new to the game - earning AA points
 

My mom works for US Airways so I have always flown for free (or relatively free) and now I am above the age limit to be on her pass. Need to get in this game and have signed up for an account with all the big airlines and am starting with the Citi AA 75k miles offer.

But a quick question, I think I am right but wanted to confirm. I am going to Orlando in December, and currently have a car rental with Enterprise for $80. AA is offering a deal (for a 3+ day rental) from Budget or Avis to get 3,000 bonus AA miles. Renting from Budget or Avis would cost me $100.

Seeing that on AA.com it costs $82.50 to purchase 3,000 bonus miles, spending the extra $20 to get the 3,000 bonus miles makes sense, right?

Thanks!

Yes it does

Although, with AA rewards - the most common weekend round-trip ticket will run you 50,000 miles, right? Spending $20 per 3,000 miles equates to $333.33 (to get enough miles for 50,000). Which means it is only worth it if I could not buy the same round-trip ticket for less, right?

a coach award can be had for 25,000 mi.....good luck....

some times, short haul reduced mile awards are offered, usually in the slow seasons....ones i remember, were for 15k and 17.5k for trips around 700 flight miles each way....

It seems like you're already catching on fairly quickly. Each person has to determine how they value miles on their own. When I started, I believed 1.5-2 cents per mile (cpm) was a great deal (i.e. a biz class ticket US-EU costs 100k miles on certain airlines but would be $5,000 if purchased outright). As I've grown with FT and learned a lot, I know know that miles can be accumulated in some cases for <1 cpm and these are the types of promotions I go for.

The $82.50 to buy 3000 miles is a pretty meaningless metric, in my opinion.

First, with any small mileage purchase, the one time fee adds a significant bite. That's 2.75c/mile, and at the higher end, it's down to 2.5c/mile. But there's also a $30 processing charge, and a bonus too.

Second, the cost to buy miles directly should only be a guidance for the top range of what you'd effectively pay. If you can get miles at this price, never pay more embedded in another transaction. If you want the miles, just do the other one in a less expensive way and buy the miles directly. Rarely, though, is this the case.

Finally, while I do think 3000 miles are worth $20, I think you'll get even more out of the deal by renting from Avis rather than Enterprise. You're more likely to find an on-airport location, plus the customer service and the quality of the cars are just worlds apart between the two companies.

You don't earn AA "points"....
 

They are "miles." Unless you sign up for AA's Business Extras, then they are points.

And make sure that the Avis rental is the airport office, as other locations for Avis don't earn miles. (Rule #1, read the T&C's.)

Also, check the rate right before you leave, as rates are frequently changing and if they go down, as my BDL Avis 3 day did for next weekend, rebook at the lower rate.

3k AA for $20 more is acceptable.

Have you checked out the Budget and Avis forums here on FlyerTalk? You could find a discount code (not coupon code, you're getting 3K miles with the coupon code) that could wipe out that extra $20 over the Enterprise price.

Avis AWD: Avis Discount Codes
Budget BCD: Valid BCD Codes

The best way to use these two threads is to start at the last page and work your way back.

Keep in mind that rarely do Avis and Budget require one to use a specific AWD or BCD code in order to use a coupon code for miles. So don't be misled by the ad copy that encourages you to use AA's corp code when using a miles-earning coupon code. Almost always the T&C state "Offer may not be used with any other coupon, promotion or offer except your AWD discount."

I'm guessing that you are going to use the MUAA022 Avis coupon code . I've used this coupon with a Costco AWD (A108364) for a really great rate. Miles posted with no problems.

Why pay $20 for 3K miles when you can possibly pay $0 :D

Other AWD codes you might want to try are A415900 (BJ's) and B021615 (Wal-Mart Shoppers).

For the record there is 3K bonus promo for US (3-day min) right now as well as a 3K bonus for CO miles (5-day min). More here.

I was wondering about that ... I always thought I need to use BOTH from the Ad. So it does not have to!

Thanks a lot for posting this!

I double checked my Avis 3 day BDL rental, and the Costco rate was actually higher than the AA AWD. Moral of the story, check all AWD's as different locations may discount, well, differently.

So I have a (maybe stupid) question, but on the AA car rental page it gives a few different options. One is "earn bonus miles" and the other is "earn double or triple miles".

The Budget offer says: "Receive your 3rd rental day free on a weekend rental plus earn double bonus miles"

Does this mean if your rental is $90 then they give you double bonus miles on that (180 miles) ?

Where is this calculated from? The National offer is 500 bonus miles and Avis is 3000 bonus miles which seem to be the better options because the rental price I am getting is going to be under $100. So double or even triple that doesn't come close to 500 or 3000 bonus miles.

Thanks.

Budget earning rate is a fixed 50 mile per rental day, it is not based on value of rental.

+1 I have had some surprises before and darn glad that I checked multiple AWDs before booking.

Avis is offering a weekend deal for compact cars at U.S. airport locations for $19.99 day, using AWD H751000. I think that the offer expires in mid-December, 2010. I was able to add the MUAA022 coupon for 3,000 bonus AA miles to an early December weekend rental at MIA on the $19.99/day rate. We'll see if the miles actually post.

Welcome to the miles game.

There are a large number of ways to earn American Airlines miles for cheap or free. I suggest you spend a few hours studying all pages on my website below. There are particularly good AA offers on the Finance page. But in reading all of the info, you will find many great offers for other airlines.

May you become as addicted to miles as the rest of us. All I ask of everyone is that you be nice to the people you meet while you travel. Our country needs all the good PR it can get.