Mileage Booster - anyone actually use it?
Oct 28, 12, 4:36 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: DAY
Posts: 71
Mileage Booster - anyone actually use it?
I haven't flown in over a year. Yesterday I booked a flight to LAS in November and saw the mileage booster option for the first time. I was a bit surprised by it and was wondering if anyone actually uses it. I did not. I did notice the price per mile is considerably lower than buying miles by themselves.
Oct 28, 12, 5:02 pm
#2
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: NYC
Programs: DL DM, HH Gold, SPG Gold, Natl Exec
Posts: 449
I only used it once...but it was because I needed to top off my RDMs so I could book an award flight for my parents during an emergency. It's still not the best deal, but it is worth it in certain situations.
Oct 29, 12, 2:27 pm
#5
Suspended
Join Date: Sep 2012
Programs: DL FO/KM, AA PLT
Posts: 2,594
Only way it's worth it (IMO) is if you know you're a couple thousand miles short for an award ticket you'll be booking in the near future. Otherwise it's not really a good deal.
Here's the way I look at purchasing miles:
Purchasing miles directly through Delta.com, 10,000 miles will cost you $350 last I checked. Those same 10,000 miles will take $100 off your ticket if you have an AmEx. That's a loss of $250 to you when viewed that way.
Of course, the "value" of the miles is more in "how much would your redeemed trip have cost if you paid for it". I've had flights that would have cost me $500+ that I've been able to get a "Low Tier" reward on so I came out okay. But on the flip side, I was planning a trip to West Palm Beach and was going to use miles for my fiance's ticket. Best I could get was a mid-level award ticket, but to the fare was only $270. I was able to apply 25,000 miles and essentially get the ticket "free" (at least for a better deal than going through the skymiles awards would have gotten me).
But no, in most case, the mileage booster isn't worth it and I personally haven't used it yet. If there was a multiplier so I could get a better mileage rate on long flights or if there was an MQM booster, I'd consider it. But just 1,000 miles? No thanks.
Here's the way I look at purchasing miles:
Purchasing miles directly through Delta.com, 10,000 miles will cost you $350 last I checked. Those same 10,000 miles will take $100 off your ticket if you have an AmEx. That's a loss of $250 to you when viewed that way.
Of course, the "value" of the miles is more in "how much would your redeemed trip have cost if you paid for it". I've had flights that would have cost me $500+ that I've been able to get a "Low Tier" reward on so I came out okay. But on the flip side, I was planning a trip to West Palm Beach and was going to use miles for my fiance's ticket. Best I could get was a mid-level award ticket, but to the fare was only $270. I was able to apply 25,000 miles and essentially get the ticket "free" (at least for a better deal than going through the skymiles awards would have gotten me).
But no, in most case, the mileage booster isn't worth it and I personally haven't used it yet. If there was a multiplier so I could get a better mileage rate on long flights or if there was an MQM booster, I'd consider it. But just 1,000 miles? No thanks.
Oct 30, 12, 8:04 pm
#6
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: SEA (the REAL Washington); occasionally in the other Washington (DCA area)
Programs: DL PM 1.5MM; AS MVPG 75K
Posts: 20,101
remember if you use miles to pay for even a portion of your ticket, you cannot accrue miles for the trip
