Hints on Turning Your Miles Into a Free Ride

· Use airline tools. It would be nice if airlines could come up with a search engine that would show available frequent-flier seats if you typed in, say, "Europe" and "July," or "Caribbean beaches" and "December." Alas, none goes that far. But some have tools that clue you in to your best chances of finding a destination that, while not your first choice, might fit the bill nicely.

American Airlines, for example, has a handy "HotSpots" section on its Web site ( www.aa.com ; type HotSpots in the search field) that suggests destinations with good availability for award tickets. Granted, some of the "featured destinations" didn't mention any departures from Washington area airports. But the section called "Hot Spots -- Most Requested Cities" listed good availability for summer travel out of Washington to 14 destinations, including Honolulu, San Francisco and Tortola.

US Airways also lists travel award suggestions at its Web site ( http://www.usairways.com/ ; click on Dividend Miles). The site is now showing, for example, award ticket availability every day in May for Glasgow, Scotland, and Frankfurt, Germany. At Continental's Web site ( http://www.continental.com/ ), after you pick an award destination, a calendar shows dates when tickets are most likely to be available.

· Part with more miles. No one wants to use more miles than necessary to get a seat, but if you have extra miles, using them can open up award ticket inventory exponentially. Most airlines require about 25,000 miles for a regular domestic award ticket, and those tickets have strict inventory control. All airlines also have award tickets by various names that require you to spend about twice as many miles. The upside: little or no inventory control, meaning that if a seat is open, you can probably get it for miles.

If no economy seats are available for miles, you might find a business-class seat for miles. Again, the number of miles needed increases; for a round trip, it could as much as double. However, keep in mind that most airlines allow you to split a reservation so you can fly for the fewest number of miles one way if a low-mileage seat is available and pay the extra miles for just the other way.

· Use miles for other expenses. If you can't find an award ticket, consider rearranging your budget: Buy the airline ticket and use the miles to cover the hotel and car rental. Airlines have so many partners these days that using miles for other travel expenses is ever more possible. Increasingly, airlines are also offering non-travel products for miles. So if you plan to buy a television and take a trip, maybe you'll do as well using miles for a TV and buying the plane ticket. Be wary, though, and consider the value of what you're getting for your miles to make sure it's a fair exchange.

· Stay informed. You can make a science of earning and redeeming miles, or simply find more and better ways to earn and redeem, with a simple check now and then. The Web site of your preferred carrier will carry news of special deals, both for earning and redeeming. For example, American this month is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its frequent-flier program with a 25 percent reduction in the number of miles needed for an award ticket.

Frequent-flier Web sites such as FrequentFlier.com and InsideFlyer.com update readers on deals at all the airlines. Even reading your credit card statement might alert you to a special. At least once a year, for example, credit cards aligned with Northwest alert passengers to award tickets requiring fewer miles than usual.

Just don't get obsessive-compulsive about it. Sometimes that frequent-flier energy can be better spent playing the stock market, or helping your spouse around the house.

-- Cindy Loose