Many airlines have a cumulative loyalty system, thanks to which you can get a very profitable bonus. This program may be of interest to those whose activities involve frequent flights due to business trips. Essentially, miles are the units by which an air carrier measures customer loyalty.
Such programs are very similar to the savings systems of many large supermarkets, where the client is awarded points (“miles”) for purchasing goods (tickets). In the future, they can be spent on other goods (exchanged for another ticket, or book a hotel, rent a car).
Bonus miles from low-cost airlines come in two types and status ones. The first are the category of bonuses that can be spent on purchasing a ticket or upgrading the class of service. These bonuses have an expiration date after which they expire. They are valid from 20 to 36 months, during which time they must be completely spent. Status miles can also be exchanged for various awards. They influence the status of their owner. The more such “miles” a client has in his account, the more important he becomes. Miles in this category expire after one year.
A little history of the program
This system of obtaining profitable benefits originated in the company 15 years ago, in 1999, but Aeroflot is not a pioneer in this bonus program. For the first time, loyal customers of Transaero airlines had the opportunity to enjoy benefits from participating in it 4 years earlier.
In the last decade, there has been rapid development of the bonus program, new relevant opportunities have appeared in it, because of this it was possible to attract 500 thousand clients. The opportunity to participate in it was provided not only to Russian citizens, but also to foreigners who used the services of this airline.
Brief description of the bonus system
The essence of the program to support loyal customers is as follows: for each flight on comfortable aircraft the company will be awarded certain bonuses. After purchasing an Aeroflot airline ticket, miles are credited to the participant's account. Their number depends on a number of the following factors: total flight distance, selected class of service, current program participant status.
Who can participate in this bonus system?
Registration in the Aeroflot Bonus system is a simple procedure; age and citizenship do not matter. Children under 12 years of age must declare their participation in a similar subprogram, Aeroflot Bonus Junior. Apart from the name, it has no special differences. Aeroflot's rules on how to spend miles and accumulate them change periodically. In order to have these bonuses, you need to declare your participation in the system.
Rules for participation in the program
Becoming an official Aeroflot Bonus member is very simple. There are 3 convenient methods, you can use any of them:
- submit the completed application form at the nearest Aeroflot representative office or at an authorized sales point;
- fill out an online application on the company’s official website;
- become the owner of any partner card of the program, for example, Sberbank issues miles for the Aeroflot company. How to spend them is described below.
Any of the listed methods requires the presentation of passport data of the future participant, his detailed contact and personal information. After registration, an individual number is issued in the system.
The client becomes a full-fledged participant in the bonus program when more than 2,000 miles are accumulated on the account. Upon reaching this level, a plastic official participant card with an individual number is issued, which also contains the full name. owner. The card is delivered by mail to the specified address. After accumulating the required number of award points, their owner will already know exactly how to spend the miles. Aeroflot Bonus is indeed a very profitable and convenient system.
Types of bonus miles
Now it is very important to understand the questions of how to spend Aeroflot miles and accumulate them, as well as what types there are.
This company has two main types of points:
- Qualification-type “miles” that are awarded directly for air travel. The client receives these bonuses not only for purchasing tickets for existing Aeroflot flights, but also for purchasing travel documents from partner companies. Each declared partner has its own restrictions and certain rules; every Aeroflot client needs to familiarize themselves with them. How to spend your miles wisely? This question worries every participant. With the help of qualifying bonuses, you can take a free flight by exchanging them for the desired ticket, or upgrade your class of service or status level in the program itself.
- Non-qualifying bonus miles, which are awarded for purchasing various goods and using services from partner companies. For this type of incentive, the conditions and procedure for their accrual are constantly changing. How can I spend my accumulated miles? Aeroflot offers only one way for this type of bonus - receiving various benefits during check-in and during the flight. To spend premium bonuses, you must first accumulate them over a certain point in time.
