Combinable Miles Are the Stuff of Frequent Flyers' Dreams

They're rare, but useful

May 25, 1998  -  Here's a frequent flyer's dream scenario...

• The goal: A free ticket to Tokyo on Japan Airlines, available as an award in American's AAdvantage program for 65,000 miles.
• The rub: You only have 32,000 miles in your AAdvantage account.
• The solution (here's where the dream begins): Add to your AAdvantage account enough miles earned in Continental OnePass, US Airways Dividend Miles, and United Mileage Plus to reach the 65,000-mile award threshold for the JAL ticket.

Such miles would be, like national currencies (which miles are often likened to), convertible, or exchangeable. We might also call them generic, to reflect their interchangeability.

As with most dreams, the convertible mile fantasy is not going to materialize, for a long list of marketing, operational and financial reasons. (See related article for some of them.)

While not offered by the airlines themselves, there are semi-generic miles out there, available for the earning, in several non-airline programs. Among them:

• American Express
• Diners Club
• Hilton HHonors Worldwide
• ClickRewards

The miles (points, actually, that can be converted into miles) offered by these programs are not completely generic, because they're not universally convertible. Rather, they can be transferred only for miles in those frequent flyer programs with which they have forged transfer relationships. But for all their limitations, they can play an important part in helping mileage players reach their goals.

American Express and Diners Club

Both the American Express Membership Rewards and the Diners Club Club Rewards programs grant points for purchases. And those points can be converted into miles in the frequent flyer programs of participating airlines, typically at the "exchange rate" of 1 point = 1 mile. A summary of the programs associated with both of the cards follows.

Beyond their convertibility, the points earned in these two programs have a second useful characteristic: they don't expire, as long as you maintain your Amex or Diners card account. This powerful combination-flexibility and durability-makes these cards strong contenders against the affinity cards offered by the airline programs themselves.

TIP

Consider using one of these cards for all your credit card purchases, especially travel expenses, since they tend to be significant amounts. Let the points accumulate as they will (since they don't expire), converting the points to "top off" miles in participating airline programs as necessary to reach targeted awards (since they're convertible).

Hilton HHonors Worldwide

Hilton Hotels has taken convertibility one step further.

Under Reward Exchange, members of Hilton's HHonors frequent stay program can convert both ways: HHonors points into airline miles, and airline miles into HHonors points. This gives the traveler the flexibility to craft an award--air, hotel, rental car--according to his or her travel requirements, drawing upon award elements offered by a number of programs, rather than according to the limited options available in even the most comprehensive single program. So far, 10 of Hilton's airline partners allow Reward Exchange, at the following conversion rate:

As with the credit card points, HHonors points do not expire, although you must maintain an HHonors account for the points to remain live.

ClickRewards for Online Purchases

The newest of the generics is ClickPoints, currency of the ClickRewards program from Netcentives. This is the first, and won't be the last, web-centric promotion program, offering ClickPoints for online purchases. It works like this:

• Begin by making an online purchase which grants ClickPoints, and establishing an online ClickRewards account.
• Thereafter, whenever you make an eligible purchase at a participating vendor's online site, you earn ClickPoints . There is no set relationship between the purchase price and the number of points earned. I recently earned 100 ClickPoints for a $40 CD purchase. I noticed another vendor offering 500 points for purchases of $100 or more.
• When you need miles in one or more of your FFP accounts, convert ClickPoints for them.

Each ClickPoint can be converted into one mile in the programs of seven major airlines. They can be transferred only in increments of 500. The points do not expire as long as you are active, which requires one ClickRewards purchase per year. And, in addition to airline miles, the points can be redeemed directly for merchandise.

This is a relatively new program, so there are likely to be additions to the vendors offering ClickPoints, as well as to the airlines and other companies participating on the reward side.

You can almost always double dip when earning ClickPoints. Since most online purchases require the use of a credit card for payment, you can earn both points-for-purchases with the Amex or Diners cards, and ClickPoints for the same eligible purchase.

Further Information

Further information regarding all of the above programs is available online, as follows:

• American Express Membership Rewards
• Diners Club Club Rewards
• Hilton HHonors Worldwide
• ClickRewards