UA miles - what to do with them...
Dec 10, 2009, 11:39 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 1
UA miles - what to do with them...
Folks, I am new to FlyerTalk. I read the Forbes article on the miles and Mint and didn't realize the whole community that I was missing out on...
Now to my question...I used to travel on UA but have switched since April to travel almost exclusively AA and SouthWest. At any rate, my relatives live in Costa Rica and I would like to use the 70k+ UA miles to get them up here. However, I have just come to find out that UA does not fly direct to CR. I looked into the idea of gifting my miles to a buddy who flies UA and have him pay me in AA miles. This is costly as both companies charge about a cent per mile for the transfer. When it's all said and done the transaction would cost me about $500..which defeats the purpose.
I looked into a couple of websites that will "buy" your miles but don't really know how that works.
I was hoping that some in the community here can help me out with some ideas or direct me to the right general sites or information...Thanks
Now to my question...I used to travel on UA but have switched since April to travel almost exclusively AA and SouthWest. At any rate, my relatives live in Costa Rica and I would like to use the 70k+ UA miles to get them up here. However, I have just come to find out that UA does not fly direct to CR. I looked into the idea of gifting my miles to a buddy who flies UA and have him pay me in AA miles. This is costly as both companies charge about a cent per mile for the transfer. When it's all said and done the transaction would cost me about $500..which defeats the purpose.
I looked into a couple of websites that will "buy" your miles but don't really know how that works.
I was hoping that some in the community here can help me out with some ideas or direct me to the right general sites or information...Thanks
Dec 10, 2009, 11:42 am
#2
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: SFO
Programs: SPG Gold, UA 1K, Avis PC
Posts: 341
You can use your UA miles to 'purchase' a flight for your AA buddy and he can use his miles to pick up a flight for you.
This would not yield extra cost for either of you, but neither of you would be flying on your preferred airline.
This would not yield extra cost for either of you, but neither of you would be flying on your preferred airline.
Dec 10, 2009, 11:45 am
#3
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Seattle, WA
Programs: DL Diamond, UA 1K MM, SPG Plat For Life, Marriott Plat, Nexus/GlobalEntry
Posts: 9,198
Welcome to FT!
There are a couple solutions. If you're going to trade a UA award for an AA award don't transfer any miles.. you just book a ticket using your UA miles for your friend and have him do the same in return for you with his AA miles. Then you avoid any transfer fees.
The other solution is to try and use your miles for an award ticket on Continental but you'll need to call UA reservations to check availability.
FYI, "bartering" airline miles is prohibited by the rules of pretty much all airlines. So if you do it don't tell the world about it and certainly don't mention any kind of trade to an airline employee.
There are a couple solutions. If you're going to trade a UA award for an AA award don't transfer any miles.. you just book a ticket using your UA miles for your friend and have him do the same in return for you with his AA miles. Then you avoid any transfer fees.
The other solution is to try and use your miles for an award ticket on Continental but you'll need to call UA reservations to check availability.
FYI, "bartering" airline miles is prohibited by the rules of pretty much all airlines. So if you do it don't tell the world about it and certainly don't mention any kind of trade to an airline employee.