Top: Delta’s miles calculator. Bottom: United’s mileage calculator.
I’ve spend the past few months discussing ways to earn miles without flying: Shopping Portals, Dining Rewards Network, and Partner Programs. I think it would be appropriate to discuss the old fashioned way of earning miles, the method in which frequent flyer mile programs started – flying on an airplane.
I considered briefly naming this post, “Death of Frequent Flyer Miles,” but that’s a bit melodramatic. Two of the major US carriers (Delta and United) have transitioned their frequent miles programs from a distance-based system to revenue-based for earning miles. This change greatly benefits the airlines, following trends set by smaller airlines such as Southwest, Virgin America and Jet Blue, who already hand out miles based on ticket fare. Not to mention, Business and First Class passengers as they will earn more miles by paying for expensive tickets.
What does this mean for the average traveler?
A Mile Flown is a Mile Earned, Right?
In the beginning, miles were earned by distance flown. A novel idea, and quite simplistic. If you flew 1,000 miles from point A to B, you’d earn 1,000 frequent miles in your account. However, that’s not the case anymore for most US airlines. A mile flown does not equate to 1 frequent flyer mile earned, rather mile earnings is based on how much you pay for a plane ticket.
Delta transitioned to revenue based in early 2015, along with United in March of 2015. If you purchase a flight on either airline, you’ll generally earn less frequent flyer miles now than you would have earned by distance in the past (see the picture above). And if you have elite status, you can earn more miles when purchasing tickets.
Example: Delta’s flight from Honolulu to New York could net thousands of miles based on distance prior to 2015, but a cheap flight to JFK today offers less value in miles earning. The same can be said for United’s chart. Not a good deal for bargain flyers.
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The Exception
Hawaiian Airlines has continually sent emails to members touting their main benefit: A Mile Flown is a Mile Earned. And it’s true. I flew HNL to JFK a couple of years ago and earned 9,962 miles roundtrip based on the distance flown. If I take the same trip today, I’d still earn that many miles. Flying on Delta and United would net me less than half that amount as I would only pay for a ticket if it were cheap.
Kudos to Hawaiian, Alaska, American (for now, we’ll see once the merger settles with US Airways), and many foreign airlines, who still employ the distance-based model.
Are There Better Ways to Earn Miles?
Yes! Earning miles by flying is not going to earn you a lot of miles anymore, unless you’re flying Hawaiian, Alaska or American. For more information and to start earning miles without flying, go to Getting Started with Miles & Points. You can start slow by earning the miles you need or diversify you portfolio, or both as I do.