Saving methods
The main ways to earn the coveted “miles”:
- You must travel on the same airline or through its partners. This is the easiest way to save, it is optimal for those who often move due to business trips or visit relatives. This method is also relevant for fans of a particular country for vacation. For such tourists, you can choose the most optimal bonus program, which allows you to significantly save money without changing your plans.
- Purchasing goods and services from the main partners of the program (payment for hotels, car rental, restaurant meals). It is much more profitable for them to rent a car or stay in a comfortable hotel from the list presented. Additional “miles” are assigned to the card for purchased services.
- Use of special bank cards. For the convenience of their clients, many large banking organizations offer profitable debit or credit cards that help them fly profitably. When making purchases, a certain percentage of the amount spent is credited to the client's personal mileage account. For example, for every dollar or euro spent, 1 “mile” is added to the account. These “miles” are bonus ones, they can be exchanged and spent, but they do not affect status upgrades.
Additional sources of accumulation
To reward their customers, many companies add additional “miles” to them in the following cases:
- upon initial entry into the program, welcome miles are awarded;
- Holiday miles are issued to reward loyal customers on their birthday;
- you can earn “miles” for activity on social networks - for writing reviews, participating in various competitions, games or quizzes from the airline;
- additional “miles” are issued for subscribing to the company’s newsletter;
- "miles" purchased on the airline's website or from other bonus card holders.
Many customers accumulate miles in hopes of receiving a specific benefit. Aeroflot also has a similar program to support its loyal customers. With the help of bonuses, it is possible to get real benefits for those who fly frequently. When accumulating bonuses, many people have a question about what they can spend Aeroflot miles on. Let's try to answer it.
Where to use bonuses?
These “miles” are awarded by Aeroflot for regular flights, their value depends on the distance the client has traveled by air, as well as on the class of service. Each participant in the bonus program is given a certain status, which also affects the amount of bonus miles. The terms of the program are subject to frequent changes; for a more accurate calculation of possible savings, Aeroflot offers a miles calculator.
You can spend bonuses at your own discretion. It is also possible to accumulate them when making purchases, when payments are made using a card from a partner bank. Many of the country's leading financial institutions have actively joined this program. Sberbank also offers a special “Airport Bonus”. Bonuses are awarded for opening new card, every dollar spent adds one bonus mile to the card.
Everyone can take advantage of all the benefits of cooperation with Aeroflot. All bonus card holders also need to know how to spend “miles” from Sberbank. Bonus units are spent in the standard way: on a free flight with this airline or its official partners, on the next increase in client status, on hotel bookings or car rentals. Moreover, these conditions apply almost throughout the world. Now another direction has become popular. How to spend Aeroflot miles for the benefit of others? With their help, you can participate in a special charity program, helping those in need.
What are qualifying bonuses used for?
The qualifying miles accumulated on the account must be spent in one of the proposed ways, otherwise the client risks losing all the benefits from their use. What can you spend Aeroflot miles on:
- Become the owner of an award ticket on an existing flight of one of the partner companies that is part of the SkyTeam group. All commission fees are paid by the passenger himself.
- Upgrade your current service class if you wish. By purchasing an economy class discount ticket, you have the opportunity to use all the business class privileges when paying with bonus miles.
- Pay bills from partner companies.
This is the main thing that those who have an Aeroflot cumulative bonus card need to know. We have discussed in detail how to spend miles and what they are needed for.
Privileged statuses for program participants
The client receives full rights to participate in the program at the time of initial accumulation of 2,000 bonus miles. After fulfilling this condition, he is issued a basic participant card. There are 2 more privileged statuses - silver and gold. They are called SkyTeam Elite and SkyTeam Elite Plus.
To receive a SkyTeam Elite silver card, a client must accumulate 25 thousand miles in a calendar year, and to achieve gold status - 50 thousand miles. When a client reaches a new level, his card is automatically replaced with an individual card of the appropriate design and color. Such programs are beneficial to those customers who fly regularly throughout the year. For those who travel by plane occasionally, accumulating the required points will not be easy. When registering for membership in an airline program, it is important to know where to spend your bonuses. Aeroflot offers to use miles in different ways.
