How to earn miles and fly cheaper. Accumulate miles quickly - a detailed overview of the best bank cards for travel

The essence of the Aeroflot Bonus loyalty program is to transfer a special internal currency – miles, to the personal account of the participant, which can be used to pay for air tickets or receive special awards for them. Aeroflot bonus miles have no monetary value and serve as a means to reward the most devoted and loyal customers of the airline. The more Aeroflot services used by the client, the more miles will appear on the client's personal account.

The loyalty program uses two types of miles:

Non-qualifying Miles can be earned by a member for using the services of SkyTeam group members and special offers. Unqualified miles do not affect the rating level in any way. bonus program.
Each member can earn qualifying miles for purchasing tickets for regular flights of Aeroflot and its cooperating companies. The number of bonus points depends on which class the tickets purchased belong to and on the distance of the flight. Qualifying Miles can be used to purchase awards and upgrade your membership to Elite.

Where to spend bonus miles Aeroflot Bonus

Each Aeroflot client receives bonuses for the collected miles, in other words, the member is given the opportunity to pay for the services and goods of the air carrier and its partners with bonus miles. Gift offers include:

Reward - This group includes goods and services that are not air tickets, for which you can also pay with award miles.
Award upgrade service - when writing off a certain amount bonus miles the client can change the ticket class from economy class to comfort or business. This service can be used by those members who have a ticket reservation on a flight where class change is allowed.
An award ticket is the right to travel free of charge on scheduled flights of SkyTeam member companies.

The owner of bonus miles can spend bonuses on the following products from the catalog, which are presented on the website:

souvenirs
household items and electronics
leisure and entertainment items
Gift certificates
shoes and clothes
cosmetics and perfumery
goods for recreation and sports

You can manage your personal account through Personal Area. You can get booking information at the contact center by phone number 8 800 444 55 55📞. Using the capabilities of the personal account, the program participant gets access to a number of services:

"Space+" service provides the client with access to the lesson of the most convenient places on the plane after purchasing economy class tickets for high, medium, short range routes;
"Transfer miles" makes it possible to accrue bonus miles from a personal account to a user of the bonus program. Only non-qualifying miles are credited to the account.
"Fellow Travelers" service - a service that allows the user, with his personal consent, to add other persons who are registered in the promotion to travel companions and use their personal information when booking.

Frequently Asked Popular Questions

Members of the Aeroflot Bonus loyalty program often ask themselves the best way to spend their accumulated miles, how to increase their personal status in the program. Below are answers to the most popular questions.

What can you spend bonus miles on?

For different awards and bonuses, you will have to give a different number of your points. For example, if a loyalty program member has 10,000 miles left on their personal account, they have the option to buy a one-way award ticket. A round-trip plane ticket will cost twice as much. Tickets for flights of higher classes are more expensive. Tickets to different cities arrivals are valued differently. For the most accurate calculation of possible benefits, there is a special miles calculator on the program website.

How can a member issue an award ticket?

You must book a ticket on the website no later than 6 hours before departure. When buying tickets, you need to select the "Pay with Miles" function. In the absence of access to the personal account, it is possible to issue an award ticket through the office of the company. To issue your ticket through the company's office, you need to contact the Aeroflot branch, having your membership card and passport with you. This must be done two days before the intended flight.

Can an award ticket be returned if the flight is cancelled?

Unfortunately, this option is not provided by the program. If the plane ticket was paid for with bonus miles, then it is valid for a year after the purchase and cannot be exchanged or refunded in cash. Selling, returning or transferring a ticket to a person who is not indicated on the ticket is prohibited.

What is the fee for purchasing an award ticket?

When issuing a plane ticket, no additional fees are withdrawn. The buyer pays only standard airfare and airport taxes.

Can a user combine two accounts in order to receive enough bonus miles to receive a ticket?

The program rules prohibit the merging of user accounts. A member of the loyalty program can use the special "Miles Transfer" service by sending part of the miles from his personal account to the card of any other Aeroflot Bonus bonus account holder. Only non-qualifying miles will be credited to the other member's bonus account.

Can a member transfer awards to others?

Under the terms of the promotion, the owner of a sufficient number of award miles has the right to purchase an award ticket, other auction goods or services for another person, including someone who is not a member of the program. Bonuses are transferred free of charge, trading in premium goods is prohibited. Transfer your award tickets only participants of the junior bonus promotion from 2 to 12 years old.

Is it possible to upgrade the class of a ticket purchased at the “Business Pass” fare?

Only those participants of the promotion who have bought tickets at fares that are included in the Premium sector can upgrade the class of service. Tickets of the Business Pass type do not belong to this group, because service class upgrades are not carried out for them.

How can I improve my class of service using the accumulated miles?

To rebook a ticket from comfort or economy class to a higher level of service, just call the company's call center number. If there is no cost between classes, the ticket will be reissued automatically without any additional steps. A message that the operation was successfully completed will be sent to the e-mail specified in the registration. If there is a difference between the taxes, in this case, before departure, the client needs to come to the representative office or to the office of the company in order to reissue the ticket.

