jk5598224

Hi to all, hope I am the right forum. Does anybody have a link or document that summarizes possiblities of transfering/exchanging/combining miles between airlines and or hotel partners. I would like to use up some hanger on miles for a reduced travel EZE-MIA-EZE. Something like the old AA/US Airways promo where you could use US Airmiles mile on AA segment and vice a versa.

I have some hanger on miles I would like to use up. Below is a example.

Starwood - 4439 Miles
Hyatt - 5197
Hilton- 2500
DL - 16944
MX - 15550
UA - 11745

Miles I don't really want to use except for emergency:
AA - 480K
AMEX - 160K
MAR4IOTT - 130K

Thanks in advance.

cubsfan10

Welcome, jk:

This was also one of my first questions as a newbie. Check out these threads:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum1/HTML/005060.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum97/HTML/000521.html

PG

Hotel web sites and Amex MR web site document the possibilities for the transfer to airlines. In your case you could use AMEX MR to top off your DL account, and the hotel points to top off your UA account.

I'm not familiar with MX.

anthonyanthony

Here's something I posted on the Hilton board back in January. You may find it useful when considering the Hilton Reward Exchange program for moving miles around.

HILTON HHONORS REWARD EXCHANGE PROGRAM
EXCHANGE RATE CHARTS

GROUP 1 AIRLINES:
Continental Airlines, Delta Airlines, TWA, United Airlines, Aero California, Hawaiian Airlines, LatinPass, Mexicana Airlines, Midwest Express Airlines, South African Airways

GROUP 2 AIRLINES:
American Airlines, Virgin Atlantic Airways

GROUP 3 AIRLINE:
LanChile

mi = airline miles, pt = HHonors points, km = airline kilometers


CONVERTING BETWEEN ALL GROUP 1 AIRLINES:

5000 mi -> 10000 pt -> 1500 mi 70% loss
10000 mi -> 20000 pt -> 3500 mi 65% loss
25000 mi -> 50000 pt -> 10000 mi 60% loss


CONVERTING FROM GROUP 1 TO AMERICAN AIRLINES:

5000 mi -> 10000 pt -> 2000 mi 60% loss
10000 mi -> 20000 pt -> 4000 mi 60% loss
25000 mi -> 50000 pt -> 12000 mi 52% loss


CONVERTING FROM GROUP 2 TO GROUPS 1, 3, AND VIRGIN:

10000 mi -> 10000 pt -> 1500 mi 85% loss
20000 mi -> 20000 pt -> 3500 mi/6500 km 83% loss (78% loss to LanChile)
35000 mi -> 35000 pt -> 10000 km (81% loss to LanChile)
50000 mi -> 50000 pt -> 10000mi/15000km 80% penalty (80% loss to LanChile)


CONVERTING FROM GROUPS 2 AND 3 TO AMERICAN AIRLINES:

10000 mi/km -> 10000 pt -> 2000 mi 80% loss (70% loss from LanChile)
20000 mi/km -> 20000 pt -> 4000 mi 80% loss (70% loss from LanChile)
50000 mi/km -> 50000 pt -> 12000 mi 76% loss (64% loss from LanChile)


CONVERTING FROM GROUP 1 TO GROUP 3:

10000 mi -> 20000 pt -> 6500 km 57% loss
17500 mi -> 35000 pt -> 10000 km 62% loss
25000 mi -> 50000 pt -> 15000 km 60% loss
(note that it's cheaper to move 10000 miles than it is to move anything more)


CONVERTING FROM GROUP 3 TO GROUP 1:

10000 km -> 10000 pt -> 1500 mi 77% loss
20000 km -> 20000 pt -> 3500 mi 74% loss
50000 km -> 50000 pt -> 10000 mi 70% loss


You can transfer as little as 5000 miles (10000 mi/km for Virgin and LanChile) at a time out of the airline programs and into your HHonors account without suffering the loss. That means that you can pool points from various airline programs in your HHonors account, and then transfer them out to one airline program to get the best exchange rate. But once you transfer the points out of the airline, you cannot put them back without suffering the loss.

You might also consider that using the points for a stay at a Hilton Hotel is a better value than transfering the points to an airline, especially if you stay at Hiltons anyway. Consider that if you used 20000 pts to stay 1 weekend night at a "Executive" class Hilton Hotel that would have cost you $100/night, you can use your points and get a value of 0.5 cents per point. If you transferred those same points to an airline, and redeemed 25000 miles for a ticket that would have cost you $400, you would only get a value of 0.32 cents per point. Thus, in the above example, you would be getting nearly 40% more value using the points for a hotel stay.

