Aeroflot miles how best to use. What are "mile" cards, what are they for and how to use them to fly more often. What bonuses does the company offer?

In addition to selling its own banking products, the leading bank of the Russian Federation cooperates with many partners, offering its customers their products. The partnership with Aeroflot, which has been offering a bonus program to air passengers for several years, has resulted in the expansion of opportunities for bank card VISA.

Making a partnership card everyone has the right to join bonus program. The bottom line is that the client earns remuneration not in rubles or Thank You bonuses, as is provided for with other bank cards, but in the form of miles. This is the distinguishing feature of this plastic from all others.

Rules

The offer includes 3 types of Visa cards - Classik, Gold and Signature. Each next category has wider functions than the previous one.

For the owners of plastic of the most privileged Signature class, special conditions are provided - a dedicated free telephone line, premium bank service areas.

All types of these cards offer a number of advantages:

• payment for purchases shopping malls;
• payment for purchases in online stores and services online;
• transfer of funds to any plastics or account;
• use of Internet banking for account management.

Spending all kinds of miles can only be used to purchase air tickets, goods from companies participating in the partnership agreement, or to upgrade the class of service in international airports and during the flight. WITH complete list partners can be found on the bank's website.

Special abilities

In addition, the owners are granted additional rights:

• use a calculator for calculations and receiving premiums;
• upgrade the class of service;
• you can transfer the accumulated points for charitable purposes;
• earn discounts and special offers from the Visa payment system;
• bind plastic to an electronic wallet.

How to connect a card

Having issued plastic at Sberbank, you need to activate it in order to receive miles from the airline. How to connect plastic? To do this, go to the airline's website, go to the Personal Account, and then to the "Join the Aeroflot Bonus Program" section and register in the Personal Account. After registration, you can use all the benefits of a banking product.

How Aeroflot miles are credited with a Sberbank card

Accrual occurs for air travel performed on regular flights of the air carrier. There are some credit restrictions for codeshare flights with partner airlines. Free, premium or special fare air tickets, as well as tickets for charter flights, do not receive remuneration.

To earn points occurring automatically, you will need to present your program member card when booking or purchasing tickets, as well as when checking in for a flight. The reward is credited to the account within 10 days after the flight.

There are several types of award points. Qualifying points are accumulated by the participant if he uses the services Russian airline and partner companies. Their number depends on the ticket class and distance.

After collecting a certain number of bonuses, the status of their owner changes. Information about the transition to a new category can be found in the Personal Account on the website of the air carrier. Non-qualifying - those that accumulate for using the services of the bank's partner companies, as well as for members of the Elite Club. If a person has not used the services of the airline and its partners for more than two years, then the accumulated bonuses will expire. To avoid cancellation, they can be transferred to the account of the owner of another plastic.
To accrue and use bonuses, you must follow simple rules

Parts.

Well, finally, we got directly to the answers to those questions that were originally stated by us:

• which program to join?
• how to earn miles?
• what to spend?

You probably already guessed that you will not see here a list of programs that you need to join and a list of flights that you will save up for. Just for one reason - every traveler (and even tourist) is unique - everyone has their own frequency of flights, reasons for flights (business trips, vacations), their favorite airlines, which are chosen ceteris paribus. Therefore, in each case, the set of programs will be special.

But this does not mean that we cannot simplify your life by structuring information.

Before choosing programs, we invite you to answer a few questions for yourself. At first we just answer, but what to do with this knowledge - we will figure it out later :)

1) How many flights per year do I make on average? Approximately how many miles are my flights per year?
There is no need for crazy precision. A simple quibble is enough.

For example, “I fly 2-3 business trips round-trip in Russia (Rostov, Yekaterinburg)” - respectively, these are 5 segments, each approximately 870 miles. 5*870=4350 miles. “When I plan a vacation, I try to buy the cheapest tickets, even with a transfer. Once a year in winter I go to rest in warm country(let's say Thailand this year). There and back is about 9000 miles, 4 segments (we consider the option with a transfer). “Plus a couple of times a year I go to Europe for a few days (weekends).” We will assume 6 segments (one with a transfer, one without), approximately 5000-7000 miles.

