I've had some issues with Alaska Air after trading a lot of CO miles for AK last year. They are trying to stop trading miles - this is new. So they might be working with Points.com finally to stop trades. I recommend against trading for Ak miles if you figure out how to.

I have searched for ways to get 10,000 more Alaska air miles and this would have been very easy. But looks like back to the mint?

Can you get a first, second or third AK credit card? Those points post fast.

Hi All,

Just wondering if there are any alternative to points.com. Points.com fees seem to be high. Im looking to trade for som AitTran credits, and the fees are higher than it would cost to just buy the credits from AirTran.

Is there something Im missing about this site?

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks,

Trey

Points.com trading fee should be the same as the airline charges for transfering miles from one account to another. For me it is lower than buying miles from the airline.

No cheap alternative. Sorry.

I am sort of new here but once was a friends with Randy Petersen. I was a frequent traveler and passed the 5 million mark back in 1989.. gave away most of the miles to my family but still have 1.2 million left.

I am 65 now and retired. I am looking for the best way to convert the miles into something I can use. It's a real hassle to keep the accounts actives so that they don't expire.

Here's what I have:

261,479 Delta
410,168 One Pass/Continental
215,370 US Air/Dividend Miles
403,877 American Airlines Miles

I am a member of points.com and see that I can convert them into gift cards or use them at Pay Pal but the conversion rate in terms of value is awful.

Pay Pal . . . $250 . .
American . 60295
US Air . . . .60295

Even the gift card conversion rate does not seem very appetizing

Was wondering if anyone has any ideas or if there are any "tricks" to get the most bang for your buck at points.com

Thanks for any advice.

I think most people on here will tell you to steer clear of points.com if at all possible.

I have no tips about points.com, but those united/continental miles can be transferred to Amtrak Guest Rewards, where 10,000 miles gets you $100 gift certificates to lots of places. So 400,000 miles would be $4,000 to places like Barnes & Noble, CVS, Applebees, AMC or Regal movie theaters, etc.

To transfer out of Amtrak you need to have select membership or an Amtrak credit card (with $200 Amtrak spending that year). But anyone can transfer in, and I don't think there are limits on the number of miles you can transfer. I could be wrong about that though, you could call and ask.

I would NOT use Points.com ... at all costs...

It depends on what you really want to do with your miles/points...

I would say that your US/UA/CO/AA Points are more worthwhile than Delta SkyPesos at the moment.

I only used points.com to get rid of points/miles from accounts i don't really use anymore.

(P.S. Does anyone know a great way to move Delta/AA miles over to CO/UA?) :]

If you have a Delta Skymiles Amex credit card, you can liquidate skymiles at the rate of 11,000 per $100 AmEx gift card, I believe.

Why not check out Webflyer Mileage Converter to explore your better options? That is a tool much much better than using mile-costing Points.com.

Also see this master thread on Points:

Points.com, pros and cons [consolidated thread]

Sage advice that seasoned FT Member gave me when I joined the forum a few years ago .. "Avoid Points.com whenever possible."

Indeed. ^

In the past I've done a few good trades to move Delta SkyMiles to AAdvantage miles. But it's a lot of work: one needs to continuously post trades in the hope that one or two of them are accepted. (Posting a trade on the site is a fair bit of work in filling out the forms.)

Usually, all I see are ludicrous ratios, which I've assumed are brokers or something (often the handles are nonsensical).