Originally Posted by
EmailKid
I think the "buy" is meant to convert points to miles, not buy using points as currency. mia's post demonstrates how expensive that would be. Those 500K points would "buy" several trips in Biz if transfered to an appropriate airline.
Given that OP referenced BofA for that purchase, pretty sure the purchase was denominated in dollars, not airline program miles.
Originally Posted by
Green_eyes
what would be the best strategy in your opinion? I need 5 award tickets in J, or I can "buy" these tickets with premium card points, such as Citi thank you, BofA (just did that a month ago)
The important question is whether you want all five seats on the same flight or not. If yes, then transferring to airline program miles is not likely to be relevant. Rather you should focus on the total dollar value you can generate with sign up bonuses. You may also consider getting a premium card – CSR, Citi Premier, or AmEx Business Platinum – if you have a lot of points with a specific card issuer. Those cards can multiply your earnings by 1.5, 1.25, and 1.54 respectively when used for travel purchases. Regardless, the strategy would be to look for cheap J fares to Asia out of US airports – likely
not MIA – in conjunction with cheap positioning flights from MIA. The Premium Fare Deals forum could be a good resource. Current examples include:
- China Southern : $1,853 RT Business Los Angeles to Beijing
- KL/AF/DL: NYC-KUL $2300 rt in Business
If you
don't all need to travel on the same flight, then it could make sense to try to purchase a couple tickets with airline program miles and the rest with cash. But honestly if you can find a <$2k J fare ex-US, and a cheap positioning flight, it's going to be hard to beat that with airline program miles, especially after considering taxes/fees and the miles that the paid fare will itself earn.
Finally, given the large number of points you hope to rapidly generate, this thread seems relevant:
Used almost all my points...credit card strategy advice?