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

[MEL_Traveller]

The difference is you aren't putting multi $1000's on your card then getting it charged back again. It adds $100s that's why it's important.

with the miles multpiplyer and a 28 degrees MasterCard the ONLY thing you need to worry about is the currency fluctuation... there are no other fees.

additionally, you need to be able to predict the currency in 6/8 or 10 weeks time... when the refund is processed and calculated... remember canceling a ticket, even fully refundable, does not go back instantly.

if the dollar goes the way some predict, down to 80c, then you would make a tidy profit using a ticket now and refunding later. if you have the cash reserves, you could just hold on to the ticket until you see the next downwards trend...

I think the milesmultiplyerworks well if there are no current 100% promos. there is plenty of information over on FT about the multiplyer. obviously the longer the distance, the more miles you are going tk be able to get. but also the more expensive the ticket will be, and the longer your funds will be tied up. you need to factor in a 6.1% interestt rate on your cash for the 3 or 4 weeks difference between when your credit card is due, and when you get the refund (assuming 55 days interest free intitialky).

 

[casanovawa]

I understand what bcworld is saying about the amount spent, if you have to spend A$6000 to earn say 50k miles via this strategy rather than say buying them out right for say A$1200 and have to have the small currency exchange fee lost on the conversion to US$ and then back to A$ that is an extra cost to take into consideration...

Even if you spent A$6000 buying miles on 100% bonus offers you would be getting a lot more than 50k miles so would be spreading that one way exchange loss over a greater amount of miles...

Sounds like this strategy will be hard for us to take advantage of... which suxs a bit...

But if as Mel Traveller suggests holding onto the tickets and then refunding that sounds plausible... I think there is much more scope for the A$ to drop than there is for the A$ to hit US$1.05 or US$1.10 anytime soon... And If A$ drops i guess you pick up some money ont he exchange back... So that could count as a plus in its favour, if you can ever be sure gambling on exchange rate fluctuations!?!?!

 

[bcworld]

with the miles multpiplyer and a 28 degrees MasterCard the ONLY thing you need to worry about is the currency fluctuation... there are no other fees.

Not quite. I have a 28 degrees card but only used it a couple of times. While there is no fee there is clearly still a difference between the mid-market exchange rate and what your transaction will be based on. My experience of 28 degrees is that the difference is a bit more than my QF NAB Amex...YMMV. The amount you need to spend is probably 3 or 4 times what you might spend on a mileage promo. That's one difference. The second of course is that you then get stung the opposite direction when getting the refund. I think we're going around in circles a bit but all I'm saying is all of this adds a sizeable % on top of the $599. As you say, you could of course win on currency speculating.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Not quite. I have a 28 degrees card but only used it a couple of times. While there is no fee there is clearly still a difference between the mid-market exchange rate and what your transaction will be based on. My experience of 28 degrees is that the difference is a bit more than my QF NAB Amex...YMMV. The amount you need to spend is probably 3 or 4 times what you might spend on a mileage promo. That's one difference. The second of course is that you then get stung the opposite direction when getting the refund. I think we're going around in circles a bit but all I'm saying is all of this adds a sizeable % on top of the $599. As you say, you could of course win on currency speculating.

the difference between the interbank rate and the 28 degrees rate seems to be negligible. I have mentioned this before but I believe they use the lowest interbank rate of the day proceeding the transaction. in some cases that has worked to my favor when I was getting a better rate than on the day of the transaction.

 

[Shanye2233]

The 50k raddisson promo is current and can get you a room at any one of their properties worldwide . Their highest category is 50k per night . In going to swap my 50k raddisson for 50k HH I like Hilton more as a diamond .

Obviously this us airways is a risk . I think buying the $6000AUD ticket going for the multipler then canceling is not worth the headache . What if they don't refund your money or it's delayed that's alot of money for me anyway . I'm just going to buy the 40k with the bonuses and book
the tickets. It's a ggood deal already I tthink you should take it
Casanova . Since I got into this deal 6 months ago not a day
goes by im not on FT searching for deals and this one aappears to be coming
to an end .

 

[burmans]

Hmm, hard to know eh, i need to buy 15,000 or so to book my J class award, but whether to book more or not, i guess another offer should come around again so no real need to risk it, but where will the aussie dollar be with all these debts worries in Europe (we seem to plummet a bit on bad news and the news doesn't sound that promising)??? There is also the GS next year hopefully to add more miles, but can't see me getting many through that, maybe 20k miles max or a bit more...

