US Dividend Miles Buy/Gift Miles 100% bonus - Cheap way for F/J *A Awards

[bcworld]

Just spotted on FT...US has increased the cost to buy miles from 2.75c to 3.5c...a 25%+ increase!

Effective now.

 

[lmere12]

Just spotted on FT...US has increased the cost to buy miles from 2.75c to 3.5c...a 25%+ increase!

Effective now.

Wow, bit of hike...!

 

[travelislife]

Interesting, is a fair hike that is for sure. I guess it was either do this or increase the miles required for rewards. Quite smart really as this slips through a bit more quietly than changing the redemption levels. But for all of us it is only relevant for when the sales are on. Did anyone end up doing the gift registry where it was mentioned it was possible to get half price miles all the time?

Shanye2233, good luck mate, but as you have been told on here time and again you are going to struggle greatly trying to do a RTW itinerary (this is what it is!) with 4 seats in premium cabins. Also TG from LAX-BKK doesn't have First. You seriously can't be getting picky with things such as AVOD vs. AVOL, it won't change your experience much at all.

I am doing MEL-BKK-LAX return as I have mentioned earlier, but this is purely because some of my family live in Bangkok so it is part of my trip, otherwise I would have got the direct flights if I could have found them for peak season in January.

 

[bcworld]

Point taken , my apologies. Could you suggest a routing for me coming out of SYD-ZAG-LAX-SYD in J . Let's just assume this would be allowed. What route would you take. TG syy-bkk-cdg-zag-fra-lax and then im stuck late may early june.

Does availability tend to open up more closer to the dates ?

I thought you had hired a 'professional' (presumably one of the people on FT who advertise in their sig) to look into all this for you?

 

[bcworld]

I am doing MEL-BKK-LAX return as I have mentioned earlier, but this is purely because some of my family live in Bangkok so it is part of my trip, otherwise I would have got the direct flights if I could have found them for peak season in January.

I know MEL-LAX on UA/NZ would be 110k in J, but does going via Asia...with a stop...trigger the higher 120k level for that region? Thanks.

 

[travelislife]

I know MEL-LAX on UA/NZ would be 110k in J, but does going via Asia...with a stop...trigger the higher 120k level for that region? Thanks.

No was 110k in J.

 

[casanovawa]

What higher trigger would there be going through Asia and then onto the US??? going to South and North Asia from the South Pacific is only 90,000 miles in J???

PITA about them raising the cost of miles... I should have used the registry that i actually signed up for to buy extra miles with last double mile offer, but just having never used them and my first time i thought i would just buy the 100k first up!!! And i don't think the registry said you could buy half price miles anytime did it, just that you could buy at whatever rate was being advertised as many miles as people you could get people to buy for you...

I was looking forward to doing my flying in J (well i have never flown it, so to actually start flying in J) but between the increase in costs and the dropping aussie dollar this is now putting a big dent in those ideas... With the deal and the A$ as it stood flying J to Europe was coming in at about A$2000 which wasn't much more than many a Y product, but with 25% increase and A$ dropping that is going to be getting up towards $2500+ which is not that far off the cost of 2 Y flights if you get good bargains which makes it look less tempting...

If the aussie made it back up to US$1.10 it might help to rekindle the dream...

 

[bcworld]

What higher trigger would there be going through Asia and then onto the US??? going to South and North Asia from the South Pacific is only 90,000 miles in J???

I was referring to the higher rate South Asia - US.

BKK - LAX: 120k

MEL-BKK / BKK -LAX: 110k

 

[casanovawa]

I would imagine all point totals are calculated from the region you start and return to eh...

 

[Shanye2233]

I thought you had hired a 'professional' (presumably one of the people on FT who advertise in their sig) to look into all this for you?

Yes thats exactly what i did . Im upset that now i didnt buy more miles last time at half price when the dollar was good 1.05 !

 

[Shanye2233]

What higher trigger would there be going through Asia and then onto the US??? going to South and North Asia from the South Pacific is only 90,000 miles in J???

