A nifty use for frequent flier miles

Space travel.

Alan Watts will be among the first 1,000 persons to travel to space when he flies in 2009, the airline said yesterday. He earned the 2 million air miles required to make the trip by taking more than 30 Virgin Atlantic flights in his role as managing director of an electrical engineering firm.

The 51-year-old will travel with Virgin Galactic, a space tourism company set up by British billionaire Richard Branson, who also owns the airline. The first space trips will cost $200,000, and test flights are scheduled for early next year.