Earning Miles in Uruguay
The purpose of this post is to tell you how I earn miles in Uruguay!
The purpose of this post is to tell you how I earn miles in Uruguay!
Basically, there are two ways to earn miles: by flying with an airline that has a frequent flyer program or by using a credit card linked to one of these programs.
Most airlines have some kind of frequent flyer program. Here’s a summary of the programs offered by the major airlines operating in Uruguay:
Aerolíneas Argentinas: ARlus
American Airlines: AAdvantage
LATAM: LATAM Pass
Avianca: Lifemiles
Gol: Smiles
Iberia: Iberia Plus
Air Europa: SUMA
Copa Airlines: ConnectMiles
All of these loyalty programs aim to reward frequent flyers. Therefore, it’s best to choose one of these programs and try to earn as many miles as possible with that airline by flying with it whenever possible.
It’s often very difficult to stick to a single airline. In my case, for example, most of my trips are for work, so I don’t have 100% control over which airlines I fly with. Under these circumstances, it’s quite difficult to earn a lot of miles with just one airline.
On the other hand, when we travel for pleasure, the ticket price ends up being the biggest factor in choosing an airline.
The good news is that we can earn miles without traveling—by earning them through our purchases. To do this, we need a credit card linked to a frequent flyer program. In Uruguay, there are three options: the Smiles card from Scotiabank, the Volar cards from Itaú, or the AAdvantage card from Santander.
Until late 2018, the only option in Uruguay was to earn miles through LATAM Pass using Itaú’s Volar cards. Since I’m not an Itaú customer, I was always a bit reluctant to apply for the card.
At the end of last year, Santander introduced the AAdvantage card, which offered some attractive rewards within the first three months if you exceeded a certain spending threshold. Obviously, I applied for the card as soon as possible and managed to take advantage of the benefits by paying for everything (absolutely eeeverything possible) with the card.
The card offers one mile for every dollar spent, and while it’s not the most advantageous program (compared to Itaú’s), the initial benefits really made it quite appealing.
In addition, other promotions offering double miles have been popping up for filling up on gas, at clothing stores, ice cream shops, supermarkets, and so on.
The card also offers three free Priority Pass accesses per year. I haven’t used these yet; I’m waiting for a long layover at an airport with an interesting lounge.
The key is to pay for as much as possible with the card!
To maximize the number of miles, we’ve consolidated all our household expenses onto the card, and as a result, in 8 months, we’ve accumulated approximately 35,000 miles. To give you an idea, with these miles you could redeem a one-way flight from MVD to MIA or a round-trip from MIA to NYC… it’s not a huge amount, but it’s something :)
Plus, you don’t necessarily have to redeem miles for tickets—you can use them for class upgrades, extra checked bags at no cost, access to VIP lounges, and more.
Another thing to keep in mind is airline alliances. American Airlines is a member of OneWorld, which includes the following airlines operating in Uruguay: American Airlines, Iberia, and LATAM Airlines. Therefore, you can combine all the miles earned on any OneWorld airline.
In my case, I travel quite a bit on LATAM for work, so when I check in online, I simply enter my AAdvantage username, and those miles are added right away.
In short, I’m trying to consolidate all my miles into the AAdvantage program. I chose it for a combination of convenience—since I was already a Santander customer—and because it’s part of One World, which means I have access to several airlines operating in Uruguay that I frequently fly with.
On the other hand, I also had a nice chunk of miles in the KLM-Air France Flying Blue program (from a fairly long trip I took to Shanghai and Europe last year). To avoid losing these miles, I’m adding the miles earned on Aerolíneas Argentinas (a SkyTeam member) to my Flying Blue account. Once I lose these miles, I suppose it’ll make more sense to accumulate them directly through Aerolíneas Plus...
How do you guys earn miles? Do you have any tips or ideas to share?
See you next time!
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January 2021 Update:
Since Latam left OneWorld in May 2020, the only airline in the alliance that still flies to Montevideo (besides Aerolíneas Argentinas) is Iberia. Iberia is obviously a good option for traveling to Europe, but keep in mind that Air Europa is operating the Montevideo-Madrid route with the beautiful 787 Dreamliners, which are much more modern, offer better in-flight entertainment and Wi-Fi, and are quieter… they really make the flight experience much better. Iberia has recently been operating the route with Airbus 330-200s, which are also quite modern (about 3 years old), but personally, I think the experience on the Dreamliner is superior in economy class.
On another note, a few weeks ago there were rumors about the possibility of Qatar Airways starting to operate in Uruguay. It was just a rumor, but it would be extremely interesting!