Rebooking for a seat in a higher class is also possible when flying on flights of Aeroflot partner companies that are part of the SkyTeam group.

and loyalty programs are so popular in modern world that began to be perceived by consumers as an obligatory element of spending finances.

What are bonus miles? Units of measurement for customer loyalty are essentially similar to the system of bonuses in supermarkets and other retail chains. Bonus points are awarded for the purchase of tickets for flights of airlines and their partners. The account is also replenished upon registration in the program, participation in various special offers and when paying with credit and debit cards of some banks for everyday expenses.

Note! The name "mile" is conditional and does not mean that with a bonus account balance of 1544 points it is possible to purchase free ticket and overcome, for example, 2487 km from Moscow to Paris. One mile of Aeroflot is one standard unit of measurement of the amount left by the buyer at the box office of the carrier and partner companies.

Kinds

There are two types of airline bonus points: status (or qualifying) and award points, i.e. non-qualifying. Bonuses can be used to upgrade the class of service or directly to purchase a ticket.

Status miles will help you avoid queues at the check-in counter

As a rule, it is possible to replenish the balance of award points only by purchasing air tickets. By leaving their hard-earned money at the ticket offices of the airline's partners, customers increase the number of qualifying (status) bonuses. Status miles provide a higher level of service, access to the VIP lounge, and extraordinary check-in for a flight.

Important! The airline will allow you to spend qualifying miles only if you have a certain amount of award miles on your account. Passengers who have made a purchase for a large amount from the partners of the airline, but have not bought a single ticket, will not be able to use any of the benefits of the bonus system in this case!

Profitable flight arithmetic

Program conditions

To maintain a high status, flights must be regular - qualifying miles are reset annually, on December 31st. Award miles also have an expiration date, after which they burn out.

The choice of the bonus program always remains with the buyer. It is more reasonable to register the accumulation of miles in those airlines with which the passenger flies most often. Travelers who fly frequently abroad can benefit from an overseas alliance program that includes airlines from Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the Americas.

For clients who often fly on business trips in Russia, it is preferable to use the bonus systems of domestic air carriers. The essence of loyalty systems lies in this - ceteris paribus in choosing an airline, a passenger will be faithful to one, which for each flight and payment additional services give him bonus points. Obvious benefits of the reward system from its air carrier the client sees when the number of annual flights exceeds four or five flights per year.

Fly more, get more

Aeroflot's bonus system is the first one that Russians have heard of. Since 1999, the company has introduced a system to reward loyal customers. The number of program participants increased significantly in 2002, when the country's main air carrier issued a special bank card for accumulating miles in cooperation with the main domestic bank.

To join the passenger reward program, it is enough to purchase one of the bank cards partner banks or fill out a form on the Aeroflot website. It is enough to enter your full name, contact phone number, email address and date of birth in the form, and you can start accumulating the cherished Aeroflot miles (miles) to purchase a free award ticket.

Aeroflot Bonus is the most popular air passenger reward program among Russian citizens. First of all, this is due to the long history of the airline and its stable reputation. The market share occupied by Aeroflot also plays a no less important role. It is from this carrier that you can buy a ticket at almost any airport in the country for any direction. Among the participants of the program, the share of foreign residents is also large, since Aeroflot is also known all over the world in the market of international flights.

Benefits of the program

When joining the Aeroflot Bonus program, you need to consider the main advantages of accumulating bonus miles. The main advantage of this reward system is that points can be accumulated faster than in any other loyalty program due to the large number of banks air carriers participating in the distribution of Aeroflot miles.

From the moment of registration in the Aeroflot Bonus system, the passenger begins to accumulate his miles and replenish the balance of the bonus account. And here comes the excitement - to use the incentive program as efficiently as possible, to get as many privileges as possible.

How to accumulate the maximum possible bonus

There are two main ways to earn miles - fly Skyteam flights as often as possible or use Visa Aeroflot Gold bank cards.

The company is a member aviation alliance skyteam. It is possible to earn and spend miles not only on Aeroflot flights, but also on twenty other airlines.

The members of the alliance include the following eminent air carriers: Alitalia, KLM, China Airlines, Air France.

The loyalty system does not limit the choice of airline.

A complete list of all participants can be seen on the alliance website, in the "Partners" section. The Alliance is one of the three largest cooperations in the market of international and domestic air transportation and includes the leading airlines of many countries. This means that even if the client could not find the right flight to the chosen destination at the Aeroflot ticket office, he still continues to accumulate bonus points by buying tickets from alliance companies.

Important! You can also use your accumulated miles with any of the 20 carriers, since the loyalty system is common for all members of the alliance.

Accumulating miles with bank cards, whether debit or credit, is very beneficial for customers who prefer plastic to cash. For such purchases, the bank accrues award miles to the bonus account.