Possibility of buying and selling premium bonuses
Of course, in the literal sense, bonuses cannot be sold or purchased. But there are times when a client has accumulated the required number of “miles” to purchase a ticket, but for some reason he cannot sell them. In this case, you should negotiate with another person so that the ticket does not disappear. This way you can use your accumulated points. This is another option available to Aeroflot customers.
How to spend “miles” if the trip is cancelled? Look for someone to sell a ticket to. In this case, points do not expire, but appear in the form of a cash equivalent. But there is one more nuance: in order to avoid fraud, it is advisable to carry out all operations in special sales centers of the air carrier.
Procedure for donating award miles from Aeroflot
How to spend miles? You can give them to your loved ones and relatives. The whole procedure follows the scheme described above, only the owner does not receive any remuneration, and the ticket is issued free of charge. The ticket goes to the recipient. You will also need the personal passport information of the person to whom the award ticket is addressed. You also need to present the card and provide all the data of the donor. There is one limitation: the client can donate his accumulated points no more than 10 times a year. This is perhaps the most recent answer to the question of where to spend bonuses. Aeroflot gives out miles to its most active and loyal customers.
Does it make sense to buy miles? Or sell them? What to do if your miles are about to expire? The answers are below.
Let's look at the situation using the Aeroflot Bonus program as an example. The main points also apply to other airline mileage programs.
Program Rules
We carefully read the program rules.
So, let’s assume that you have accumulated a lot of Aeroflot Bonus miles and they will soon expire, and there are no flights in sight. What to do? How to save miles accumulated over the years? Can they be transferred or sold to a third party? We look at the Aeroflot bonus rules from 08/01/2016 http://www.aeroflot.ru/ru-ru/afl_bonus/rules
4.1.7. A participant in the Aeroflot Bonus program can transfer an Award in the form of an Award ticket, an Award upgrade to a class of service for flights of Aeroflot and Partner Airlines, as well as a Partner Award to any person no more than 10 (ten) times per calendar year. Premium upgrades with the transfer of the Award at the check-in counter are not included in the designated limit (10 awards per year).
Thus, you need to have enough miles for an Award ticket or for an upgrade to a class of service. You can transfer/sell them to a third party. If there are not enough miles for the flight, then you can spend them with partners or for charity (see clause 4.11 of the rules). Or, you can also use the miles left over from selling your main miles.
How to buy/sell miles?
Aeroflot does not regulate in any way how you will negotiate with each other (who gives and who receives miles). This happens in a purely private manner. There are so-called exchanges on the Internet where you can find people willing to buy miles for money. Now, in the fall of 2016, the average price per mile on such exchanges about 0.6 ruble. From an economic point of view, this price for miles is beneficial for the buyer when purchasing business class tickets. The price of economy tickets will not be much more profitable, and often even unprofitable, compared to direct purchase of tickets. Therefore, they are taken by those who fly on business or by intermediaries who make money on the difference between a business ticket and a ticket purchased with miles. So, It’s profitable to take miles for business class flights. It is always profitable to sell, especially when they are about to expire :)
You can also buy a ticket for another person using miles through the website. This is only if you completely trust each other. In order for the transaction to be completed safely, it must be carried out at the Aeroflot office by filling out the appropriate application. But it is safe from the miles buyer's point of view. The buyer, theoretically, may not pay you back after transferring miles and purchasing a ticket. To avoid this, you can draw up a contract in simple written form or hope for the buyer’s integrity by establishing confidential communication with him before transferring miles (promise that you will bring many more miles in the near future and you don’t need to be scammed now))).
Instructions for mile buyers.
