In case you hadn’t noticed, the airline blogosphere pays a lot of attention to frequent flyer matters. And recent changes have been fodder for a lot of words and pixels. Much of the focus is on matters of interest mainly to “road warriors” who spend a lot of time flying around and might belong to a handful of different lines’ programs. You know who you are, and there isn’t anything I can tell you that you don’t already know. Instead, I’m addressing those of you who might take four or fewer airline round trips a year and want to get as much as you can for your money. And you’re a big group.
Earning Miles. One big change gaining a lot of attention is American’s move to restrict the places you can buy tickets that earn miles. Basically, starting in May, you won’t earn miles and status credit unless you buy your ticket either directly from American or through a “preferred” agency. And, at least for now, American hasn’t yet announced which agencies are on its preferred list, although it says it will do so soon. The reason for this lies in back-office stuff and doesn’t affect you, so you don’t really need to go into details.
