Any sites that allow you to swap or buy frequent flier miles?
Apr 29th, 2007, 07:07 AM
#1
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Any sites that allow you to swap or buy frequent flier miles?
Hi There - I am just about 30,000 American AAdvantage miles short of a 2nd free ticket to Africa. Many of you probably know that flying to Africa is pretty expensive and I am trying to see if I can swap or buy 30,000 miles from someone else who may have an excess of miles. The alternative would be to "borrow" miles and I am certain that within 1 year, I would have enough miles to pay that person back. Are there any web sites that you know of that allow for this type of exchange? It would help my budget tremendously to get 2 free tickets to Africa, but as always, I need to move fast since available rewards seats are slim...Thanks!!
Apr 29th, 2007, 07:13 AM
#2
They can be bought or gifted, but cannot be "pooled."
Points.com is a "swap" site but "ripped off" is an understatement in the case of most exachanges.
Try this:
https://buyaamiles.points.com/BM_Account.jsp
Note there's a 20% bonus through May.
Points.com is a "swap" site but "ripped off" is an understatement in the case of most exachanges.
Try this:
https://buyaamiles.points.com/BM_Account.jsp
Note there's a 20% bonus through May.
Apr 29th, 2007, 10:54 AM
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You can share AA miles, but there are some things you may not be aware of that make it less than attractive.
First, you can only receive a total of 15,000 miles per year from other people. Second, there is a fee - transferring 15,000 miles costs $150. So, if you borrowed 15,000 miles from someone and then returned them later, it would cost you $300.
But, I do have good news. You can buy miles from AA, and they are currently on sale (through May 31, 2007). You get a 20% mileage bonus when you buy 10,000 miles or more. So, it would only cost you $600 (versus the normal price of $750).
Do you have any other miles? www.webflyer.com has a mileage conversion calculator.
The best conversion to AA is Starwood points - one for one. Plus, for every 20,000 points you transfer, you get 5,000 bonus miles. So you would only need 25,000 Starwood points. It only takes two or three days, even though they tell you it takes a lot longer.
Do you have Amex points? If so, you can transfer them to Starwood points and then transfer those to American. You'd need a little over 75,000 Amex points to get 25,000 Starwood points to get 30,000 AA miles.
Can you tell I'm an Advantage addict?
First, you can only receive a total of 15,000 miles per year from other people. Second, there is a fee - transferring 15,000 miles costs $150. So, if you borrowed 15,000 miles from someone and then returned them later, it would cost you $300.
But, I do have good news. You can buy miles from AA, and they are currently on sale (through May 31, 2007). You get a 20% mileage bonus when you buy 10,000 miles or more. So, it would only cost you $600 (versus the normal price of $750).
Do you have any other miles? www.webflyer.com has a mileage conversion calculator.
The best conversion to AA is Starwood points - one for one. Plus, for every 20,000 points you transfer, you get 5,000 bonus miles. So you would only need 25,000 Starwood points. It only takes two or three days, even though they tell you it takes a lot longer.
Do you have Amex points? If so, you can transfer them to Starwood points and then transfer those to American. You'd need a little over 75,000 Amex points to get 25,000 Starwood points to get 30,000 AA miles.
Can you tell I'm an Advantage addict?
Apr 29th, 2007, 02:16 PM
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Do you need the miles right away? If so, you may not be able to count on the 20% bonus posting in time.
According to the T&C <i>AAdvantage bonus miles related to this offer will post to the purchaser's or transferors' AAdvantage account in 6 - 8 weeks following the transaction.</i>
In reality, they may post quicker. I don't know. Just thought I'd point that out.
According to the T&C <i>AAdvantage bonus miles related to this offer will post to the purchaser's or transferors' AAdvantage account in 6 - 8 weeks following the transaction.</i>
In reality, they may post quicker. I don't know. Just thought I'd point that out.
Apr 29th, 2007, 02:39 PM
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It's my impression that www.flyertalk.com is the place to go for anything having to do with frequent flyer miles -- there's a very robust forum with lots of depth on this subject.
Apr 29th, 2007, 10:33 PM
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From experience with AA, you can usually hold an international mileage ticket for quite a while before you have to actually ticket it. That should give you enough time for the mileage to post.
Btw, do you have an Advantage card? If so, use it to pay your deposit on your safari. That should give you a few thousand miles. If not, you might be able to earn some miles by getting one.
Btw, do you have an Advantage card? If so, use it to pay your deposit on your safari. That should give you a few thousand miles. If not, you might be able to earn some miles by getting one.
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Apr 30th, 2007, 07:33 AM
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Here's a caution about transferring from Amex to Starwood to AAdvantage -- Starwood requires that transfers be done in pretty big chunks, I think 20,000 or 25,000 miles. So make sure you have enough Amex miles before you move them to Starwood.
Buying miles from AA is the best way, I think, and perfectly "legal".
Buying miles from AA is the best way, I think, and perfectly "legal".
Apr 30th, 2007, 10:16 AM
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AFAIK the minimum amount of Starwood points that can be transferred by general members is 2500. Golds can transfer as few as 1500 and Plats have no minimum. However, you don't the 5000 bonus unless you transfer a minimum of 25,000.
I would only move Amex points to Starwood as a last resort since there's a considerable devaluation unless you have absolutely no other use for your Amex points. 75,000 Amex points is almost enough for an economy award from the US to Africa or 2/3 of the way toward a business class award.
I would only move Amex points to Starwood as a last resort since there's a considerable devaluation unless you have absolutely no other use for your Amex points. 75,000 Amex points is almost enough for an economy award from the US to Africa or 2/3 of the way toward a business class award.