We derive the annual potential. 5+4+6=15 segments (flights) per year. 4350+9000+6000=19350 miles. Where the numbers were set with forks (2-3, 5000-7000), we select the average values ​​​​for evaluation (2.5 and 6000, respectively).

2) From which airports do I fly most often? From which airports can I fly?

This question may seem primitive to some. Muscovites will say this for sure - but what, besides Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo and Vnukovo, are there other airports? But in fact, for many cities it has an additional meaning. From St. Petersburg, for example, it is easy and cheap to get to Lapperanta or Helsinki. From Perm to Yekaterinburg, etc.

3) Than more often Am I guided when buying air tickets?

Here you need to think and answer honestly and in as much detail as possible. The more detailed you describe your approach to buying, the easier it will be for you later.

For example, “I always buy the cheapest tickets, no matter how many transfers and what. I have a flexible schedule, it’s easy for me to take vacations at the right time, I’m not tied to weekend flights.” Or “I love flying to Europe for the weekend. At the same time, I’d usually rather pay 10-15% of the cost, but I’ll fly with Aeroflot, not Transaero or S7.” Or “I constantly fly on business trips, but my company buys tickets for me and I can’t influence it.” Or “I like to go on vacation to new places every time and try to visit several cities / places in one trip”, etc. and so on.

4) What do I want as a reward?

This is the most important question. Premium economy tickets to Europe? Business class to Australia? Upgrade? Accumulate miles quickly and get Gold/Silver status so you can skip check-in queues and have lounge access when you fly?

5) Can I use payment cards to earn miles? What is the average amount I can spend on them every month, making my daily purchases?

Let's assume that you already have cards (almost everyone has them now - from social cards to salary projects). And here it is not your solvency or the presence of a credit limit that matters. In the end, we just want to earn more bonus miles, not make you spend a lot of money :) Therefore, it is important to evaluate the following: how much on average per month can you spend with a bank card while making your daily purchases? Do not forget that you can also pay for the same tickets by card ...

DO NOT CONTINUE READING IF YOU HAVE NOT DONE THIS EXERCISE :)

Answered?

1) First, let's deal with potential. If your mileage potential is less than 20,000 miles per year, then programs where miles do not expire or where you need a small number of miles for awards are suitable for you! 'Cause you'll almost certainly fly different airlines(and alliances), which means that these 15-20 thousand miles will be in different programs.

An example of a program where miles do not expire is Delta Skymiles from Skyteam (you need to fly to Aeroflot Bonus at least once every two years with Aeroflot, moreover, a qualified flight, that is, for money, plus, to receive an award, this flight must be within the last 12 months, during Flying Blue - once every 20 months). At StarAlliance in Miles and More (Lufthansa) and Miles and Smiles ( Turkish Airlines) miles live 36 months, in Aegean and Lifemiles (Avianca) 24 months.

An example of a program with a low premium threshold − british airways Executive Club from OneWorld, where one-way award flights start as early as 4,500 miles (comparable to most other airlines, where the minimum for an award ticket is 15-20 thousand miles).

It also directly affects whether it is worth trying to save up for a status - if your potential is less than 30 thousand, you should not bother trying to get a status - you simply don’t fly so much that its benefits are so tangible to you, and even if you succeed accumulate it, there is a high probability of losing it as quickly as gaining it.

2) Take a list airports- and see which airlines fly from there. It is important to pay attention to:

a) companies for which this is a hub - that is, the main airport
b) companies that fly to the MOST interesting destinations for YOU personally

This question will answer what alliances you need to look for programs in.

Let's take a simple example first. For a regional city and even for St. Petersburg, this will be quite simple. For example, Irkutsk is the base airport for S7, you won’t get to other airports. It is immediately clear what to look for among the programs of the OneWorld alliance. Still fly SkyTeam (Aeroflot, Korean Air) - if you are going to fly through Moscow and Seoul, you need to choose a program in SkyTeam.

