Are you tired of hearing about other people booking free flights? Here is a confusion-free guide to joining the Air Miles Club

Do you know your KrisFlyer miles from your Enrich Points? Or your MileagePlus from your Skywards Miles, Membership Rewards, Avios and Virgin Points?

Understanding air miles – “points” that can be spent on flights and other services offered by airlines – can be a headache.

Each airline seems to have its own rules and method for redeeming points. Some, but not all, airlines allow points to be transferred to other airlines.

In addition, air miles earned by one airline may have a higher redemption value than those earned by others.

So here’s our simple guide:

Step one: Get your head around it

Air miles can also be described as loyalty points. When purchasing a flight – or any other product explained below – you can collect these air miles/points. Later they can be used for money on flights or sometimes for the entire cost of flights.

But you do need to sign up for an airline’s “loyalty program,” also known as a “rewards program.”

If you join one airline, it is usually linked to other airlines as part of a ‘loyalty network’, which makes collecting air miles/points easier.

Step two: Sign on the dotted line

The most useful airline rewards programs in Britain are British Airways’ Executive Club (for collecting Avios points) and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club (for Virgin Points).

To start your Air Miles/Points adventure, sign up for both at britishhairways.com/executive-club And travelplus.virginatlantic.com/flying-club/join.

These two are useful because British Airways allows you to earn air miles when you buy tickets from other Oneworld Alliance members, including American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Malaysia Airlines and Qatar Airways, among others.

Meanwhile, Virgin Atlantic is linked to the other SkyTeam members, including Air France, Delta, KLM, Korean Air, Garuda Indonesia and several others.

Step Three: Use your membership

When purchasing flights, please provide your membership number, if applicable for the BA Executive Club (for BA and other Oneworld Alliance members) or the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club (for Virgin Atlantic and other SkyTeam members).

Air Miles will accrue and can be redeemed for use on future flights.

Step four: Get a credit card

Credit cards are a surefire way to rack up airline miles/points – without even taking a flight.

There are two types of cards.

The first is a co-branded credit card that earns airline miles that can be redeemed specifically for a single airline or group of airlines.

Then you have credit cards that earn their own ‘points’ which can then be converted into airline miles.

There are a total of ten credit cards that can help you earn airline miles in the UK. Check out our overview to see what benefits they offer.

Of these, the American Express Platinum Card is the best for frequent flyers, with benefits such as unlimited lounge access and comprehensive travel insurance.

For those who make two or three round trips per year, the American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card may be a better fit. For people new to the air miles/points world, and for those who don’t want to pay an annual fee, the Nectar Credit Card offers great benefits and excellent earning potential.

Step five: Receive shopping points

Both the BA Executive Club and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club have sections on their websites that essentially act as ‘shopping centres’ – and if you buy items through the stores in these shopping centres, you can earn airline miles.

For example, if you’re considering buying a new Apple Watch, instead of going to Apple’s website, log in to the shopping portal of your choice (BA’s eStore or Virgin’s Shops Away) with your frequent flyer credentials. Once you are logged in, simply click on the Apple icon. You will then be taken to Apple’s website where you can make your purchase as normal. For just those few extra clicks, you can earn more than 20x Avios or Virgin points per €1 spent in some cases, depending on the brand.

Step Six: Grocery Rewards

If you’ve signed up for a Clubcard with Tesco or are using a Nectar Card with Sainsbury’s, you can also collect air miles/points.

You can choose to have your Tesco Clubcard Points automatically converted into Virgin Points. Meanwhile, Sainsbury’s Nectar Card points can be converted into British Airways Avios points.

Nectar cards are especially good because users often get bonus nectar points at certain times of the year, which can really add up.

• Daniel Ross is an aviation expert.