RTW puppy

There's been a death in the family, and AC policy allows us to transfer 78,000 miles to any beneficiary, which in this case means the surviving spouse or any children, as we were all named as such. The cost to transfer is $780 + a $30 fee.

This many miles are good for a couple of N. American trips, or one Asian round trip and change, or maybe even to Europe in business class once if a seat can be found. The taxes & surcharges would add $300-600 to any trip(s), bringing the total to, well, your guess is as good as mine.

Bearing in mind the inflexibility and long lead times for booking award trips, and all the fun that goes with doing this online these days, isn't that money better spent just buying a ticket or two when the time comes? Is all the effort worth it?

I've read that there's a baseline value for acquiring miles by means of not actually flying. Anybody know what this is? Remember that Pudding Guy's adept calculation of the value of dessert cups or the Human Ping-pong Ball's endless flights btw. Vancouver and Seattle or Toronto on the AC promotion?

I am grateful to Mr. BB, who answered my last inquiry so accurately, and I wonder if I'll hear his take on this one.

sharkshooter

In cases of bereavement, I have found AC and AP to be quite flexible. They might even waive some of the charges.

Also, an AP member can buy a ticket for someone else without having to transfer the points. I often use my points to gift a ticket to a family member who would otherwise not have the means to travel.

Stranger

But coming back to the value of the points, I would say if the recipient is not SE, it's not worth 1 ct/mile. If the recipient is SE *and* he can use the points before Feb. 28 (or whenever the next program deterioration takes place), yes it is still worth it.

BlondeBomber

I would have to say I agree with Stranger.

If you are not SE, it is not worth buying miles given the vagaries of being able to spend them. However, if you use them on Star Alliance member flights in business/first, you might extract some value. If you are just going to use them on econo North American flights, it is probably easier just to buy the flights directly.

getaround

I would say so it depends on the person and where they fly or would like to fly to; with 78,000 it would 22,000 miles short of the 100,000 mark. In this case I can get business class from YUL/SYD for that and for 1000 bucks that is well worth it in my books.

mikeyyz

Yes. As long as you use it for a J redemption, it will be worth it - especially if you can top it up to 100k and use it for a F ticket to Europe or J ticket to Asia/Australia/NZ on some fantastic carriers!

anti_ice

Or just don't tell them the person has died and "gift" flights to family members until the points are gone.

ABG

BINGO! - be sure the poor soul fills up for gas at Esso at least once per year.

Snoopyo

I have found that sometimes the long haul NA tickets are hard to come by for classic awards and sometimes you get get really good fares (around 500-600$). Also it is rather hard to give up the 5K EQMs. Believe it or not, I have sometimes found short haul awards better redemption at 15K and $100 in fees when tickets are around 500-600$ and thus about 3 cents per AE miles. The caution on that it can be very difficult to get more than 2 AE ticket on the same flights if you are not SE.

Sebring

For May 06, I redeemed 75,000 miles and approx $160 for three Toronto-Kelowna Y tickets (same flights, obviously Classic reward tickets. No way I could have gotten three tickets for under $1200 in cash, so obviously those 0.01 miles would have worked for me.

Also, given the 7 yr validity of points, it's reasonable to assume that the cost of air travel will rise whereas the fee paid to transfer the points is paid only once in 2007 currency.

Daylily

I have had little difficulty getting Mrs. Daylily J-class awards from Toronto to Florida this year: 2 flights last winter, and one coming up late in November-each for 40k points.

Ken hAAmer

Points can also be devalued (and have been in the past.)

mtacchi

When a family member died some years ago, we just kept the account open and liquidated through out the following year. Why Pay AC the $780?

shore9

good point, they already make enough of you in "taxes" for what is supposed to be a free flight.

obsyow

I had no problem booking 4 seats on YOW-IAD (nonstop each way) for next summer. With the kids older family vacations during the school year are not an option and I have found both AE and Airmiles bookings during the peak summer period to be cost effective.