The Airline world is made up of three alliances:

Star Alliance
SkyTeam
OneWorld

Understanding the alliances and the airlines that make them up, and which airlines do not participate in an alliance, is key to maximizing miles and status. What alliances allow you to do is pick one airline per alliance and earn miles on that one airline’s frequent flier program no matter which airline in the alliance you fly. That way you can maximize miles. Airlines not only give redeemable miles but also status miles across alliance partners, so this also maximizes Elite …

Just like getting delayed, flights get cancelled – whether it be due to weather, mechanical aircraft issues or unavailability of crew. In an earlier Expert Tip (#3), I gave tips on how to potentially get compensated for delayed flights. Those tips hold equally good for cancelled flights. In this post, I give detailed steps of what to do if your flight gets cancelled, irrespective of the reason or potential compensation. Here is what you need to do:
1. Call your airline
As soon as you hear that your flight has been cancelled, …

Ever wonder who else was on your flight? Is there someone you would like to sit next to – or sit as far away as possible from? Ever wondered if there was someone on the flight who you shared friends with or your taste in obscure Sci-fi books with? Now you can, at least on certain long-haul KLM flights. KLM is launching ‘Meet and Seat‘, a service to pre-connet with your flight mates via your social networks.
Here is how it works – KLM allows you to link your FaceBook or …

I just posted an article on Airline Miles and Income taxes. One of my readers, Tom, shared in a comment the fact that he had received a 1099 for the Miles he had received from Citibank for opening a bank account! This is surprising and disturbing. He also led me to an article on LA Times which the reporter, David Lazarus, wrote after hearing of this from Tom. He confirms that Citibank has sent out 1099s. They are valuing the miles at 2.5¢ per mile! I would like to point …

It’s that time of the year again. The 1099′s, W2′s and other tax forms have started showing up in the mail or email. This is also about that time I start getting questions form my readers and friends about the tax implications of all the miles they have earned or redeemed. I posted this article on taxes last year and to the best of my knowledge, there have been no changes to the tax law that would impact your taxes in any way, by way of miles. Read on…
From April …

Flights get late. Be it due to weather delays, Air Traffic congestion or Aircraft Technical issues. Whenever you are on a flight that is late, ask why it was late. If the delay was caused due to a fault of the airline’s – such as Mechanical Issues, crew getting stuck in traffic, jammed cockpit door (that has actually happened to a flight I was on), the airline will compensate you, but only if you ask them to. You need to ask for the cause of the delay as there is …

There are some unique cities around the world when it comes to flying. While they may be excellent destinations themselves, for long haul travelers, they are best known as being key transition hubs. Two cities that have earned this reputation are Dubai and Singapore. They are both in this position due to their unique geographical location but more importantly because they are hubs for two very large, world-class airlines that have a worldwide reach. Dubai and Singapore are not the only cities in their neighborhood. Both have other cities that …

Focus all your Airline Mile earnings – from all sources (flying, credit card, surveys, etc.) – on one airline or no more than one airline per Alliance. The thinking here is pretty simple and straightforward. If you do not do this, you end up diluting your miles earned and also potentially lose your ability to get to a higher Elite Level in one airline. 25,000 miles earned with one airline’s program is worth much more than 10,000 miles spread out over 5 or even 12,500 over two. If you have …

Airlines are going thru tough times and interesting times. (Boy, did I resist starting this post with – It was the best of times, it was the worst of times). The global economic slowdown has hurt airlines; they have an ageing fleet (at least all the older carriers do); they have an ageing staff looking to retire, that too with benefits; and they have liabilities that are beginning to exceed their revenues and the margins required to fulfill them afloat. On the other hand, we have become a truly global …

Here at UnRoadWarrior we are always looking for ways to better serve our readers. Our mission is to provide the best information and expertise on Airline Miles and Hotel Points to the un-roadwarriors. Travellers, who are not experts, don’t have the knowledge and certainly don’t have the time to search thru hundreds of forum threads, blog posts and news articles to get the latest and greatest information. We do that for you, while also providing you with the expert advise from our writers.
To further focus our efforts in 2012 (we …