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-   -   Can miles from frequent flyer programs from the same alliance be combined? (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/milesbuzz/1388487-can-miles-frequent-flyer-programs-same-alliance-combined.html)

joer1212 Sep 17, 2012 12:28 pm

Can miles from frequent flyer programs from the same alliance be combined?
 
I guess the title explains it all.
I am a newbie, and this is one the last critical questions I have before I do an app party (for the first time).
I am aware that miles from frequent flyer programs from different alliances cannot be combined. However, I am unclear about whether ff miles from the same alliance can be combined.
For example, if I do an app-o-rama, and I apply for the United Mileage Plus card (55,000 mile bonus); the USAirways Dividend Miles card (40,000 mile bonus), and the Avianca/Taca Life Miles card (20,000 mile bonus), after I get the miles, can they be pooled into any one of these programs so that I have 115k miles?
If this cannot be done, it will put a significant damper on my ability to earn flights, as I will have miles scattered in different programs, none of which will be redeemable for an international business class flight, because I won't have enough miles in any one program. And, earning additional miles to make up the difference in the conventional manner (2X miles, 5X miles for purchases) will take forever. My miles will probably expire before I actually achieve this.
By the way, if in fact miles from different programs cannot be combined, how on earth does anyone ever earn a business class flight (let alone first class!)?

travelisfree Sep 17, 2012 12:31 pm

Nope. You can redeem on airlines within an alliance but that is very different.

Good luck.

amolkold Sep 17, 2012 12:33 pm

No, it cannot be done.

Points.com allows you to trade certain miles for others, but the losses in the transaction are not worth it.

As for how people can afford international business/first ...

1) UA is partners with Chase UR, so getting another Chase UR card will let you transfer those points to UA. UA also allows one ways.
2) Lifemiles has a good cash+points scheme, so you don't need that many points. They also allow one-ways.
3) US Airways sells miles for pretty cheap (like right now, $1900 for 100K miles). They don't have the Grand Slam this year, but the past few years it's been easy to accumulate >100K without credit card sign ups.

redtop43 Sep 17, 2012 2:22 pm

If you travel with a companion, it does help to have multiple accounts on the same alliance, because you might be able to get one ticket on a given routing with (say) UA miles and another with US miles.

How do people get flights? Patience. Or actually spending money or flying places. I hope to get a US first class redemption by:

1) Had a USAirways card years ago, cancelled it, got another recently.
2) Actually bought $10-$15K of stuff last time I had the card.
3) Actually flew US a few times, including at least one transcontinental round trip.
4) Got the 15K bonus for spending $x in 3 consecutive months.
5) May have to convert some Air Canada miles to US on points.com, but the transfer ratio here is pretty good, about 90%.

My wife travels to Europe every summer, so I need 100-125K points for that trip, but by getting a decent stash on UA, US, DL and AA, I can use one of them, meanwhile continue earning on others by card churning. After the US redemption I'll have her account with 60K and mine with zero, so four years from now (10K renewal bonus each year) she'll have 100K and I'll have 40K - in the interim I'll redeem US, AA, and DL - the year I redeem US hopefully I'll earn miles on the others. But if you don't start off with a stash, yes, you have to be patient.

milessurfer Sep 17, 2012 2:32 pm

I have found that cards such as Chase Sapphire and Amex to be very valuable in that the points you earn are transferable to multiple airlines.

Chase Sapphire is particularly interesting to you because the miles are transferable to United. Also extremely valuable is access to the Ultimate Rewards mall, which if you funnel your spending through, you can earn 4x, 10x, or maybe more on your spending. This will let you build significantly more miles.

Amex often has transfer bonuses which are nice.

Both are a good way to top off FF accounts.

PETERPNYC Sep 17, 2012 2:42 pm


Originally Posted by milessurfer (Post 19331854)
I have found that cards such as Chase Sapphire and Amex to be very valuable in that the points you earn are transferable to multiple airlines.

Chase Sapphire is particularly interesting to you because the miles are transferable to United. Also extremely valuable is access to the Ultimate Rewards mall, which if you funnel your spending through, you can earn 4x, 10x, or maybe more on your spending. This will let you build significantly more miles.

Amex often has transfer bonuses which are nice.

Both are a good way to top off FF accounts.


And if you have a A good Fico score and decent earnings you can open personal and Biz Chase Cards like the Ink Bold series at the same time .

trooper Sep 17, 2012 2:56 pm

And for those of us who are geographically inconvenienced and cannot access all these credit card offers.. there is always the option of earning miles by actually flying. (Shock Horror!;))

In that case the miles can be combined... by crediting all flights on airlines from the same alliance into ONE FF account....

lwildernorva Sep 17, 2012 3:12 pm


Originally Posted by joer1212 (Post 19331004)
If this cannot be done, it will put a significant damper on my ability to earn flights, as I will have miles scattered in different programs, none of which will be redeemable for an international business class flight, because I won't have enough miles in any one program. And, earning additional miles to make up the difference in the conventional manner (2X miles, 5X miles for purchases) will take forever. My miles will probably expire before I actually achieve this.
By the way, if in fact miles from different programs cannot be combined, how on earth does anyone ever earn a business class flight (let alone first class!)?

