Glossary
Historical Reference Only: This post was last fully updated over 12 months ago, please use this for archival reference only. Information may be out of date.
Below are some of the less obvious abbreviations I may use on this site. Please let me know if I missed any terms that could cause confusion.
- AA: American Airlines AAdvantage (member of Oneworld Alliance)
- AF: Air France’s Flying Blue (linked with KLM, member of Skyteam alliance)
- AMEX: American Express Membership Rewards (see MR)
- BA: British Airways (member of Oneworld Alliance)
- CO: Continental Airlines (merged with United Airlines, member of Star Alliance)
- DL: Delta (member of Skyteam alliance)
- FTF: Foreign Transaction Fee (most USA cards charge around 3% for the “privilidge” of using your card in EITHER a foreign currency or foreign country (even in the case when a travel agent or website operating in the US in US dollars uses a processor outside the US without your knowledge); if you are leaving the US, make sure to take a “No FTF” card
- HHonors or HH: Hilton HHonors (includes Waldorf Astoria, Doubletree, Embassy Suites, Hampton Inn among other flags)
- k: thousand
- KLM: KLM Royal Dutch Airlines’s Flying Blue (linked with Air France, member of Skyteam alliance)
- MR: American Express Membership Rewards (MR Points transfer to Delta, British Airways, Jet Blue, Continental, El Al, KLM/Air France and various other domestic and international airlines, they also transfer to hotels, but usually at conversion rates that don’t make sense, e.g., )
- SPG: Starwood Preferred Guest (includes Westin, W, Le Meridien, Sheraton, St. Regis among other flags)
- UA: United Airlines (merged with Continental Airlines, member of Star Alliance)
- USAir: US Airways (member of Star Alliance)