With Moscow it is more difficult and easier at the same time. Since all airports and alliances are nearby, it probably makes sense to choose 1 main program for each alliance. Or, if you, for example, have favorite destinations, then choose based on them. France is SkyTeam (Airfrance and Aeroflot), Germany-Austria and Turkey (StarAlliance - Lufthansa, Austrian, Turkish), Germany-Austria and Great Britain / Spain - OneWorld (AirBerlin, S7, Niki, British Airways / Iberia, Vueling).

3) Question about ticket selection principle speaks for itself.

If you have a favorite airline (or often go on business trips to the same place), we look at which alliance it belongs to and select a program where it is more profitable to combine these flights. If we buy the cheapest tickets, it doesn’t matter how, where and with whom to fly, we choose one program from each alliance, while making sure that miles are given as well as possible for discounted classes and it is desirable that miles do not burn out (with this approach, accumulate for any bonus will be a holiday).

If you travel to different (distant) places and like a lot of flights with stopovers - you need to pay attention to OneWorld, they often have offers with the possibility of a stopover without additional fee(especially American Airlines in the US often allow this). Yes, and in many programs when booking award tickets they allow you to make stopovers, unlike SkyTeam which most often gives awards only for round-trip tickets.

4) question about encouraging

He is actually almost the most important. If you want premium economy tickets to Europe, look for a program with the lowest cost of tickets exactly where you want! It will be strange if you want to fly to France and be surprised that with StarAlliance and OneWorld you can only get there with transfers, which will always require more miles than SkyTeam with direct flights. If you dream of saving up for a business class flight to Australia, see in which business class programs business class flights are cheaper (for example, in Aeroflot Bonus, S7 Priority and DeltaSkymiles business class to Australia is only one and a half times “more expensive” than economy class, i.e. 150,000 miles versus 100,000 in economy, although in many programs business is considered as economy times 2, as in British Airways, for example, or even more - for comparison, FlyingBlue has 2.5 times more miles - 250,000 miles). If you want to earn status, look for exceptions, such as Aegean Airlines, where "gold status" is given for only 20,000 miles (for comparison, in Miles and More of the same StarAlliance, this will require 100,000 miles).

More about statuses. The premium status of each company gives a correspondingly certain status in the entire alliance. For example, "silver" Aeroflot Bonus means Elite in SkyTeam, gold status Aegean means gold status in StarAliiance. Naturally, you can use the privileges that you are entitled to if you have a status only when you fly with airlines of this alliance. If you have Aeroflot Bonus Gold, but fly economy to Lufthansa, then no priority registrations for you and, of course, no one will let you into the lounge for free either.

StarAlliance. In addition to the basic, there is a silver and gold level. Silver only allows priority on the waiting list and transfer to the next flight if you missed yours. Gold in addition will give you extra baggage, priority for unloading baggage, priority check-in (business class counter), boarding and access to the lounge before departure. Read more.

skyteam . There are also two premium statuses: SkyTeam Elite and SkyTeam Elite Plus. Unlike the greedy StarAliance, there is already from the first level - extra baggage, priority check-in, priority in choosing seats, priority boarding, priority on the waiting list, transfer to the next flight. Elite Plus gives access to the lounge (on international flights), baggage priority, the ability to get seats on sold-out flights. Read more.

One World . Three premium statuses: Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald. Ruby - Gives priority check-in, seat priority, waiting list priority, and missed flight priority. Sapphire and Emerald - plus access to lounges (+1 person) on all flights of the alliance. Emerald - access to the first class counter, additional baggage, a fast special control corridor, access to not only business lounges, but also first class. More details

Let's sum up today:

Promised answers to questions.

1) what to spend miles on?

Choose what you want and what you can reach. If you don't fly much, aim to get any free ticket. Although Moscow-Kyiv one way :) There is an opportunity to choose - choose where you want to go. Fly a lot - aim at a dream.

2) what program to join?

Decide on the alliance(s) with which you most often fly or plan to fly. Within each selected alliance, choose one main program where you will earn miles “ceteris paribus” (for example, Aeroflot Bonus in SkyTeam, Aegean Airlines in StarAlliance, British Airways in OneWorld), i.e. when for your flight in different programs they will give the same number of miles. It may happen that later you buy a flight for which miles will not be credited in this program or there will be few of them. It doesn't matter, then you will have a "backup program". We always try to choose a backup program from those where miles do not burn out.

