Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 479, Using Frequent Flyer Miles.
This is English as a Second Language podcast number 479.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
Our website is eslpod.com.
Go there to download a learning guide for this episode that contains all of the vocabulary definitions, sample sentences, additional definitions, comprehension questions, cultural notes and a complete transcript of this episode.
This episode is called Using Frequent Flyer Miles.
These are special bonuses or awards that airlines give you for flying on their airplanes.
It's a dialogue between Anne and Juergen, using some vocabulary we use to talk about this special program.
Let's get started.
I was in Chicago for a long weekend.
Chicago, I didn't know you were planning a trip.
I thought you were pretty strapped this month.
A ticket to Chicago would set you back at least $300.
I am pretty strapped, but I wanted to go to my friend Rachel's wedding.
I was able to use my frequent flyer miles to get a ticket.
I was lucky that those weren't blackout dates.
Oh, that explains it.
You've been traveling a lot using your frequent flyer miles.
How do you rack up so many miles?
I'm enrolled in the frequent flyer programs of three different airlines, but I never seem to have enough miles to redeem them for a ticket or even an upgrade.
The trick is to get a credit card that gives you miles.
For every dollar I charge on my credit card I get one mile.
Since I use my credit card for a lot of business purchases the miles add up pretty quickly.
I also use a lot of the hotels and restaurants that partner with the airlines, and doing that gives me bonus miles.
Aren't there a lot of restrictions?
Do you ever have problems redeeming the miles?
Yeah, there are some restrictions, but I work around them.
There are fewer restrictions if you have elite status, but I'm a long way from that.
So I need to get a credit card that gives me frequent flyer miles.
Yeah, but a word to the wise, spend carefully.
You don't want to rack up credit card debt for the sake of racking up frequent flyer miles.
Point taken.
Thanks for the tip.
Anne begins our dialogue by asking, Where were you this past weekend?
I tried calling you on Friday to see if you wanted to go to the movies with me.
Juergen explains, I was in Chicago for a long weekend.
A long weekend is usually a period of three days, maybe four days Friday Saturday Sunday, Monday or Thursday Friday Saturday, Sunday.
Americans like to have their holidays on a Monday.
That gives them a long weekend.
They get Saturday, Sunday, and Monday to rest from work.
So Juergen was in Chicago.
That's why he couldn't go with Anne to the movies last weekend.
Anne says, Chicago, I didn't know you were planning a trip.
I thought you were pretty strapped this month.
To be strapped, S-T-R-A-P-P-E-D, means to not have any money, to have very little money.
We might also say to be broke.
Strap has several meanings in English.
Take a look at our learning guide for some additional explanations.
Ann says a ticket to Chicago would set you back at least $300.
To set someone back means that it costs a certain amount of money.
It's the amount of money you have to pay.
It's sort of an odd expression.
For example, this computer set me back...
That means the computer cost $1,000.
We usually use this expression when we are trying to indicate that it's a lot of money.
After I gave her the necklace, of course, she broke up with me and kept the necklace.
The lesson here is be careful before giving your girlfriend expensive jewelry.
Ann says that a ticket to Chicago would set you back at least $300.00.
Jurgen says, I am pretty strapped, but I wanted to go to my friend Rachel's wedding.
I was able to use my frequent flyer miles to get a ticket.
Frequent means often.
Flyer is somebody who flies in an airplane, in this case.
A frequent flyer is someone who uses airplanes a lot, who travels a lot.
Many airline companies, many airlines, have special programs where you can earn what they call miles points for each trip that you take.
And the more trips you take, the more miles you get.
Eventually, if you get 20,000 or 30,000 miles, you can get a free trip.
So Juergen is saying that he had flown a lot before.
He had these frequent flyer miles, sort of like a coupon, that he could use to get a ticket for free to Chicago.
Juergen says, I was lucky that those weren't blackout dates.
In most airline programs, they give you these miles that you can redeem or use to get a ticket.
However, there are certain days that they will not allow you to use your frequent flyer miles.
Usually these are around holidays when everyone wants to fly.
It's very popular.
So you can't use your miles on very popular days.
Blackout is when you are not allowed to do something or see something.
Blackout dates are dates that you can't use your frequent flyer mile coupons.
A blackout can also mean when there is no power.
For example, the electricity goes out in your house and it goes out in the entire city.
That would be called a blackout.
Blackout can also mean if you've drunk too much and you don't remember what happened yesterday, why you were drinking.
This doesn't happen to me frequently.
Ann says, oh, that explains it.
That explains why you were able to go to Chicago.
She says, you've been traveling a lot using your frequent flyer miles.
How do you rack up so many miles?
To rack up is a two-word phrasal verb meaning to get a lot of something, usually by adding a little bit at a time over a long period of time.
For example, if you have a library book that you don't return on time and you do this for several months.
You borrow the book and then you don't return it, the library charges you a fine, a fee, a penalty.
You have to pay.
