What is a mile in Aeroflot? Alfa Bank offers. What are “mile” cards, what are they for and how to fly more often with their help

Combining business with pleasure is not the best simple task in the world.

Bonus programs that allow you to receive bonus miles When paying for purchases with bank cards, at first glance, they provide their owners with exactly this opportunity.

But is this true? Let's figure it out.

We live in a virtual world.

In most Western countries, when paying credit card, the person automatically receives a certain bonus. This could be a discount on dry cleaning or a free dinner at a restaurant.

Or maybe « air miles » . By paying for the purchase of a Bentley, dinner at Maxim in Paris, or renting a boat for a cruise on the Thames, the lucky owner of a bank card can receive bonus miles, which will significantly reduce the cost of a plane ticket, and in some cases, make the flight almost free.

In Russia, such bonus programs appeared not so long ago, but they have already generated a lot of rumors. They say that some especially lucky citizens were able to use bonus miles to travel for free almost to the other side of the world.

It is therefore not surprising that bank cards offered in conjunction with airlines are the most popular. Over the past two years, such programs have been presented “ Transaero" And " Aeroflot», British Airways , S7 And Lufthansa. Thus, seven banks take part in the Aeroflot bonus program, including the popular Alfa-Bank, Russian Standard, Sberbank and Citibank.

Most airlines are united in international alliances. This means that the mile bonus can be used not only within the company itself, but also on the flights of its partners.

It would seem that this is it - this is the most pleasant and useful thing!

However, this huge barrel of honey, of course, could not do without its fly in the ointment. More precisely, even without several very heavy spoons.

How can you prevent your “honey” from becoming bitter?

Spoon first

Bonus programs that allow you to accumulate bonus miles are usually offered to owners credit cards.

Which means:

the bank will receive interest on all your loans;
no miles can cover a negative card balance;
the annual maintenance of such a card is a little more expensive, and the interest rates on loans are higher;
There is one more unpleasant moment - the grace period when interest on overdraft repayment is not charged (usually 50 days) is valid only when making purchases in stores and paying for services. If you decide to withdraw cash from an ATM or buy something online, there will be no delay!

Fighting method:

Order debit card V " Alfa-Bank», Rosbank or " Russian standard».

Second spoon

Bonus programs for accumulating air miles do not imply any connection to an existing one bank card — a new one needs to be released.

Everyone wins from this: both the bank and the payment systems. Everyone except you. Since no one canceled the annual service, and money will have to be transferred from account to account. And, most likely, with a commission.

Fighting method:

Absent.

Spoon three

It's always a shame to pay for something you can get for free.

It is clear that “golden” aviation cards earn much more “welcome” miles and bonuses for flights. And, of course, it’s more profitable for the bank to sell them - after all, for the annual service MasterCard Gold or Visa Gold you will have to pay several thousand rubles.

But such conditions do not suit everyone! This means that it is not always possible to do this. Therefore, sometimes, for the “plan”, banks are forced to give out “golden” aviation cards with free annual service just like that.

Fighting method:

Find out if you are one of those lucky ones.

Fourth spoon

When re-issuing a card, employees of IT departments of banks often forget to check with the owner whether he is a participant in the bonus aviation program.

In these cases, a new one is simply created account, and your accumulated miles remain on the same account.

Fighting method:

Upon registration new card Be sure to inform us that you are participating in the bonus program.

Fifth spoon

Banks are in the habit of charge a three percent commission for every breakfast or refrigerator magnet paid for with a co-branded card, i.e. card with the airline's affiliate program.

While these amounts are small, you don’t notice them, but active use of such a card will result in hundreds of dollars and euros.

Fighting method:

Use different cards to pay for purchases abroad.

Sixth spoon

Nothing lasts forever. Miles is no exception. After some time they simply “burn out.” Especially if you have stopped using the services of your airline or purchasing tickets at fares that provide bonus miles. After all, charter flights do not add them!

Fighting methods:

Remember that the banking year ends on December 31, even if you issued a card 29. Apply for a co-branded card in January or use Citibank Miles & More with “fireproof” miles.

Spoon seven

It is not always possible to recoup participation in the bonus program - for this you need to have a lot of miles.

After all, not every banking transaction provides benefits - shopping in online stores or using terminals and ATMs will not add any miles to you. And the seasonal cost of an air ticket in miles can vary significantly. It’s good if the “welcome” miles pay for at least a third of the ticket.

