flyer4512

Sure, explain to me how I do this with a locked account.

GUWonder

When you talked about donating AA miles to a charity from an AA account, you weren’t talking about doing it with a locked account at the time. So why would you want me to explain how to do this with a locked account when a locked account member can’t direct a donation from the AA account any more than the person can use the miles in other ways (including ways being indicated in my post)?

flyer4512

Many with locked accounts think all the miles are going to be taken so I posted saying why not donate them.

I wouldn't go and empty a unlocked account.

You can donate miles from a locked account, read outside FT, others are doing it.

flyer4512

Text from another forum

My locked account was terminated a few days ago. AA didn’t even send an email. How UNAAmerican. All upcoming award flights were cancelled that were booked using my points. I have non refundable hotel reservations (free cancellation date has passed) and paid the AA taxes and fees using CIti AA cards. insult to injury. Citi continues to encourage me to use my cards, and sign up for checking account offers. Miles earned from my credit card bills this month have no account to go into. I’m considering disputing the charges with CIti for a refund on my taxes and airport departure fees for the flights booked using Citi credit cards for the flights. I’ve paid Barclays annual fees for AA cards for years.

If your account is locked right now, take screen shots of your existing reservations, fees paid, and account history. It will disappear when the shut down happens. Since nobody is getting unlocked, just shut down one by one, consider donating your miles to charity. That still works. Then at least AA doesn’t get them, charity does.

flyer4512

BTW, I hope I wake up tomorrow to all sorts of posts telling me locked accounts can't donate miles.............I would love to be wrong because that means another one of our accounts is still open.

GUWonder

If locked account members can still direct that miles from their own locked AA accounts be used for AA charities and get them donated that way, then that says some very interesting things about AA and its questionable ways of operating.

flyer4512

The same account just tried to book a rental car.


Unable to process points. Please call our customer service for assistance.

sexykitten7

They can still do that. Stealing from the rich and giving to the poor is still a crime. See the wallet analogy above!

Often1

Analogies never work.

The whole sub-issue is simply an acknowledgement by the donor account holder that AA, not the account holder, owns the miles. It is even the most fundamental problem all of those who are screeching about lawsuits face: the miles weren't theirs when they reported their income, but are suddenly theirs when the miles' use is restricted from their owner, e.g. AA.

Wherever you come down on the underlying churning issue as a policy matter, AA has thought this through very well.

asdfghjk

This is exactly what I thought when I first learned about this.

GUWonder

So AA’s stealing from the AA mileage rich and giving to charity — all while AA is collecting a tax benefit of sort from the giving to charity — and that is a crime?

I thought that AA claimed that AA can legally do whatever AA wants to do to AA loyalty program member accounts. And yet, amusingly, your post can be read literally as suggesting that AA is the criminal “stealing from the rich and giving to the poor”.

Your post is amusing, as it was probably intended to discredit AA account members, even as it can be read literally as a “J’accuse” moment aimed at AA.

fttc

You are BSing again. IRS certainly thinks that free miles are income. That's what happens if you get miles from opening bank accounts. The banks will send you 1099. Credit card miles are not income only because you have to spend more to get what miles are worth.

VegasGambler

This could not be more incorrect.

The miles are absolutely yours when you report your income. If you earn them from a bank account they count as an interest payment, which is taxable. You get a 1099-INT and you pay tax on them.

If you get them on a credit card, they count as a rebate, which counts as a discount, which is not taxable (just like if you buy something in a store for 50% off, that 50% is not taxable, or if you use a credit card offer which gives you a statement credit, that statement credit is not taxable).

The fact that you don't declare them on your taxes is a result of them being non-taxable (again, except in the bank account case, where they are taxable and you report them). It is certainly not a result of you not owning them.

Every once in a while there is speculation that miles earned on reimbursed business travel should be taxable income (as should credit card points earned on reimbursed business expenses). This is probably accurate -- if the miles are a rebate, and your employer reimburses you an amount in addition to the discounted amount, the difference should be income from your employer. The IRS has not (yet) decided to rule on or enforce this, probably because it would be an accounting nightmare (particularly when the reimbursed expense is a tax writeoff for the business -- they could only write off the non-discounted amount) and really wouldn't generate that much extra tax revenue.

cheaptom

At least the blog you shared apologizes for his role in "teaching" people how to get multiple SUBs. Other bloggers we've seen are more like "Well, I heard this goes on, but I myself have never done such a thing." Yeah, right. It was laughable!

Often1

But, you then can't claim that they were your asset. That's the whole devil's bargain.

The compromise which Congress tacitly permitted works well for the vast majority of US taxpayers who earn miles one way or another. But, the deal is that they're not income, they are not an asset, but you do get to spend them for tickets and other toys.

Try to turn what was never yours into cash in a lawsuit or any other device and you've changed the equation. Hopefully just for you.