Attention! Miles accumulated on the bank's plastic cards expire after 24 months if the Aeroflot Bonus program participant has not made a single flight over the past two years.

Partner banks

Five banks participate in Aeroflot's bonus program. Aeroflot Bonus Partners:

Sberbank;
Alfa Bank;
Bank opening";
SMP Bank;
Citibank.

The more money you spend on your credit card, the more more bonuses you can get it. For every 60 rubles spent, the participant will receive up to three miles in the Otkritie financial company, up to two points for similar expenses will be credited by Sberbank, Alfa-Bank. 1.75 miles for every 60 rubles will bring a purchase with an SMP bank card, and spending on Citibank cards is converted at the rate of 60 to 1.

To start accumulating miles, you need to issue and activate a bank card and just start using it. Each visit to the store or purchase on the Internet brings additional bonuses to the mile account.

How to find out the number of miles

The number of savings for previous flights can be viewed at any time in your Aeroflot Bonus account, for this you need to go to the official website of Aeroflot Airlines. Both the value of award and status points are displayed. Here you can also calculate the number of bonus miles that the client will receive for scheduled flights, as well as see how many points you need to accumulate to purchase an award ticket using the "Calculator" section.

The conditions for accumulating deductions and accumulating miles in the description of bonus programs must be read carefully

To calculate, you need to enter the point of departure and destination into the Aeroflot miles calculator, select the Aeroflot Bonus status and fare type.

Example. If a newcomer to the program with a basic status and planning a flight Moscow - London - Moscow, depending on the fare, he will be credited from 1000 to 7750 bonus miles. The minimum value corresponds to the promo fare, the most points can be accumulated when buying a business class ticket. If a passenger wants to buy a ticket for the same destination with the accumulated miles, he will need 30,000 points for traveling in economy class and 60,000 points for traveling in business class.

For 30,000 conditional loyalty units, it is possible to upgrade the class of service. When purchasing a ticket for money in the economy cabin, at the check-in counter, the passenger can exchange the accumulated miles for a business class pass. It is easy to calculate that about every tenth ticket Aeroflot is ready to sell for bonus points. Taking into account the expiration date of miles, which expire two years from the date of accrual, the conclusion suggests itself that it is necessary to fly 5 times a year.

Important! When issuing an award ticket for miles, the passenger receives only the fare, the fuel surcharge will have to be paid separately at the regular price!

The more miles a passenger earns by buying tickets for Aeroflot planes and the more money he leaves at the cash desks of program partners, the higher his status in the bonus system. Raising the status gives certain privileges.

For example, Silver Members can carry for free extra bed baggage, and Aeroflot will give “gold” customers an award ticket for double the number of points, even if the limit of free seats on the flight has ended. Members of the elite platinum club even have a separate phone number where they can ask questions to the airline. All Gold customers have priority at the check-in counter, miles credit for the purchase of award tickets from 2,000 to 10,000 points, depending on the status.

Is it possible to gift my miles to another member of the program?

Yes, you can give miles, subject to certain conditions described on the Aeroflot website. Those clients who have flown within the last 24 months and have been registered in the program for at least 90 days can transfer their bonuses. The maximum number of gifted bonuses cannot exceed 5000, and the number of transactions per year must not exceed 10.

Is it possible to purchase an award ticket for a family member?

Yes, an award ticket can be issued not only for your own person, you can give it to your mother, friend, work colleague - anyone. At the same time, the person entered on the ticket does not have to be a member of the Aeroflot Bonus program.

Loyalty bonus programs are profitable, but in order to extract maximum profit, you must carefully study the terms of participation in the program. Registration in the program will bring many advantages to active travelers and people who often fly on business trips around the country and abroad.

Today, the Aeroflot air carrier offers travelers various privileges. For regular customers, there is a special program - here, with each purchase of an air ticket, the company accrues miles to the passenger. When the required number of award points is collected, the points can be spent on any service of the airline, even book a flight for free. Such a program has been operating since 1999, and today 1,500,000 tourists are already participating here. We will clarify the rules of the promotion and find out how to pay for a trip with Aeroflot miles.

Airlines earn full points from each purchased ticket. The amount of receiving bonuses is directly determined by the cost of the air ticket, the chosen route and the distance. Each company has its own table, which indicates the amount of accrual, the type of service for which bonus points are received and how to spend the reward. Most carriers add up the miles collected during the year and further give the passenger access to new bonus programs and privileges. Here, customers have access to a free place for luggage, flight class upgrade, fast.

Airlines determine the status of a passenger with cards of different levels. Moreover, a third party can also use the points collected by the tourist: a friend, colleague or relative. Here you will have to pay only for aviation fuel or not pay for the route at all. The flight will cost you half the price or become free - this moment determines the number of points scored and the specific conditions of the flight.

