The arithmetic involved in calculating airline miles for your rewards program can be complex. The conversion of purchase amounts on your bank statement into airline miles must go through multiple filters before you purchase tickets. Your familiarity with the proper way to calculate airline miles for your card will help alleviate stress about lost miles.
Flip through the card agreement for your airline miles program to find the miles-to-dollars conversion. This figure will help you calculate the exact number of airline miles available based on your current points level.
Find out the distance between destination airports before you calculate your airline miles. The ConvertIt airport calculator allows you to select from a list of major international airports and determine the distance between two points (see Resources below).
Note any changes in taxes, fees and other additional costs before you calculate your airline miles. These expenses will drive up the number of miles you will need to cover the full price of your tickets.
Research blackout and restricted dates for partner airlines as you calculate airline miles for a future trip. A centralized calendar like the WebFlyer blackout calendar allows you to look at travel dates that are restricted for airline miles users (see Resources below).
Apply promotional bonuses and extra incentives to your airline miles to figure out where you can travel. The Freddie Awards highlight the best promotional bonuses, as voted by experienced travelers, putting extra miles and discounted rates into perspective (see Resources below).
Place your airline miles in context of economy and business seats to gain perspective on travel opportunities. Most miles programs are geared toward economy seats that are limited by airlines to drive up demand. You can set an achievable goal when you calculate the number of miles needed to reach the business-seat threshold through your program.