Fighting methods:

Carefully study all conditions for providing benefits.

Eighth spoon

Do not expect that you will be able to use the accumulated miles at absolutely any time. If you, for example, want to pay extra for business class amenities at the check-in counter, you won't be able to.

Fighting method:

Such wishes must be reported to the carrier company in advance - at least 2 days in advance.

Spoon nine

There are no completely free tickets, even if you already have enough miles on your card.

In any case, you will have to pay a fuel surcharge. Its value varies greatly among different air carriers, although general trend is the same - only for last year Fuel surcharges worldwide have increased by 53 percent! Airline representatives explain this by saying that it includes both the price of the fuel itself and insurance against increases in fuel costs.

Fighting methods:

Look for the most advantageous offers from alliance partners.

Tenth spoon

Bank employees often remain silent about some features of bonus programs.

As a rule, they forget about the following “little things”:

miles must be used within a certain time;
the loan repayment period may be reduced;
The Miles & More card must be activated within one month, otherwise a fine will apply, etc.

Fighting method:

Carefully study all the documents when applying for a co-branded card and clarify the “slippery” points with bank employees.

Well, and finally a few practical advice which may help you in choosing an affiliate program:

Aeroflot and S7 cards are suitable for those who fly a lot around the country and prefer to stay in local hotels;
Miles & More and S7 cards are preferred for frequent flights to the Asian region, since these companies are partners of local air carriers;
Aeroflot cards, which cooperate with Delta, KLM and Air France, are most convenient for flights to the USA;
S7 card working with Iberia and LAN - for flights to South America;
Aeroflot Bonus Prime cards will be required for those who need a concierge service;
Miles & More cards will help you rent a car from companies such as Avis, Europcar and Hertz, and S7 cards - Sixt and Hertz;
the same Miles & More and British Airways American Express will open the doors of Chic Outlet Shopping and other similar establishments to you.

Have a nice flight!

Prepared from Conde Nast Traveler magazine

Due to the crisis, it has become more difficult to accumulate bonus miles for an award flight - banks have increased their cost, and airlines have increased the taxes and fees required to purchase a ticket. In addition, if there is no income to the bonus account for several years, the accumulated miles “burn out.” Not everyone knows that even a small number of miles can be spent.

Aeroflot

The cheapest bonus ticket within Aeroflot’s special offers costs 15,000 miles. Moreover, if the account holder has at least 1,769 miles, then they can be used to purchase a certificate for a movie ticket (at a regional cinema). For Muscovites, the cheapest certificate will cost 2,222 miles. You can also exchange miles for going to a restaurant, visiting a water park, bowling alley, various shops, etc.

Examples of rewards in the Aeroflot bonus program:

gift certificate to the Korablik store in the amount of 500 rubles. – 2208 miles;
certificate for the IL Patio restaurant chain in the amount of 500 rubles. – 2298 miles (for 3000 rubles – 13650 miles);
Eldorado store certificate in the amount of 1000 rubles. – 4490 miles (per 10,000 rubles – 45354 miles);
TGI Fridays certificate in the amount of 1500 rubles. – 6783 miles;
certificate for visiting the water park in the amount of 1,500 rubles. – 6837 miles.

WITH full catalog can be found at the link -

Almost all airlines offer to donate accumulated miles to charity. If you have 5,000 miles or more in your account, then at least 1,000 miles can be donated to the Gift of Life, Life Line, Spivakov International Charitable Foundation or to the Kommersant Publishing House Relief Fund. The miles will be used for free transportation of children who need medical care, and air tickets for talented children.

Miles can be spent through your personal account on the website.

UTair

The second largest air carrier in Russia has a bonus program “Status”. In addition to tickets, miles can be used to purchase accommodation in expensive hotels. For example, a room at the Ambassador Hotel (St. Petersburg) will cost 36,000 miles per night in the low season and 45,000 miles in the high season. Two days at the Moscow Baltschug Kempinski hotel cost 45,000 miles, and at the Wellness Hotel Yugorskaya Dolina (Khanty-Mansiysk) you need to pay 12,000 miles for one night in a double room.

You can spend miles on the website.

Siberia Airlines offers to spend unnecessary miles on the Ordinary Miracle Children's Charitable Foundation and Rusfond. You can transfer them through your personal account or by calling the airline’s call center (8-800-100-77-11). You will not be able to buy any items with accumulated points.

