Be careful trying to combine points: there's a hidden screw deal. I booked a flight combining US and AA miles for a 50% discount. The booking clerk said this was cool with US. (I did not have enough points in either account for a free ticket.) Later, when I paid for the ticket the clerk informed me that, contrary to the booking agent reassurances, that I could not combine miles for discounts, only for a free ticket. So I got screwed for major bucks. When I complained to US, US Air's Customer Supervisor in San Diego, Judy Earls, basically told me to pay the full fare of take a bus.

Your point is a good one. There is less to this pooling "benefit" than first meets the eye; Randy did not emphasize this in his October article. You can only pool miles for an award on the schedule that each of US and AA offers to the other program's members. These schedules are "full fare", as it were; they do not include good deals such as US' 50%-off awards and AA's two- ticket awards.

Also, US clearly did not train their people well in advance for this program. They gave out all kinds of incorrect information. I was told on two separate occasions that I could combine US and AA miles for a US partner flight to BKK on ANA in business class, and had confirmed reservations. When I called a third time to ticket the flight after confirming that a last few needed Diners Club miles had been transferred into my US account, the agent (and two of her supervisors) finally told me that I could not do it. Unfortunately, I had already committed to local travel arrangements in BKK. While I had enough AA miles alone to get an AA reduced mileage award to go as far as NRT in business class, I was faced with the choice of cancellation penalties for my arrangements in BKK or buying a coach ticket from NRT to BKK. I chose the latter. An exchange of letters has so far resulted in 10,000 bonus Dividend Miles and the refund of a $35 Diners Club expedite fee.

US obviously needs to get its act together on this partnership.

Screw 'em back -

Sign up for MCI long-distance service bonus deal and earn points on BOTH airlines...

Inform the airline that you would like to sign up for the mci program and explain that you will be signing up for long-distance soon. Ask for the bonus code for that airline. When you sign up with MCI, simply give them both bonus codes. There does not seem to be a limit on the number of bonus codes that can be attached to one account. In addition, there does not seem to be a limit to the number of telephone numbers that can be associated with a particular frequent-flyer number. I have set this up for several numbers over the last couple of months (corporate housing). I am also in the process of setting it up for various cellular numbers, etc. You don't actually have to use the long-distance service to get the sign-up bonus (although you do have to wait about 4 months for the miles to show up). Once your initial miles show up, you can cancel the service and sign up again!

-thanz

Hmmm, screwed again. After the previous posting I decided to follow up and check on my accounts--long story short, there does not seem to be a limit on the number of bonus codes per phone number because 'Any new bonus code overwrites the existing one' (or as the original person I spoke with phrased it 'There's only one little box thingy here). When I inquired why, I was told 'To prevent people from taking advantage of this unique offer'. You still get the bonus, though. In order to 'double-up' you actually have to switch. However it appears you can only do this switch once (actually, you can switch as much as you like, but you only get the bonus once). I'll try to switch back and see what happens. In the meantime, I'll try to dream up a better scheme...

-thanz