FlyerTalk Forums - Advice on where to put/get miles

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Quote:

Originally Posted by roknroll (Post 16999679)

Delta also has a purchase/transfer miles promotion. Transfer miles from your account to another account and get a 100% bonus. Ends up costing 1.1 cents per mile. Transferring 100k miles to your GF would be the same as purchasing 100k miles, and saves about $175..

Good post, but can you further clarify on the miles transfer option with Delta. They wil give you 100% bonus, meaning they will double the miles?

Thanks.

Too bad the OP didn't have 100,000 MR points for the 1st conversion to Delta as this amt will instantly gain Medallion status with Delta and 50% bonus until end of Sept..

Sign up now, generally speaking any sign up bonuses will be negligble at best. Plsu you get access to BA's oneworld availability tool which shows reward inventory for all partner airlines.

Transfering your miles means simply shifting miles from one account to another. For example, transferring 100K MR points to 100K DL miles. Redeeming miles means spending miles on one program for flights on another carrier- ie. spending 100K DL miles for flight(s) on KLM or China Southern.

Quote:

Originally Posted by myc2004 (Post 17013099)

Here's what I would do to get to each destinations you stated with the miles that you currently have in your account and the future addition of US airway miles.

South America:
Search BA.com for award seat availabiltiy on when you want to fly in 2012. You can fly from JFK-LIM-SCL-IPC-SCL-JFK or some crazy itinerary look at the BA thread for ideas. The nice thing about BA miles is that you're allowed unlimited stop overs on the way to your destination, so you can see more than on country on your way to your destination. Once you get your itinerary set, transfer the Amex MR points and Sapphire points to your BA account. Biz class to South America is 80k Round trip per person, so you have more than enough miles for you and your GF.

South East Asia/Europe:
I would use your US airways miles to get to South EAst asia because star alliance has a better presence there with Singapore airlines, Asiana, and Thai airways. With that said, it's 80k in economy or 120k in business. The best part about US airways miles is that you're allowed one stop over. So you can visit Europe on a stop over to South East Asia on the same award. So you're killing two birds with one stone.

Europe/Hawaii:
Using your AA miles, you can use the AA partner award chart to book two one way award tickets. One ticket from New York to Europe and another from Europe to New York using New York as a stop over then onward to Hawaii. You're stop over in New York can be as long as 12 months. Then you got to figure out how to get back from Hawaii to North America.

You can use your US airways miles to get back from Hawaii to North America using Norther America as a stop over and then proceed to South East Asia since the redemption rates are the same for travel from North America to South East Asia as it would be for Hawaii to South East Asia.

There are plenty of options to get to your destinations, it all depends on what's available when you want to travel. You can make this happen by maximizing stop overs.

If you have any other questions, just ask

If I want to go to South America, and use BA miles, I'd most likely be redeeming on LAN, correct? So it would be 40k (coach) / 80k (business) RT BA miles. But, would it "cost" the same amount in AA miles to do the same thing? Since AA and BA are part of the same alliance, could I use 40k AA miles to get to South America?

Sorry if that's a dumb question, still new to this. I assume the answer is yes, but if I used AA miles (instead of BA) I couldn't do the multiple stop deal - correct?

Also, does anyone know the frequency of AMEX running promotions for BA transfers? I know one just passed not too long ago, but is it a regular (every couple of months) deal or pretty scarce?

AA's off peak awards to S.A. in coach are 40K according to the Wandering Aramean tool. US awards on own metal are 35K coach round trip- so you can try XXX-CLT-GIG.

Quote:

Originally Posted by j-rad (Post 17025436)

Since AA and BA are part of the same alliance, could I use 40k AA miles to get to South America?

As guv1976 alluded to previously, it can be even cheaper than that.
If you're going into "northern" SA or central america the cost is just 30k AA miles roundtrip. Same alliance does not mean same award rules/rates. As intimidating as it might be, it really helps to take some time to study the award charts and rules of all programs you are participating in.

Quote:

Originally Posted by j-rad (Post 17025436)

If I want to go to South America, and use BA miles, I'd most likely be redeeming on LAN, correct?

Yes, most likely. You could either use LAN or AA but not both without increasing the cost of the award and LAN gives you the most options for stopovers, etc.

Quote:

Originally Posted by j-rad (Post 17025436)

I assume the answer is yes, but if I used AA miles (instead of BA) I couldn't do the multiple stop deal - correct?

Correct. However, you could use a combination AA and LAN if using AA miles.

Quote:

Originally Posted by j-rad (Post 17025436)

Also, does anyone know the frequency of AMEX running promotions for BA transfers? I know one just passed not too long ago, but is it a regular (every couple of months) deal or pretty scarce?

Since last summer, it has been an every couple months deal. It actually had been increasing from 20% last summer to 30% last fall to 40% this past winter to the most recent 50% which just ended.