And there are many savings options. A common method today is to issue a card for payments from a partner bank and receive monthly bonuses collected. It's good and quick way, but such points are not considered full-fledged by the airline. Accordingly, it will not be possible to use award points to receive an airline card.

The company's employees also name other options for participating in the Aeroflot Bonus program. Miles accrual is also available when interacting with the carrier's partners. This list includes hotels, restaurants and car parks. It will be possible to spend the collected bonuses here on booking an air ticket or other services offered by an aviation company. In most cases, carrier partners provide travelers with a catalog that lists the products or services that can earn reward points.

Collection rules

The airline offer allows the passenger to receive a certain number of points for each purchase, and later spend points on various services of the carrier. The number of bonus accruals is related to the prices of purchased air tickets, flight distance and other nuances. It is appropriate to check with the carrier with whom the airlines cooperate, where it will be possible to receive a reward for purchases. In some cases, customers receive bonuses for taking out insurance or subscribing to magazines and books.For the accumulated miles, passengers buy promotional tickets, hotels give tourists discounts on accommodation, and the class of the booked ticket rises.

In addition, here you will be able to participate in various promotions or count on the privileges of issuing cards for payments from Sberbank of Russia.The project is available to airline customers over 2 years old. For children two to twelve years old, the developers offer the Aeroflot Bonus Junior package. Moreover, the accumulation rules here are similar to the standard conditions - after all, the promotion is personalized for all participants. If you travel frequently and intend to participate in the program, you will have to register.

Airline regulations provide for the accumulation of two types: specialized and non-qualifying. To start collecting points, you will need to buy an air ticket or products of carrier partners. Customers exchange qualifying points for a more comfortable class and award tickets. Non-specialized points are promotional accruals that are received for the purchase of products of the carrier's partners and do not provide for an increase in the passenger's prestige.

If you received a plastic card from a partner bank, it provides for the collection of a certain number of bonuses - such functions are determined by the type of financial institution services used. For using the Aeroflot Classic Card, the company counts a mile per unit of currency or for a purchase from a plastic card in the amount of more than 50 rubles, which the passenger spends. If you have a gold card, the company estimates similar expenses already at one and a half points. For new customers, there is a separate reward. Making a classic card will bring 500 points to your account, and a gold one - 1000.

Decide on the number of bonus points

You can check the status of your active account in the following ways:

by mail;
on the official website of the carrier;
via telephone.

Each year, the carrier sends letters to customers, which indicates the number of accumulated points. If information is needed now and there is no time to wait for a letter, it is advisable to visit. There is no additional search or input of special data required. To get acquainted with the state of the account, the passenger enters his personal account, where he will be able to study the balance of award points.

The online calculator will help you decide how many miles you need for a free Aeroflot flight or the number of bonuses received for purchasing an air ticket. Readers will find a similar option. Please note that this information depends on several factors, including the status of the client and the duration of the flight.

If you visit the site for the first time, it is enough to go through a simple registration. You will need to enter passport data into the system and leave a contact e-mail. Once completed, an email will be sent to you with the link provided. The traveler needs to go to the desired address to confirm the account.

A quick way to find out about the availability of premium points in a financial institution for a promotion is appropriate using your phone. Contact the official representative of the company and tell the employee of the company the initials and serial number of the participant, which is indicated on the card. Today, a free line works for residents of Russia: 8-800-444-55-55.

How to spend earned miles

Consider the conditions of the Aeroflot group. Bonus miles: how to spend savings and whether it will be possible to transfer points to other passengers. Today, the program involves the purchase of premium air tickets, increasing the comfort of the flight, booking a hotel, and transferring the proceeds to charity. In addition, here you can use the offers of partners or pay for travel with miles.

Award flights

First, let's get down to the question of how to use Aeroflot bonus miles when buying a ticket. Here, airlines offer customers to go through the following algorithm:

Call and authorization. The passenger contacts the call-center of the airline and determines the status of the program participant.
Payment. Here you can transfer money using voice dialing and a bank card. To send funds, you will need to follow the prompts of the operator.

Bonus miles can be used for registration award ticket

In addition, you will have to issue an air ticket at the carrier's office. Such actions are advisable after the passenger receives a secret code that will be sent by e-mail. Such flights can only be paid for on Aeroflot flights at least 6 hours before the departure of the liner.

Better travel conditions

If you intend to raise the flight class, there are two ways: a preliminary agreement when buying tickets and registration at the counter at the airport. Both options allow you to transfer bonuses to a third party. Moreover, an early upgrade is available when buying a ticket in both directions and subject to free seats of the required category on board. Here, the cost of upgrading from an economy flight to a business class will be the price of an award ticket in both directions. If, however, the service is upgraded to the Comfort class, the passenger spends half as many miles.

It is quite popular among passengers to use bonuses to upgrade the flight class.