According to Aeroflot bonus rules:
4.3.2. To issue an Award ticket with the transfer of an Award at Aeroflot's own sales offices/branches/representative offices, you must provide an original or copy of the Membership Card, a completed and signed Application for Transfer of an Award by the Participant - the account holder, originals/copies of the passports of the account holder and the passenger to whom the Award is being transferred. The Participant - the account owner or his authorized representative - can issue a Reward ticket with the transfer of the Award. The powers of the authorized person must be confirmed by a power of attorney. If a ticket is issued to a third party, and not in the name of the Participant-account holder, the power of attorney must be notarized.
In practice, it is enough to provide your Aeroflot Bonus member number and provide your passport with the application.
Some exchanges write that Aeroflot does not welcome the transfer of miles for money, allegedly with the risk of losing status in the seller program and complete cancellation of miles. I didn't find this information anywhere in the rules and FAQs.
Buyers are also advised not to be fooled by cheap miles, as they may be stolen. The risk is that the owner of the miles may discover they are missing and revoke them before departure. This was especially true until the spring of 2016, when Aeroflot introduced two-factor authentication on the site using SMS and the task of hacking accounts has since become much more difficult.
Aeroflot is considered one of the largest air carriers in our country. The company was founded in 1923 as JSC Dobrolet. Today the company is equipped with 120 modern aircraft. Passengers can enjoy lucrative discount offers and many benefits. It is Aeroflot that offers its customers a bonus program. How to spend miles and airline bonuses? This will be discussed in the article.
What bonuses does the company offer?
Miles from Aeroflot is a company program offered for regular customers. To register for it, you need to fill out a form on the official website or on the plane itself. This can also be done by issuing a special bank card from partner banks. The number will be indicated on the plastic, which is very convenient. After receiving the card, you must take it with you everywhere.
You must indicate your participation in the program when registering your card, otherwise the bonuses will not be used. If you often use the services of partner companies, you will accumulate many miles. After that, they are available for various expenses.
Advantages
The program is very popular among the company’s clients, and it is valued for its advantages:
- bonuses are awarded for private and business flights;
- makes it possible to return a ticket;
- you can choose any partner company;
- You can buy a ticket with miles;
- you can purchase goods using miles;
- the program is free.
The service allows you to regularly take advantage of discounts, since bonuses are intended to pay for a certain part of the tickets.
Differences between a temporary card and a permanent one
Upon joining the program, the client receives a temporary card. Usually a printout is issued indicating the account, number and surname. A little later, the company sends the permanent card to the client. But often, to obtain it, you need to meet several conditions, for example, accumulate 2,000 miles.
A temporary card is practically no different from a permanent one, since it also provides the opportunity to accumulate bonuses. The main thing is that you must indicate the number correctly when purchasing a ticket from a cashier or online.
Kinds of miles
It is necessary to take into account that miles are:
- qualifying;
- unqualified.
The first type of miles is credited for each flight on Aeroflot flights. The number of bonuses is determined by the flight range, as well as the fare. Each participant has the opportunity to join an elite club, which provides additional privileges.
What can you spend Aeroflot miles on? Non-qualifying points are earned through purchases from partners. These could be hotels, online stores, car rentals. Such bonuses do not count towards member status.
Who can participate?
Anyone can register for the program. This is not affected by age or citizenship. Children under 12 years old can take part in the Aeroflot Bonus Junior subprogram. The terms and conditions are no different from the adult bonus system.
Accumulation of bonuses
Bonuses are provided in the form of miles for regular flights. They can vary in size, it all depends on the tariff and distance. If you use economy class, then bonuses will be provided in the amount of 25-75%. When choosing business class, up to 150% is credited. If you have accumulated Aeroflot miles, you can find out how to spend them on the airline's website.
Bonuses are also provided by partners who are part of the SkyTeam alliance: 25-100% for economy class, and up to 300% for business class. In order for miles to be credited, you must provide your card number when purchasing a ticket or when checking in for a flight. If you do not do this, you can receive bonuses within 6 months. To do this, you must send printed tickets and copies boarding passes to the Aeroflot Bonus system.
