With airlines cutting back on flights, parking planes, and deleting destinations this fall it will likely become a test of wills to redeem frequent flier miles for domestic flights. Some predict that fewer available seats and strict redemption policies will dash the enthusiasm of the frequent flier mile collectors. If you can't use them, why covet and hoard them?
But there is still a bright spot if you're yearning to cash in your flier miles. Think international, especially Europe. With various agreements in place airlines are unable to cut many of their international flights resulting in more available seats and greater opportunities to cash in on those hard-earned sky miles.
Sure enough I found availability for two Delta round-trip, non-stop, business class tickets from Atlanta to Paris less than 30 days out. The redemption fees, while not cheap, seemed palatable probably because I was so thrilled just to be able to use the points. Total extra fees, including redemption fees, totalled $275 per ticket.
What's the bad news? The Euro of course. The dollar is strengthening daily but the Euro is still painfully strong against the dollar. But who wants to wait for all the stars to be perfectly aligned before pulling the trigger? If the exchange rate was in the dollar's favor, the frequent flier seats would probably be hard, if not impossible, to come by. Go for it!
To get the skinny on frequent flier fees and redemption policies, check out this article from CNN Money.
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