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

[sr81]

Update for all: Us Australians can get 75% bonus on the miles. (Extra 25% is only for US citizens..)
Equals around 1.66c per mile I think. which is great! $2500 for Sth pac to US via Europe in F =)
Deal is until end of March!

Not quite, USAirways disallowed the route via Europe to the USA. You can now only go via the Pacific to the USA.

Depending on how you are going then this comes out a few ways.

EU in J roundtrip is USD2453 + tax
EU in F roundtrip is USD3340.56 + tax
Asia in J rountrip is USD1566 + tax
USA in J roundtrip is USD2158 + tax
USA in F roundtrip is USD3044 + tax

You can reduce all these by USD30 if the you are setting up a new account as USAirways has a 1000 bonus sign up miles on now.

It appears that you may also be better off if you also have a third person buy a silver trial membership because when they gift miles you get the 25% bonus.


EG. Let's take an EU in F for two people. Each person needs 150,000 miles.

• You buy the first lot of 50,000 miles with a 37,500 bonus giving you 87,500 for USD1478.
• This means you need an additional 62,500 miles.
• A third person with a Silver membership (bought for USD215) gifts 50,000 miles with 12,500 bonus meaning a gifted total of 62,500. Cost is $1478.

For each person using this method you have a total cost of USD3063 (including miles and 50% of the silver buy up each). As we see from above this saves you about USD200 per person. Obviously if you are buying for more than one trip the cost of a silver membership is amortised over a greater number of people travelling and the savings increase.

This method in J is about USD100 cheaper per passenger.

 

[Gold Member]

Slightly OT, I wonder what those people who bought up a month ago at 40% bonus are thinking now? :shock:

 

[casanovawa]

Sorry, how would i work out cost for miles for say a flight from South Pacific to US and then coming back Europe to South Pacific in J (after booking a cheap flight from US to Europe in between)?

And are there any American credit cards that could be signed up for that get bonus points on application or after you spend a $1000 or so?

 

[spudwa]

As I said in my original post I have already got my seats allocations (pointspro.com did it) so I guess that means I have nothing to worry about

Thanks for the reassurance

Ok final (I hope) questions

Whats the cheapest way to book Novotel in Bangkok?

I'm looking at 45 quid for a taxi from Heathrow to Reading. Is there a cheaper place to get a taxi?

 

[spudwa]

Update for all: Us Australians can get 75% bonus on the miles. (Extra 25% is only for US citizens..)
Equals around 1.66c per mile I think. which is great! $2500 for Sth pac to US via Europe in F =)
Deal is until end of March!

Where is this bonus on the US Airways site?

 

[sr81]

Just go to buy miles - the bonus is spelt out there. US Airways | Buy miles

 

[lovetravellingoz]

And are there any American credit cards that could be signed up for that get bonus points on application or after you spend a $1000 or so?

If you are a USA resident then there are many.

If you are not then = 0.

 

[casanovawa]

My sister lives there, has done for 3 years or so, and just married an american so i imagine she is able to take out a cc with such an offer and perhaps gift to her bestest brother...

 

[slodki]

Hi Guys,

I came across this thread by accident and I'm sure glad that I did!

I was thinking of heading off to Europe with my parents to visit family living there. Thinking of heading off around end of June, beginning of July this year.

Now, I'm trying to come up to speed as quickly as possible to figure out how to get 3x return J tickets to Vienna from Melbourne. I've been looking at the ANA tool I might've come up with something, but not 100% that it will be compliant with the 120K miles that is required for a return J ticket.

I have found a ticket from MEL-BKK-VIE, but I could only find one date near the dates I wanted to fly. What I did next was search for BKK-transit-VIE flights and had a bit more luck. Is something like this possible:

MEL-BKK
BKK-IST-VIE
VIE-IST-BKK
BKK-MEL

Will this still 'fit' within the 120K miles required for a return J ticket?

