Can I have your miles?
 

We just finished the Thanksgiving holiday and fast approaching Christmas. How many of you find yourselves turning down requests from family, friends and co-workers asking if you can give them some miles since they are 'free'.

I usually reserve my miles to redeem tickets for my wife and immediate family while purchasing revenue tickets for myself (I can't bear to get on a plane knowing I'm not earning anything by doing so! I blame FT!) Every year I find myself turning down requests from random friends who complain about a $500 fare to FLL to see their family for Christmas and ask if they can have some of those 'free miles' I have sitting in my account and not using. Do I ask you for $500 from your bank account since its sitting there and you're not using it? People tend to forget that miles have value and they aren't free. They're earned one way or another!

Nope. Haven't had this happen. Well - once my daughter asked, but very sheepishly.

However, I suspect that it's because (other than my very immediate family) no one has any information about my mileage account. To continue your analogy above, if I was regularly talking about how I had a half million dollars in my bank account, I suspect people would ask me for $500. Similarly if people knew how many miles I had they would ask. They don't even know to ask. For all they know my company keeps my miles.

My friends know better. Although I do not have half a million on any account, they know that I have a couple of hundred k in a couple, but know better because they also know I have plans for them.

As this discusses use/value of airline miles/points, please follow the discussion to our MilesBuzz forum. Ocn Vw 1K, Moderator, TravelBuzz.

So like, can I get some miles from you guys?

I don't have friends and family that would ask for my miles. If I did, they wouldn't be friends for long :eek: ;)

But I do offer my miles to family members who can't afford to travel. If I have a pile of miles and I can treat them, I get pleasure out of doing that.

I wouldn't give miles to anyone that would be cheeky enough to ask for them though since all my travel is self-funded and therefore, certainly not "free".

many people think that the mi's are free and therefore it wouldn't cost you to get them a ticket....i have had such a suggestion from relatives & explain that they have a value to me....but i have used them for family flights....

for many people, the miles are free for them.....however they do cost something which is a subsidy from taxpayers, business owners and recipients of non profit services when the tickets are expensed....its a complicated world!

First of all I don't tell people that I have miles
Second, I use my miles to fly my grandchildren to NY when they can come and visit.
Third, don't put temptation in front of your friends and family. If people don't know what you have they won't think to ask for anything, be it money, miles, etc.

I don't because I don't brag about how many miles I have in my account and I don't ever gift miles to friends or family. Once you start doing that, you are opening yourself up to have them expect to get free tickets on demand.

Anyone who knows how many miles I have, also knows the work I do to get them via opening bank accounts and credit cards, put money in Bank Direct, taking advantage of promos, etc.

So I doubt anyone would ask me for my miles, knowing what work I do to get them.

It happens fairly frequently that someone asks me for miles. Usually these are people who aspire to doing more travel, yet ignore the reminders I send out when deals are available (e.g., mistakes or miles purchase opportunities). I have no mercy with them and tell them that they could be using their own miles if only they took advantage of the opportunities I share with them. However, there also are some colleagues/friends who have followed my advice and tried to earn some miles on their own (through CC applications, shopping, etc), and I try to reward their enthusiasm by helping them with trades and mileage advances whenever I can.

Same story here so far...

I've redeemed miles to help a few family members out but don't do it as a matter of course nor do they ask. They do know about a few MR's I've done and the complexity I've introduced through all this and commented more than once that it seems like too much work... So, I think they get it. And they've taken advantage of a couple promos here and there.

Of course, they also know that we need the miles for the many frequent trips back home to visit THEM!

My experience is just the opposite - people, even closest relatives, are really appreciative any time I offer.

+1 for that.
Thats my way of giving miles to them, by telling them about all the great promotions.For example i told my brother about the chase continental checking promotion and HE WAS OPENING AN ACCOUNT AT that time too, he was too lazy to print out the coupon i emailed him and opened an account without the coupon, offcourse he didnt get any miles and now he was trying to fly to YYZ to meet his fiancee and tickets were costing him in excess of $600 so he asked me for my miles cause for him its just SITTING there and i told him you would have your own miles SITTING in your account if you would have listen to me.

Time for new family