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

[bcworld]

I'm finding it hard to see any availability of SIN<>FRA<>JFK in J. How long in advance do they get released?

I am booking a trip from Adelaide to USA in Sep/Oct of next year and I want to book it more than 3 months out but it looks like availability for NZ flying to the USA (aside from on their 767's) seems impossible over 3 months in advance.

It seems the top tier of J available for such a journey is SQ & NZ, maybe AC next. I am a fan of full flat beds. Does anyone know of any other carriers to offer them in J?

Perhaps I should have said there WAS lots of SQ A380 on SIN-SYD & SIN-JFK. I haven't actually seen it on Aeroplan for a while now. It was available many months out.

I think UA flights between MEL/SYD and West Coast US offer full flat beds now...perhaps also some transcons if you choose carefully...sure I've seen that in trip reports.

 

[Oneworldplus2]

This is kind of off topic, but l wanted to post.

Found out about the US Dividend Miles program about 2+ weeks ago.
Signed up to US Airways and ANA (to search for star alliance award availability).
About a week later, purchase 40k US Airways miles, get another 40k bonus for $1500AUD (including the 7% tax that no-one talks about)
Start doing dummy bookings. Am blown away at how cheap it is.
Get a "ANA Mileage Club" card in the mail today. Didn't cost me a cent.
Penny is dropping that QF has been ripping Australians off for far to long.

 

[bcworld]

About a week later, purchase 40k US Airways miles, get another 40k bonus for $1500AUD (including the 7% tax that no-one talks about)

Lots of people talk about it!

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Penny is dropping that QF has been ripping Australians off for far to long.

Ta da!

I have 400k ish QF points sitting there and it's going to be a painful day when I get round to burning them, paying huge fuel surcharges & extra points for the liberty of having a stopover or a connecting flight in the UK at the end of the journey. :evil:
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[Oneworldplus2]

Lots of people talk about it!

I probably missed it in all the pages. My bad.

I have 400k ish QF points sitting there and it's going to be a painful day when I get round to burning them, paying huge fuel surcharges & extra points for the liberty of having a stopover or a connecting flight in the UK at the end of the journey. :evil:

Yep. Got about 260k QF points. Saving for 285k for a OW J RTW. I think that 'taxes' will be around the $1000 mark (maybe more).....

 

[Stephen65]

This is why I think I will mostly be using my QFF points for domestic J travel and shorthaul international and using *A awards for longhaul international. Of course the latter is somewhat unreliable - the dollar could crash, USAir could hike the redemption cost or point cost or award availability could be cut but while it lasts I am happy to make use of it.

 

[neon_crossing]

USAir could hike the redemption cost or point cost or award availability could be cut but while it lasts I am happy to make use of it.

Don't scare the shlt out of me, I am just about to stock up with some more.

 

[burmans]

Don't scare the shlt out of me, I am just about to stock up with some more.

This is a persistent rumour, if you'd listened to this every time you would not have gotten in on the last two years promos either which have proven very profitable for many. They have recently increased the buy cost so personally think they won't be adjusting the redemption cost any time soon. But would suggest its worth not building up too much of a bank and actually planning to use (and then book) rewatd travel.

 

[Stephen65]

I'm in the process of buying four lots of 40,000 points myself this month so I am not letting the risk of future changes deter me from taking advantage. But I will be spending them as soon as I get within the year or so window of the flights I want.

 

[casanovawa]

When clicking through the buy miles screens, that 7.5% tax thing seems to be described as a Canadian thing rather than a global thing, but we all seem to get slugged it...

Miles are sold for $0.035 per mile plus a tax recovery charge of 7.5%. GST/HST will be charged to Canadian residents

I wonder if it really should just be for Canadians (and is charged as some sort of reciprocal agreement with Canada) or not as why on earth do we in Oz have to pay a foreign tax or at least not have a way of being able to reclaim it later??? I guess it would be easy to change the address in your account in the US Air system if you were Canadian to somewhere else in the world just before purchasing if that was how they decided if you were required to pay the tax, but then if the system recognised your credit card as being of Canadian origin just add the tax then and if not don't add it...

But anyway, as it stands on the US Air website it seems a bit misleading and they should just say everyone has to pay it (whether US residents do as well i don't know)....


Still not sure about buying miles this round either, i have used most of my miles and down to just 2,500 left... But with the A$ bouncing around its not looking quite as good.. But then again if i was a betting man with the usual A$ fragility i would tend to think its only going to drop against the US$, which could leave me with the issue that if i buy 80,000 now and the A$ does drop that leaves me enough miles to take a fairly decent Y trip to most places in the world... To go J etc I would either need to buy more miles at what might be a dodgy exchange rate, or have to earn quite a few points in next year's Grand Slam at what hopefully might be a cheaper rate than buying them... But after all the uhhming and ahhing i probably will buy in as long as the A$ stays at or above parity before Dec 31st...