TravelmilesiGlobe

Miles are credited to plastic cards from 15 banks, including Raiffeisenbank, B&N Bank, Uniastrum Bank, Rosbank, UBRD, Intesa and others. For points you can:

book a hotel around the world (for example, three nights in Barcelona will cost 57,943 miles);
rent a car (for example, a day in Yaroslavl will cost 4067 miles);
buy a ticket for the Aeroexpress (from Belorussky railway station to Sheremetyevo airport for 1772 miles);
purchase a train ticket (from Moscow to St. Petersburg from 7910 miles).

You can pay for these and other services on the website.

Milesandmore

Participants bonus program Miles and more can purchase gift certificates to Eldorado, M.Video and Technosil for 500 rubles. for 3,000 miles (750 rubles for 4,500 miles). Hotel stays start from 10,200 miles per night, and car rentals start from 7,500 miles per day.

Shopping at outlets using gift vouchers in Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, France, Italy and Spain will cost 25 euros per 7,500 miles.

Miles can also be spent on international charity - from 3,000 miles to educate migrant teenagers, 5,000 miles to feed 50 African children, 10,000 miles to feed 10 African children for a month, 20,000 miles to buy specialized products for two children from Africa , which is enough for a month.

Alfamiles and compliments

Alfa Bank, where miles are awarded, and Uralsib Bank, whose currency is “compliments,” have their own bonus programs for travel cards. Miles from Alpha can be spent on train tickets, car rentals, travel insurance, and can also be donated to the Konstantin Khabensky Foundation. At Uralsib you can pay for a wide range of products with compliments: from Gillette women's shaving gel for 9,041 compliments to Withings Activite watches for 128,909 compliments.

If you are just about to start accumulating miles, we recommend that you read the rating.

If you know about a sale in a store, then you go there and take something useful for yourself. The air where planes fly also has its own promotions and discounts.

Airline miles or bonus miles are a program for passengers who fly very often. However, it is not necessary to fly with only one company. Large carriers are united in alliances, which imply the offset of bonuses. The most famous airline associations are Sky Team, One World and Star Alliance.

You can become a participant in the program on the plane by filling out a paper form that the crew has. But you don't have to be in the air to participate. All conditions are usually written on airline websites, and you can register yourself in the program online. You can also do this in the office by filling out a form. You will be credited with a certain number of welcome miles and you are already “in the system”.

Be sure to carefully read the terms and conditions of participation in the program. How long your miles will be stored, how you can spend them, whether airport taxes will be increased for you - all this needs to be studied so that you don’t regret the wasted efforts later.

First you will have a "temporary" card with a number. You will get a plastic one later, when you have accumulated a certain number of miles. But a temporary card allows you to do all the same things, and most importantly, it helps you accumulate miles.

How to earn miles

Special “co-branding” MasterCard cards and Visa also allow you to start earning airline miles. At the bank you apply for a card, and then you simply start making any purchases: in a store or cafe, at a gas station or at the cinema. For example, buying a car for 600 thousand rubles with such a card is a flight to, or.

There are other ways to earn miles. By participating in various promotions and competitions from airlines, you can replenish your stock of “bonus points”. You can subscribe to the airline's newsletter and learn about all the additional services that will earn you miles. This could be dinners in restaurants of a certain chain, renting a car in one company, buying things in some stores.

Of course, the main source of miles remains flights. How to earn airline miles using them? When purchasing an airline ticket, you will be required to provide your card number or provide it to the cashier if you are not purchasing your ticket online. Then you need to take a flight. Then, usually within a few days, the treasured miles will appear on your account. More miles are awarded for business class flights than for economy voyages. You can also save money: a flight with one airline with transfers is cheaper and earns more miles than a direct flight.

Each company's website has a table from which you can estimate how many miles a particular flight will earn you. For example, a flight from is usually about 2,000 bonus miles.

How to spend your accumulated miles

You can spend miles in different ways. You can pay for the air ticket in full or in part. You can also upgrade your service class: pay the difference between economy and business class to fly to more comfortable conditions. Then look at the terms and conditions of your program. You can buy products or services from your airline's partners or donate miles to charity. You can give a reward ticket to a friend and not use it yourself.

For the “accumulator” of bonus miles, it is also important to pay attention to the restrictions that may be specified in the terms of the program. Sometimes it happens that you will not be able to select the flight date or time. But all these are small nuances that will never spoil the impressions of your first absolutely free flight.