If you start to get confused in the programs, use the Awardwallet.com website or its analogues Usingmiles.com, tripit.com

3) How to earn miles?

Well, we figured out the system for counting miles and choosing a program where to put them in the second part. But so it is possible and the truth will never accumulate anything, the most economical will say.

This material was created by the Pirates.travel community team (piratesru.com & holidaypirates.ru), when copying a link to the source is required.

The Aeroflot Bonus program was launched in 1999 and today it has over 1.5 million members. Russian banks have been actively involved in the issuance of co-branded cards with the program relatively recently. At first glance, everything is simple: we pay with a card, get miles, pay for air tickets with miles. But is it really so? About all the intricacies of accumulating and using miles in our article.

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What does Alfa-Bank offer?

The line of Alfa-Bank credit cards issued under the Aeroflot bonus program is currently represented by cards of 4 levels of the MasterCard payment system in three currencies (ruble, US dollar, euro) each:

• standard;
• gold;
• Platinum;
• black.

The terms and rates of lending, the amount of accrued bonuses, service privileges depend on the level of the credit card.

In general, the conditions of ruble cards look like this (currency, respectively, in equivalent):

1. Maximum limit (from 150,000 to 750,000 rubles).
2. Annual maintenance (from 1,225 rubles to 10,000 rubles).
3. Commission for cash withdrawal (from 3.9% to 2.9%).
4. Interest rate (from 18.99% to 17.99% per annum in rubles).
5. Miles accrual coefficient (from 1 to 1.75 for 30 rubles).

The card maintenance fee is charged once a year, regardless of the account turnover and the activity of using funds.

Absolutely all cards issued by Alfa-Bank in the Master Card payment system give the right to participate in the Priceless Moscow affiliate program: enjoy discounts in restaurants, hotels, clubs; buy promotional goods of trade and retail partners; book travel services anywhere in the world.

All co-branded credit cards have a grace period for lending - a fixed 60 days, during which no interest is accrued on the withdrawn amount.

You can read more about the principle of the grace period in the article.

The grace period under the terms of Alfa-Bank also applies to cash withdrawal operations. Only the commission for cashing out increases the cost of these funds, which is automatically debited from the account, expressed as a percentage and amounts to at least 300 rubles per transaction.

Aeroflot co-branded cards are also issued as part of the Alpha Life service packages with debit current and savings accounts. At certain turnovers, the maintenance of accounts is free of charge, and the accumulation of miles on them takes place in accordance with the level of the card, similar to credit cards.

How bonuses are accumulated: Aeroflot miles calculator

When applying for a co-branded card in the Aeroflot Bonus program, a personal account is opened for each client; according to the rules, the account cannot be transferred, sold, or combined with the accounts of other participants.

To this account you will be credited miles, virtual reward units, of two types:

1. Qualifying- miles for flights on regular flights of Aeroflot and partner airlines, their number depends on the flight distance and booking class (minimum 500 for each flight).
2. Non-qualifying- miles for participating in partner programs (banks, hotels, Arkady Novikov's restaurant chain, Megafon mobile operator, TripAdvisor.ru portal, etc.).

Alfa-Bank credit cards belong to affiliate programs, which means that the miles accumulated with their help will give the right to purchase award tickets, but will not participate in determining the client's qualifications (Elite club for silver and gold levels). All new clients are assigned a Basic level qualification.

You can calculate how many qualifying miles you will receive for a flight on the Aeroflot website calculator.

What are non-qualifying miles for?

1. For the first settlement transaction on the card (welcome miles) - 500/1000 depending on the level of the card.
2. As a birthday gift - 500 (only for active cards).
3. For funds spent from the card at the rate of 1 to 1.75 miles for 30 rubles / 1 US dollar / 1 euro (the accrual rate depends on the card level).
4. For the balance of the accumulative account "Airplane" at the rate of 1 mile for every 120 rubles / 20 US dollars / 18 euros.

