Air miles are a reward offered by some airlines in exchange for brand loyalty while flying, and in addition to booking flights, there are other ways to earn air miles, such as eating at certain restaurants, staying in certain hotels, and, most popular of all, using an airline credit card in exchange for air miles earned for each dollar spent on most purchases. These air miles can then be exchanged for free flights on the given airline, as well as other perks such as reduced price or free seat upgrades on flights, access to airline clubs at airports, and even preferential retrieval of luggage. However, there are many factors deciding what air miles are worth.

Do You Earn Points or Air Miles?

When calculating what types of benefits you have earned by accumulating your air miles, it is important to know how your air miles are worth, since different airlines may use different ratios and reward structures for their air miles. Some airline credit cards actually offer a return on points instead of air miles, so you should know how these points convert to air miles, since it may not be a strict 1 to 1 ratio. Your airline will generally provide you with information pertaining to how many air miles are required to receive different benefits, so this is worth looking into as well.

Take Into Consideration Annual Fees and Other Costs

In terms of air miles, remember that their worth actually goes beyond how many air miles you would need to get a free flight. You also must consider the costs and caveats of having an airline credit card, along with its fee and rate structure. Cards which offer a higher return ratio of air miles to dollars spent generally also have higher annual fees, which can run as great as $250 per year or above. If you are not using your airline credit card for many purchases, and not redeeming your air miles very often, the cost of having an airline credit card may outweigh the benefits.

Don't Spend Beyond Your Means

Although your airline credit card may have a high spending limit, you should also not fall into the trap of spending beyond your means. It may be tempting to use the card often, and make large purchases on a line of credit in order to enjoy the benefits of your total air miles, but you must be careful not to spend more than what you can reasonably pay off each month. Airline credit cards tend to have higher interest rates for unpaid balances, especially if they have more favorable air mile return rates, so if you are spending more than you can repay, your earned air miles may be more than offset by the high payments you will have to make for your balance interest.