If that indeed does fit within the 120K miles then I'll setup 3 dividend miles accounts (1 with a silver preferred trial for the 25% bonus during gifting) and start buying miles.

The only other question I had, when I call UA to book the flights, can the miles be spread across the 3 accounts, or do I need all under the one account? Or do I just complete 3 individual bookings on the same flight?

Sorry for all the newbie questions


Ohh and one last thing. I did find limited SQ availability. Is this something I should be pursuing? How is SQ business compared to Thai and the others?

 

[lovetravellingoz]

I would not bank on getting three J's all on the one set of flights. Particularly at such short notice.

 

[slodki]

Any advice then? Whats the best way of arranging this?

 

[ryanbryan]

Not quite, USAirways disallowed the route via Europe to the USA. You can now only go via the Pacific to the USA.

Pretty sure it was only Europe to Australia (etc.) via the USA that was disallowed, not Australia to USA via Europe.

MEL-BKK
BKK-IST-VIE
VIE-IST-BKK
BKK-MEL

Will this still 'fit' within the 120K miles required for a return J ticket?
....

The only other question I had, when I call UA to book the flights, can the miles be spread across the 3 accounts, or do I need all under the one account? Or do I just complete 3 individual bookings on the same flight?

....

Ohh and one last thing. I did find limited SQ availability. Is this something I should be pursuing? How is SQ business compared to Thai and the others?

Yes, this is (as far as the crazy award bookings some people come up with) a very normal itinerary - I don't see any problem with regard to illegal routings or anything. As someone else mentioned though, getting three people on J could be difficult, but if you've found the flights and availability in ANA, go for it.

I presume you mean when you call US ( ), but in any case, the miles can be in three separate accounts. Just tell the operator at the beginning that you're booking for three people, and that the points will be coming from separate accounts.

With regard to SQ, the answer is.... maybe. Depends heavily on the aircraft type that you'd be flying. I think SQ still has a few old 777s floating around that do routes to India, DXB, IST etc. in which case you can find better J product on other airlines. Although I've never tried it, the TK business product has alot of good reviews - if it were me, I'd go for that, if nothing more than to try something different. Also, I have heard from some places that SQ does not do the three day hold.

Two big pieces of advice though:

- Do NOT buy your miles until you have a held and confirmed booking. If you have opened your accounts and have had them open for the 12 day waiting period, usually they shouldn't mind if you purchase them while you're on the phone, if you want to do it all in one go, which can sometimes be advantageous. It's probably not an issue with you as you have a fairly normal booking, but with the more complex routings, sometimes the next operator you call will give you a different amount of points or something for the routing, which creates unnecessary hassle. If the operator won't let you put a hold without having points in your account first, hang up and try with someone else.

- Check your booking carefully when done to make sure you have the correct class, flights etc. after you've made the booking.

Good luck!

 

[peachy3333]

sr81: I'm not sure you've booked much with the guys at USAirways. If you call enough, you'll get the route you want. Even with the new restrictions.

If it was I, I would simply get the 87500 miles first and then wait for a possible next promotion, not just 50k with bonus, and then 50k normal.

 

[mos]

Is something like this possible:

MEL-BKK
BKK-IST-VIE
VIE-IST-BKK
BKK-MEL

Will this still 'fit' within the 120K miles required for a return J ticket?

Hi slodki, no problem with this itinerary for 120k miles but I don't think you'd be allowed to stopover in BKK in both directions. I think the definition they use is <24 hours between flights is transit, >24 hours is a stopover

If that indeed does fit within the 120K miles then I'll setup 3 dividend miles accounts (1 with a silver preferred trial for the 25% bonus during gifting) and start buying miles.

Remember that you have to have the accounts open for 11 days before you can buy/gift/share miles. Something else I have found useful is that provided you aren't using SQ for any of the flights, you can call US Airways and have the flights held for you (for about 48 hours, I think), then buy the miles, call back and have them ticketed. Saves you buying a heap of miles and then finding the flights aren't available when you call to book.