PITA about them raising the cost of miles... I should have used the registry that i actually signed up for to buy extra miles with last double mile offer, but just having never used them and my first time i thought i would just buy the 100k first up!!! And i don't think the registry said you could buy half price miles anytime did it, just that you could buy at whatever rate was being advertised as many miles as people you could get people to buy for you...

I was looking forward to doing my flying in J (well i have never flown it, so to actually start flying in J) but between the increase in costs and the dropping aussie dollar this is now putting a big dent in those ideas... With the deal and the A$ as it stood flying J to Europe was coming in at about A$2000 which wasn't much more than many a Y product, but with 25% increase and A$ dropping that is going to be getting up towards $2500+ which is not that far off the cost of 2 Y flights if you get good bargains which makes it look less tempting...

If the aussie made it back up to US$1.10 it might help to rekindle the dream...

Participation in the the us airways GS thats currently running. I have made about 20k miles for about $110 If you need to top up your account. Its not as complicated as it looks.

 

[kamchatsky]

Participation in the the us airways GS thats currently running. I have made about 20k miles for about $110 If you need to top up your account. Its not as complicated as it looks.

How do you do this? What activity did you undertake?

 

[Shanye2233]

Originally Posted by Shanye2233
8/7/2011 09/08/11 DIVIDEND MILES TOOLBAR SEARCH BONUS 93
9/1/2011 10/06/11 DIVIDEND MILES TOOLBAR SEARCH BONUS 12
9/7/2011 09/07/11 DIVIDEND MILES TOOLBAR DOWNLOAD BONUS 500
9/14/2011 09/14/11 BUY MILES - POINTS.COM 40,000
9/14/2011 09/14/11 BUY MILES TIERED BONUS OFFER BONUS 40,000
9/16/2011 09/21/11 HILTON HOTELS PARTNER BONUS 500
9/17/2011 09/26/11 HILTON HOTELS PARTNER BONUS 500
9/17/2011 09/29/11 HERTZ CAR RENTAL (5+ DAYS) 500
9/21/2011 09/23/11 MARRIOTT HOTELS BONUS 368
9/22/2011 09/28/11 HYATT HOTELS 500
9/22/2011 10/06/11 HILTON HOTELS PARTNER BONUS 500
9/24/2011 10/01/11 HILTON HOTELS PARTNER BONUS 500
9/28/2011 10/04/11 THANKS AGAIN MILEAGE AWARD 3
9/29/2011 09/29/11 GRAND SLAM 2011 MULTI PARTNER BONUS - 4 3,000
9/30/2011 10/03/11 MARRIOTT HOTELS BONUS 148
9/30/2011 10/06/11 MARRIOTT HOTELS BONUS 310
10/5/2011 10/05/11 GRAND SLAM 2011 MULTI PARTNER BONUS - 8 7,000

This is so far I'm still waiting for my 1800flowers , audience rewards , sky mall , vinesse and shuttlebus hits then il change some hotel points over I'm aiming for 28 hits total bonus is 60k

 

[JohnK]

Personally I would be disappointed in my average point earn on my Plat was anywhere near as low as 1.5.

Given the various bonii, promos and the like with a bit of strategy and discipline one can average an earn of several mutliples of that.

Last year would have averaged say about 6 points per $. Not sure I can keep up that pace in the next 12 months, but from what I can see will certainly be well above 3.

Totally understand if you include all promotions such as D!ck Smith and Hotel Club but these type of promotions are down to individual spending patterns and not credit card earn.

The original comparison used assumed credit card spend from pure $spend and not promotions and not everyone has a Platinum card.

Someone may spend $10,000/year on hotels through HotelClub but that is individual preference, circumstances, hotel choice and number of nights spent away from home.

 

[Terryi02]

Interesting, is a fair hike that is for sure. I guess it was either do this or increase the miles required for rewards. Quite smart really as this slips through a bit more quietly than changing the redemption levels. But for all of us it is only relevant for when the sales are on. Did anyone end up doing the gift registry where it was mentioned it was possible to get half price miles all the time?

