Reinstating forfeited miles

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I rarely fly USAir anymore, and due to laziness and procrastination lost my 35K miles. I can get them reinstated by either paying $200 (no) or applying for a USAir credit card in the next year. Given the previous amount of credit card churning I've done in the past year, I'd rather not take another hit on my credit report. Colleagues of mine who fly USAir say that availability for award flight is scarce. Should I even bother??
I disagree that US award availability is scarce. However, you can use your US miles on any *A carrier so the better question is "are you anticipating any trip on a *A carrier in the near future *"? If so, and 35K miles is sufficient for that trip, then it's probably worth it. If not, then no.


* depending on US' future in *A (which is a debate for a different thread)
I wouldn't pony up $1 to keep my miles on US Air.

What's your Fico score at now? Unless you have a mortgage or other large purchase in your immediate future, the credit card option doesn't look too bad. Are you getting the sign up bonus as well? (10-25k, I think)

If you do activate your miles soon, I'd jump on an award, on a non-US Air flight ASAP.
Get the BofA Visa with the 25K bonus.

That give you 60K.. enjoy an F trip to the Carribean on US before they go and visit their new destination BK III!
I just had a credit report run, and my credit score is very high. Looks like I'll go ahead and apply for the BoA Visa with the 25Kbonus miles and have 60K after the miles are reinstated.
With 60k you should be able to redeem for a domestic F award on US or UA.
Mom
How much time do you have to recover expired miles? I just found out Mom let her Dividend miles expire. Does applying for the CC do it or do we need to get special dispensation.
Quote: I rarely fly USAir anymore, and due to laziness and procrastination lost my 35K miles.
Kudos to the OP for being honest and accepting personal responsibility for his loss and then doing something constructive to remedy it. Very refreshing after all the posts from people saying they were robbed / cheated / etc. when they let their miles expire.
So I guess my paltry 6500 miles on US expired yesterday. No big deal. But maybe I could get a magazine or something if I manage to reinstate them. Here's what the US website says:

>>>

Account Message
ATTENTION: Miles in your account have been forfeited due to inactivity. You can reinstate these miles by purchasing a ticket and flying at least one (1) leg of your itinerary on US Airways by 10/1/2008.

Please note: You may also reinstate these miles by earning miles with one of our credit cards, or by paying a reinstatement fee.
Mileage Forfeiture Details
Forfeited miles: Date of Deletion
6,504 1/1/2010

<<<<

It sounds as though I don't have to buy a US ticket, just credit some miles there by 10/1/08, correct? I've got some UA flights coming up with a DEN-COS segment. That's <100 miles. Can I simply swap in my US number for that segment and meet this requirement? Seems easy enough.
Quote: I wouldn't pony up $1 to keep my miles on US Air.

What's your Fico score at now? Unless you have a mortgage or other large purchase in your immediate future, the credit card option doesn't look too bad. Are you getting the sign up bonus as well? (10-25k, I think)

If you do activate your miles soon, I'd jump on an award, on a non-US Air flight ASAP.
To 'jump on a non-US award' he would have to pay to reinstate the miles. Yet you say you wouldn't pay even $1 to do so. Your advice is very self-contradictory, no? I don't see how this helps the poster.
Quote: So I guess my paltry 6500 miles on US expired yesterday. No big deal. But maybe I could get a magazine or something if I manage to reinstate them. Here's what the US website says:

>>>

Account Message
ATTENTION: Miles in your account have been forfeited due to inactivity. You can reinstate these miles by purchasing a ticket and flying at least one (1) leg of your itinerary on US Airways by 10/1/2008.

Please note: You may also reinstate these miles by earning miles with one of our credit cards, or by paying a reinstatement fee.
When trying to make an award reservation on US, I got the same message. Since I fly a lot, it's easy enough for me to take the option of purchasing a ticket and flying before 2/27/10. I get the part about purchasing using US stock and flying at least one segment. Does anyone know if it's possible to fly a US-booked codeshare (i.e. UA metal) to meet this requirement if I credit the miles to the US account?

Thanks.
I purchased some miles and the expired ones came back on the account automatically./
Quote: Does anyone know if it's possible to fly a US-booked codeshare (i.e. UA metal) to meet this requirement if I credit the miles to the US account?
I believe that at least one segment must be US metal.
Reinstating Lost US Airways Miles
I read but then forgot about the e-mail US Airways sent about taking action to keep my miles and missed the deadline. I never traveled a lot before for pleasure, just didn't have the money, and hardly at all now for business because I work for state government and our state's big budget deficit means no or little travel any more. I wanted to call the airline's Dividend Miles customer service department and had a number of problems. First, the customer services aren't very customer-friendly. I called the general 800 number for the Dividend Miles Service Center but none of the options pertained to reinstating miles and there was no option to talk to a live person. So I chose the option for making reservations and the agent told me that I should just keep saying "agent" on the miles option for the Dividend Miles Service Center. Helpful advice, but it would have been more helpful if that were offered as an option in the first place. Then, I was told that because I missed the deadline for continuing my miles I could pay $400 (to save them for 18 months) or make purchases with the airlines' credit card or take a flight (with certain requirements--within a certain time frame before a certain date, after that date only in first or business class). The best option for me, because of financial and other reasons, was to pay a fee for reinstatement because have a substantial number of miles. But $400??!! The fee before the deadline was $40. I could see even charging a lateness penalty and requiring say, $75, but $400?? Obviously US Airways doesn't understand there is a recession still going on nor does it treat its customers with respect. This is unfortunate as I live in a small city and US Airways is a main carrier. There has been news that Southwest, our other main carrier, may partner with an international airline in the future. I hope it's sooner rather than later.
Reinstatement of lost miles by applying for CC?
Checked my account - and my miles are 0 because of inactivity. My fault. Lost 60,000 miles.

But it says that I have these options for reinstatement-

Pay $250
Fly by 3/31
Fly 1st or Envoy by Nov
Apply for CC

So, the CC - if I apply for one of the cards, my 60K in miles will be reinstated without having to pay the $250?

I just forgot about my account with USAir as their routes are not where I need to fly as much now and others have non-stop flights to where I need to go. I'm willing to get a CC and pay the annual fee of $49 or $79 and I think there are bonus miles for some of the cards....if that will reinstate my lost miles.

Can someone help clarify for me?

Thanks