Keep in mind that in most programs, earning miles, even 1 mile, keeps all your miles active. There are exceptions (Aeroplan is one), but they're few and far between. And, it's one of the reasons that many FTers with good credit do several app sprees per year. When I joined FT two years ago, I had no miles with UA or US. I had about 20K with AA. I had none with BA. Now, I have 125K with UA, 165K with US, 270K with AA, and 250K with BA--having flown one flight on UA, none with US, four with AA, and four with BA.

It's also why certain cards, such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Ink Bold and the Amex Plat, PRG, and Business Gold cards as well as the Amex SPG card find so much favor: their points are all transferable to several (and in the case of the SPG, numerous) airlines. The SPG has a 25% bonus on transfers of blocks of 20K Starpoints, Membership Rewards has run a number of transfer bonus promos (as high as 50%) to Delta and BA. Chase has not yet had a transfer promo and may never have one, but given their 1:1 transfer ratio to UA, Ultimate Rewards points are the best non-UA currency out there.

In addition, the credit card companies provide some opportunities to increase your mileage totals by allowing personal and business applications (thus, effectively doubling the haul of points in many cases). Techniques, such as the "two browser" method discussed in connection with Citi AA personal applications, also increase your mileage earning potential.

And, as others have mentioned, it's why airline alliances can be critical. No, you can't combine UA miles with US miles. There are generally soft spots in each partner program, though, and one of the best benefits of FT is that many of those soft spots get uncovered. For instance, the use of Avios to fly business class on Aer Lingus from BOS-DUB for 50K plus relatively low taxes, fees, and surcharges is just one of those soft spots, but there are others in each of the three alliances.

Finally, don't dismiss the power of earning points through purchasing. Yes, if you're only earning at a 1:1 ratio for all your purchases, you're not earning miles very quickly. But, the Chase UR mall gives you a chance to increase that earning ratio with many merchants, and there are other shopping malls that can occasionally offer even better earning ratios with specific merchants. For instance, I was in on the 36 Avios/dollar earning ratio offered early this year through the BA eStore for purchases made at Nordstrom.com. In many circumstances, you can purchase through an online mall and still pick up the item in a local store, such as I was able to do with my Nordstrom purchases, so I try to remember to check my purchasing options before just walking into a store and earning 1 mile per dollar.

Dining programs offer the same opportunities. I've earned about 15K UA miles this year by charging dines to the MileagePlus dining program, aided by a current promo where for every $250 spent, I get an extra 1500 miles--effectively earning 11 miles per dollar spent plus whatever I earn through the credit card I use (with the Sapphire Preferred's 2x dining bonus, I have the potential to earn 13 UA miles per dollar spent dining).

It's some work to keep track of all the promos, and if you're finances or credit do not allow the spending or the numerous credit card applications, then yes, you're at somewhat of a disadvantage in this game. Those opportunities, however, eventually do come, especially as you earn more money and become more credit worthy.

joer1212 Sep 18, 2012 12:15 am

It's some work to keep track of all the promos, and if you're finances or credit do not allow the spending or the numerous credit card applications, then yes, you're at somewhat of a disadvantage in this game. Those opportunities, however, eventually do come, especially as you earn more money and become more credit worthy.

Thanks for your elaborate and thoughtful reply.
My problem is not that I don't earn enough money (I made 76k last year), or that my credit isn't up to par (my score is over 800), it's that I am quite frugal, and I just don't consume as much as the typical American does. Instead, I invest my my money (over 42k/yr). Now, if I could earn miles for every dollar I invest, I would be in Business Class in no time!

84fiero Sep 18, 2012 4:20 am


Originally Posted by joer1212 (Post 19334723)
It's some work to keep track of all the promos, and if you're finances or credit do not allow the spending or the numerous credit card applications, then yes, you're at somewhat of a disadvantage in this game. Those opportunities, however, eventually do come, especially as you earn more money and become more credit worthy.

Thanks for your elaborate and thoughtful reply.
My problem is not that I don't earn enough money (I made 76k last year), or that my credit isn't up to par (my score is over 800), it's that I am quite frugal, and I just don't consume as much as the typical American does. Instead, I invest my my money (over 42k/yr). Now, if I could earn miles for every dollar I invest, I would be in Business Class in no time!

Actually you can earn miles for investments - there are threads here in MB and on the airline forums, or check the airlines' FFP partner info for applicable brokerages. And you don't have to necessarily spend money per se, to earn miles. Look into the "getting spending up without the mint" thread for one.