The Alfa-Bank website has a handy calculator for calculating non-qualifying miles: choose the type and level of the card, currency, calculation period and how much you plan to spend on the card per month.

The program shows you how many miles you can earn and which ticket you can use those miles for.

For example, with an average monthly expense of 80,000 rubles. 32,500 miles can be accumulated per year with an MS Standard credit card (including welcome miles).

They will be enough for a one-way ticket "Moscow - Nice", "Moscow - Dubai" or "Moscow - Rome", "Moscow - Hurghada", but already there and back.

You can check the actual number of accumulated miles in your personal account on the Aeroflot website, for access you will need your membership number and password.

If you subscribe to the SMS-informing service, the balance will come upon request in the form of SMS-messages. Once a year for Basic qualification customers (1 quarterly for Elite) a report on accumulated miles is sent by e-mail.

According to the rules of the program, miles are credited to the account within 60 days from the date of the transaction. If the miles have not appeared on your account, you have 12 months to apply for the restoration of bonuses, a copy of the receipt confirming the purchase / payment for services is attached to the application.

How can miles burn?

If within two calendar years the program member does not register a single flight on his account regular flight Aeroflot or SkyTeam alliance airlines at the rate specified by the program rules, all accumulated miles are burned out without the right to be restored.

How to use miles

You can use the accumulated miles in three ways:

1. Issue an award ticket.
2. Upgrade the class of service in an already purchased ticket from "Economy" to "Business".
3. Pay for the services of program partners.

Let's take a closer look at the first method.

Here again we fill destinations flight, flight dates, number of seats, class of service and type of flight, check the box below that you have read and agree to the Booking Rules - click "Find Flights".

If you check the box “Pay by miles” the system will ask you for your personal account number and password.

In the “Select Flight” tab, you can see the cost of the ticket: in the flight line, the cost of 1 ticket, in the upper right corner - the full cost for the specified number of people.

The cost of each ticket is divided into 2 digits: base fare and airline taxes/fees.

How many miles will be needed to pay for the first digit, we determined above, but the second digit is the amount that you will need to pay with real money. For one flight, the amount of tax and fee is the same for both business and economy class.

For example, let's calculate how much it will cost us to fly from Moscow to Egypt (Cairo) for two people in economy class round trip.

1. We calculate the required number of miles: Economy RT needs 30,000 miles * 2 people = 60,000 miles
2. We calculate the average monthly turnover on the Standard card, which will allow you to accumulate 60,000 miles in 1 year = 75,000 rubles. per month (excluding welcome and gift miles)
3. Choose a flight: 2 tickets (round trip) cost 1,121.20 USD, of which 816.00 USD is covered by miles, 305.20 USD must be paid extra.

For a flight in business class, you will also need to pay 305.20 USD extra, but you will need much more miles - 100,000.

What you should pay attention to when issuing award tickets:

• during periods of increased demand, Aeroflot has the right to impose restrictions on the issuance of premiums;
• in case of loss/damage/theft of an award ticket, its duplicate will not be issued, miles will not be returned to the account;
• Award tickets for flights of SkyTeam members can only be issued on a round-trip route;
• online issuance of award tickets ends 6 hours before departure;
• issued award tickets cannot be returned, exchanged or transferred to another person;
• making changes to the ticket on your initiative will cost at least 35/50/100 euros.

Who else cooperates with Aeroflot under the bonus program

Today Aeroflot Bonus unites about 20 international airlines.

Co-branded cards, except for Alfa-Bank, issue:

• "Savings Bank of Russia";
• "Russian Standard Bank";
• Citi Bank;
• "Gazprombank";
• "SMP Bank";
• Bank URALSIB.

Credit cards of partner banks differ slightly in the number of welcome miles and bonus coefficients of various levels.

For example, SMP Bank provides for the accrual of 200 miles on a monthly balance of more than 100,000 rubles. on the account, and URALSIB Bank for the first operation on Premium card gives 3,000 miles. Russian Standard Bank until May 14, 2014 holds special promotion for accelerated accumulation of miles for debit transactions: for 30 rubles. is charged from 1.5 to 6 miles depending on the level of the card.