As for the second method, here the function is available during flight check-in. The passenger will receive the desired seat if there are available seats of the desired class and enough points to pay.It is noteworthy that registration at the counter will cost half the price of a preliminary reservation. That is, with an increase in the quality of a flight by 2 classes, the client pays 50% of the cost of an award ticket, and by 1 - 25%. True, when flying with connections, it will be possible to improve conditions only on the first leg of the journey. In addition, here the tourist receives boarding pass the class of the purchased ticket, which is changed to the required document after the start of boarding.

Alternative use of premium savings

Today there is an exchange that cooperates with carriers. Here travelers buy and sell accumulated bonuses. Usually such actions prevent the burning of points. When the accumulated miles are not enough to pay for the desired function, it is advisable to purchase the missing points here.

Missing bonuses can be purchased on the exchange or received as a gift

In addition, you can get points for free. The scheme of the system here is similar to the functioning of the exchange, but when donating bonus miles, the tourist does not receive income. If you intend to give bonuses, when you receive a bonus certificate, it is enough to draw up papers for another person. This procedure is appropriate no later than two days before departure. In addition, passengers can donate points to charity.

It is appropriate to remember that the collected miles are reset to zero over time. Bonuses are deducted after two years of non-use of collected points. Rewards rates are based on airfare, itinerary and traveler status. Carrier points do not include fuel surcharges. Usually every ruble spent is equal to one mile, but there are exceptions.

Readers will be able to clarify specific nuances and conditions on the official portal of the carrier. And you can find out about the rules for transporting luggage by this airline.

Since 1999, Aeroflot has launched a program for accruing bonus miles to passengers with each purchase of airline tickets.
The amount of bonus accruals is related to the duration and price of the flight, passenger status, flight class
The status of the card also affects the number of bonuses received - owners elite cards receive one and a half times more miles
It is convenient to check the status of the bonus account on the airlines website

What is a mile and what are they?
A mile is a tool for linking a passenger to a specific airline or to a bunch of interconnected airlines (called an alliance). Aeroflot does not benefit from your flights on board a competitor S7. S7 loses money when you fly Utair. Etc.

Miles are regular and quasi. For those who are interested in both types and materiel, we read the entire article.
Those who do not like long reads can immediately read about the most profitable way to accumulate and use miles according to Travel Radar

How to make you prefer Aeroflot over Utair in the same direction on the same date?
You need to either give a lower ticket price, or offer something else that will be of interest to you. Something that binds you and reminds you to buy new ticket to the same airline. What? Airlines feed about the same, they provide a similar set of services, you can’t lure all this. But you can promise a free flight. Free not now, but sometime later, when you collect the required number of Aeroflot miles or miles of any airline from the alliance that includes Aeroflot.

And now you are already registering with Aeroflot-Bonus. And you continue to pay for tickets only to Aeroflot, because you are saving 20,000 miles for a free ticket from Moscow to Yekaterinburg and back.
The price of such a round-trip ticket for money (at the time of this writing) is 8140 rubles fare + 3366 rubles fees.
For 20,000 miles, according to the rules, you “buy” only the fare of 8140 rubles, you will have to pay the fees in cash. Yes, in many loyalty programs for miles you will only receive a fare, fees - from your own pocket.
Let's remember these numbers and move on to what 20,000 Aeroflot miles really are and how to get them.

Consider the basic options

Option 1: earn miles by flying

In general, to get 20,000 miles with Aeroflot, you have to fly 20,000 miles. Of course, not all at once, but still.
For example, the distance in statute miles from Moscow to Yekaterinburg is 887 miles. So, you have to fly about 11 times from Moscow to Yekaterinburg and back to get 20,000 miles and your free ticket. It will be a ticket from Moscow to Yekaterinburg and back, or on another route, which also costs no more than 20,000 miles.
Once again, you need to pay 11*(8140+3366) to earn 20,000 miles (and this is not a fact, see the paragraph below for details).
Miles with the help of flights can be gained even faster, there are many details and nuances.
For example, booking rates. Higher fares give you more miles for the same overland distance. That is, instead of 887 miles, you will be credited with 1,330 or even 1,774 miles if you bought a business class instead of an economy class.
The same feature works in the opposite direction - the cheapest (discount) tariffs either do not imply the accrual of miles at all, or the accrual of miles will be in a smaller amount: 50% or even 25% of the number of land miles of the distance.
In other words, you can fly and then find out that you overpaid for the ticket by Aeroflot in vain, because the fare was rather high and you did not receive anything.

Conclusion: a great way when you fly very often and you can choose one airline. In other words, business trips. In other general cases, miles earned on flights rarely outweigh the benefit of buying a cheap ticket from another airline. Let us repeat once again that what has been described is true for any program of any airline or alliance, and Aeroflot is just an example here.

Option 2: miles for paying for goods and services with bank cards.

