How to Use Airline Mileage on Magazine Subscriptions

You can use airline miles for free magazine subscriptions.

Magazine subscriptions are ideal when having to redeem air miles that will soon expire, when your miles are not enough to accommodate a free travel ticket or any other redeemable award items such as free hotel stays, car rentals and merchandise products. Using your air miles for magazines typically requires as few as 400 miles to redeem six to 24 months of a subscription. More popular magazines generally require about 1,000 to 2,000 miles to redeem one, two or more years of a subscription.

Things You'll Need

• Frequent flyer program online account
• Username and password for online account
• Available miles for redemption
• Membership number
• Available magazine subscription options for your frequent flyer program

Instructions

1. Log in to your frequent flyer program online account by entering your username and password. Some programs also require entering your membership number.

2. View the number of miles available in your account and decide how many miles you want to use for a magazine subscription.

3. Click on the appropriate link where you can view the magazine titles available for redemption. The location of this link varies from one frequent flyer program to another. Most programs provide a link to browse the various categories for magazine subscriptions such as arts and entertainment, business and finance, family and home computers and Internet and education.

4. Choose the magazine titles you want to redeem based on the available number of miles you have by clicking "Add to Cart" or any similar button to place a specific magazine in the "Magazine Shopping Cart." The button name depends on the frequent flyer program used.

5. Confirm the redemption process by clicking "OK," "Confirm" or any similar button.

6. Wait for the confirmation-acknowledge page to appear. Save or print the page for your records.

7. Wait for the processing of each magazine subscription. Generally, subscriptions can take anywhere from six to 12 weeks before they start arriving in your mail.

Tips & Warnings

• Certain frequent flyer programs sometimes send courtesy emails and other similar notifications informing members about the current magazine subscriptions for miles redemption. For instance, U.S. Airways' Dividend Miles sends an email inviting members to redeem their favorite magazines using their available miles by the end of the year. The email provides a direct link going to the redemption page.

• Some airlines also allow access to third-party websites for miles redemption of magazine subscriptions such as Magazines for Miles.

• Since most magazine offers rotate frequently and may be limited in number, do not delay the redemption if you see something you like.

• Not all frequent flyer programs provide magazine subscriptions as an option for miles redemption. Check with your program if such is available for you. Popular airlines offering this option include American Airlines, US Airways, Continental Airlines, Delta Airlines and United Airlines.

References

• Interesting Money: Trade Extra Airline Miles for Magazine Subscriptions
• Five Cent Nickel: Use 'Em or Lose 'Em: Frequent Flyer Programs Accelarate Expirations
• Continental Airlines: Magazine Subscriptions
• Smarter Travel: What Can I Do With My Expiring Miles?
• Upgrade Travel Better: Reader Mail: Can I Cash in Miles for Magazines?

Resources

• Magazines for Miles
• US Airways: Use Miles
• Delta Airlines: Magazines for Miles---Select Your Magazines