Updated June 2010

Below is a list of popular U.S. airlines and and how long you can go without activity on your account before losing your miles. Activity is defined as any miles in or out for any reason; miles earned or miles redeemed.

If you are getting close to your expiration dates, make sure to visit FreeFrequentFlyerMiles.com for earning opportunities or as a last resort, you can always buy miles directly from the airline. I try to make sure I have activity at least 2 months before my expiration dates to allow ample time for posting.

2 Years:
Southwest
Delta

18 Months:
United
Continental
American Airlines
US Airways
Virgin America

1 Year:
JetBlue

Updated May 2010

Most large airlines are members of an alliance which means you can earn and redeem miles for one airline on any of the other carriers in its group. Star Alliance, Skyteam and oneworld are the main alliance groups. My advice is to pick one in each and only earn on those three airlines. Every time you fly check which group you will be flying with and request to earn miles on your chosen airline. When you accrue enough miles for free travel, you can redeem with your choice or any of its partners.

For example, I choose American as my airline in the oneworld alliance. When I fly Lan, another oneworld member, I tell them I’d like to earn American miles. When I have enough miles for a free ticket, I can redeem them on American, Lan or any of the other oneworld carriers.

Here are the airlines included in each alliance:

Star Alliance:

Adria, Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, Blue1, BMI, Brussels Airlines, Continental Airlines, Croatia Airlines, Egyptair, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, Spanair, Swiss, TAM,TAP Portugal, Thai, Turkish Airlines, United, US Airways

*United and Continental are hoping to merge but it’s unclear if or when this would take effect.

Skyteam:

Aeroflot, AeroMexico, Alitalia, Air France, KLM, China Southern, Delta, Korean Air, Czech Airlines, Air Europa, Kenya Airways

oneworld:

American Airlines, British Airways, Lan, Qantas, Royal Jordanian, Finnair, Iberia, Malev, Mexicana, Japan Airlines, Cathay Pacific

JetBlue has announced some improvements to their TrueBlue frequent flyer program that make it more rewarding and competitive with those of other airlines. The changes include:

-Ability to use points for any seat on any JetBlue operated flight

-No blackout dates for JetBlue award tickets

-Points that don’t expire as long as you fly or use your JetBlue American Express card at least once a year

-Bonus points the more you travel

-Oneway Award Flights starting at just 5,000 points

-Six (6) points for every dollar spent when you purchase a flight at jetblue.com

-Up to eight (8) points for every eligible dollar spent when you purchase a flight at jetblue.com using your JetBlue Card from American Express

JetBlue is vague about a start date for these new benefits saying only that they will go into effect this coming fall.

TrueBlue Relaunch

I love shopping online because I find so many great deals and of course, I use a credit card that gives me frequent flyer miles. I also often earn additional miles by clicking though an airline’s website to the store I’m shopping at. Most retailers online have partnerships with airlines and you can earn anywhere from 1 to 4 miles per dollar that you spend. Usually, you just go to the airline’s frequent flyer webpage and click on the ways to earn miles section. More often than not, there is a link that says shopping, miles mall or retail partners. If the store you are shopping at is listed, you can enter your frequent flyer number, click through to your store and make your purchase. These days, miles are more valuable than ever so you may as well earn them for something you intend to buy anyway.

Here are the shopping portals for some popular airlines:

American Airlines AAdvantage eShopping

Northwest Worldperks Mall

United Mileage Plus Mall

Continental Airlines ShopOnePass

Delta Skymiles Shopping

American Airlines has been supporting the Susan G. Komen for the Cure breast cancer foundation for 20 years and now they are rewarding their frequent flyers when they do the same. Through the end of the year, AAdvantage members will earn 5 miles for every dollar they donate to Komen online through www.komen.org/aa. The minimum donation is $25.00 and participants can earn a maximum of 50,000 miles.

Yes, it IS still possible to travel using frequent flyer miles. Here’s my advice to help you get the most for your miles when you are ready to cash them in:

-Check Award Availability Early and Often- Start searching for award tickets the minute you know when you’d like to use your miles. Most airlines allow reservations up to one year in advance and for peak travel times this may be necessary. If award tickets aren’t available for the dates you want check back often as new dates and times are always being added.

-Book on Partner Airlines- In my experience, you are more likely to get direct flights, on the best dates, for the least amount of miles if you book award travel on an airline partnered with the airline you’ve collected miles on. For example, I used Northwest miles to book a flight to Amsterdam on Continental and USAirways miles to book a flight to Los Angeles on United. Both times I got direct flights for the lowest amount of mileage possible. When I used Northwest miles on Northwest I had to choose less desirable flight times and use a greater number of miles. To use miles on a partner airline you will have to call the airline you’ve collected miles on, tell them you want to check partner flights, and make the reservation by phone. You will pay a fee for the phone service (usually $15-$30 per person) but, more often than not, you’ll get a better deal. Check out my airline alliance chart here to figure out who your preferred airline is partnered with.

-Hold It- If you find an award ticket you think is acceptable but not ideal, most airlines will let you put it on hold for up to three days free of charge. This will give you some extra time to think about if you want to take the flight without losing it. You can also call every day during the hold period and check if better flights are made available.

New York residents can now earn Continental Onepass miles when they pay for their monthly electric service. Energy Plus customers receive 2 miles for every $1 spent on the supply portion of their bill plus 3,000 bonus miles after their second month on the plan.

Energy Plus Onepass Offer

Source: Global Traveler

American Airlines is helping its Advantage frequent flier members rack up miles with their new MileFinder Map. Just enter your zip code and an interactive map will list all the restaurants, shops, banks, etc. where you can earn miles in your area.

Although the website initially gives you only 11 cities to choose from, if you pick any of them a map will pop up with a “By Location” link on the top right. Click there and enter any address/zip for earning opportunities nearby.

American Airlines MileFinder Map

Source: Global Traveler

New subscribers to Sirius Satellite Radio can earn 2,500 American Airlines Aadvantage miles. To qualify, you just have to order a radio and prepay for 3 months of service at $12.95/month. It seems you can earn the bonus multiple times if you gift 3 month subscriptions. If you were already planning to get Sirius for yourself or friend/family member for the holidays, be sure you go through this offer and get miles for it!

Aadvantage Sirius Offer

Source: Global Traveler

Star Alliance, the world’s largest airline network is growing even bigger! This month, Air China and Shanghai Airlines became members and Turkish Airlines is slated to join in the spring. When travelers fly on a member airline, they can choose to earn or redeem miles on any of the other partners.

You can read my post about airline mile alliances here.

Star Alliance

Source: Global Traveler