The LanChile conversions assume that 1 mile = 1.5 kilometers.

fixthed*mnthing.com

Thanks for the repost! Very useful info
George...

BillMorrow

Welcome to FlyerTalk.

I have found that one good use for small amounts of 'orphaned' airline miles is for magazine subscriptions. For 300-500 miles, you can get a year's subscription to your favorite magazine. Check the airlines' websites carefully for info on this or call their loyalty program service centers for help. I just obtained subscriptions to National Geographic Traveller (a great travel magazine) and PC Magazine for about 800 miles total.

As has been mentioned, all the ways of 'laundering' miles from one airline to another cost a hefty premium. I believe that in addition to HHonors, Amtrak's reward program is another potential laundry, but it too will severely discount your miles.

The best use of orphaned miles/points, IMHO, is to move them once (rather than twice for inter-airline transfer) into an affiliated program. Usually this means moving miles to hotel points, though occasionally it is sometimes worthwhile to move points to miles.

I do have a long term FF strategy for you. I assume that your prefer Marriott brands for hotel stays based on your points there. I am like you in that aspect, but I think you should consider Hilton as a secondary hotel chain. It is very easy to obtain and maintain Gold status within the HHonors program. Typically, one or two times a year, they will offer a promo where, if you have 4 stays (not nights) with them over a 90 period, they will give you 50K bonus points and elevate you to gold status for the next year or so. As the 4 stays can be at any Hilton property including Hampton Inns, this can be done very cheaply. Additionally, you can requalify your status using these promos. The only down side to this that everyone seems to be Gold with HHonors and one rarely gets upgrades (beyond executive floor rooms), but you should be used to this with Marriott.

Once you have reached gold status with HHonors, you become eligible for their VIP Awards. The best ones are the GLON and GLONP awards at the bottom of the page. With these awards, for 100k-150k points, you can stay for six nights at some of their best hotels around the world. These include the Waldorf-Astoria in NYC, Palmer House in Chicago, Hilton Hawaiian Village, Hilton Waikoloa, Jalousie Hilton in St Lucia, Hilton Bankok, Hong Kong Conrad, Hilton Batang Ai Longhouse Resort in Malaysia, Hilton Sorrento Palace in Italy.... I am using a GLON award next spring for the Hilton in Auckland, NZ.

Note that you can change your MX and DL miles to HHonors on a 2-for-1 basis. In this case, the 2-for-1 is in your favor and would net you about 64k points with HHonors. Combine those with the 50k from the gold promo and you have enough points for a GLON award or be well on your way to a GLONP.

Although you probably have a Marriott or AA affinity credit card, continue to watch for other credit card deals. Last year DL launched a new Optima card program where many of us netted >50k miles in bonuses. Although I have not flown DL in years, I applied for the card. Recently I received my final 50k bonus from using it and quickly converted the miles to HHonors points to 'pay' for my GLON award in Auckland!

Again, let me welcome to FlyerTalk. Most of the biggest deals/promos do get mentioned in MilesBuzz!, but many only get talked about in their relevant sections of the message board. Look around and don't be afraid to ask questions, but do try to use search functions.

Have fun, but beware. This place is addicting!

[This message has been edited by BillMorrow (edited 10-20-2001).]

hindukid

It should be noted that hhonors points to miles is not a good transaction, but miles to hhonors points is pretty fair. If you have use for hilton hotel rewards, then consolidating miles into hhonors is pretty smart. I just redeemed an award for 33,000 points for 2 night at copenhagen. This would have cost me $360. Instead i used only 15,000 FF miles plus sign up bonus. So if you have a few thousand miles in diff. accounts, I would consolidate. Also rather than converting back to airline miles, you can redeem for air transport. 75,000 hhonors points for domestic and 150k to europe. Heard that award availabilty for air through Hilton is better than through airlines, and awards on AA even earn miles. So consider that yo convert at 2 to 1, and then earn 4,000 miles back. That means a domestic ticket only cost 33,500 frequent flier miles, not much more than 25,000 for normal ticket.

Wolverine

AnthonyAnthony:
Man, great post.

The other posters also have given great advice on this thread.

When you think you know everything, you find that you really don't.

anthonyanthony

I agree, there's alot of good advice here -- I didn't know that Hilton Rewards on American Airlines earn FF miles. Thanks for the tip, hindukid!

Just keep in mind that the information in my post was current as of January. If there has been any changes in participating airlines or conversion rates, it's not reflected in my post. I'll double check the Rewards program as soon as I get the chance, and will post here if I find any discrepancies.

(Edited for my crappy grammar)

[This message has been edited by anthonyanthony (edited 10-20-2001).]