Frequent flier programs are easy to join and very popular for travelers hoping to cash in on a free flight.

“We’ve used our frequent flier miles for going over to Europe,” said Delta passenger Karen Carroll.  “It’s been very good for us.”

Traveler Leigh McCauley agreed.

“It feels really good, cause then you can use that $400 towards other things on your vacation,” McCauley said.

Getting Enough Points

Unfortunately, getting enough points to cash in isn’t always so easy.

 “I don’t travel as much, so I don’t accrue the points, as easy,” McCauley acknowledged.

Travelers who don’t fly a lot can turn to airlines that partner with credit cards to earn more points.

“I use my American Express with Delta and I get double the points, when I do things like any of our major purchases,” Carroll said.

Frequent business traveler Brian Williams likes to use his points to upgrade on flights, but he says his biggest pet peeve is how some airlines constantly change the number of points required to get perks.

“The problem is the airlines keep jacking up the mileage to get the points,” Williams said.  “About the time I get to a level, they’ve changed the points and the rules.”

Distance vs. Cost

It used to be that most airlines offered points based on the distance of a flight, but now, many are switching to rewards based on the cost of a ticket.  You get bonuses for premium fares and fewer points for economy seats.  The number of points you get all comes down to money and how much you spend in the first place.

Booking the Flight You Want

Black-out dates have always been an annoyance for fliers trying to redeem frequent flier points.

“They just black out certain flights, it’s like the more popular flights,” said McCauley.

Feeling the frustration of passengers, many airlines are starting to drop the taboo black-out periods, and instead, they simply limit the number of award seats available on flights-- which can often make them just about as hard to get.

“We were trying to get flights to Vegas recently and only on the red eye, you could use your points, which wasn’t that great,” McCauley said.

Putting up with inconvenience like flying at off-peak times and booking early—up to a year in advance-- does make it easier to get seats.  It is a trade-off.

“We’re saving so much money, it’s worth the sacrifice,” said Carroll.

According to a 2015 survey by Switchfly, the airlines are making more frequent flier award seats available today, than they were five years ago.

Southwest and JetBlue ranked the best for seat availability, with Southwest opening 100% of the seats on a flight to awards and JetBlue opening about 87% of them.  Here’s a list of how the larger carriers stacked up when it comes to making saver seats available.

•                    Southwest Airlines: 100%

•                    JetBlue Airways: 87.1%

•                    Alaska Airlines: 80%

•                    British Airways: 80%

•                    United Airlines: 75%

•                    American Airlines: 67.1%

•                    Delta Airlines: 57.9%

Discounts on Tickets

Some programs allow you to use points for a discount on tickets.

“On Delta, you can use your miles for just $100 off a ticket, so you don’t have to have the entire amount available,” McCauley explained.

Picking the Best Program for You

There is no one best frequent flier program, but love them or hate them, they are popular and  definitely can pay off if you pick the right one for you.

“It feels like the airline is giving back to me,” said frequent business traveler Rodney Bryant.

2015 Switchfly Survey on Reward Seat Availability