ST. PAUL, Minn. – You’ve got all those frequent flier miles. Now, how are you going to use them, especially to get a free plane ticket?

Well, if you’re flying on any of the big traditional network carriers, such as Northwest or United, don’t count on using them to fly when and where you’d want. Not unless you’re prepared to fork over twice as many miles to get around caps airlines set on the freebie seats dispensed at their standard exchange rates.

To secure a domestic round-trip ticket for a mere 25,000 frequent flier miles, you have to be flexible with your travel dates and times, said Bill Nicklay, an auditor who often flies internationally for his job.

“Most of the time I am able to gain a free ticket with connecting service and layovers,” he said. “For a free ticket I am willing to be understanding of this.”

Consider flying in and out of alternative airports, counsels Jim Mulligan, a Minneapolis freelance photographer who flies about once a month.

When he couldn’t get a free ticket on flights into Los Angeles or San Diego, he booked a flight into the Orange County airport.

“Try multi-city connections,” said Hans Molenaar, who picks up frequent-flier miles in his job at Deluxe Corp. “Fly off hours, red-eyes, non-business rush hours 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.”

Reward tickets can be had on most every flight but getting them can take determination, said Randy Petersen, a Colorado-based expert on frequent flier programs.

“The carriers tend to block out certain days or events,” he said “But 99 percent of flights have (some) saver rewards available. The average plane has 127 seats – and about 10 free seats per flight. Some have more. Some have less.”

Some long-time travelers advise checking for frequent flier seats just past midnight. Industry insiders advise travelers to check early and often for freebie seats, noting the availability of the seats on a flight can change suddenly.

John Rapos looks to the Far East for guidance. He turns to NWA.com’s Japanese version, http://www.nwa.com/jp/en/home.shtml.

“It has a much more user-friendly option to search for open seats,” he said.

And to pick up the latest tips, he peruses flyertalk.com, a Web site devoted to all things having to do with frequent flier programs.

“Just about every question about miles I’ve ever had has been answered there,” Rapos said.

If you really want to get where you want when you want, part with more miles to get the ticket. Airlines typically permit travelers to get any seat on a plane if they’re willing surrender 50,000 miles for a domestic round-trip ticket, for instance.

That’s not a big issue with road warriors with millions of miles in their accounts. But it does pain those whose accounts are not quite so flush with miles.

“We had to burn twice as many miles – a total of 150,000 – on a rule buster for spring vacation in Arizona, even planning months in advance,” Mulligan said. But he adds that he hasn’t paid for a vacation flight in eight years, thanks to NWA’s WorldPerks frequent flier program.


Paul Woods, who flies about 60,000 to 80,000 miles a year in his job with Eden Prairie, Minn.-based ADC, said he can’t get where he wants to go without invoking rule busters.

“Learn to love Omaha,” he said. “This seems to be the only city available under the standard point levels. … It used to be much easier to use the miles. Two years ago, I didn’t have any problems.”

For him, first-class upgrades and pre-boardings are what he enjoys most about NWA’s frequent flier program. He has been getting the seat upgrades pretty regularly these days.

“I think there are about 10 people left in the world who buy first-class tickets,” he jokes. “The rest of us (up there) are on upgrades.”

Kate Leisses, who averages a plane trip or more a month, has had great luck redeeming her miles for tickets.

“One time I was able to get a ticket on really short notice for my husband when his father took ill in Colorado,” she said. “Last year, I was able to get two round-trip, business class tickets for me and my husband for a trip to Turkey.”

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(c) 2003, Saint Paul Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minn.).

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Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.

AP-NY-07-24-03 1023EDT