The buy the ticket, get the x3 bonus and then cancelling the ticket still sounds like the best and cheapest way...

We seem to drop on the "emotion" of bad news but then usually people realise that its not quite as bad as they thought or more likely that the US banking system really isn't a better place for their money. I still think this is a decent deal when over $1 but wouldn't buy too manu. The 80K limit sort of guarantees that!

 

[hummel]

The 50k raddisson promo is current and can get you a room at any one of their properties worldwide . Their highest category is 50k per night . In going to swap my 50k raddisson for 50k HH I like Hilton more as a diamond .

Have you pulled the trigger on this one?

Re: The Us promo I'm going to see how I go over Christmas and then may buy some just before expiry.

I've already got 2 tickets booked for 150k each so have 10k left over in each account. May top them up a little for J to Cook Islands etc

 

[Jeffrey O'Neill]

I've got a SQ LAX - NRT - KIX - SIN trip in october next year.

Currently I've booked a non upgradeable flight, but can easily pay the extra $60 to change it.

I'm looking to buy some miles with US and use them to upgrade the flight.

Would I need 30K for the LAX - NRT section, and then 20K for the KIX to SIN section?

 

[bcworld]

I've got a SQ LAX - NRT - KIX - SIN trip in october next year.

Currently I've booked a non upgradeable flight, but can easily pay the extra $60 to change it.

I'm looking to buy some miles with US and use them to upgrade the flight.

Would I need 30K for the LAX - NRT section, and then 20K for the KIX to SIN section?

You can only upgrade Y & B economy fares - these are typically VERY expensive so I'm guessing that isn't what you have or would upgrade to? Even if you could upgrade are any of your flights on the A380 or 77W - because you may find issues with availability?

 

[Jeffrey O'Neill]

Ahh

bummer.

Yeah the LAX - NRT is on the A380

Would i be better off getting an award J flight instead?

That may be restricted too since it's a standard SQ award?

Then again I'd have ANA as an option? Don't care the carrier. I could prob get a J upgrade KIX to SIN since it's on a A330 or A340 from memory.

I don't suppose there's an easy way to determine award avail before buying the miles?

 

[tolchok]

The best deal so far I have done is the current raddisson promo bonus 50k with any stay at any raddisson hotels. If anyone needs info on a phantom stay let me know. It's $87US and you should end up with 52-54k club Carlson points

Shanye, may I please get you to PM me the details of the phantom stay? I was looking at booking my sister (who is in the US) a night at a Radisson to take advantage of the promotion - but she is currently too busy to use hotel.

I know that I should probably ask this in the 'General Hotel Loyalty' thread; however it is a reply to a post in this thread and the loyalty thread does not seem very active.

 

[bcworld]

Shanye, may I please get you to PM me the details of the phantom stay? I was looking at booking my sister (who is in the US) a night at a Radisson to take advantage of the promotion - but she is currently too busy to use hotel.

I know that I should probably ask this in the 'General Hotel Loyalty' thread; however it is a reply to a post in this thread and the loyalty thread does not seem very active.

Have a look at the Radisson forum on Flyertalk - you'll find all the details there.

 

[tolchok]

Have a look at the Radisson forum on Flyertalk - you'll find all the details there.

Hello bcworld, thanks - FT is also an invaluable resource. I actually found AFF after joining FT, when I was trying to find successful US Airways Dividend Award bookings from Aus (when I found the "Succesful..." thread in a local forum). I have the same handle at both sites if anyone is interested, with a few posts in the Hotels forums.

I have read a fair few pages (including the 'phantom post' #358) in the Radisson forum at FT. I am just checking if Shanye used the property mentioned in the post (and if they were still doing these kinds of bookings), and how he went about it/ what his experience was like? I still am not sure how to approach the whole "hello I'd like to book a room I have no interest in staying in, you can keep the money, as long as you credit the night to my account...." Wait, I guess I could approach it like that...

Back on topic (apologies again for leading away from topic), quite a few people at both AFF and FT forums as well as a few similar topic blogs have been asserting that this is no longer great value -- only really worthwhile if some extra miles are needed for a planned trip. Can I ask how much it is ending up costing people for the miles (after not so great credit card conversion fees etc), as it would still seem to me to be the cheapest way to fly first class, and possibly even most business class routes. I have not as yet bought miles (though I signed up US airways account just in time to miss the last double promo at a cheaper cost per mile), though might try to buy the whole 40K+40K if I can shuffle money around to allow it.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Back on topic (apologies again for leading away from topic), quite a few people at both AFF and FT forums as well as a few similar topic blogs have been asserting that this is no longer great value -- only really worthwhile if some extra miles are needed for a planned trip. Can I ask how much it is ending up costing people for the miles (after not so great credit card conversion fees etc), as it would still seem to me to be the cheapest way to fly first class, and possibly even most business class routes. I have not as yet bought miles (though I signed up US airways account just in time to miss the last double promo at a cheaper cost per mile), though might try to buy the whole 40K+40K if I can shuffle money around to allow it.