And yet, Alfa-Bank issues Aeroflot cards only in the MasterCard payment system, in other banks you can issue Visa or American Express.

You can also earn non-qualifying miles by paying for services at partner hotels. Their complete list detailed description conditions are posted on the Aeroflot website.

Summary

You often use the services of air carriers, book hotels, travel around the world - the Aeroflot loyalty program will come in handy. And a credit card is all the more useful: if you don’t withdraw money, then leave a deposit when you check into your room. Nothing special is required of you - pay with plastic, make a paid flight at least once every 2 years (note, not a charter one) and save when buying tickets using virtual bonuses. The most important thing is to know the rules and follow simple recommendations.

Combining business with pleasure is not the best simple task in the world.

Bonus programs that allow you to receive bonus miles when paying for purchases with bank cards, at first glance, they provide their owners with just such an opportunity.

But is it? Let's figure it out.

We live in a virtual world.

Most Western countries paying off credit card, a person automatically receives a certain bonus. It could be a discount on dry cleaning or a free dinner at a restaurant.

And there may be « air miles » . Paying for the purchase of a Bentley, a dinner at the Paris Maxim or a boat rental for a trip along the Thames, the lucky owner of a bank card can receive bonus miles, which will significantly reduce the cost of a plane ticket, and in some cases, make the flight almost free.

In Russia, such bonus programs appeared not so long ago, but they have already acquired a lot of rumors. They say that some especially lucky citizens managed to travel for free almost to the other side of the world due to bonus miles.

Therefore, it is not surprising that bank cards offered jointly with airlines are the most popular. Over the past two years, such programs have been presented by “ Transaero" And " Aeroflot», british airways, S7 And Lufthansa. Thus, seven banks participate in the Aeroflot bonus program, including the popular Alfa-Bank, Russian Standard, Sberbank and Citibank.

Most airlines are united in international alliances. And this means that the bonus miles can be used not only in the company itself, but also on the flights of its partners.

It would seem that here it is - this is the most pleasant with the useful!

However, without a fly in the ointment in this huge barrel of honey, of course, it could not have done. More precisely, even without a few, very weighty, spoons.

How to make your "honey" not bitter?

Spoon one

Reward programs that allow you to accumulate miles are usually offered to owners credit cards.

Which means:

• the bank will receive interest on all your loans;
• no miles will be able to cover the negative balance of the card;
• the annual maintenance of such a card is a bit more expensive, and the interest rates on loans are higher;
• There is another unpleasant moment - a grace period when no interest is charged on the return of the overdraft (usually 50 days) is valid only when making purchases in stores and paying for services. If you decide to withdraw cash from an ATM or buy something on the Internet, there will be no delay!

Fight method:

Order a debit card at Alfa Bank», Rosbank or " Russian standard».

Spoon two

Bonus programs for accumulating air miles do not imply binding to an existing bank card- A new release is required.

Everyone benefits from this: both the bank and payment systems. Everyone but you. Since no one canceled the annual service, and the money will have to be transferred from account to account. And, most likely, with a commission.

Fight method:

Absent.

Spoon three

It's always a shame to pay for something that you can get for free.

It is clear that the "golden" aviation cards and "welcome" miles, and bonuses for flights are charged much more. And, of course, it is more profitable for the bank to sell them - after all, for an annual service MasterCard Gold or Visa Gold will have to pay several thousand rubles.

But such conditions are not suitable for everyone! This means that it is not always possible to do this. Therefore, sometimes, for the "plan", banks are forced to give away "golden" aviation cards with free annual service just like that.

Fight method:

Find out if you are one of those lucky ones.

Fourth spoon

Employees of the IT departments of banks, when reissuing a card, often forget to check with the owner if he is a member of the bonus aviation program.

In these cases, a new account is simply created, and your accumulated miles remain in the old account.

Fight method:

When making new card Be sure to let us know that you are participating in the bonus program.

Spoon fifth

Banks tend to charge a three percent commission for each breakfast or fridge magnet paid for with a co-branded card, i.e. card with an airline affiliate program.

