Get Real Stuff with Frequent Flier Miles

We've covered the frequent flier mile thing at some length here. The big question for many people who don’t travel much, or don't travel on a particular airline much, is how do you use your collected miles? Some miles expire, but more often the case, the airlines deflate the value of miles. So a trip to Europe that used to cost you 80,000 miles on an airline, now costs 100,000. That’s some serious devaluation.

Well, here some news for United Airlines miles holders. United Airlines will announce that you can cash in your miles for all sorts of things, real, tangible goods like golf clubs, cookware or even high-def TVs.

That’s BIG news to a lot of people who hold miles with United and are shopping for, say, a new blender.  It’s also good news for the airlines since miles are accounted for as a liability, and as well all know the major airlines are struggling to stay afloat. As an example, Delta, which filed for bankruptcy in 2005, said its outstanding frequent-flier miles were a $200 drain on its balance sheets.

So stay tuned how this all pans out, and maybe hold that spot in the living room for the big screen TV coming your way.

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