Shanye2233, good luck mate, but as you have been told on here time and again you are going to struggle greatly trying to do a RTW itinerary (this is what it is!) with 4 seats in premium cabins. Also TG from LAX-BKK doesn't have First. You seriously can't be getting picky with things such as AVOD vs. AVOL, it won't change your experience much at all.

I am doing MEL-BKK-LAX return as I have mentioned earlier, but this is purely because some of my family live in Bangkok so it is part of my trip, otherwise I would have got the direct flights if I could have found them for peak season in January.

They raised the miles required earlier this year!! I got 2 x F flying TG SYD-BKK-LON for 260000 miles. Now it would be 400000

 

[bcworld]

They raised the miles required earlier this year!! I got 2 x F flying TG SYD-BKK-LON for 260000 miles. Now it would be 400000

Huh? They haven't changed the award chart. It was 150k for F in 2009 and it's still 150k for F now. 2 x 150k = 300000.

IF you paid 260k for 2 x F SYD <> LON then that was an error on their part. It seems strange number though because if they accidentally charged you for business it would be 240k.

 

[travelislife]

They raised the miles required earlier this year!! I got 2 x F flying TG SYD-BKK-LON for 260000 miles. Now it would be 400000

http://www.usairways.com/pv_obj_cac...402184B1B0100/filename/partnerawardtravel.pdf

You are getting ripped off if you are spending 400,000 miles! Should be 300,000!

 

[travelislife]

Originally Posted by Shanye2233
8/7/2011 09/08/11 DIVIDEND MILES TOOLBAR SEARCH BONUS 93
9/1/2011 10/06/11 DIVIDEND MILES TOOLBAR SEARCH BONUS 12
9/7/2011 09/07/11 DIVIDEND MILES TOOLBAR DOWNLOAD BONUS 500
9/14/2011 09/14/11 BUY MILES - POINTS.COM 40,000
9/14/2011 09/14/11 BUY MILES TIERED BONUS OFFER BONUS 40,000
9/16/2011 09/21/11 HILTON HOTELS PARTNER BONUS 500
9/17/2011 09/26/11 HILTON HOTELS PARTNER BONUS 500
9/17/2011 09/29/11 HERTZ CAR RENTAL (5+ DAYS) 500
9/21/2011 09/23/11 MARRIOTT HOTELS BONUS 368
9/22/2011 09/28/11 HYATT HOTELS 500
9/22/2011 10/06/11 HILTON HOTELS PARTNER BONUS 500
9/24/2011 10/01/11 HILTON HOTELS PARTNER BONUS 500
9/28/2011 10/04/11 THANKS AGAIN MILEAGE AWARD 3
9/29/2011 09/29/11 GRAND SLAM 2011 MULTI PARTNER BONUS - 4 3,000
9/30/2011 10/03/11 MARRIOTT HOTELS BONUS 148
9/30/2011 10/06/11 MARRIOTT HOTELS BONUS 310
10/5/2011 10/05/11 GRAND SLAM 2011 MULTI PARTNER BONUS - 8 7,000

This is so far I'm still waiting for my 1800flowers , audience rewards , sky mall , vinesse and shuttlebus hits then il change some hotel points over I'm aiming for 28 hits total bonus is 60k

Good on you for getting on the GS, looks like you are doing alright being Australia based. How have you got 20,000 miles for $110 though? Each hotel stay/car booking/buying of flowers, etc. would add up to a lot more than $110.

 

[Shanye2233]

This is my account I'm aiming for 28 hits 60k miles . The other families account I'm aiming for 16 hits I think 25k miles with costs of $110.

When it's finished il post it for you.

 

[travelislife]

This is my account I'm aiming for 28 hits 60k miles . The other families account I'm aiming for 16 hits I think 25k miles with costs of $110.

When it's finished il post it for you.

Can you list the 16 hits you are going for now and their associated cost? Would be an awesome help for a lot of people on here if you can get 16 hits for $110 = 25,000 miles