Just a point that isn't probably of use to the OP at the moment... but there is one exception that I know of to combining miles between FFPs. Miles (Avios) can be combined between BA and IB since they both use the same Avios "currency". However that's a fairly unique situation due to IAG ownership.

taliesin Sep 18, 2012 10:59 am


Originally Posted by joer1212 (Post 19334723)
Thanks for your elaborate and thoughtful reply.
My problem is not that I don't earn enough money (I made 76k last year), or that my credit isn't up to par (my score is over 800), it's that I am quite frugal, and I just don't consume as much as the typical American does. Instead, I invest my my money (over 42k/yr). Now, if I could earn miles for every dollar I invest, I would be in Business Class in no time!

Well, you can check out the Fidelity offers here. If you have some money you can park, you can get up to 50k miles for that. I believe ING and others have offered similar deals at one time or another. There's also BankDirect, through which you can open a checking account that pays interest in miles rather than in cash. Depending on your particular situation, these may or may not be good deals, but they are out there.

And, of course, while many credit card sign-up bonuses now require significant spending to capture, there are still many that give the bonus after first purchase, or after relatively small spending. For example, the US Airways card gives 40k miles after first purchase, while the United card earns 50k after $1000 spend in 3 months. I would think just about anybody with good credit could get those.

joer1212 Sep 18, 2012 1:06 pm


Originally Posted by taliesin (Post 19337463)
Well, you can check out the Fidelity offers here. If you have some money you can park, you can get up to 50k miles for that. I believe ING and others have offered similar deals at one time or another. There's also BankDirect, through which you can open a checking account that pays interest in miles rather than in cash. Depending on your particular situation, these may or may not be good deals, but they are out there.

And, of course, while many credit card sign-up bonuses now require significant spending to capture, there are still many that give the bonus after first purchase, or after relatively small spending. For example, the US Airways card gives 40k miles after first purchase, while the United card earns 50k after $1000 spend in 3 months. I would think just about anybody with good credit could get those.

Yes, I am aware of the Fidelity offer, but I didn't jump on it because I have my money invested primarily in a 457b/401k at work, and in a Roth IRA with Vanguard, which makes a lot more sense for me financially.
The trouble with the United and USAir cards is that, while they require a very low spend, in the end, you still only have 40k miles and 50k miles which cannot be combined. Neither of these is even close to enough to redeem for an international business class flight. To me, this is almost a deal-breaker. In fact, I don't know if I even want to get into the miles game anymore, in light of this. I was really counting on being able to combine miles from different credit card bonuses. It would have been a bonanza. But, I guess the airlines are not that stupid.

Stubtify Sep 18, 2012 1:29 pm


Originally Posted by joer1212 (Post 19334723)
My problem is not that I don't earn enough money (I made 76k last year), or that my credit isn't up to par (my score is over 800), it's that I am quite frugal, and I just don't consume as much as the typical American does. Instead, I invest my my money (over 42k/yr). Now, if I could earn miles for every dollar I invest, I would be in Business Class in no time!

Earning miles for real spending will never pay off. Look first at card applications that have $0 minimum or low $1k minimum spending. These are low hanging fruit, you should get as many as possible.

Next step is manufactured spending, spending on items which can then be turned back into cold hard cash. For this I'd suggest setting up accounts just for the purpose of meeting minimums. You can deposit your "investment capital" and churn a $5k spending requirement, and then deposit the cash back into your account. Net spending $0, net gain 40,000 or more miles.

With the exception of the incredibly wealthy and businesses that push all expenses through their cards most of us here don't spend $100,000 to get 100,000 miles.

One of my absolute rules to this game is that I must NOT spend more money than I otherwise would. I hold to my budget and try to gain as many miles as possible through all the schemes and app-o-ramas I can.

MSPeconomist Sep 18, 2012 1:37 pm

There are a few exceptions where you can combine FF accounts:

mergers such as UA and CO or NW and DL

going out of business such as bmi

Otherwise, you can sometimes get a companion's award ticket using miles from a different program or get one way awards using different FF programs

84fiero Sep 18, 2012 1:49 pm


Originally Posted by joer1212 (Post 19338408)
Yes, I am aware of the Fidelity offer, but I didn't jump on it because I have my money invested primarily in a 457b/401k at work, and in a Roth IRA with Vanguard, which makes a lot more sense for me financially.
The trouble with the United and USAir cards is that, while they require a very low spend, in the end, you still only have 40k miles and 50k miles which cannot be combined. Neither of these is even close to enough to redeem for an international business class flight. To me, this is almost a deal-breaker. In fact, I don't know if I even want to get into the miles game anymore, in light of this. I was really counting on being able to combine miles from different credit card bonuses. It would have been a bonanza. But, I guess the airlines are not that stupid.

I've been taking my family of 3 on 2 or more international trips per year for the past few years, thanks mostly to CC bonuses. I don't have a very high income nor any sizeable investments. It just takes a bit of work and using tools to get spending up without actually purchasing things or costing you more than necessary. It's a fun game but it does take a bit of time to manage.

Also, consider focusing on FFPs that allow one-way awards at 1/2 the RT price. US is not one (sadly) but UA and AA are for example. This in essence provides you with leverage that is in the end, the same as you're looking for as far as the final result. Also use stopovers strategically to stretch your redemptions.


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