The only other question I had, when I call UA to book the flights, can the miles be spread across the 3 accounts, or do I need all under the one account? Or do I just complete 3 individual bookings on the same flight?

No sure about this, just explain at the start of the call what you want to do and see what the agent says. If you are all travelling together they may be some benefits on being on the same ticket (e.g. if there are delays or cancellations) but I'm sure others know more about this than I do.

Ohh and one last thing. I did find limited SQ availability. Is this something I should be pursuing? How is SQ business compared to Thai and the others?

SQ availability is terrible on *A awards, almost impossible to find J availability on long-haul flights in my limited experience, so the comparison might be moot.

Enjoy the trip, and the world of possibilities that ~$2000 J flights to Europe/US opens up courtesy of US Airways

Mike.

 

[slodki]

Thanks tremendously to those that replied!

I have already opened one US Airways account last night for myself. I'll be opening the other two shortly. Still gives me 2 weeks to finalize everything once the accounts become 'active'. Plus I'll be ready for next time

Thanks for the tips regarding holding a reservation for a day or two and then purchasing the miles. Much better that way then buying miles only to find out I can't use them - that's a great tip I keep reading.

As others have mentioned, 3x J awards will be difficult to come by. Most likely my parents will travel together and I will travel separately on the same route as what I've found has good availability. We'll just travel a day or two apart. I might even have to find another routing that has return F availability to compensate traveling on my own

Now off to try to research a bit more on the different carriers and how their business class compares on the routing I've found..

Thanks again guys!

 

[casanovawa]

Ok i jsut need a clarification here...

So a return J ticket from Aus to Europe is 120,000 miles and from Aus to US is 110,000 miles? Do they allow you to use 55,000 miles getting a one way j flight from Oz to US and then 60,000 miles on a j route from europe back to Oz (making your own way between the US and Europe or vv the other direction) or with these offers is it only allowed to be a return trip from either area with an open jaw in that region?

The next question, i notice you can buy 32,000 miles presently on the 75% bonus offer and get 24,000 miles costing $880 adding up to 56,000 miles and that if you buy anymore miles over the first 50,000 miles you don't get more 75% bonus's... would it be possible for me to buy 56,000 miles for $880 and my sister in the US buy the same 56,000 miles and she gifts them to me? That way it would seem like $1760 for a J return to the US plus any taxes and booking fee?

Lastly, if it says that if buying anything over 50,000 miles on this offer you won't attract the 75% bonus, so if you buy the 50,000 miles on this offer and get your full allocation of 75 bonus miles and then there is another offer in 2 months time for 50% and you buy into that will you get the 50% bonus on that offer as well? its not like buying miles to attract bonus miles on this offer will use up bonus mile limits for the rest of the year? does each new offer reset your bonus mile limits?

 

[peachy3333]

1. The chart is for return only. You can do an open jaw AUS-US, EUR-AUS, which would be 120k (the higher priced region.

2. You can buy 50k and get a bonus of 32.5k, the 32.k bonus is not included with your 50k cap.

3. Gifting does not give bonuses. Buying and then sharing miles will be very expensive (share miles costs money)

4. You can buy up to whatever limit each promotion allows you. In the past there have been no limits. ie. First promotion, 50+X, second promotion, another 50+x etc etc.

 

[peachy3333]

slodki: 3xJ is not usually too bad. 3xF is very hard. If you put your destinations and your wishes down, we can help you find some suitable routes.

 

[casanovawa]

Thanks for the quick reply Peachy, in terms of the family effort, if i buy 60,000 and book my J ticket Oz to US could my sister buy 60,000 miles and buy the Eur to Oz ticket but in my name avoiding whatever the cost of sharing miles is?

I think i read on the thread US Airways cracked down on people buying miles then booking tickets in other people's names thinking they were selling them, but a once of one way trip shouldn'y trip any alarms would it?

 

[peachy3333]

Once again, you CANNOT book one way awards. (unless there have been changes in the last few weeks)