Questions and Answers

Hi Everyone,
So I just got through reading the crash course on taking on this hobby and as overwhelming as it may seem I am ready to take the plunge.
A few years ago I traveled quite a bit for work so I signed up for many airline reward programs (FlyingBlue, Miles&More, etc.) but I was paying for flights with company card so any miles/points I accumulated flying the company kept (womp, womp).
I have a few reward credit cards as it is but I am definitely not utilizing them as I should be. I am definitely going to call AMEX to see if I can change cards and bring my current points over and the same with my Chase card.
My goal is to travel, preferably in business/first class and abroad. It has always held me back that I didn’t have the time or money to do either but now I do.
2 questions that I have for people who have been in this “game” for a while is:
1-How long once you started were you able benefit from the perks?
2-I am obsessed with the YouTube videos of everyone’s experience in business/first class specifically the lounges. This might sound foolish but how do you go about finding getting to the lounges especially if the airline you are flying isn’t the lounge. For example I watched a video of someone flying Virgin (I think) and they used the Etihad lounge, or is any lounge available to you in the airport as long as you have the ticket?

Thanks everyone for humoring a first timer, maybe we’ll meet in the air.

1) It depends, but it can be within 1 month if you sign up, meet the spend immediately (and, before the statement closes) and then book close to then. More realistically, it’s usually ~3-4+ months after starting before your first flight.

2) It depends (Sensing a trend?? haha). Some cards give you a Priority Pass membership which is a network of ~1,000 lounges that you have access too. If you’re flying First or Business you typically have access to a lounge associated with the airline you’re traveling. If you’re flying First or Business and the airline you’re flying doesn’t have a lounge in the airport you’re flying they usually partner with another airline to give you access to that lounge. For instance, when we flew Cathay Pacific First Class ORD – HKG, we got access to the British Airways lounge in Chicago because Cathay doesn’t have a lounge there.

Are you sure the company kept the miles or perhaps your FF number was not on the reservations? My wife has airline tickets direct billed to the company CC, but always gets the miles from the flights. Maybe your company used a consolidator or something, but I always understood that the butt in the seat gets the miles. You should check and see if you can get credit for some of those flights.