Ask Randy: Getting frequent-flier points with credit cards

— -- These are tumultuous times for frequent fliers, as struggling airlines continue to add new fees and restrictions to their loyalty programs. So we've invited frequent-flier expert Randy Petersen to take your queries and offer advice on how to make the most of your miles. Here are some recent queries; join him in his ongoing forum to post one of your own or help answer a question from a fellow reader.

ReaderBigGeorge: Randy, I have about 14,000 old miles in NW's WorldPerks. The account is inactive but occasionally they send me an update showing that those miles do indeed exist for me to use in their system. I also have an active Skymiles account with Delta that grows about 2,000 miles a month primarily through grocery, gasoline and other purchases on the AmExp card. My question is this: after the merger of Delta and NW is completed do you forsee an opportunity for my old Worldperks miles to be converted into Skymiles in my Delta account? Thanks in advance for your answer.

Randy Petersen:BigGeorge: If your 14,000 WorldPerks miles don't end up as Delta SkyMiles if and when they merge (and as of now, there seems to be no roadblocks to that effort), I will personally "gift" 14,000 of my own SkyMiles into your account — that's just how sure I am of this and of course I have the world (and USA Today) as witnesses to this.

I stay in good contact with both programs and there has never been anything but that for the plan.

NOW, having said that, let's be clear, you need to really make sure those miles stay active since they could expire on you. Here's what I'd do (and provide this as advice to any other frequent flyer who may have somewhat dormant miles on either side of this merger). Click on over to e-miles.com. It is a nice little program that will award you bonus miles with either Northwest WorldPerks or Delta SkyMiles just for looking at an online advertisement. It won't take up much of your times, minutes in fact, and allows you a very safe way to add a few frequent flyer miles to either account, which will post in the following quarter of your activity, so doing so now (by end of September) means they will post by years end — thus providing you with activity in either program to keep the miles alive until this merger takes place.