Various banks issue credit or debit cards in partnership with airlines. It's called a co-brand. The mechanics of earning miles using such co-brands is the same everywhere: you spend some rubles paying for various goods or services with a card, and in return the bank credits some miles to your account in the airline's loyalty program.
Let's take Aeroflot as an example again. He cooperates with all sorts of banks, the most famous co-brand with Sberbank. Each 60 rubles spent using the Sberbank-Aeroflot card will give 1 mile to Aeroflot-Bonus.
If the card is not ordinary, but "golden" - the conditions are even better: you spent 60 rubles, you got 1.5 miles. If the card is not gold, but of the highest category (Signature) - 2 miles for every 60 rubles.
But it's time for us to go to Ekaterinburg again for free, and for this we want to get 20,000 miles. How many goods do we need to buy with a Sberbank card to get what we are looking for? We diligently multiply 20,000 by 60 and get 1 million 200 thousand rubles. There is no mistake: in order to earn 20,000 Aeroflot miles on your account through payment with a Sberbank card, you need to be able to spend 1,200,000 rubles on it. Well, or 800,000 rubles, if the co-branded card of Sberbank is "gold". And all this for the sake of saving 8140 rubles, because the fare from Moscow to Yekaterinburg and back, which we will buy for 20,000 accumulated miles, costs about that much.

Conclusion: long and unprofitable (why unprofitable - read below in the section about quasi-miles). If you decide to accumulate miles in this way, carefully approach the study of the question not how to accumulate them, but how to spend them rationally.
For example, spending miles on a flight from Moscow to Yekaterinburg is stupid, however, spending miles on a business class flight to far abroad countries is often more profitable than buying the same ticket for money. Carefully look at the calculator of miles required for flights (each loyalty program exists in one form or another), and count carefully. Of course, it is best to do this before you open a bank card, and not after.

Option 3: Buy Miles.

Let's make a reservation right away that the direct purchase and sale of miles is prohibited by many loyalty programs. If we talk about Russian programs, then it is prohibited in all. But people often use the mechanism allowed by the rules to transfer miles to other members, bypassing this restriction. And if you find a person with extra miles, he can write you a ticket for them in exchange for financial gratitude. The rules of the program are not violated, the ticket was received.
Since no such exchange services officially exist, we will not discuss them in this article.
Let us just mention that a ticket from our example worth 20,000 miles will cost about 12,000 rubles with this method when buying miles + you will have to pay extra fees (we wrote about them above). So the savings on the chosen example with Yekaterinburg went into the negative zone.

Conclusion: the method saves money (sometimes) and time, but requires experience and proven sellers. The Internet is full of scammers who sell either stolen miles (from hacked accounts) or tickets purchased with stolen cards under the guise of tickets issued for miles. Don't fall for all these gray schemes.

We have described three basic options for earning airline miles. Let's summarize the pros and cons.

Airline Miles Benefits:

weak, but still the opportunity to fly in business class is significantly cheaper than for money or quasi-miles. Strictly speaking, Aeroflot miles should be spent exclusively on buying business class tickets for long distances. Only in this case, the accumulation of these miles becomes meaningful.
the possibility of obtaining a status in the loyalty program, which will provide additional benefits. There are many such benefits and they are very different. They also depend on the status itself (silver, gold, platinum, etc.) and on the specific program. Typical examples of status benefits are: additional baggage allowance, free access to the airport business lounge, priority boarding, etc.

Cons of airline miles:

It is difficult for the average traveler with three flights a year to earn enough miles for a ticket through flights or co-brand spending.
the need to pay fees in cash in addition to the “free” mile ticket
tickets for miles on the flight or date you need, as a rule, either will not be available or will not be enough (mile tickets always have quotas on board). If flights fall on peak dates (for example, summer to Barcelona), it is often extremely difficult to fly miles away, there are simply no places.

And now let's move on to another way to reduce the cost of flights.

Quasimily

Quasi-miles cannot be earned by flights and they are not a tool to bind a client to any particular airline or alliance. As a result, quasi-miles do not refer to any loyalty program or airline.
It's a flexible way to buy flights from almost any airline, just like buying a ticket with money.
There is only one option for accumulating quasi miles: find a bank card with the required quasi miles program and try to use only it to pay for all your purchases. On the this moment There are many such programs, for example:

"AirBonus" from Avangard Bank
"All Airlines" from Tinkoff Bank
"Alfa Miles" from Alfa-Bank
"Multi-Card" from VTB24 Bank

The mechanics of the programs are the same: you spend money, and the bank credits you with quasi-miles to your mile account. Accrual is carried out according to the algorithm established by banking conditions. After accumulating the number of miles to the value stipulated by the rules, you buy a ticket of any airline for them as if they were not miles, but rubles.
Example: under the terms of the Multi-Card program from VTB24, 4% of their value in the form of miles will be credited for purchases. We spent 80,000 rubles in a month with a card, received 3,200 miles. We went to your personal account and bought any ticket of any airline worth 3200 rubles. And that's it.

Quasimilies are deprived of all the benefits of miles of any airline. But there is good news: they are deprived of all their disadvantages.

