In case it's of interest/use I am posting some comments I wrote to some friends about this promo.
Why?
This promo is a cheap way of getting USAir miles, cheaper than the 100% bonus buy promos that USAir runs every few months. Normally sharing miles is not a good idea as you are just paying a fee to move miles you already have from one account to another, there is no net increase in miles. However when there is a 100% bonus the recipient account gets double the number of transferred miles. For example account A transfers(shares) 50K miles to B who gets 100K miles. The net increase in miles is 50k (i.e. A is down 50K and B is up 100K). This net increase in miles costs US$500 plus 7.5% tax and US$30 processing fee, in total US$567.50 i.e. US$11.35 per 1K.
How?
You need at least two accounts and some miles in at least one account to start the sharing process. An account needs to be open 12 days before it can buy, gift or share miles and this promo only lasts until 15 October so if you need a new account(s) for this process join up family and friends now!
The simplest share is as above: A shares 50K to B and B receives 100K, A is down 50K and B is up 100K.
A reciprocal share would be A sharing 50K to B (A is now down 50K and B is up 100K). Then B then shares 50K back to B (A is now up 100K and B is down 50K). The net result is each account is up 50K.
Another way of increasing miles in two accounts is to use a third account. For example A shares 50K to C (A is down 50K and C is up 100K). C then shares 50K back to A (C is down 50K and A is up 100K). C also shares 50K back to B (C is down 50K and B is up 100K). The net result is A is up 50K, B is up 100K and C is no change.
These examples assume that there is an account with at least 50K miles to start the sharing process. The process can be done with less than 50K, for example if A has 25K and shares all to B, B now has 50K and can share all back to A who now has 100K (a net increase of 75K).
The process varies according to the number of miles and accounts that are available and the number of accounts in which you want to increase the miles.
What if no miles to start?
If you don't have any miles then you can buy some miles at full price in one account and then share, increasing each time. The difficulty with this is the time taken for each transaction. Some times these transactions can be instant but sometimes they can take up to a couple of days and if any of the accounts have only just been opened than you need to wait 12 days. The smaller amount of miles purchased the more transfers that need to be done.
For example starting with three accounts with no miles A buys 13K at full price, A then shares the 13K to C who receives 26K, C shares the 26K back to B who now has 52K, B then shares 50K to A who has 100K (and B has a residual 2K). The cost of these miles is still less than the purchase of miles with a 100% bonus. You can bring the cost down by starting with a smaller purchase but you will need to make more transfers and you might run out of time.
If your aim is to get maximum miles into two accounts then for example starting with five accounts with no miles A buys 13K at full price, A shares the 13K to C who receives 26K, C shares the 26K to D who receives 52K, D shares 50K to E who receives 100K, E then shares 50K back to A and 50K back to B. The net result is A and B have 100K each and D has a residual 2K.
Of course it helps if you know (or can find) someone with 50K in an account who is willing to share with you. You will then have 100K which you can use 50K to repay by sharing back and the other 50K can start your sharing with other accounts of family or friends.
There are numerous possibilities - the main things to remember are:
• accounts need to be open 12 days to buy, gift or share miles
• the maximum bonus miles an account can receive under this promotion is 50K
• the maximum miles that can be gained by an account in this promotion is 100K (assumes that account receives a share of 50K with 50K bonus and does not share out any miles)
• usually miles post instantly but sometimes they can take a few days
• the transfers are done by points.com who sometimes put a block on or reject credit cards if they detect the card being used in a number of transactions, be prepared to have alternative cards ready.