While these amounts are small, you do not notice them, but the active use of such a card will result in hundreds of dollars and euros.

Fight method:

Use different cards to pay for purchases abroad.

Spoon six

Nothing is eternal. Miles is no exception. After a while, they just "burn out". Especially if you stopped using the services of your airline or purchase tickets at rates that give bonus miles. After all, charter flights do not add them!

Fighting methods:

Remember that the banking year ends on December 31, even if you issued a card on the 29th. Apply for a co-branded card in January or use Citibank Miles & More with "fireproof" miles.

Spoon seven

It is far from always possible to recoup participation in the bonus program - for this there must be a lot of miles.

After all, not every banking transaction gives benefits - shopping in online stores or using terminals and ATMs will not add any miles to you. And the seasonal airfare in miles can vary significantly. Well, if the "welcome" miles pay off at least a third of the ticket.

Fighting methods:

Carefully read all the conditions for granting benefits.

eighth spoon

Do not rely on the fact that you can use the accumulated miles at any time. If you want to pay extra for business class amenities at the front desk, for example, you won't get anywhere.

Fight method:

Such desires must be reported in advance - at least 2 days in advance - to the carrier company.

Spoon ninth

Fully free tickets does not happen - even if enough miles have already accumulated on the card.

In any case, you will have to pay a fuel surcharge. Its value varies greatly among different air carriers, although the general trend is the same - only for Last year Fuel surcharges worldwide have risen by 53 percent! Representatives of airlines explain this by the fact that it includes both the price of the fuel itself and insurance against an increase in the cost of fuel.

Fighting methods:

Search for the most advantageous offers of alliance partners.

tenth spoon

Bank employees are often silent about some features of bonus programs.

Forget, as a rule, about the following "little things":

• miles must be used within a certain time;
• the loan repayment period can be reduced;
• the Miles & More card must be activated within one month, otherwise there will be a fine, etc.

Fight method:

Carefully study all documents when applying for a co-branded card and check with bank employees for “slippery” points.

Well, and finally a few practical advice, which may help you in choosing an affiliate program:

• Aeroflot and S7 cards are suitable for those who fly a lot around the country and prefer to stay in local hotels;
• Miles & More and S7 cards are preferred for frequent flights to the Asian region, since these companies are partners of local air carriers;
• Aeroflot cards, cooperating with Delta, KLM and Air France, are the most convenient for flights to the USA;
• S7 card working with Iberia and LAN - for flights to South America;
• Aeroflot Bonus Prime cards will be required for those who need a concierge service;
• Miles & More cards will help you rent a car in companies such as Avis, Europcar and Hertz, and S7 cards - Sixt and Hertz;
• the same Miles & More and British Airways American Express will open the doors of Chic Outlet Shopping and other similar establishments.

Have a good flight!

Adapted from Conde Nast Traveler Magazine

Anna Frantsuzova

Reading time: 9 minutes

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Aeroflot's mileage bonus program was launched at the end of the last century. To date, over 1,500,000 people are its participants. Russian banks did not stand aside, having established the issuance of special cards. What are the nuances when accruing Aeroflot bonus miles to bank cards? How to calculate bonus miles and how to spend them? How to choose the best offer from partner banks?

How are Aeroflot bonus miles credited to the card? Pros and cons of the program

The word "miles" refers to bonuses. This is how the airline evaluates the loyalty of the client and provides him with a discount on the purchase of an air ticket. In fact, the accumulated miles are used as a cash equivalent. It is very similar to the bonus system of supermarkets: they made a purchase for a certain amount, became the owner of stickers, which can then be exchanged for any thing. Miles are exchanged for air tickets.

There are many air carriers in the world. Inventing a system of bonuses for each is impractical. Therefore, airlines are united in alliances. For example, Aeroflot belongs to the SkyTeam alliance.

How many miles will be credited depends on several factors:

• Ticket prices.
• The duration of the distance covered.
• class.

The airline provides a special table that reflects the accrual of bonuses (miles).

