Rebecca

I am very new to the travelling scene and I know virtually nothing about frequent flyer miles; however, I think I will be flying to Hungary often in the future and I am wondering if anyone could recommend a good program to join. Also I am interested if there are special deals for college students. Thank you in advance!

Michelle

I now use BA flights whenever I can as their frequent flyer program is pretty good and they're associated with so many other airlines, car rentals, hotels, all of which also give miles. If you travel in their specified low season you can pick up anything from 10,000 to (last year) 40,000 extra miles (picking up 40,000 on one trip meant for me a completely free trip Bahrain - London return - not bad). I've also always got my free trips when I wanted them. However, don't know about BA flights between US and Hungary. Also before you make your decision find out time limit on your miles. When I was with KLM FF I seemed to lose the miles about as fast as I gained them!

sally

on delta's ff program you never lose your miles as long as you travel at least once every three years. but it is extremely hard to use them. you really have to plan in advance (like maybe 9 to 12 months).

Marcie

I believe all the major U.S.airlines have changed their expiration policy (American, Delta, United, Continental etc.) so that as long as you fly every 36 months on that airline, your miles have no expiration. You may want to look at the different promotions (we're bombarded with these in the mail but I'm sure you can search their websites as well) A common one is to book on line through the airline and receive a bonus of anywhere from 1,000-5,000 frequent flyer miles. Another promotion is when you first join their F.F.program and book your first flight on line...you receive bonus miles, certain destinations also give bonus miles. Also, by booking on line sometimes the fare is reduced. Good Luck.

richardab

Stick to a Star Alliance member. United, Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines all serve the area you are going. With a United membersship you can earn miles on any alliance member plus all flights on member airlines qualify towards Premier status on United. With Premier, you earn a 25% bonus on all United flights. Also I think they are running a promo where if you join and fly one roundtrip to Europe, you automatically get Premier status. Call United to inquire.... <BR> <BR>www.star-alliance.com <BR>www.united.com

JP

NorthWest Wordperks miles don't expire, and domestic US/Canadian flights go for 20,000 miles most of the year instead of 25,000 miles on most airlines. Their main partner is KLM.

jamie

Northwest is supposed to be good, we use Continental, their miles also do not expire and you can trade Continental miles for a Northwest flight due to an "alliance" they have. <BR> <BR>European partner airlines include Air France, Alitalia, British Midland and Czech Airlines. More info at www.onepass.com. <BR> <BR>Used to have United and American but the miles expire after awhile.

Robin

Does anyone know if any airline programs are more generous than others with the various perks? I am more interested in upgrades than free flights, but my memberships in United and American don't really offer much until you reach "Premier" status (United's term), when you can get coupons, the extra 5", etc. <BR> <BR>Frankly, I find the whole process pretty frustrating, as a primarily leisure traveler. I have heard that airlines are intentionally targeting business travelers (for obvious reasons), but it leaves me wondering if the programs are worth the trouble. Am I missing the boat?

pogonip

We recently discovered that American has raised their requirements to 50,000 miles for international upgrade. United still charges 40K.

Meg

In addition to specific airline programs, you can join Membership Miles through American Express. These miles transfer to any airline in the program. I can't recite a list of participating airlines, but all the ones I've ever wanted to use are available.