br125

2/8/16

Does anyone in here know anything about the Credit cards for United Airlines, American Aadvantage, and which of these is worth having to build miles for a Rt International flight?

United Explorer is 30,000 miles if you spend $1,000
American Advantage is 50,000 miles for $3,000

United, I have 14,000 miles, enough for a 1 way domestic flight in US
American, I have 6,000 miles, not enough for a bag of popcorn! LOL!

I need 70,000 1 way International for Business class, or 140,000 mile Rt International for Business Class!

Better to bargain at the gate for a RT International flight on Business Class with UA or AA, or wait till you walk on plane, then ask for prices, doing your homework ahead of time for Business class prices? Or just try to save 70,000 one way miles or 140,000 rt miles from a flight and airline credit card? 140,000 miles is out of reach for me!

Read travel articles that claim one can get a free RT upgrade with First class by giving away good 1 lb chocolate bars at the ticket counter, and receiving a free RT first class seat! I think this information is provided to consumers to sell travel magazines, and probably garbage!


Your expert opinion on the matter?

Thank you,

br125

WineCountryUA

There is no bargaining at the gate -- there is usually an existing waitlist of elites that take the available seats. For a non-elite, you need to book.

Signing up for extra credit cards (but watch the use of credit) is a way to get a chunk of miles.

Your assessment of the value of the advice is correct.

As this is more of a general question about accumulating and using miles will move this post to the MilesBuzz forum.

EmailKid

Welcome to FlyerTalk br125.

Numbers may seem overwhelming, but many have reached them with sign up bonuses.

I am about to meet $3,000 mile spend within 3 months of signing up for my second Citi card, and did that last year about this time to get 50,000 AA miles (have plenty UA, so like to diversify a little).

MOST of the time UA only has 30K mile signup bonus, but they throw out 50K every once in a while, but you have to watch for it.

Also read stickied thread in this forum with referrals - you may find one with extra miles.

guv1976

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry: BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.1030 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

"I need 70,000 1 way International for Business class, or 140,000 mile Rt International for Business Class!"

The amount of miles needed for an international Business Class ticket can vary from program to program, and also from destination to destination. (Do you want to fly to Basel? Beijing? Bogota?) Indeed, even within a single program, the number of miles needed can vary depending on which airline you fly.

Also, keep in mind that AA, UA, and many other airlines offer one-way awards in their frequent-flyer programs, so you do not necessarily have to amass all of your miles in a single program.

sannmann

How frequent do you travel? Miles are a losing proposition if you're not traveling enough to earn them or enjoy the benefits associated with elite status. Sure, you could plus up your account with some miles from signing up for a credit card; however, good luck finding the flight you want to take with those miles.

garykung

Aim low first.

If you don't have the miles for a Y award ticket, it is anti-intuitive to think about premium class award.

Some airlines do have a good walk-up fare. But it is definitely not the case for UA.

It is possible and not garbage. But the chance is slim.

Many factors contributed to an op-up. In short, you have to be the right person at the right time and place and doing the right thing to score your free upgrade.

tantuti

got offer in mail from untied

50k miles after spending 2k in 3 months

another 5k for adding another pesron

another 5k when other person makes first purchase

tempting...

good deal??

EmailKid

I already have a million UA miles so went with Citi to get AA miles, and had to spend $3K to get 50K miles.

UA is reputed as easiest miles to redeem, i.e. have most availability, and I've had pretty good luck when I tried to use miles for UA int'l Biz awards.

IMHO, pretty good deal, but I'm not the expert that some others in this forum are @:-)

garykung

You misunderstand the offer.

1. You will get 50K miles after $2K spending in 3 months
2. You will get 5K miles after adding an authorized user with first purchase.

50K+5K is pretty much a STANDARD offer, although it is not available to many people.