Many fliers signed up for frequent flier programs. Those signees’ numbers have bee increasing over the years. For instance, a number of AAdvantage members jumped from 300,000 in 1981 (during which American Airlines launched the world’s first frequent flier program) to 70 million in 2014.  Despite the growing popularity of the frequent flier program, we often missed the opportunity to fully exploit the benefits provided by that program. Some of those benefits include: seat upgrades, priority boarding, free tickets, and access to the airport’s VIP lounges. One of the common reasons for missing the benefit opportunities is a lack of understanding about the complicated, non-uniform rules which may differ from one airline to another. So, we should be aware of the following rules that can easily confuse some frequent fliers.

• So-called revenue-based loyalty programs begin to award miles according to ticket price instead of pure travel distance. This means that simply racking up miles would not help you earn the elite status.
• Some credit cards such as Citi ThankYou Rewards allow you to accrue miles/points with multiple carriers and thus transfer miles into a variety of frequent flier programs.
• Cross-over reward programs will allow you to enjoy perks (e.g., late check-out, room upgrades, complimentary in-room Internet access) for lodging, when the hotel and the airline have alliances for that program. For example, Starwood hotels and Delta have such alliances.

The Huffington Post’ top five frequent flier programs in 2017 (visit http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/best-frequent-flyer-programs_us_58813b42e4b096b4a230cf02) are:

1. Delta
2. Alaska
3. Hawaiian
4. United
5. American

Top ten airline reward programs listed by U.S. News and World Report (visit http://travel.usnews.com/rankings/travel-rewards/airline-rewards/) are:

1. Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
2. JetBlue TrueBlue program
3. Southwest Rapid Rewards program
4. Delta SkyMiles program
5. Virgin America Elevate program
6. United MileagePlus program
7. American Airlines AAdvantge program
8. HawaiianMiles rewards program
9. Frontier EarlyReturns program
10. Free Spirit frequent program

Also, Holly Johnson of the Simple Dollar (visit http://www.thesimpledollar.com/best-frequent-flyer-programs/) recommended the following four programs that allow you to amass points based on credit card spending.

• Southwest Rapid Rewards – Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card
• Delta SkyMiles – Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express
• British Airways Avios – British Airways Visa Signature® Card
• United – United MileagePlus® Explorer Card

For other highly rated credit cards with the frequent flier reward, visit http://www.cardrates.com/reviews/air-miles/?utm_source=Adwords&utm_medium=PPC&utm_campaign=CR1Exact&utm_content=FlyerMilesCC&adid=169920471769&utm_term=frequent%20flyer%20programs&match=e&referrer=Google&network=g&device=c&query=unknown&gclid=CILq0Lu149ICFR1XDQodiwcOTw .

With the growing presence of U.S. businesses in other countries, you may be relocated to the unfamiliar territory with a new job duty and lifestyle. To ease the stress of living overseas, you need to create the wisdom of yours based on the following advice given by some former expats.

• Speak the local language as much as you can, even if you are not 100% confident in your language skills. Since locals respect your effort to speak their language, you can make some local friends quickly and learn from them about the local life.
• Find shared accommodation (not necessarily in a single room, but in the same house/apartment), if you are alone. Roommates can help you improve your local language skills and can set you up with a local bank account, phone/internet installation, and so forth, while showing you some cool spots and exposing you to local cultural nuances.
• Be yourself and celebrate the differences and similarities in cultures rather than trying to blend in local cultures too hard.
• Be aware of different local environments (e.g., health care, educational system, local taxes, safety, crime rate, different rules/customs) instead of behaving as if you are still in your home country.  For instance, in Brazil, its crime rate is relatively high, it is politically unstable, and school options are limited. In Egypt, you should understand that its high pollution, dodgy medical care, lousy economy, and safety can turn you off. In middle-eastern countries such as Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, they are unfriendly to female expats. In New Zealand, it is relatively tough to make local friends. In Italy, taxes are relatively high. On the other hand, Taiwan, Malta, and Ecuador are generally well-received by expats due to their welcoming environments and quality of life.
• Stay in touch with the former expats that you became close friends with. You may pick up some wisdom from their experiences.
• Hire a local realtor to buy and sell local properties, since he/she is more familiar with local laws, property value, finances, and real estate markets. For example, it is customary for you to pay the whole amount for buying a house/condo in South Korea. In that country, monthly rental options are very limited (especially Seoul).
• For other details, visit http://www.transitionsabroad.com/listings/living/resources/expatriatewebsites.shtml.