Frequent Flier Miles

Many, I mean many many, years ago I joined the American Airlines Frequent Flyer Program. I wasn’t actually an American Airlines Frequent Flyer, and in I’d never even flown on American Airlines. I’d hardly flown on any airline, for that matter, but it seems that actually flying isn’t required in order to accumulate “frequent flyer miles.”
All that I needed to do was obtain and use the brand new AAdvantage MasterCard. I think the first A in AAdvantage is silent, like the first A in Aardvark or the P in Psychotic, which I undoubtedly was at the time.

In any case, I used my new AAdvantage Card with gusto, some might even say abandon, and racked up “miles” at an impressive pace. Dreaming of exotic vacations in faraway places, I may have failed to notice that my new credit card, with quite an impressive credit line, had an even more impressive interest rate; but that’s another story.

Soon came the day to book that first vacation, and with over 60,000 “miles” in the bank, so to speak, I calculated that the airfare was “paid in full.” It turns out my calculations were a bit off. Plans to travel during the holidays (it seemed to make sense as I wouldn’t be working then) were dashed when I discovered the concept of “blackout dates.” I’m sure “blackout dates” were mentioned on the credit card agreement, undoubtedly next to the itty bitty print disclosing the interest rates.

Undeterred, I changed my plans to travel when “blackout dates” didn’t apply. But surprisingly, it turned out that there were no seats available on any of the alternate dates I suggested. I seriously doubted that every seat on every flight I proposed was sold out, and my suspicions were, in fact, justified. It was then that I learned about the concept of different “reward levels.”

I did finally take that first vacation, albeit much later and costing far more “miles” than anticipated, and I’ve taken several vacations since, all courtesy of American Airlines. Interestingly, I don’t remember ever actually purchasing a ticket on American Airlines. Wasn’t that supposed to be the whole point?