Frequent flyer miles help please

[bananiem]

I have accrued a number of points on my radisson/country inn and suites card. I can transfer the points to several airlines for flyer miles at a ration of 8:1. OK, I understand that much.
I'm not currently a member at any airline frequent flyer clubs and can't seem to find this answer online without being a member....
How many points (miles) do I need to get from Minnesota to Orlando? Can I use my points toward part of a ticket, or do I need to use points to cover the cost of an entire ticket?
Is the frequent flyer mile equivalent to the actual land mileage?
Thanks!

 

[CarolA]

1. No, Frequent Flyer miles bear NO resemembelance to the actual miles.
2. MOST airlines have two "classes" of frequent flyer tickets. The "budget" option takes around 25,000 miles in most cases and the "anytime" option takes around 50,000 miles. (YMMV based on airline)
3. To get the budget option to MCO you generally have to be pretty flexible and book either very early (usually you can begin booking 330 days in advanc) or do like me and book at the last minute!
4. I am not aware of any airline where you can only pay for part of the ticket using milage. You can sometimes buy "extra' Miles if you need them, but IMHO that winds up costing almost as much as a ticket.

Go ahead and join for the airlines you like so you can read their info. Joining is free and you can sign up for "Sale alert" emails.

 

[crashbb]

I'm not sure which airlines fly from Minnesota to Orlando, so I don't know specifics however...

Some airlines do allow you do mileage plus cash for tickets (I'm not sure exactly how it works since my program, a Canadian one, does not allow this). Others (I think United is one) allow you buy certificates that turn miles into dollars (for example, buy a certificate worth $75 for 15,000 miles). You then use these certificates as a payment method when buying a regular revenue ticket.

For me, Toronto to Orlando is 25,000 miles assuming a 'cheap' seat is available. These tend to sell out quickly!

As you can see, the cost in miles is not the same as distance flown - cost per miles is set by region (for example, US south east). When miles are colllected, they are based on actual distance flown, with some exceptions (for example, I get a minimum of 500 miles even if my flight is only 200 miles; get bonus miles if flying first class etc.)

You should be able to check reward charts even if you aren't a member. I just checked United (I'm not a member) and see that it is 25,000 for two cities within the US using a Saver award (limited) or 50,000 for a non saver seat.

Hope that helps.

 

[bab31]

Midwest has a miles and dollars reward program along with their miles program. Basically it is $200 plus 15000 miles ( I believe) for an award seat (dependent on availability)

 

[bananiem]

Thanks everybody! It doesn't look like transferring my points will be in my best interest. I'll use them for something else.

 

[CarolA]

Midwest has a miles and dollars reward program along with their miles program. Basically it is $200 plus 15000 miles ( I believe) for an award seat (dependent on availability)

For Orlando that seems high!

 

[bab31]

Yes, considering you can fly out of my area for around 225, I use midwest to head to the southwest or the west coast. From my area it is expensive to fly there. I wouldnt use it to fly MCO. It is all relative to where you are flying to and from.

granted the op was inquiring about mco

Actually, I was just replying to the post about airlines that offer milage plus cash.

 

[CarolA]

I find that MCO is generally too cheap to waste my miles. I like to save them for those costly seats. I used them to go to Boston last weekend for example. It was a last minute trip and the best fare I could get was over $500.

 

[bab31]

wow! and that was from Atlanta? that is as bad as going to Tucson