What Type of Traveller are you? Is your Travel Pattern a Good Fit for the Miles Game?

The Miles Game is not for everyone. To be successful, travellers need to perform research work, more than the average traveller.

tl;dr: The less flexible a traveller is, the more difficult it would be to make high-value award flight redemptions.

Instead of diving in blindly, here’s a 13-point checklist to access if you are a good fit for the Miles Game. I’ve included my personal scores, for those who are curious.

1) Travelling party

As airlines and Frequent Flyer Programs (FFPs) release limited award seats per flight (especially in Business/First Class), redeeming miles for 1 award ticket is easier than 2, which is easier than 3 and so on…

When travelling with a group of friends (who are not into Miles), there is always the option of flying separately, or in a different cabin class in the same aircraft.

I do not have kids, but have read a lot about couples who travel in premium classes, while leaving their kids in Economy Class. Of course, I can’t imagine this being feasible if you have a 3-year-old child!

Travellers who travel alone or as a couple have the upper hand here.

Solo: 3 points
Couple: 2 points
Family/Group: 1 point

^{My score: 2 points}

2) Date flexibility

Family/Group Travellers:

Family/Group travellers are taking another huge hit here.

If you have children who are still in school, you are probably only able to travel as a family during the school holidays. You would be scrambling for 4 tickets in Business Class, along with hundreds (or thousands) of other families, who are looking to travel during the exact same period.

Your chances of getting those award tickets would be even harder, if travelling to popular destinations (e.g. Japan, S. Korea, London).

Annual Leave Limitations:

A full-time 9-to-5 corporate staff without work-from-home or remote working flexibility will also find it difficult to find award availability, especially in premium cabins. This is due to annual leave limitations, which typically ranges from just 7 days to 28 days yearly in Singapore.

Travellers in this category would typically need to “fight” for those limited award tickets on long weekends and public holidays.

Some may also find it difficult to use their annual leave entitlement if the organization that they are working in is involved in major events/conventions (e.g. National Day, Formula 1, pandemic).

Freelancers/Remote Workers:

I am lucky to be in this category my entire adult life, and usually do all I can to avoid travelling during peak seasons.

However, while the job gives me fantastic flexibility, travellers like myself can never truly be on holiday as lengthy trips usually require some stay-in-hotel days, to work.

Freelancer/Remote Worker: 3 points
9-to-5 Staff: 2 points
Family/Group: 1 point

^{My score: 3 points}

3) Credit card optimization

To earn miles fast, travellers use the best cards for each spending category, depending on their redemption goals. These cards come with high earn rates and some even with additional benefits like free airport lounge access.

The number of cards that you should hold depends on your spending pattern/categories. For most people, it is best to hold at least 3 to 4 cards, to cover most of their spending categories.

When using multiple cards, cardholders should keep proper records on important dates like card anniversary, statement and miles expiry. Get Suitesmile’s free Google Sheet template here.

Couples should also work together in 2-Player Mode, to double the limits of bonus categories on some cards.

Are you optimizing your credit card usage?
Yes: 3 points
Sometimes: 2 points
No: 1 point

^{My score: 3 points}

4) Natural miles accumulation

To earn a worthwhile amount of miles for free^* (through normal day-to-day spending), cardholders have to accumulate enough miles to support their award redemption goals. This can be done naturally through credit card spending and/or by crediting paid flights to FFPs.

For example, a sole breadwinner of the family looking to book Business Class award tickets for a family of 4 would take years to accumulate enough miles if he/she is spending only $500 per month on his/her credit cards. It would probably be better for him/her to buy miles on-demand instead.

On the other end of the spectrum, some travellers are accumulating too much miles (e.g. due to business spending/travels and not enough time to use them all). Having too much miles can lead to wasted, expired miles. If so, it may be a better idea to occasionally switch to cashback cards, or use general-spending cards with greater flexibility (like I do).

^{*By using Miles/Rewards cards, there is the opportunity cost of not earning money through cashback cards. So, it’s not technically “free”.}

Are you accumulating enough miles to “feed” your award redemption goals with your travel party?
Yes: 3 points
Sort-of: 2 points
No: 1 point

^{My score: 3 points}

5) Frequent Flyer Programs

As mentioned in a recent article, a lot of newbies in the Miles Game are not familiar/aware of the potential of FFPs other than KrisFlyer.

Take some time to learn the sweet spots of a few FFPs where you can transfer the miles/points from Singapore cards to. This will give you a good idea of which ones suit your travel pattern better and help you make better decisions on which card to use for your spending.

Are you able to learn/familiar with the sweet spots of alternative FFPs?
Yes: 3 points
A little: 2 points
No: 1 point

^{My score: 3 points}

6) Flexible miles

Because award availability is limited, travellers should not only look at the “mpd” value, when deciding on the best cards to use.

This is because, credit card miles/points earned from certain banks can only be transferred to a few FFPs or those that are not useful for your travel pattern.

