Miles on Sale

[Baysider]

So can my father/mother purchase miles in their account with my credit card and then with those miles book an award flight for me using my credit card?

I really do not understand the restriction mentioned above that the credit card needs to be in the name of the account holder. Some people do not have credit cards....

If the card is not in the same name as the AAdvantage account you would be put into the category of gifting miles to somebody else. Gifting doesn't always have the same offers as purchasing for yourself.

 

[dfcatch]

It is not easy trying to piece all the dots together.

So can my father/mother purchase miles in their account with my credit card and then with those miles book an award flight for me using my credit card?

I really do not understand the restriction mentioned above that the credit card needs to be in the name of the account holder. Some people do not have credit cards....

Serfty worded the policy better than I did. You can use your miles for anyone. Or in your example John - your father/mother could use their miles to book an AAward flight for you.

The CC restriction was explained to me by an AAgent..."When the person traveling is not the AAdvantage member, then they require the CC used to pay the fees/taxes to be in the name of the AAdvantage member whose miles are being redeemed". This is apparently an anti-fraud measure.

Eg. If your father is redeeming a flight for you - his CC will need to be used.

If your father is redeeming a flight for himself, then any CC can be used.

Hope that makes more sense.

 

[openseat]

HEADS UP - 30% discount coming on 24 May

This may be relevant if anyone is trying to make the dash to million miler status (whatever level) before the changes that look like being introduced on 1 June.
It could be of interest for those who just wish to buy the miles.

The British AA site has on its Aadvantage 30 year celebration page a reference to AA miles being sold at a 30% discount from 24 May to 27 May.

http://www.americanairlines.co.uk/i18n/AAdvantage/AAdvantage30.jsp&locale=en_GB# - you may have to click on the Buy AA Miles button to get the details to show.

It could be combined with the ability to receive up to 100,000 miles by the end of May. Though you can only transfer 25,000 miles at a time at a cost of $250.00 per 25,000 miles transfer.

Things To Know
Pricing # of miles cost 1,000-5,000 $50.00 6,000-10,000 $100.00 11,000-15,000 $150.00 16,000-20,000 $200.00 21,000-25,000 $250.00
Prices listed above are in U.S. dollars and do not include $30 per transaction processing charge.
Timing
Please allow 3 business days for the shared miles to post to the recipient's account.
Limits For a limited time, members can transfer and receive up to 25,000 miles per transaction and up to 100,000 per account, per calendar year.

You would be effectively adding one cent per mile to make the transfer, so on a purchase of 40,000 miles the shared miles would be costing 2.96 cents (US) per mile
Overall if you were trying to get gifted the 100,000 miles on top of 40,000 purchased would give an average of 2.67 cents (US) each.

That would give you enough miles for 8 one way trips in business anywhere in Australia/New Zealand at the cost of USD467.95 each trip (though taxes would be extra and if the ATI between QF and AA is approved, there may be fuel fines added á la AA-BA-IB ATI.)

Of course, the cost may be further offset if you are simply trying to make Lifetime Gold (1mm) or Plat (1mm) as well as the SWUs.

 

[futaris]

Re: HEADS UP - 30% discount coming on 24 May

https://buy.points.com/AAdvantage/init.do?method=buy&PROMOCODE=AABuy30thMay11

 

[benhadi]

I;ve looked everywhere, but I can't find anything that says you can share up to 100,000 miles until end of May. ONly says max of 40,000 per calendar year. Has the promo come and gone or am I just not able to find the exact page?

 

[Hvr]

And if you're not currently a member you can join via this link and get 500 free miles.

Oh and guess who purchased 40,000 miles yesterday for US$800 plus taxes etc?

 

[NM]

And if you're not currently a member you can join via this link and get 500 free miles.

Oh and guess who purchased 40,000 miles yesterday for US$800 plus taxes etc?

And when you compare the cost ($800 or so) to the burn value (a business class return anywhere in Australia/NZ with some change -costs 35000 miles), its not bad value.

 

[NSWhere]

Does anyone know when AA refers to the 'wholly within country' awards and lists Australia/NZ, does this mean Australia or NZ or wholly within Australia and/or NZ. Im in Perth and ~$800 for a return to Auckland in business sounds pretty great!

 

[futaris]

Yes. You can do PER-SYD-AKL oneway or similar on QANTAS in Economy for 10,000 AA miles, or Business for 17,500 AA miles.

NB, you can't use the LAN SYD-AKL flight on this award.

 

[NSWhere]

Thanks as usual for your insight gurus!

 

[futaris]

https://secure.fly.aa.com/30promo/index.aspx?cc=8&anchorLocation=DirectURL&title=aadvantage30th

Earn Triple Miles for Charitable Donations
For a limited time, earn triple AAdvantage® miles when you donate to American's Miles for the Cure® campaign, which supports Susan G. Komen for the Cure® or to American’s Miles In Support of All Who Serve campaign, which supports USO programs. Donate now to earn 30 miles per $1 donated

Just in case you need to top up a little more... 1167 USD for 35k AA miles, and a return AU/NZ trip.

 

[JohnK]

Oh and guess who purchased 40,000 miles yesterday for US$800 plus taxes etc?

Why is that sad?

If you purchase 40,000 miles under this promotion is this deemed as reaching you yearly limit? I don't have a pressing need for miles right now but if I was to buy 40,000 miles then it would be nice to receive bonus miles with the purchase instead of a discount.

Patiently waiting for a bonus miles promotion....

 

[Hvr]

The reason for sadness is because if I had waited another 24 hours I would've saved US$100 when buying the points.

 

[JohnK]

Aahhh! Sorry about that.

Still a good deal as it is enough for a one-way to Asia in business class.

 

[Alanslegal]

I am looking at a Male to Sydney award and the award chart says 45K in J. The question is ..... how do I route this in the most direct way? I would be guessing it would be verrrrrrry far fetched to say I could possbly book MLE-LON-SYD for 45K

 

[futaris]

Even though BA is the only Oneworld airline / AA partner that flies to MLE, I doubt they'd let you do that.

You could probably do SYD-SIN-BOM-CMB or SYD-HKG-CMB and then buy a separate airfare cheaply (return circa ~300 AUD or 9500 Emirates Miles + ~30 AUD) from CMB-MLE. NB, CMB is in Asia 2, so slightly cheaper than Indian Subcontintent.

Musings of The Global Traveller: How to get to | Maldives

 

[auriga]

I am looking at a Male to Sydney award and the award chart says 45K in J. The question is ..... how do I route this in the most direct way? I would be guessing it would be verrrrrrry far fetched to say I could possbly book MLE-LON-SYD for 45K

I think they have a thing about not being able to transit a third zone, with a few listed exceptions.

 

[Alanslegal]

I think they have a thing about not being able to transit a third zone, with a few listed exceptions.

I finally got around to reading AA lesson 101 and that's correct.

Also thanks futaris for those suggestions. I am already booked with SQ SIN-MLE-SIN so all is good, until I find something better

 

[tinkybelle]

I bought 2 lots of the 40k ( diff accounts) with the 30% bonus for just under $800US
but apparently the sales did not go thru
so they have to do manually
did anyone else have that happen?

 

[Alanslegal]

It's a 30% discount in cost and applied at points purchase. I do not think it is an additional 30% in bonus miles.