Once you have enough points saved up, you can exchange them for air miles. You can redeem them online, over the phone, or with whatever specific method stated by the credit card provider. Airlines have different conversion rates from banks, so make sure to take that into account before choosing your credit card.
Take note that the number of air miles you have does not equal the number of miles that you get to fly for free. One example of this difference is the economy and business classes. An economy flight may cost 15,000 air miles, while a business flight of the same duration would cost 100,000.
You can also use air miles to upgrade your flight class. If you’ve already booked a flight, you can choose to pay the economy price and then use your air miles to upgrade it to business or first class. This will typically cost up to 50,000 air miles.
You can even redeem points for someone else if you want. This can save some air miles. Instead of buying a class upgrade for yourself at 120,000 air miles, you can buy it for your companion at just 75,000.
On top of all this, air miles can also be used to redeem things other than flights. You can use them to acquire certain items that are available, get discounts at select restaurants, and so much more. You can only do this if your air miles reward program works that way.