The Observer: Air Miles fail to go the distance (ShellNews.net)
Gemma Bowes
Sunday August 15, 2004
Around seven million people collect Air Miles by making purchases from certain companies, in order to swap them later for flights, but the scheme may not always be providing best value for money.
To collect enough Air Miles to make a saving requires members to spend thousands of pounds at affiliated stores and service providers. But even when tens of thousands of miles are used to lower the cost of flights, the fare can still work out to be more expensive than those offered by regular airlines and tour operators.
Air Miles can be earned by buying flights from the Air Miles Travel Company (earning one mile for each £5 spent), and by using certain retail outlets and service providers, for example buying petrol at Shell garages, using a Tesco club card, shopping at House of Fraser and buying electricity from Southern Electric.
The Air Miles can later be used solely, or as part-payment, to purchase flights. But to earn enough miles to pay for a Hong Kong flight, for example, you would have to spend £99,500 on other Air Miles flights or spend £82,784 at Tesco.
Frequent flyer Roz Trübger said: 'After several years of collecting Air Miles, I now feel they are comparatively worthless. My son moved to New Zealand so I shopped in places linked to the scheme, but the cheapest flight they could offer me, even if I handed over 12,000 miles as well, was considerably more expensive than I could get elsewhere.'
A spokeswoman from Air Miles said: 'The more flexible customers can be with dates, the more options they will have to get the lowest prices.'
A Trading Standards' travel body spokeswoman said: 'Provided all the information is transparent and the benefits are clear, then we have no real problem with Air Miles.'
So what kind of deal do you get for your Air Miles? How much do you have to spend to save on flights, and how much cheaper could you find them elsewhere? See our table below to compare Air Miles' prices with fares we found online.
Price check
New York
From Heathrow, between 1 and 8 February, costs £113.20 plus 53,040 Air Miles (equivalent to £221,000 spent at Tesco) or £304 and 740 miles (+£106 tax). A flight with American Airlines costs £286 booked with opodo.co.uk
Auckland
From Heathrow, between 1 and 14 February, would cost 32,580 Air Miles alone or £948 plus 13,200 miles, (equivalent to £26,400 spent on Southern Electric bills). Or if you don't have any miles, £1,580 (+£106 tax). A BA flight booked with expedia.co.uk would cost £771.70.
Hong Kong
From Heathrow, between 1 and 14 March, costs £580 with 8,080 miles or 19,900 miles (+£108 tax) alone. An Emirates flight from Gatwick booked through travelocity.co.uk costs £390.70.
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/travel/story/0,,1283278,00.html