Partners
Miles are awarded to clients of partner banks. It is enough to be the owner of a debit or credit card. Such organizations include:
- Sberbank;
- Bank opening";
- "Alfa Bank";
- Citybank;
- "SMP Bank"
Usually 1 mile is issued for every 60 rubles, although prices may vary slightly. There are conditions for participation in the program: at least 1 flight must be made in 2 years, otherwise the bonuses cannot be used.
Extra miles
If you accumulate many qualifying miles, you will receive additional benefits. Among them:
- visiting business lounges;
- convenient check-in for flights;
- more luggage space;
- ticket upgrade.
Where can I find out about the number of miles?
Each airline has a “Personal Account” for users, where you can view all the necessary information. There you can find information on where to spend Aeroflot miles. Each time you log in you must enter your number and password. There is information on flights and number of miles. You can find information on where to spend Aeroflot miles, for example, to buy a ticket.
Buying and selling miles
There is an exchange that works with many companies. It is used for selling and purchasing bonus miles. Many people use this service so that their accumulated points do not disappear. After all, if there have been no flights for 2 years, then the miles cannot be used. It turns out that to receive discounts you need to use the services regularly.
Donating miles
If Aeroflot paid out a lot of points, how to spend miles? They can not only be sold, but also donated. But in the second case there will be no reward for this.
If points have accumulated, they should be reissued for any person who would like to give such a gift. The procedure is performed 2 days or earlier before departure.
Using bonuses
A member becomes a full-fledged member only when at least 2,000 miles are credited to his account. After this, a plastic card is issued with a number and last name. Now you can actively use the accumulated bonuses.
The number of miles is determined by distance and class of service. All participants in the bonus program receive a certain status, according to which the amount of bonuses is approved. Conditions change frequently, and to accurately determine how you can earn miles, there is a special calculator.
How to spend Aeroflot Bonus miles? To do this, you must present your card every time you travel or use various services. Many companies have joined the program. Sberbank offers special services for this. Bonuses will be received for opening a new card.
If Aeroflot has received a lot of bonuses, how to spend miles? They are spent in the classic way: when flying with partner companies, to obtain a higher client status, for hotel reservations, car rentals. The program works in almost all countries.
Other ways to spend miles
The question arises with the accumulation of bonuses from the Aeroflot company - how to spend miles profitably. You can take part in charity by sending points to those in need. Miles are used to purchase award flight tickets. All fees are paid by the passenger.
If you purchase an economy class discount ticket, you will receive business class benefits. Clients of the program can pay bills from partners.
Aeroflot provides its customers with many advantages. If you regularly use the company’s services, you will always have privileges in the form of discounts. And how to spend bonuses is up to everyone to decide for themselves.
Aeroflot rewards its passengers with bonuses for completed flights.
Aeroflot bonus: how to credit miles after a flight? All this is done automatically according to class of service, booking class and flight distance. The table clearly demonstrates how to accumulate points; how to spend Aeroflot bonus miles depends entirely on the client’s wishes.
How to spend Aeroflot bonus miles? They can be spent:
- to pay for subsequent flights;
- to pay for premium services of company partners;
- to upgrade the class of service;
- for charity, if this coincides with the wishes of the passenger himself, and he voluntarily declares this.
If the client has a Sberbank Aeroflot card with which he pays for purchases, then points are also credited to his Aeroflot Bonus account. How to spend Aeroflot bonus Sberbank miles? Having accumulated enough of them, you can exchange them for a ticket to anywhere in the world. They can also be sold or donated (for details on how to do this, see the article below).
Buy a ticket with miles
How to buy an Aeroflot bonus ticket using miles? If there are a sufficient number of points, the client receives an award ticket on his next flight. But additional taxes and fees will have to be paid as usual. You can use this service only if you have already flown in the direction that participated in the bonus program over the previous two years. Payment for points is made no later than one day before departure. The ticket can be purchased at a ticket sales point or on the company’s website.
