also called points and miles · frequent flyer miles · airmiles
Loyalty currencies earned from flying, spending or transfers that can be redeemed for travel.
Miles and points are loyalty currencies you earn from flying, spending, or transferring, and later redeem for travel. For someone constantly on the move they can turn everyday spending into flights, which is a real advantage. But their value is not fixed: airlines can devalue them, so points you were saving can quietly buy less than they used to.
You bank a stash of points meaning to cash them in for a big flight later. Before you book, the airline changes its rates, and the trip you were saving for now costs more points than you have, with nothing you can do about the shift.
For frequent movers they turn everyday spend into flights, but their value swings with airline devaluations.
The difference is the whole point, so here is each one in a line.
Elite status is a tier earned by flying that unlocks lounges, upgrades and priority, and a status match is persuading one airline to grant it because a rival already did.
Miles and points are the loyalty currency you redeem for travel, transferable points are the flexible bank or card version you can move between programs, and devaluation is when a program quietly raises the miles a reward costs, shrinking what your balance is worth.
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