Does it pay to belong to more than one frequent flyer program?
Some travelers who belong to only one frequent flyer program will pay more for a ticket or will take an indirect or inconvenient flight on an airline just to get frequent flyer credit. One way to avoid this frequent flyer trap is to join more than one program. Although you can get travel awards faster by concentrating your travel on one airline, you may get better fares and connections if you don’t restrict yourself to one airline. When you compare tickets, keep in mind that frequent flyer miles are worth approximately 2 per mile; use that figure to help calculate which option is best. The 2 per mile estimate was calculated by dividing the average cost of a domestic round trip ticket (approximately $500) by the number of frequent flyer miles needed for such a ticket (25,000 miles).
