MilesBuzz! - HELP me consolidate miles, please...

OK experts I need some help/suggestions. I would like to empty those FF accounts I have with miles on carriers that I don't use or plan on using. So how can I consolidate those straggling miles from mutiple carriers into one airline or one hotel program?

I have 1500 with UA, 2000 CO, 4393 with NWA, 11644 with AS (AS continues to grow).

I know I could transfer into HHonors but need minimums to do so. I don't belong to any Diners Club or CC deal. It would be great to have it all in my AS or AA account, or all into HHonors. I also belong to Hyatt and Marriot programs.

What should I do? Thanks

The only thing I can think of is to go on a Credit Card gathering spree. If you get bonuses for signing up for UAL, NW, CO (I assume they have one) you could get them each to a point where you have the minimums. Join Amtrak's program - and you can shuffle points between UAL/CO thru Amtrak. It is probably easy to get NW up to the 5000 mark - with a car rental or some other little promotion. Then 5000 is worth an interisland flight in Hawaii - if you can build another program up to enough for a flight there.

Bottom line, without somehow building up to at least 5000, I'm not sure if there are any ways of using them.

Now I've never done this, but...

(Is that a good enough disclaimer?) http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

Personally, I'd purchase miles from the airlines (I know I can do it for AC, don't know about the others), to get the minimum transfer balances to HHonors or Starwood (5000?) , then transfer them over... Or, if you're patient, you can probably nickle-and-dime your way up to that 5000 threshold, with 500 mile awards here and there... Just an idea.

O

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by JHIN:
OK experts I need some help/suggestions. I would like to empty those FF accounts I have with miles on carriers that I don't use or plan on using. So how can I consolidate those straggling miles from mutiple carriers into one airline or one hotel program?

I have 1500 with UA, 2000 CO, 4393 with NWA, 11644 with AS (AS continues to grow).

I know I could transfer into HHonors but need minimums to do so. I don't belong to any Diners Club or CC deal. It would be great to have it all in my AS or AA account, or all into HHonors. I also belong to Hyatt and Marriot programs.

What should I do? Thanks </font>

UA - See if the Vons Promo is valid for your area - $250 in Groceries = 125 Miles

Use your rental car, HH Double dip, Idine to edge them up to 5000 - XFER to Hilton

Concentrate on one program at a time however don't let them go dormant - Be sure to have at least a partner activity.



[This message has been edited by FC_Dave (edited 09-20-2002).]

With the exception of AS the rest are worth perhaps $100. Seems like hardly worth the trouble to deal with 3 accounts and consolidate them into a 4th account. Frankly my time is worth more than that and my advice is to forget it and let them exprire.

JHIN, I agree with clanson. One other thought is, you might enjoy some magazine subscriptions to spend down your low mileage accounts if they're still being offered.

Good luck growing your AS account.

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The most difficult thing in the world is to watch the one you love, love someone else.

I agree that it's not worth the trouble to try to build each of them to 5000. Rather than let them expire, use them for magazines (http://www.milepoint.com/mall/magazine.asp) or magazines (http://www.mileageworkshop.com/) click on news.

Hey, Limo! That was a brutal closing quote. Hope all is well.

As mentioned before, Dining is one of the best ways to top off accounts because all the majors participate. All you have to do is register the account, top it off and switch to another FF account. Since you get 10 miles per dollar spent, you get 1,000 miles for every $100 - it won't take long to reach 5,000 miles.

Another option is to use each airline's shopping mall. UAL's (http://www.ual.com/page/article/0,1360,3624,00.html) is small, but NWA's (http://www.nwa.com/mall/about/directory.html) is larger. Just make sure to have at least one transaction every three years.

It may also help to create a spreadsheet with your accounts and mileage expiration dates. Sort the accounts by expiration date, the earliest date being first. This way you'll always know what program needs partner activity and you won't lose your miles.

Going forward, here's a good primer (http://www.frequentflier.com/ffp-006.htm) on choosing FF programs.


[This message has been edited by Family flyer (edited 09-20-2002).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by FC_Dave:
UA - See if the Vons Promo is valid for your area - $250 in Groceries = 125 Miles

</font>

Good idea, but in Seattle you'll do it with Von's and Pavillion's parent company, Safeway

It's too bad that the 4000-odd miles went to NW, when they could have gone to AS Mileage Plan or CO OnePass. Oh Well.

IMHO I'd look at which program's miles are worth saving.

Remember that AS will give you credit for NW and CO flights. Also, remember that it is easy to earn AS miles for non-travel activities in the Seattle area, like taking the train to Portland or filling at Tesoro or Staying at a Coast/WestCoast Hotels.
(These are all companies with a large presence in the SEA area).

Since the AS miles do not expire, perhaps you trickle them in with Tesoro et al, and put miles in that account when you fly AA or BA or HA, etc.

Then pick one of either CO and NW and use credit cards or long distance to build one up plus your flights on CO/NW and perhaps even AS. (Remember that HP flights can also be stored in NW Worldperks)

UA is a tricky one. Yes, you can put miles from Star Alliance in there, plus US and, for a while longer, domestic DL. But are you going to fly LH, AC, SK etc.? US only has service to the East Coast, non-stop. DL is soon to leave for CO/NW. UA has a shakey future, though it will be around, but will it be the huge company it is today at SEA?

Lots of decisions I know. Hope I did not overwhelm you. Good Luck.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> Join Amtrak's program - and you can shuffle points between UAL/CO thru Amtrak </font>

UAL now say they no longer allow transfer of miles to or from Amtrak....Boy, could have used this to round off CO miles for a ticket...:{

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by clanson:
...and my advice is to forget it and let them exprire.</font>


As an option, you could see if these airlines offer the possibility of donating miles to a charity. Alternatively, you could just hold on to them and see what happens. I never thought that my TWA orphan miles would amount to much. Then, AA assumed TWA miles and turned those poor little orphans into happy sibblings. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by afrugal1:
Hey, Limo! That was a brutal closing quote. Hope all is well.</font>Everything is fine afrugal1. I appreciate your concern. That quote is one of the more intense ones I've come across.

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The most difficult thing in the world is to watch the one you love, love someone else.

It is worth keeping those miles that expire in 3 yrs alive by having a partner/idine visit every three years. You never know - you might end up flying them again and that small amount might be just the amount you need for a ticket - or a merger like TWA with AA. CO doesn't expire. My daughter had about 7000 UA miles - so during the double Idine promo, I ate out enough to bring hers to 10K and then transferred those through Diners club to British air.

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Ms.DtG

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by HeHateY:
(Remember that HP flights can also be stored in NW Worldperks)</font>

This is only true for HP flights that are NW codeshares, which are the flights PHX/LAS-LAX/SFO/maybe SEA that connect to NW HNL and Asia flights.