For tickets Perm ⇄ Moscow

I’ll tell you – it’s not a profitable topic for Perm residents. We are entering zone 2, which means a lot of miles are required, even for a flight to Moscow. I have only 37,000 miles in my account... For tickets Perm ⇄ Moscow they ask for 45,000 miles and 11,247₽. The fees are more than the Victory tickets cost. You won't have much fun.

Cheap from CIS countries

Experts advise flying to the CIS countries from Moscow. Let's figure it out.

This is, of course, tempting and cheap, but I don’t need it. They drop all sorts of unpopular routes, for example, Tashkent, Samarkand, Baku, Bishkek, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Vladivostok.

How much do tickets to Europe cost?

Now let's look at the directions we need:

Everywhere they ask for about 25-30 thousand miles and about 8,000 rubles in additional payment. I feel sorry for the miles on this. Saving approximately 4-5 thousand rubles compared to regular tickets, or even not at all.

Maybe in the USA?

Miles make it profitable to fly long distances. Let's see what experts advise on the forums:

Everywhere you need to pay an additional amount of about 15 thousand rubles, that is, you save about 10-15 thousand rubles from the full price of the shares. It’s also not very profitable and you spend a lot of miles!

Business class

On average, 2 times more miles and 2 times more money. After the latest deterioration in the bonus program, flying as a business is not at all profitable. Although, if you have accumulated a lot of miles, maybe do business in Tenerife?

What did I choose?

There are also Light Awards discounts, when Aeroflot reduces the cost of tickets in miles to unpopular destinations. I've been following the stock for over a year and haven't seen anything useful. And when I saw it, there were no award tickets for my dates.

I took what my soul asked for - tickets to the Canary Islands. They cost me 30,000 miles + 6922₽ for each ticket. Regular ticket price is about 25,000 rubles. I think the purchase is quite profitable. I bought tickets to Moscow due to a recent Aeroflot promotion, which I’m talking about.

What can I spend my miles on without additional charges? (Covered)

Let's finish with the boring topic about tickets. Now let's see what to spend miles on and not pay a penny. Interesting right?

For car rental. In the Aeroflot bonuses section there is a car rental button. Let's calculate prices for the week:

A week's car rental in Alicante is only 2183 miles and no extra fees!

With full insurance, not everything is so rosy, but this is not a mandatory option.

In Tenerife, a rental costs 47,993 miles, but by paying only 14,000 additional miles you get full insurance. By the way, you can always buy additional insurance on the spot for money.

There are also absolutely “wild prices”. For example, a week in Vienna costs 124,950 miles. So, look for cheaper cities. Most often this is Spain. Remember to change your pickup time from 9:00 to a later hour and avoid Sunday, sometimes it works out cheaper!

I think this is the best way to spend your Aeroflot miles because you don't pay anything extra.

What else? hotels? (Covered)

I think it's a waste of miles. The cheapest hotel in Madrid is 33,000 miles per night. Decent hotels in Europe cost around a hundred per night. Here, too, you don’t need to pay anything extra. It only makes sense to buy a hotel using Aeroflot miles if you haven’t flown for a long time and your miles will soon expire.

There is also a catalog of gift certificates. For example, Euroset coupon for 1000₽ for 4530 miles, but this is completely nonsense.

What did you spend your Aeroflot miles on?

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How do I save on hotels?

It's very simple - look not only on booking. I prefer the search engine RoomGuru. He searches for discounts simultaneously on Booking and on 70 other booking sites.

Passengers of the Aeroflot carrier can participate in a loyalty program, thanks to which they can receive rewards in the form of miles. Bonuses can be spent on purchasing an air ticket, as well as using other company services.

Conditions for receiving bonus units

The client can receive bonuses provided that his account has required quantity miles. An additional requirement for the participant is to have completed at least one paid flight over the previous 2 years on a regular Aeroflot flight under one of the tariff plans included in the mileage program.

If awards are issued through the website of Aeroflot or a partner company, the passenger must be identified using a confirmation code received in an SMS message to the number specified by the participant. To subscribe to the service use the menu personal account.

Attention! Awards are allowed to be transferred up to 10 times in 1 calendar year. The number of miles gifted by one member of the privilege program to another is not limited.

