AMEX Rewards to Aeroplan then exchange for US Air Miles on Points.com - Thoughts?
Mar 25, 2012, 1:49 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2011
Programs: WOOD PLAT, HYATT GLOB, SOUTH A-LIST+, UNITED SILVER
Posts: 167
AMEX Rewards to Aeroplan then exchange for US Air Miles on Points.com - Thoughts?
I have found two star alliance tickets and "reserved" (on hold) it through US Air. I have already transfered hotel points to US air miles to get to the 200k for business (no other options for other hotels). However, my reserved tickets are in first. Thus, I am thinking ways of using AMEX Reward points to get an additional 50k in points.
I have plenty of AMEX reward points (300k), so my thought is to transfer AMEX points to Aeroplan miles and then exchange them on points.com. Points.com shows this as an option.
It is around 59k Aeroplan miles for 50k US air miles. I understand it is not the best conversion, but seems to be the best route for us right now. We have three days to have the additional 50k in points in our account.
We are aware of the purchase option for US airline miles, but the cost for 50k is around $1,725. We have not used points.com before (beyond Grand Slam), so wanted to get thoughts on timeliness of exchange and transfer (heard AMEX to Aeroplan should be instant) from points.com to US airlines. I am sure there is not a black/white answer, but wanted to understand prior experiences. Also, is there a cost beyond the additional miles (59k aeroplan for 50k US Air)? My recollection is no, but not positive.
We are open to other suggestions, just in a pinch to get the additional 50k in US air miles in 3 days. Worse case, we could purchase them, but want to avoid this if possible. Also, since the bonus points are not posting right away (and definitely not in 3 days), we would have to purchase the full 50k to be safe.
Thanks for all your thoughts.
I have plenty of AMEX reward points (300k), so my thought is to transfer AMEX points to Aeroplan miles and then exchange them on points.com. Points.com shows this as an option.
It is around 59k Aeroplan miles for 50k US air miles. I understand it is not the best conversion, but seems to be the best route for us right now. We have three days to have the additional 50k in points in our account.
We are aware of the purchase option for US airline miles, but the cost for 50k is around $1,725. We have not used points.com before (beyond Grand Slam), so wanted to get thoughts on timeliness of exchange and transfer (heard AMEX to Aeroplan should be instant) from points.com to US airlines. I am sure there is not a black/white answer, but wanted to understand prior experiences. Also, is there a cost beyond the additional miles (59k aeroplan for 50k US Air)? My recollection is no, but not positive.
We are open to other suggestions, just in a pinch to get the additional 50k in US air miles in 3 days. Worse case, we could purchase them, but want to avoid this if possible. Also, since the bonus points are not posting right away (and definitely not in 3 days), we would have to purchase the full 50k to be safe.
Thanks for all your thoughts.
Mar 25, 2012, 2:10 pm
#2
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: ORF
Programs: Amex Plat, AA, BA Silver, Marriott Plat, Choice Gold, HHonors Gold, IHG Diamond
Posts: 3,749
Don't completely blow off purchasing the points. You're correct about the normal cost of buying 50K US DM, but there's a current promo that will get you 50% extra miles immediately, plus 50% more after April 15: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...nus-offer.html.
You'd have to purchase 34K miles now to get the 50K you need, but in a couple of months, you'd get 17K extra US miles, and the upfront cost will be a more manageable $1275 (approximately). For the full price of $1725 you mentioned, you'd get 100K miles. Plus, you get to keep your Amex MR points.
You could also transfer MR to SPG (current transfer bonus special makes the conversion 2 MR to 1 SPG) and then SPG to US (US is running a 50% bonus on transfers from hotel programs--SPG gives you a 5K bonus on transfers in blocks of 20K). See this thread: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...-us-1-1-a.html. That would take approximately 54K MR to get 50K US.
You'd have to purchase 34K miles now to get the 50K you need, but in a couple of months, you'd get 17K extra US miles, and the upfront cost will be a more manageable $1275 (approximately). For the full price of $1725 you mentioned, you'd get 100K miles. Plus, you get to keep your Amex MR points.
You could also transfer MR to SPG (current transfer bonus special makes the conversion 2 MR to 1 SPG) and then SPG to US (US is running a 50% bonus on transfers from hotel programs--SPG gives you a 5K bonus on transfers in blocks of 20K). See this thread: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...-us-1-1-a.html. That would take approximately 54K MR to get 50K US.
Mar 25, 2012, 2:51 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2011
Programs: WOOD PLAT, HYATT GLOB, SOUTH A-LIST+, UNITED SILVER
Posts: 167
Good Point
I did not think that I would only need to buy 34k miles, which is around $1,200. It appears that would give us the 50k in miles. Thanks for clarification.
We still want to consider the AMEX rewards option, but like the fact that we will need less than 500 makes it more appealing (plus the additional bonus due to points.com account).
We still want to consider the AMEX rewards option, but like the fact that we will need less than 500 makes it more appealing (plus the additional bonus due to points.com account).
Mar 25, 2012, 8:01 pm
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2011
Programs: WOOD PLAT, HYATT GLOB, SOUTH A-LIST+, UNITED SILVER
Posts: 167
The Transaction
The website shows it as an exchange. It is not an offer from a third party. I put in how many US Air miles I wanted and it told me 59k in Aeroplan miles.
It seems that it is a good use of AMEX points, since I cannot transfer directly to US Air. I may be wrong, but it is my gut thought.
It seems that it is a good use of AMEX points, since I cannot transfer directly to US Air. I may be wrong, but it is my gut thought.
Mar 25, 2012, 10:46 pm
#6
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: North America
Posts: 2,265
You could also transfer MR to SPG (current transfer bonus special makes the conversion 2 MR to 1 SPG) and then SPG to US (US is running a 50% bonus on transfers from hotel programs--SPG gives you a 5K bonus on transfers in blocks of 20K). See this thread: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...-us-1-1-a.html. That would take approximately 54K MR to get 50K US.
^ Probably the best solution under the current promotional offers available for doing this.
58k AmEx > 29k SPG > 51k US Air