You could say, I've racked up $1,000 in library fines.
Another word would be accumulated.
So Anne is asking Juergen how he racked up, how he accumulated so many miles.
She says, I'm enrolled in the frequent flyer programs of three different airlines.
To be enrolled means that you are participating in something.
You sign up or register for something and you are part of that program.
We often use this verb in talking about going to college.
I'm enrolled at the university.
I am a student, and I am going to classes at the university.
Anne says that she never seems to have enough miles to redeem them for a ticket or even an upgrade.
To redeem means to give something in exchange for something else usually points or coupons, something that is worth money, that you can give in order to get something back.
In this case, you are redeeming your frequent flyer miles to get a ticket on that airline.
An upgrade is an increase or an improvement from one thing or one level to another thing or another level.
With frequent fly or mile programs.
You can sometimes buy a ticket for a certain seat and then upgrade to a higher class, a better seat, a business class or a first class seat.
Airplanes have what they call economy seats.
These are the cheap seats.
They're also called coach, C-O-A-C-H seats.
And then they have the bigger, nicer, roomier seats that are business class and first class.
So an upgrade would be going from, for example, a coach class ticket to a first class ticket.
Juergen says, the trick or the special way to do this is is to get a credit card that gives you miles.
For every dollar I charge on my credit card, I get one mile.
Since I use my credit card for a lot of business purchases, the miles add up pretty quickly.
To add up means to increase your It's similar to rack up.
To add up means things get bigger and bigger, usually slowly over time.
So what Juergen is saying here is that many airlines have agreements or partnerships with credit card companies.
When you use your credit card, you get... one mile usually for every dollar that you spend.
And since Juergen uses his credit card for business expenses, he has a lot of expenses on his credit card, a lot of charges, and he gets miles for all of those.
This is a very popular program.
I do this with my credit card.
I get miles for every time I buy something on my credit card.
Of course, you still have to pay for it.
It's not free.
Juergen says, To partner as a verb with someone means to cooperate, to work closely with someone.
Again, there are restaurants that partner or work with the airline companies and they will give you miles for every dollar that you spend at their restaurant.
To get bonus miles means to get extra or additional miles.
Bonus has a couple of different meanings.
Take a look at our learning guide for some additional explanations.
Ann asks Juergen, aren't there a lot of restrictions?
Restrictions are limitations, things that you are not allowed to do.
She says, do you ever have problems redeeming the miles?
Juergen says, yeah, there are some restrictions, but I work around them.
Juergen says there are fewer restrictions if you have elite status.
Elite status is a very high level in a program where you get a lot of additional benefits, a lot of additional things.
The frequent flyer programs have different levels of membership.
If you fly a lot, for example...
100000 miles a year.
You will often be put into a higher category in the program and you will get more from the program.
Ann says, so I need to get a credit card that gives me frequent flyer miles.
Juergen says, yeah, but a word to the wise.
The expression, a word to the wise, is means that you are going to give the person some advice.
Here is some advice.
He says a word to the wise, spend carefully.
You don't want to rack up credit card debt for the sake of racking up frequent flyer miles.
Once again, that verb to rack up, to accumulate, to get a lot of.
He's saying you don't want to get a lot of credit card debt money you owe to the bank just so that you can get more frequent flyer miles.
For the sake of means in order to.
Finally, Ann says point taken.
Point taken is an expression that we use to mean I understand everything.
Point taken, she says.
Thanks for the tip.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
I was in Chicago for a long weekend.
Chicago?
I didn't know you were planning a trip.
I thought you were pretty strapped this month.
My ticket to Chicago would set you back at least $300.
I am pretty strapped, but I wanted to go to my friend Rachel's wedding.
I was able to use my frequent flyer miles to get a ticket.
I was lucky that those weren't blackout dates.
Oh, that explains it.
You've been traveling a lot using your frequent flyer miles.
How do you rack up so many miles?
I'm enrolled in the frequent flyer programs of three different airlines, but I never seem to have enough miles to redeem them for a ticket or even an upgrade.
The trick is to get a credit card that gives you miles.
For every dollar I charge on my credit card, I get one mile.
Since I use my credit card for a lot of business purchases, the miles add up pretty quickly.
I also use a lot of the hotels and restaurants that partner with the airlines, and doing that gives me bonus miles.
Aren't there a lot of restrictions?
Do you ever have problems redeeming the miles?
Yeah, there are some restrictions, but I work around them.
There are fewer restrictions if you have elite status, but I'm a long way from that.
So I need to get a credit card that gives me frequent flyer miles.
Yeah, but a word to the wise, spend carefully.
You don't want to rack up credit card debt for the sake of racking up frequent flyer miles.
Point taken.
Thanks for the tip.
If we had an elite status for scriptwriters, the writer of this episode, Dr Lucy Say, would certainly be in that category.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us next time on ESL Podcast.
English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
Copyright 2009 by the Center for Educational Development.