How to buy miles from Aeroflot? In the literal sense of the word, bonuses are, of course, not for sale. But if someone has saved up enough money to purchase a ticket, and the person knows that he will not have to fly in the near future, he can negotiate with another citizen who needs to fly by plane and buy him a ticket for the desired flight. This is done for a certain fee. Bonus holders usually find who and how to sell Aeroflot miles among their friends or via the Internet. Thus, the person who has bonus points receives a cash reward for them from the buyer, who is also satisfied - the ticket cost him less. To avoid cases of fraud, all transactions of such purchase and sale are best carried out at the company’s office.
Giving award points and Aeroflot miles
How to gift miles from Aeroflot? Everything happens in much the same way as when buying and selling, only the donor does not take a reward, but issues a ticket free of charge. The holder of bonuses must issue a bonus ticket not in his own name, but in the name of the person to whom he wants to give it. This must be done no later than 48 hours before departure. The ticket sales center will need the passport details of the person who will actually be flying on the plane. The donor's full name and program participant card are also required. But according to the rules established by the company, a person cannot give his points more than ten times a year.
" has introduced the ability to transfer miles between the accounts of members of the Aeroflot Bonus loyalty program. This greatly simplifies the task of issuing awards for participants who do not have enough miles to reach the full cost of a bonus ticket or other award, reports Aviablogger.com.
Earning miles for an award is one of the main problems for passengers who fly infrequently. Often they only need a few hundred or thousand miles to obtain the desired award ticket, and until now this problem has not had any solution in Aeroflot Bonus. Families, for example, found themselves in a particularly stupid situation where each member had, say, 19,000 miles in their account for an award ticket price of 20,000 miles: although the total amount of miles was more than sufficient, it was impossible to use them.
Transfer of miles is allowed between any accounts, except recently opened ones (participants do not have to be, for example, relatives). However, you can transfer no more than 5,000 miles at a time. In addition, there is a limit - you can receive no more than 10 such transfers per calendar year, that is, the total annual maximum is 50,000 miles. You can also transfer no more than 50,000 of your miles per year.
In addition, the transfer has its own price - 600 rubles for each transaction. Payment is made by credit card on the Aeroflot Bonus website or at mobile application. Elite members can pay this fee in miles instead of money - 20% of the transfer amount, that is, for example, 1,000 miles for transferring the amount of 5,000 miles. Paying for a transfer with miles is therefore especially beneficial if the transfer is for a small number of miles. However, there is a limit: you can transfer no more than 10,000 miles per year from Silver level accounts, no more than 20,000 miles from Gold accounts, and no more than 30,000 miles per year from Platinum accounts. (If Aeroflot Bonus had developed this principle and provided the opportunity to pay fuel surcharges with miles, the program could have become even more attractive to many participants.)
There are also a number additional conditions. The transferred number of miles must be a multiple of 500. Miles can be transferred by members who registered in the program at least 90 days ago and have had at least one paid flight on an Aeroflot flight (or its subsidiaries Rossiya and Aurora on an Aeroflot ticket in the last 24 months) ") with miles credited to your account. These last two conditions are introduced to prevent the creation of fake accounts, the only function of which is to transfer miles due for registration in the program.
Miles transfer service is available in personal account program participant in the "Spend Miles" section. Miles transfer cannot be cancelled. Transferred miles are non-qualifying but can be used towards any program award.
You should also keep in mind that transfers are prohibited from being used for commercial purposes, including for selling or buying miles. There are known cases when Aeroflot Bonus canceled the accounts of participants who practiced selling or buying miles. The company identified such cases by monitoring advertisements on specialized Internet forums and other methods.
It is possible that the presence of this “black market” for miles was one of the reasons for the emergence of a legal way to exchange miles. Another possible reason is the increased competition of loyalty programs - not so long ago the S7 Airlines loyalty program was radically improved, and a little later Utair and " Ural Airlines"Maximize the use of awards from their programs by rare fliers.
