how much money are freq. flyer miles worth?
Oct 8th, 2010, 01:42 PM
#21
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I take the view that it is worth it to get the airline credit cards- especially the ones that offer attractive sign up bonuses- some come with one year free before an annual fee is charged. For expample my wife signed up for the American Airlines VISA card from Chase- it gave her 50,000 miles bonus sign up and the fee was I think $75- now my friends that is worth it as those ff miles are good for one trip to Europe - which has a value of about $800. I signed up for the British Airways VISA card from Chase and they gave me 100,000 for the 75 annual fee- folks thats 2 free tickets to Europe worth $1600. So you see it is worth it to get the airline cards- you just have to wait for the sign up bonus offers before you take the plunge!
Oct 8th, 2010, 04:32 PM
#23
Selling your miles will get them confiscated by the airline.
You can look online at any of the airline sites to see what price they put on sold miles. Right now British Airways is offering a 25% bonus for purchased miles, but only allow you to buy 24,000 miles (plus 6K bonus miles) for ~$700. Redeeming miles on BA from the US to Australia requires 140,000 miles, double that if in business class.
American will sell up to 40,000 per calendar year ($1000) and requires 75,000 for a round trip to Australia in economy.
Other airlines will have different purchase prices and redemption requirements.
You can look online at any of the airline sites to see what price they put on sold miles. Right now British Airways is offering a 25% bonus for purchased miles, but only allow you to buy 24,000 miles (plus 6K bonus miles) for ~$700. Redeeming miles on BA from the US to Australia requires 140,000 miles, double that if in business class.
American will sell up to 40,000 per calendar year ($1000) and requires 75,000 for a round trip to Australia in economy.
Other airlines will have different purchase prices and redemption requirements.
Oct 9th, 2010, 11:52 AM
#24
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<<I signed up for the British Airways VISA card from Chase and they gave me 100,000 for the 75 annual fee- folks thats 2 free tickets to Europe worth $1600. So you see it is worth it to get the airline cards- you just have to wait for the sign up bonus offers before you take the plunge!>>
Sadly, that BAEC offer expired some months back - too bad, 'cause it was one heck of a deal. I already had a BA/Chase VISA and consequently wasn't eligible, worse luck.
The hot deal right now is with American - 75K or 100K miles with a new Signature card thru CitiBank. Offer expires 10/31. The 75K card is probably the better deal, since it requires only a $1500 spend over six months to get the miles - the 100K award requires $10K spend over a year. Cheapest steerage AA redemption RT to Europe in summer is 60K miles, but availability can be very limited.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...-up-bonus.html
Sadly, that BAEC offer expired some months back - too bad, 'cause it was one heck of a deal. I already had a BA/Chase VISA and consequently wasn't eligible, worse luck.
The hot deal right now is with American - 75K or 100K miles with a new Signature card thru CitiBank. Offer expires 10/31. The 75K card is probably the better deal, since it requires only a $1500 spend over six months to get the miles - the 100K award requires $10K spend over a year. Cheapest steerage AA redemption RT to Europe in summer is 60K miles, but availability can be very limited.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...-up-bonus.html
Oct 13th, 2010, 06:10 PM
#25
Another view:
we use a USAirways Mastercard which generally gives us one mile per dollar spent; sometimes we get double miles depending on the type of purchase. We spend enough to keep us easily at the Star Alliance Silver level.
Now, if you want to fly and the cost of the ticket is 180,000 Miles that means, generally, you had to SPEND $180,000 dollars to get those miles; and the actual price of that same ticket is in the $3500 range, which one is actually cheaper???
we use a USAirways Mastercard which generally gives us one mile per dollar spent; sometimes we get double miles depending on the type of purchase. We spend enough to keep us easily at the Star Alliance Silver level.
Now, if you want to fly and the cost of the ticket is 180,000 Miles that means, generally, you had to SPEND $180,000 dollars to get those miles; and the actual price of that same ticket is in the $3500 range, which one is actually cheaper???
