mlgagne

fly????

room service

I used netflix to keep my daughters miles on UA from expiring

jg2411

Restaurant.com is easy & cheap for Delta & American. Who cares if your city has lousy or no restaurants listed - buy for a friend in a different city - certificates are currently 80% off (promo code = Santa). Keep your account alive for $2 or less. My son recently reminded me of the restaurant certs he wanted for stocking stuffers.

Buy.com has deals on flash drives -often < $10 & free s/h -stocking stuffer or to keep. Cheaper in long run is item w/full rebate -buy for miles & submit rebate = account refreshed with little effort or money. You either have something you need, a gift, trash, or sell it on e-bay. Look for electronic games & save for '09 Toys for Tots. A plan I use all year long.

Order on-line & pickup in store is also an easy way to add that mile or two to rescue a stale account.
Order a box of paper clips and stop at Staples, Office Max etc. on the way home from work. The funny look is worth the effort!

I used Circuit City pickup in store for a <$5 flash drive cover (1 of 3 same orders - 3 family member's accts) I picked up a few days later, they couldn't find 1 order in 24 minutes so, they gave me a $24 gift card. A nice surprise since each order was only $4.99 + tax and 2 of 3 were ready.

UAL doesn't have Restaurant.com in mall, but they have Buy.com. & Circuit City
NWA doesn't expire (currently, bet that changes)

Yes, my suggestions may need a bit more effort than requesting an insurance quote for miles, but they get the job done with little effort or $$ involved. I maintain / oversee my family's accounts which has caused me to be overly creative when needed.

Don't forget to check your Hilton Honors account - it expires too if not used.

oklAAhoma

From the AA forum:
"Help, I need xxx Miles" and "by xxx" (consolidated)

sdsearch

It takes months, and exactly for that reason: They (the merchant and/or online mall operator) typically wait until the allowed time for returns has run out before deciding whether you should get the miles, exactly because it's hard to "recall" miles that have already posted (much easier to withhold miles before they've posted until they're sure you should get the miles).

If you want miles quickly, spend on unreturnable things. Restaurant dines are unreturnable, and most post within a couple weeks (if the automated process works). Flights are unreturnable. Bought miles are unreturnable. Hotel stays are unreturnable. Completed car rentals are unretrunable.

But merchandise from a retail store is returnable. So woe to the person who uses that method of extending miles when the expiration clock is quickly ticking!

If you have to buy merchandise, apparently perishable merchandise (FTD?) posts quicker, perhaps exactly because it's perishable, and thus basically also not returnable!

CaveatEmpty

in today's spam-mail: UA is again dangling 250 mi for joining their iDine/RewardsNetwork ~ no purchase needed. LINKY.

"Earn another 250 miles (or more) if you dine within 30 days and spend $25."

Used that gambit last year to 'save' 3 dormant accts. IIRC, miles posted within a day or three...
/.

troyb

I ordered something from Zappos through DL's mall on 12/14 and all of my miles posted on 12/16. Crazy fast.

any007

if you can wait about 6 months

you can do www.e-miles.com

it takes 6 months to get 500 miles to deposit to airlines.

UA isn't on their list though

duanes42

Thanks, I just helped a friend who has miles expiring with this one. Will post when they post to his account...

Gretchen

Join Hotspex.com; you will get several questionnaires per year. Each is worth about 125 points, which can be transferred to points.com and then turned in to airline miles. The reward in miles is very small but it keeps your account alive. You must also join points.com for this method to work.

Also you can join points.com and transfer miles in small quantities from one airline to another (with some restrictions). You lose a lot of miles this way but if the quantity is small it will keep your expiring account alive.

sdsearch

The bonus can only be used for those who don't have a profile yet (meaning have never logged in to Mileage Plus Dining yet). Right hand doesn't know left hand: I've requalified for MP Dining elite level for the umpteenth year already, and my UA account shows graphically that I'm earning miles from Dining, and yet UA sent me this very same email. Of course, once I click to the MP Dining site, it says I'm not eligible.

At any rate, what's the big deal about the bonus from an expiration standpoint? It takes longer to post than the actual dine. The point, from an expriation standpoint, should be the dine itself, which doesn't even need to be $25 if not chasing this particular bonus. (And the bigger point should be that if you simply start using the dining program, and can use it at least once a year, you should never face expriation again, unless you don't have as many cards as you have airline programs you belong to, or unless you belong to airline programs that don't have this kind of dining program, or don't have a US address.)

miss1K

Dinning or purchasing online is probably the fasted way to get miles into your account.

putrafferty

I use my Diners Club Mastercard points (since 1994) to topoff balances at American, Delta and historically Southwest. The card also offers concierge and great car rental benefits. You can aso go to each carriers program homepage and look up "EARN MILES" for ways to accumulate points.

broog

points.com emiles and e rewards all would do the trick

scubadiver

I use AAdvantage.com resturants to keep my AA points alive. AAdvantage dining is where you got dumped after iDine got rid of the ones who wanted FF miles. All of my CC's are rewards, but none of them are for FF miles. So I double-dip when I use a resturant affiliated with AAdvantage. Triple-dip if it's on Open Table too.