The main advantages of the program:

1. Bonuses are accrued after each flight.
2. If the miles accumulated during the year correspond to a certain amount, the client raises his status and receives certain privileges. For him, the doors of business lounges are opened, it is allowed to carry large quantity baggage, it has priority in the process of boarding and check-in for a flight, and others.
3. Bonus points are used for award flights - free flights (only fuel surcharge is paid extra).
4. Basically, miles are paid for air tickets. Sometimes they are spent on goods or services from airline partners. There are special catalogs that contain many useful things, ranging from ordinary dishes and household appliances and ending with exclusive leather suitcases and so on.

The system of bonus miles works quite simply: a person pays with a card, miles are credited to his account.

What can be attributed to minor disadvantages:

1. The need to buy tickets in advance if you plan to fly on days summer holidays or holidays.
2. There are difficulties with popular destinations. For example, with booking award tickets for the whole family. For example, in summer it is difficult to buy tickets for flights to Nice or Barcelona, ​​in winter - to Munich and Venice.
3. Stop over must not exceed 24 hours, that is, it is prohibited long stay at the point chosen for the transfer.
4. Overestimated fuel surcharges for individual partners of the alliance.
5. Miles can burn out - this is perhaps the main drawback.

Therefore, after joining the bonus program, it is important to use the services of Aeroflot at least once every two years, then every year. In the Internet resource there are indignations of people who accumulated bonuses long time and lost them. A lot of people just don't keep track. Some are lazy, some are too busy. To clarify this issue, there free line Aeroflot Bonus. It is enough to call the operator and get a comprehensive answer.

Where is it profitable to get a card with bonus miles from Aeroflot?

Aeroflot has two indisputable advantages for accumulating miles: a wide network of routes (domestic and foreign) and great choice partner banks.

Review best cards to earn miles:

The table reflects the main parameters of the cards, although each banking organization has a lot of nuances and incentives:

• Tinkoff really accrues one mile for 50 rubles spent - this is an average criterion. In fact, there is one detail: if a client spends 100 rubles on a product (service), he receives two miles. At the same financial cost, he is entitled to five miles if an air ticket is purchased. Clear benefits for frequent travelers.
• Raiffeisenbank gives extra miles to those who spent more than 25,000 rubles during the month and give 1,000 miles to the cardholder for his birthday.
• VTB 24 awards double miles to customers shopping overseas. People who regularly travel to other states will be interested in this option.
• At Gazprombank several categories of cards, hence the different number of welcome miles and so on.
• Of particular interest are the maps of Corn from Euroset , for which points are awarded for any purchase. On average 3% per ruble spent. Bonus savings can be spent in partner companies (Aeroflot is one of them). This is a ruble card. It is issued free of charge. Opens in 5 minutes. The conversion process takes place according to the exchange rate of the Central Bank. From the documents you need only a passport.

In addition, do not forget about commission fees for the issuance and maintenance of the card, the grace period for lending and other conditions . That is why you should familiarize yourself with the offers of banks in detail.

How to find out how many Aeroflot bonus miles have been credited to the card?

The owner of the card can easily control the accrued miles. How to do it? Consider the example of Sberbank.

Aeroflot Visa plastic card holders (Classic or Gold) need to go to the Aeroflot website and register in the Bonus Program section.

According to the following algorithm:

1. The "Register" button is pressed.
2. The indicated fields are filled in (card number, owner's data, e-mail).
3. After these actions, an email containing a link is sent to the email address. Clicking on the link provides access to the Personal Account.
4. It remains to pass authorization in this service.

On subsequent visits Personal account You will need to enter your card number and password. What information is provided? Dates of flights and their frequency, as well as the number of accumulated miles.

There is an easier way (it was mentioned above) - a call to the call center of Sberbank. This service is free and available around the clock, provided that the client informs the operator of his passport data and card number. Then the specialist gives information about the number of points, tells in detail about the bonuses used, the possibility of exchanging savings for air tickets will also be announced. In addition, Sberbank of Russia offers a wide range of services that will help in any situation.

How to spend Aeroflot bonus miles from the card?

Miles are collected on the account of a person participating in the bonus program.