geotm

I signed up to Points.com this past month, and trasferred miles from Alaska Airlines to Amerca West. I made a mistake by not paying attention to the loss in miles in this transaction, and got only 1796 America West miles for 19,511 Alaska miles. I called America West and Alaska and they could not reverese this transaction. Points.com wants you to pay to phone them, and only responded via e-mail. Points.com refered me to Capital One, and they siad they had nothing to do with Points.com. This is a scam between the arilines and Points.com. Make sure you fully understand what you are getting into. Buyer beware!

41Philly

I'm not sure how it can be a scam when you yourself admitted you did not pay attention to the transaction. They also give you a period of time in which you can review the transaction and cancel it if you want.

Points.com is very helpful if you are a few points short of a flight or status, and shouldnt be used for more than that.

gleff

Points.com is overpriced. The website is terrible. And heaven forbid you need customer service. I find LOTS of faults with this company.

But there's certainly disclosure on the transfer ratios. I'm sorry that your transaction didn't live up to your hopes, but certainly nobody lied here.

jfe

Never use points.com for anything and you will be safe from now on

Brendan

Points.com does tell us how few points we will get, but it is still unconscionable: Like saying, "For every dollar you pay me, I will deposit a dime into your friend's bank account!"

One of their few fair exchanges is from S&H Greenpoints into miles/ other points.
1000 Greenpoints = $1 in free food at the supermarket or about 85 USAirways miles.

wanaflyforless

People, people! It bugs me every time I see FTers ripping on Points.com for their exchange rates because they are NOT free to impose whatever exchange rates they like!

Please remember that in order for Points.com to give you X for your points, they need to receive that X from the airline whose points you are using. If airline X is only willing to give Points.com say half a cent per mile redeemed, and Points.com has to pay retail for the points you buy on anther airline (say 2 cents each), how could they possible not give you so many fewer points!

Why would airlines want to reward you for your loyalty to them by buying you points on other airlines? Buy allowing Points.com to offer you a better exchange rate, they would be: a) loosing more real cash for miles verses potentially empty seats b)enabling you fly their competitors with their currency at their cost!

My guess is Points.com does make some money off of their transactions. But the fact that one can get as much as 1 cent/mile value trading AA miles (and not other airlines) tells me their exchange rates have more to do with the restrictions imposed my the airlines rather than the ill-will of points.com management!

I DO think POINTS.COM has some serious problems...their lack of CS is one of them...but they do disclose their exchange rates and if a user does not pay attention, it really is not Point.com's fault!

lin821

^
I can't agree with you more!

As far as I know, Points.com has gone through at least three management reorganization since Spring 2004. If you had searched the forum abount points.com before you joined them, I bet you would at least see a dozen threads, including the heated Get "Unlimited" AA miles... If search had been performed, you would have some ideas in terms of how screw-up Points.com can be. Most of the happy people I saw reporting were doing really small transactions.

I totally agree with the earlier posts that Points.com should be used only if you need to top off your accounts.

joedette

Got burnt by Jet Blue and points purchase yesterday. I needed just under 4000 pts for what I though was a 12000 point "award" . Like a fool I purchased the 4000 I needed which came to like $140.00. (so basically, I already had 2/3 of what I needed)
Then I go to book and see to outright buy the flight it was $164.00!!!!
I bought it outright and tried after many calls to void the purchase. Jet Blue told me that the point are sold by a "third party company" and they have no way to contact them. Huh? I tried calling my bank and debit card issuer, and I cant rescind the purchase as on a charge card (closing that account today!! Then called Jet Blue again, and they said IF I fight it or contest the charge my Jet Blue points are ALL lost. ...!!??! IS this any way to run an airline??
I will NEVER use a debit card again (no protection from fraud and usury) and will NEVER purchase point or anything else from Jet Blue again other than flights. Long letter to Jet Blue coming too.
Buyer beware: DO NOT PURCHASE ANY POINT FROM JET BLUE!!! THEY ARE WAY OVERPRICED!!

godlovesugly

Yes, they are way overpriced, and yet you still paid. This error is on you, not Points.com. Why in the world wouldn't you check the price of the flight first?

dyrewolf31

What he said

Brendan

C'mon! Joedette knows that s/he has borked, but who hasn't? I remember clicking to buy an airline ticket, then 5 minutes later exclaiming, "Oh no, I forgot about that coupon I have!"
There should be a way to stop payment on a credit/ debit card transaction before it posts IMHO.
Look on the bright side, Joedette! U can use your JetBlue award next time, when the $ price may be quite expensive!

cubaninfla

I dont think is an scam but it is definitely a robbery. how would you pay so much to transfer points from account to another account when you earned those points flying, staying in hotels or expending money using your credit card. Some smart ... came out with this idea and some dumb ones fall into it. Think about it. My friend who for health problems cant travel anymore wanted to transfer me her miles 30K from her Delta to mine. Delta said the cost was $300. With those 30K you can get a flight from PBI to LGA for 30K plus a fee. The same flight cost $263 if paid with cash. .... Any way, I would never do business with this people. Hope every smart one out there do the same.

CDKing

Its not a scam or robbery. Its an excellent way to top off accounts. There are also some good sales (hint buy not transfer). Now if your one of the ones who pays to transfer the points rather than just book the award for the person thats your own problem. Its no secret its expensive but its very clear how much its going to cost.

mahasamatman

It's also a good way to clean up orphaned miles which would otherwise have zero value.

blsnk

What is the point of transferring unless you really need a few extra miles to fly? You can always book a ticket for yourself on their account if needed.