Earning Quasi-Miles is a little easier. For example, to earn quasi-miles on a ticket from our example (Moscow-Yekaterinburg-Moscow), you need to spend about 640 thousand rubles on the Avangard bank card. This is not at all 800,000 and not 1,200,000, as in the Sberbank example.
Purchasing with quasi miles is equivalent to buying with cash, so the fees are already included in the price, you don’t have to pay anything separately.
A ticket can be purchased regardless of the availability of mile seats (as would be the case with airline miles). Do you have tickets for the dates you want? You can buy them with quasi miles. No quotas, restrictions or awkward dates.

Of course, quasi-mile programs have their drawbacks. For example, according to the conditions of some banks, in order to be able to buy a ticket, you must first collect a certain minimum number of quasi-miles. There are also restrictions on the number of purchased tickets per year, for example, no more than 10 tickets.

General conclusions

If you fly several times a year and choose tickets according to the principle "convenient and as cheap as possible" - quasi-miles are suitable for you.
If you fly very often and have the opportunity to buy tickets from only one airline, choose the miles of the airline you fly with most often and accumulate them.
If you like to use bank cards and want to spend money profitably - quasi-miles again.
If you read and didn't understand anything, drop this business and figure out how to make more money. And already on them travel cheaply.

How do you like the idea of flying for free? No, it's not about sponsors or ways to get a job with an airline. Everything is much simpler: you can, without much bother, accumulate miles and spend them on flights or other pleasant things. For my first bonus ticket to Montenegro, I somehow saved up completely imperceptibly for myself.

What are miles and why do I need them?

Miles are a kind of gratitude to the airline for the fact that we are with them. That is why the programs are called loyalty programs: loyal customers are valued and sometimes ride for free. At different airlines these buns are called differently - miles, points, bonuses - but the essence is the same: you are awarded points for flights and other purchases.

No investments are required on our part: we just use the services and quietly add the miles to the piggy bank. Here it is important not to stick to your bonus card and still turn on your head, compare options.

Three main alliances are fighting for passenger loyalty all over the world: Oneworld, Skyteam, Star Alliance. What gives such a union? Only the opportunity to earn and spend miles flying different airlines one union. The conditions of the programs are different for each company. Unfortunately, it is also impossible to transfer points or combine them.

Major airlines join one of them, and low-cost carriers, except for Easy Jet and Aegean, remain on the sidelines. Apparently, they are so sure that passengers will choose them. Although Vueling and AirArabia have their own bonus programs, WizzAir has its alternative - a club.

How to join the program?

Easy: online, through a link from friends, at a company office, or even on a plane. On the last pages of the logbooks there are temporary membership cards that need to be registered and then exchanged for permanent ones. By the way, I never had to use physical card, as its number is usually sufficient.

Before I take a ticket with a new airline, I join its “club”. For registration, they usually give welcome miles, which for some can be immediately written off as payment for the flight. So, the first ticket from Ural Airlines cost me 500 rubles cheaper.

Registration on the site takes a few minutes, usually they ask for a username, password, full name and passport data. Confirm by email and voila! - You are almost a privileged passenger. “Almost” because you will most likely get real benefits only after a few flights.

Some have referral programs: invite a friend and get some miles on your account. At the same time, a friend also receives them upon registration - call the whole family and friends.

How to earn points?

Each company is inventing new ways to attract customers, and sometimes offers bonus points for unexpected actions. For example, S7 and Aeroflot "paid" miles for reviews on Tripadvisor. I thus managed to earn on 2 minimum bonus flights. But other ways to increase mileage capital are standard:

The first one is actually flying: fly with airlines or its partners and get bonuses (points, miles). In order for the flight to be reflected on your bill, you need to indicate its number when booking or checking in for the flight. If you forgot or did not have time, the flight can be credited within a certain time (usually a year) after the trip. Every company website has this button. On one account, it is allowed to take into account flights by all airlines of the alliance. For example, S7 Priority credits me with miles for flights with Airberlin, since both carriers are part of Oneworld.
Co-branded bank cards. Almost every bank has at least one joint card with an airline or an alliance. The mechanism of their action is simple: for a certain amount (now 60 rubles for the majority), the bank charges 1-4 air bonuses. There are increasing coefficients, say, for paying for tickets or hotels - each card has its own conditions. Money spent on credit cards tends to earn more points than money spent on credit cards. debit cards.
Purchases. A cup of coffee, car rental, a night in a hotel, a trip to the cinema, a trinket ordered from the Chinese - all this brings an “air penny” to our piggy bank. S7, for example, has a lot of such partners: from large hotels and tour operators to electronics stores and even supermarkets. By making the usual purchases, you are slowly saving up for a bonus ticket. You just need to go to the online store from the program page or present the barcode from the application at the checkout. Sometimes you can even get a discount.
Participation in promotions. Airlines earn double miles for certain services or flights, such as flights or hotel reservations in the Velvet season.
Contests. An additional opportunity to earn miles is participation in competitions. This is how S7, for example, invites new customers: they offered to save up for a dream by bringing friends, and getting 500 miles for each.
Status upgrade. Each program has several statuses with different privileges. At the initial level, standard conditions apply: you accumulate miles - you spend them, no benefits. But every flight or purchase brings you closer to elite status. What is its benefit? Bonuses are awarded with a multiplier, you are allowed to take extra baggage free of charge, and you can expect a flight in the luxury lounge.
Flights to holidays . Ural Airlines will accrue additional bonuses if you find yourself on board their aircraft on your birthday or, for example, on April 1st. They also offer other original, I would even say absurd promotions: buy a hundred tickets and get an additional 100 points for each.