this is still the most amazing deal... some people find the price point of a business class ticket is now too high at 3.5c per mile, and once the potential fare goes over $2000 or whatever they would rather save the money and fly economy... simply because they were never going to spend that much money on air fares in the first place. in other words, they're not really 'saving money' on this deal because they have a set budget and won't go over that. many are only interested in this deal because they can get business class for almost the same price as economy... but don't want to spend any more than that.

basically it's not a good deal for many because they just can't afford it.

for others, who solely fly in premium cabins, this deal represents massive savings... $2600 or so in first class to Europe against $10000 they would normally spend, or against 6-7000 for business class.



sure you lose the flexibility... but for a $7500 saving many people are happy to work with more limited dates than just buying it direct from the airlines.

 

[Shanye2233]

I think the People who spend 10k on a flight a few times a year aren't concerned about saving money using this deal. They want to go when and how they want and willing to pay for it. I'm the first person in my family to have or will be flying first class and I'm super excited about it even tho I don't like to fly .

Regarding the raddisson promo and any other promo I now understand why people don't just give out the answers to questions on these forums and make people spend the time looking for themselves . On the other hand wasting precious time doesn't help anyone. I have done my phantom stay for myself and for my wife. The stays have posted in my club Carlson account but the bonus 50k has not, once it has I will let people know. But you do need a contact in the US which I have . I paid $70US for each stay .If you need further details you can PM me and I will reply .

 

[Flashback]

I think the People who spend 10k on a flight a few times a year aren't concerned about saving money using this deal. They want to go when and how they want and willing to pay for it. I'm the first person in my family to have or will be flying first class and I'm super excited about it even tho I don't like to fly .


Regarding the raddisson promo and any other promo I now understand why people don't just give out the answers to questions on these forums and make people spend the time looking for themselves . On the other hand wasting precious time doesn't help anyone. I have done my phantom stay for myself and for my wife. The stays have posted in my club Carlson account but the bonus 50k has not, once it has I will let people know. But you do need a contact in the US which I have . I paid $70US for each stay .If you need further details you can PM me and I will reply .

If you don't travel much, how is it that you're Hilton Diamond?

 

[Shanye2233]

I'm a Hilton diamond Hyatt diamond Marriott platinum club Carlson gold Accor platinum not that hard if you have the time to search

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I think the People who spend 10k on a flight a few times a year aren't concerned about saving money using this deal.

absolute rubbish

people are not stupid or wasteful just by virtue of having money. two tickets to Europe in first for $6000 compared to $20000 buying it normally is a no brainer.

I have friends with their own business, who have set contracts in Europe each year, they know the exact dates and book these deals accordingly. and pocket the $14000 thank you very much. others visit trade shows (set dates, announced well in advance) or come home for Christmas/birthdays... they all use the deal.

 

[QF029]

I'm a Hilton diamond Hyatt diamond Marriott platinum club Carlson gold Accor platinum not that hard if you have the time to search

Hi Shayne. Given the copious amounts of information you've received in this thread, isn't it a bit incongruous that you aren't a little more forthcoming in sharing your own knowledge?

 

[Stephen65]

I think the People who spend 10k on a flight a few times a year aren't concerned about saving money using this deal. They want to go when and how they want and willing to pay for it.

If I had to pay cash out of my own pocket (especially considering I am buying tickets for a family of four) we would probably either travel a good premium economy or on cheap J tickets on a decent airline. There is no way I am flying Y long haul now I can afford to avoid it.

The attraction of this offer is that with a bit of effort I can get J or F (I would never pay cash for F) tickets at very much lower prices and for that saving I am willing to work with the system and arrange our dates and travel as necessary. Just because I could afford to pay cash doesn't mean I don't like a bargain.

To illustrate - we are going to Europe next year. If I bought tickets to FRA (not paying the UK departure tax!) on QF in PE it would cost about $20,000 so that's my baseline cost in any event. Using the 2:1 sales to buy points here it's ended up costing me about $8000 for four F/J tickets on TG. Who wouldn't want to save $12,000 if they could and fly in J/F instead of PE?