Hello Everyone,

First, a thanks to fellow members of this community that have helped with great information on MR's and other travel related stuff.

Second, I tried to search for the topic of this question on the threads earlier but I didn't have much success, so if this has already been discussed, please post the link for me to read...

Now, on to the question:

I have family members who do not plan on flying enough to ever get a reward ticket out of the airlines and are willing to give me their miles. I noticed that NWA, AA, and UA all have transfer programs available but costs ranging from $25 - $50 fee per person plus $.01 per mile, or it's tiered.

Regardless, I have been trying to figure out if it is actually worth transferring 5,000 miles with AA and/or 10,000 miles with NWA. I don't fly often enough on the 3 airlines listed above, so I need anywhere between 25,000 to 30,000 additional miles to reach my goal of Africa and Australia.

I'd appreciate any thoughts or views on the value/cost effectiveness of the transfer program and at what point do paying the fees make sense, if ever.

Thanks.