Helena Handbaskets

I have a VISA card that, like many, earns one mile per dollar spent, and the miles can then be used to book airfares on most airlines with no blackout dates, etc. The tickets must be purchased 30 days in advance and include a weekend stay, but there's no restriction on the ticket class or price, though the value of the miles is limited. I.e., I can buy a $2,000 ticket if I wish, but 25,000 miles will only pay for $500 of that, and 50,000 miles will only take care of $1,000 worth, etc.

But the miles expire after a certain period, and because of the weekend stay and the round trip restriction (many of my trips are circle trips), I haven't been able to use all the miles for actual travel recently.

So what's to prevent me from buying a fully-refundable ticket on some airline using the VISA miles before they expire, and then refunding the ticket. Wouldn't that be a way to convert the miles into cash at their full value?

ontheroad

With all the terms you described, I doubt the ticket that would be purchased on your behalf would be Y type-fare (e.g. fully refundable). Likely, the agency purchases the itinerary you want, but with change restrictions.

You may want to check with the credit card company regarding rules.

If the ticket is fully refundable, wow. Go for it.