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The actual value of an air mile - or a frequent flyer mile - depends largely upon the reward scheme and rewards the mile can be spent with - for example how many miles would you need for a flight to Barcelona?
However, the valuing of a mile also needs to consider how quickly each mile can be earned - in other words, how much would you need to spend to earn enough air miles to fly to Barcelona?
While all this might be making your head spin - there is an easy solution, and while it may not explain the entire in’s and out’s of the calculations, it will tell you how many miles your spending will earn and how much that amount of miles is actually worth in pounds sterling. You can compare air mile credit cards and calculate your air miles earnings here.
How much are air miles worth to you?
Before rushing off to see how many pounds worth of air miles you’ll be earning on your [enter current holiday spending season here] shopping, you should first decide how much air miles are really worth to you?
While £10 worth of air miles is still worth £10 – a DVD of the latest X Factor high(low)lights may also be worth £10 but you probably wouldn’t buy it.
Unless you’re a regular business trip goer or you’ve already invested in your holiday-home on some overseas sunny shoreline and you’re dead set on earning free flights and travel, spend just 5 minutes thinking if air miles are the credit card reward for you.
For example, you may be interested to know that spending £500 a month on a credit card for a year could earn you (compare reward credit cards – and see them all in one place):
At least 600 AirMiles™ - worth approximately £43.80
At least 6000 BA Miles (annual fee-free version) – worth approximately £43.20
At least 9000 BA Miles (£120 annual fee) – worth approximately £64.80
Or, you could earn:
At least £180 off a new Vauxhall or Saab car
At least £60 rebate off Shell fuel
£42.50 cash back
£60 donation to The Global Fund
How many air miles can you earn?
Aside from really asking yourself if air miles are the reward you’re going to be able to make the best use out of, another point for consideration is how many air miles will you be able to earn?
It may sound like an odd question, you might well be thinking ‘aren’t all reward credit cards limited to how much you spend on the credit card?’, but quite often there is more than one way to earn the specified reward.
For example, if you want to earn AirMiles™ - you can earn them on a Lloyds TSB Airmiles Duo credit card, you can earn them with your Tesco ClubCard on your weekly jaunt around Tesco-land, you can earn them on Shell fuel, on CDs and DVDs from HMV, on your new Plasma TV from Comet, and list goes on...
Oh, and you can even earn them on your old credit card’s balance when you move it over to the Lloyds TSB Airmiles Duo credit card!
As you see, if you shop at Tesco and you fill up on a Shell forecourt on your way there – then AirMiles™ would probably be a perfect credit-card-reward fit.
When comparing air mile credit cards take a look at the review – or ‘more details’ – page to find out with who and where you can earn extra miles.
Don’t lose your earnings!
The golden rule of any reward credit card is to repay your spending in full and on time each month, and to only use it for purchases (no ATM withdrawals!) – keeping your reward earnings free as you avoid any interest or usage charges.
If air mile worth is important to you – as it should be when looking for the best deal – whichever card you decide to opt for, remember to keep those rewards you’re earning worth as much as they possibly can by keeping all your spending fully cleared each month.
Compare air miles credit cards
 air miles credit card questions & answers
Credit card questions & answers
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