In this article I will discuss the FAA Wings Program.
You may or may not have heard of it before. It is a program developed by the FAA with industry partners, like AOPA and aims to make pilots and thereby general aviation safer through continuing education.

First off, let me say that I think it is an awesome program which really helps pilots to stay on top of things.

What it does is to basically credit you for flight activities (for example checkrides), seminars you visit or online courses you can take (there are really good ones made by AOPA, more info below).

With those credits you can reach Wings Levels and even qualify for substituting a biannual Flight Review.

Here are some of the Advantages:

For pilots who do not fly very often, the minimum of 1 hour of ground and 1 hour of flight instruction every 2 years during a Flight Review is typically not sufficient.

If you are ever involved in an FAA action, being an active participant in the Wings program will work in your favor. It shows the FAA that you are a concerned about safety and your own proficiency.

Some insurance carriers give discounts on their rates for pilots that are active participants in the Wings program.

You get a set of wings from the FAA each time you advance to a new level. The only way to obtain these wings is to earn them.

Completing a Wings level satisfies the requirement for a flight review, this is documented in FAR 61.56 (e).

You can find the AOPA Online Courses over here.

Most of them take between 30 and 60 minutes to complete and are really nice to do. They are for the most part animated and give you good Insights.

There are even more Online Courses and a full list of all activities that can be accredited towards the Wings Program on the Homepage of the FAAST (the FAA Safety Team) which is located here.