 

[MEL_Traveller]

When clicking through the buy miles screens, that 7.5% tax thing seems to be described as a Canadian thing rather than a global thing, but we all seem to get slugged it...



I wonder if it really should just be for Canadians (and is charged as some sort of reciprocal agreement with Canada) or not as why on earth do we in Oz have to pay a foreign tax or at least not have a way of being able to reclaim it later??? I guess it would be easy to change the address in your account in the US Air system if you were Canadian to somewhere else in the world just before purchasing if that was how they decided if you were required to pay the tax, but then if the system recognised your credit card as being of Canadian origin just add the tax then and if not don't add it...

But anyway, as it stands on the US Air website it seems a bit misleading and they should just say everyone has to pay it (whether US residents do as well i don't know)....


Still not sure about buying miles this round either, i have used most of my miles and down to just 2,500 left... But with the A$ bouncing around its not looking quite as good.. But then again if i was a betting man with the usual A$ fragility i would tend to think its only going to drop against the US$, which could leave me with the issue that if i buy 80,000 now and the A$ does drop that leaves me enough miles to take a fairly decent Y trip to most places in the world... To go J etc I would either need to buy more miles at what might be a dodgy exchange rate, or have to earn quite a few points in next year's Grand Slam at what hopefully might be a cheaper rate than buying them... But after all the uhhming and ahhing i probably will buy in as long as the A$ stays at or above parity before Dec 31st...

I believe Candians pay either an additional tax, or a separate tax.

Nothing misleading. There is a full stop and new sentence describing canadian tax, which is additional (IIRC).

You are buying miles in the USA and you are redeeming those miles in the USA. Therefore they are subject to the tax. Just like buying a product or services and using the same here in Australia would usually be subject to GST.

Even if you could claim a rebate, you'd have to pay the tax again for exporting them back to the USA to use them.

I cannot see any arguments that the Australian dollar bouncing around in any way materially affects this deal.

At 110c you're getting business class (pre flight taxes) to Europe for $2052, vs $2257 at parity. That's $100 each way for flat bed, lounge access and premium wines and all the other benefits.

Compared to economy class early birds for around $1900 I just don't see it...

 

[MEL_Traveller]

This is a persistent rumour, if you'd listened to this every time you would not have gotten in on the last two years promos either which have proven very profitable for many. They have recently increased the buy cost so personally think they won't be adjusting the redemption cost any time soon. But would suggest its worth not building up too much of a bank and actually planning to use (and then book) rewatd travel.

It's not even a rumour!!

People are just making it up.

A rumour would be something along the lines of 'I heard they are going to increase miles'. That is clearly not the case here... rather a case of 'what if what if'!

 

[anat0l]

For those thinking this is a blessing and it makes QF look like it runs a gulag in comparison, put some perspective on it.

All the USA based FFPs - with possible exception of Delta - are aggressively tailoring for market. And survival.

Look at FFPs like LH M&M, or even BD DC. In the former case, the availability is actually v good, but the mileage prices are very high! And you do not want to purchase miles for M&M - too expensive. With BD DC, mileage prices aren't so bad with C+M redemptions, but the +++ are just as high as most other non-USA-based FFPs (SK is a notable exception). Let's not get started with Airpoints...

There's furore of late that AC has started charging for fuel on redemptions, and mileage prices are increasing. They "used to be one of the best value FFPs" according to many. (The only saving grace right now is a generous redemption promotion).

In conclusion, if we take the same strong slant as some on this forum, the USA is the only set of airlines not ripping anyone off in the whole FFP game. Wow, I'd thought I'd never see the day that you could say that everyone bar the Americans are crooks.

In a more pragmatic conclusion, just take advantage of the promo and be happy if this never happens again, you'll be glad to have afforded yourself the opportunity.



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Aust Freq Fly app: bringing this anat0l content to your mobile.

 

[skywalkerLAX]

Just moved down to SYD so this is my first post on this board.

It actually IS quiet a good deal, however I see many here writing they want to book LH F... Be aware that LH right now blocks all F awards further out than 2-3 months. It became a huge PITA even as a M&M Senator to book LH F. Swiss should be available here and there though.

So: Before you buy check your availability!

Cheers
S

 

[bcworld]

Just moved down to SYD so this is my first post on this board.