Aim to use cards with more transfer partners, especially when there is only a small difference in the “mpd” value. This will improve your chances of finding award availability, when redeeming miles for a popular destination or during peak periods.

Are you earning flexible miles, wherever possible?
Yes: 3 points
Sort-of: 2 points
No: 1 point

^{My score: 3 points}

7) Repositioning

Because of supply/demand, award availability to/from certain cities (e.g. Singapore) are much harder to come by.

To get around this, travellers can position themselves to a nearby city (at their own cost), to catch an award flight that is available.

Example: Turkish Airlines Business Class flight to Europe
If an award flight from Singapore is not available on your preferred date, consider looking for availability from cities like Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok or Jakarta.

Flights from Singapore to these cities can usually be booked for around S$100 and travellers can even fly there a few days in advance for a pre-holiday trip, if time permits.

Obviously, positioning can be more challenging when travelling with kids or older folks.

Do you have the flexibility to reposition?
Yes: 3 points
Sometimes: 2 points
No: 1 point

^{My score: 3 points}

8) Direct flights and connections

For a variety of reasons, some travellers strongly prefer flying at certain times of day and direct to their destination, without any layover(s). Others may only want to fly with a preferred airline.

These preferences greatly limit the number of available award flights that the traveller may find.

Are you open to non-ideal flight times, layovers and other airlines?
Yes: 3 points
Sort-of: 2 points
No: 1 point

^{My score: 3 points}

9) Fuel surcharges

Some airlines or FFPs pass on fuel surcharges (aka YQ) that can range between S$100 – S$800 per flight, depending on flying distance.

However, there are many cases where the amount of miles required for a low-YQ award flight is much higher than that of a high-YQ one.

Example: Singapore Airlines Business Class flight to Europe
Option 1: Singapore Airlines Business Class for 103,500 miles + S$62
Option 2: Turkish Airlines Business Class for 45,000 miles + S$400

Shutting out the “higher YQ” option also limits the number of awards that are available to you.

Do you only want to pay low fuel surcharges, regardless of the amount of miles required?
No: 3 points
Depends on values of miles: 2 points
Yes: 1 point

^{My score: 2 points}

10) Cabin class preference

Generally. redeeming miles for Business Class gives you more “value”. This is because, medium/long haul paid Business Class flights usually costs 5 times more than Economy Class flights, while redeeming miles only costs 2 times more.

However, award availability for these premium classes are usually a lot more scarce than for Economy Class.

Personally, I do not pay for Business Class flights unless if there is a great deal or error fare. In this case, I would compare the cash fare against the values of miles required for an Economy Class award flight.

Do you only want to fly in Business/First Class?
No: 3 points
Depends: 2 points
Yes: 1 point

^{My score: 2 points}

11) Flow with the deals

Flight deals come and go, involving different regions, airlines and FFPs. These deals can come in the form of an award discount, transfer bonus or bonus credit.

Travellers can fly to where the best deals take them, and plan a travel itinerary around that region; a little like how most of my trips are planned.

This deal-hunting method usually requires the traveller to be spontaneous, especially in booking the flight tickets.

Are you able to take advantage of limited-time deals?
Yes: 3 points
Sometimes: 2 points
No: 1 point

^{My score: 2 points}

12) Early planning

On most FFPs, award seats are generally released about a year in advance. The earlier a traveller is able to confirm their trip, the higher the chance of finding award availability, especially during peak travel seasons.

This can be very challenging for those who work in organizations that are not able to approve annual leaves that far in advance.

Are you able to book flights more than 8 months in advance?
Yes: 3 points
Sometimes: 2 points
No: 1 point

^{My score: 2 points}

13) Tracking award availability

Award availability is, without a doubt, the most frustrating part of the Miles Game.

Airlines and FFPs have the freedom to adjust award availability whenever they want. This makes it difficult to predict when seats on certain routes would become available.

To check for award availability, travellers can visit the FFPs’ websites daily and do so manually, or set alerts through third-party tools like Expert Flyer and seats.aero.

Are you able to spend time to track award availability?
Yes: 3 points
Sometimes: 2 points
No: 1 point

^{My score: 3 points}

Final score

I ended up with a total score of 34; what about you?

Just for a non-scientific gauge, here are my recommendations, based on your total score:

• 13 to 18 points: Spare yourself the pain, the Miles Game is not for you
• 19 to 30 points: With some dedication, you can make it work
• 31 to 39 points: You are born for the Miles Game ✈️

Bottom line

Knowledge and flexibility are two KEY aspects of the Miles Game. Improving either area would increase your success rate in making high-value award redemptions to travel in greater comfort, without much out-of-pocket expenses.

Is the Miles Game not for you? Fret not, there are other ways to travel hack like buying miles on-demand (when availability is confirmed) or the equally-depressingexciting world of hotel-hacking.