If an award upgrade to the service level is applied with the transfer of miles at the registration counter, then the procedure is not included in the established limit (10 times every 12 months). Prizes include:

a ticket purchased for mileage units on flights of the carrier Aeroflot or its partners;
receiving goods or services from companies cooperating with Aeroflot by exchanging for a set number of miles;
an increase in service class for points (Economy - Comfort or Comfort - Business), if the reservation is confirmed and the ticket is issued at the fare allowed by the program.

How to fly for miles

An Aeroflot passenger can receive a ticket in exchange for miles. To do this, there must be a sufficient number of bonus units on the bonus account. Gift tickets can be purchased one way or both. Fares allowed by the program allow up to 2 transfers. Cannot be issued open date and return the ticket.

A ticket purchased with miles is valid for 12 months. However, if there are no free seats on board, the air carrier has the right to refuse to issue a premium product. It is possible to exchange tickets with an automatic reduction in the level of service.

What can you spend miles on with company partners?

Participants in the Aeroflot bonus program have the right to use miles to purchase services or goods from 19 partner companies. Among them:

chain of delicatessen stores Globus Gourmet;
Novotel hotel;
Novikov restaurants;
pharmacy chain Samson Pharma;
DIY format markets MosKhozTorg;
Telo’s Beauty (dentistry and cosmetology);
restaurant chain Ginza Project;
French Kiss confectionery boutiques;
Gulliver stores (teenage and children's clothing);
pharmacies 36.6.

A complete list and rules of operation of the bonus system in companies participating in the privilege program are given.

To use miles as payment, the client must set a PIN code in advance in the personal account menu via the Aeroflot website. You can spend miles by presenting your Aeroflot Bonus card and entering your PIN at the terminal.

How to rent a hotel room using miles

Premium hotel bookings are made on the website hotels.aeroflot.ru. The algorithm includes several steps:

Fill out the form fields, indicating the city or name of the hotel, check-in and check-out dates, and the number of residents.
Then check the box next to “Use miles”.
Click on the “Find hotels” button.

The service will result in a list of hotels suitable for the specified parameters and the rental price in miles. All that remains is to choose the right option, number and click the “Book” button. Next, the loyalty program participant’s personal account page will open. There you must log in to write off bonus miles.

Purchasing with miles from a catalog

By following the link rewards.aeroflot.ru, you can go to the premium catalog. The available offers from bonus program partners are presented here in table form. Participants can exchange miles for souvenirs, goods or other products of the organizers.

An example is Aussie brand hair balm. Next to the product name, its cost in miles is indicated.

To purchase, click on the product image. After going to the product description page, click the “Add to Cart” button.

Then open on the right top corner added products tab and click on the “Place an order” button.

Attention! If the client refuses the purchase, bonus units cannot be returned to the account.

Claims regarding products and delivery should be directed to program partners, since, according to the regulations, they bear full responsibility.

Aeroflot launched a project called “Miles of Mercy” in 2008, under which participants in the bonus program can transfer received miles to accounts belonging to charitable foundations. Among them:

Give Life. The founders of the fund are actresses D. Korzun and Ch. Khamatova. The company was founded in 2006. The funds from the fund are used to help children with cancer, the hospitals where they are treated, and doctors. Thanks to the donated miles, children and their parents from different settlements The Russian Federation is sent for rehabilitation and treatment to Moscow and foreign countries.
Life line. The fund was created to sponsor high-tech operations for children under 18 years of age, as well as the purchase of expensive medical equipment and tools. This allows us to improve the living conditions of children and their full recovery. The company has existed since 2004, helping citizens throughout Russia.
Rusfond. The mission of the foundation is financial assistance in the treatment of children, the development of society and the introduction of the latest medical technologies. The company was founded in 1996 as a charitable journalistic project.
Spivakov Foundation. Since 1994, the fund's funds have been transferred to support talented children in painting, choreography and music. Miles donated by participants in the Aeroflot privilege program allow young talents to take part in festivals, concerts and competitions in different countries the world, as well as make free flights for the purpose of studying to Moscow from the regions and back.

Before transferring miles, you should familiarize yourself with a number of restrictions applied by the organizers:

the number of bonus units on the bonus account is from 3 thousand;
the minimum transfer size is 100 miles;
The participant's age is more than 12 years.

The charity mile donation algorithm consists of several steps. Go to page aeroflot.ru.
Select where to send incentives from the presented funds and open the appropriate tab.