100 accumulated miles every month if the passenger has not flown with the airline for six months. Aeroflot miles are completely expired if the member has not made a single flight in two years. “Also, the airline can change the number of miles needed to purchase a ticket at any time, so it’s better to spend miles: if you save them for a long time, you may never save up for anything significant,” explains Parfenenok.

Corrected version. The fourth paragraph clarifies information about the S7 loyalty program.