Subscription mailing list or social media.
Buying miles- an expensive activity: 1 mile costs in S7, for example, 1 ruble, a bonus ticket - Tbilisi, for example, will cost at least 8,000 miles. As for me, it makes sense to buy miles only if you have a few bonuses left until happiness, that is, a cherished ticket.
Translation from other program participants is also expensive and therefore meaningless, since you pay real money for a transaction, and the amount is almost equivalent to a mile equivalent.
Consolidation of family members' accounts. It's not that it adds points, but it allows everyone to save together. Only some companies are allowed to do this, for example, British Airways.

Calculation example

Let's figure out what needs to be done in order to earn a minimum one-way ticket, say, from Moscow to. In S7 Priority, the promotional fare starts from 6,000 miles. This:

500 welcome miles for registration,
1000 miles - economy class flight from Moscow to and back,
500 miles - payment for the same ticket to Krasnodar on the airline's website with a co-branded card.
3000 miles - for 1200000 spent on the card,
500 miles - for car rental,
500 miles - for shoes bought on lamoda, for example.

Imagine now that I want to fly to Sochi, but under the Aeroflot bonus program. For this I need 12500 points, which adds up:

out of 5000 miles - for registration,
2692 points - for the flight Moscow - - at the promotional rate,
1484 points - for the flight - - Moscow flight Allitalia,
200 miles for packing luggage on these trips,
450 points - for 7 nights in a hotel in Barcelona from an affiliate program,
7274 points - for 242460 rubles spent on a joint bank card. By the way, cashback for this amount can recoup the cost of a ticket to Sochi.

How to use your miles capital?

Seems like a stupid question. Of course, free tickets! For their sake, everything was started. But sometimes other options are better. So, let's go spend miles:

Charity: miles can be transferred to the account of one of the funds so that children and their parents can fly for treatment.

What should loyal passengers remember?

The miles are burning usually 1-3 years after they were accrued. Airlines give advance notice of the X date, so you have time to pick up the missing ones or add the ones you have. Advice: If you couldn't save up for a flight, at least get a discount on your purchase, upgrade your class of service or do a good deed by donating miles.
Miles cannot be transferred between different programs of the same alliance. Advice: Find the best account for you and earn miles on it.
Don't be surprised when you see the bill for a "free" ticket in real money. Miles are paid only by the fare, while fuel and other fees are paid in rubles or foreign currency.Advice: compare directions and choose the option that would cost more for the money. Or go somewhere where for your hard-earned money you would never go. That is how I discovered Montenegro.

Example: v Mineral water from Moscow at the end of September I can fly for 2300 rubles if I buy a ticket a month in advance. An award ticket from S7 will cost 10,000 miles, and you will also have to pay 1,900 rubles for fees. Is it worth it? But the fee is only 400 rubles, the tariff is the same 10,000 against 6,700 rubles offered by the aggregator.

Which alliance program to choose in the end?

Each ticket brings a certain amount of bonuses depending on the flight distance, fare and coefficient. So, for the business class Aeroflot accrues only 75% of miles, and Allitalia up to 200%. True, it is unlikely that you will be able to collect enough points only on flights if you do not fly all the time. And it is more difficult for Russians to accumulate miles in other ways in foreign programs, since partner offers are tailored to the local market. After all, not everyone will begin to issue an annual subscription to an English-language business publication, as Lufthansa offers.

Choose the program where:

profitable terms charges;
“cheap” award tickets or there are other awards besides flights;
many partners whose services you use;
longer "shelf life" miles.

Estimate in advance which of the directions of your dream is better to go for miles, in which program you will most easily collect this amount, and save without fanaticism. If you want to speed up the process some ideas from travel geeks:

Pay bills at restaurants with a card, and collect cash from friends.
Take the initiative in the school parent committee (club, at work) and offer to order books, tickets for events, trips. I managed to earn a decent amount of miles thanks to a colleague who was afraid to pay for tickets online.
Make friends with the secretary or travel manager who arranges trips for your company and ask him to buy tickets for certain airlines for you. Business trips to Siberia brought me tangible benefits - they helped me earn money for the first almost free flight.

I hope you will be able to squeeze something out of the miles programs.