It actually IS quiet a good deal, however I see many here writing they want to book LH F... Be aware that LH right now blocks all F awards further out than 2-3 months. It became a huge PITA even as a M&M Senator to book LH F. Swiss should be available here and there though.

So: Before you buy check your availability!

Cheers
S

The current school of thought is actually that LH is blocking F further out than ONE WEEK! A recent development.

Oh, and welcome!!

 

[Stephen65]

When clicking through the buy miles screens, that 7.5% tax thing seems to be described as a Canadian thing rather than a global thing, but we all seem to get slugged it...

I wonder if it really should just be for Canadians (and is charged as some sort of reciprocal agreement with Canada) or not as why on earth do we in Oz have to pay a foreign tax or at least not have a way of being able to reclaim it later??? I guess it would be easy to change the address in your account in the US Air system if you were Canadian to somewhere else in the world just before purchasing if that was how they decided if you were required to pay the tax, but then if the system recognised your credit card as being of Canadian origin just add the tax then and if not don't add it...

But anyway, as it stands on the US Air website it seems a bit misleading and they should just say everyone has to pay it (whether US residents do as well i don't know)....

I read that as saying everyone has to pay a 7.5% charge to compensate USAir for a US tax they pay and Canadians have to pay Canadian GST/HST (which varies from 5% to 15% depending on which Canadian province you live in) on top of that.

 

[Alanslegal]

Just moved down to SYD so this is my first post on this board.

Cheers
S

Congrats on the first post S .... you sure took your time from joining to posting #1

 

[Smasher]

Hello I am just deciding whether or not to sign up for this, can someone please tell me if it is worth while if I travel to Asia? I currently reside in Perth and have family in Manila, but I can also get to the East coast if it means a value fight to Manila?

Also, how does it work with the star alliance, do you need to join each individual star alliance or does US airways handle all of the bookings?

Thanks.

 

[bcworld]

Hello I am just deciding whether or not to sign up for this, can someone please tell me if it is worth while if I travel to Asia? I currently reside in Perth and have family in Manila, but I can also get to the East coast if it means a value fight to Manila?

Also, how does it work with the star alliance, do you need to join each individual star alliance or does US airways handle all of the bookings?

Thanks.

There would be no need to travel to the East Coast...you could travel Perth - Bangkok - Manila or Perth - Singapore - Manila.

Join US Airways program and have a read of how it works...but you book the ticket through US.

 

[Smasher]

There would be no need to travel to the East Coast...you could travel Perth - Bangkok - Manila or Perth - Singapore - Manila.

Join US Airways program and have a read of how it works...but you book the ticket through US.

I have joined and did look at it, still trying to get my head around it though.

Per-Sing-Mla return is 34 thousand miles.

So from the 90 thousand miles for 2 grand I would get 2 trips in economy and have to travel further (stopover in Singapore or Bangkok). Which works out about a thousand dollars return for each trip, where on Qantas it is under a thousand when I want to travel and can go direct to Manila.

I cannot see the value in these points, or am I missing something?

 

[casanovawa]

Smasher, in terms of whether it works for you you really need to work out how you like to fly...

Flying form Perth to places in South and Central Asia and North Asia will cost you 70,000 miles in economy and 90,000 in business class... So just to buy the miles (in a 100% bonus offer like now) for the two options in US$ is $1316 and $1693... On top of that you will then have to pay a $50 admin/booking fee and taxes and charges of around $150-$250 to redeem the awards...

So if you are planning to fly economy class then no the figures may not stack up as you might be able to purchase a regular economy ticket for less than that and earn frequent flyer points and status credits if you chase status... I would imagine for business class the figures might stack up, or at least stack up enough to maybe try business class for the first time if you haven't before... The award also allows you to fly to a destination and then also have a stopover, so effectively allows you to fly to 2 locations (although there are rules) where a purchased direct flight will obviously restrict this...

So that is how i would do the sums myself personally to work out if it was better to use US Air or not, flights up to North Asia in economy might squeak in as comparable $ wise, flights to Singapore or Malaysia in economy quite obviously wouldn't... Me personally, I would see getting better value out of this scheme when flying off to either Europe or the US of A or preferably to both and there is a much bigger saving when redeeming for business or first class tickets (compared to what you would pay $ wise) than flying economy... But yes have more of a read up on it...

Edit: You don't buy miles for the distance you will fly, you need to look at the airline partner award chart and there different continental zones and they specify how many miles you need to redeem an award from one zone to another zone... Plus 34,000 miles sound an awful lot for the distance between Perth to Manila...