Are FF miles transferable?
 

Can the FF miles that my relatives have accrued be transferred to me? My mom has a few FF miles that she earned on a trip and she will probably never add to them. Can I have them transferred to me or can I use them somehow?

Thanks folks.

Only a handful of programs will allow you do this. To my knowledge, no US program do this. BA has a a family program.

The only circumstance under which miles are transferred in the other programs is when the member dies. This is not always done either. There's was an interesting article in an old edition of Inside Flyer on this. I'll try and retrieve the link.

This is probably not what you or your mom are looking for, but occasionally ff programs offer magazine subscriptions for miles. Your mom may be able to get 1 or more of those so that the miles don't go completely to waste.

The other option is to try to build up her account through non-flying means - and when there is enough for an award ticket, you can be given the award ticket.

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DtG

Another option is to transfer them to a hotel program like HHonors and use them there or then transfer them to your airline. Make sure they are participating airlines. You will lose quite a few miles in the transfer but it is an option.

IF they are United miles and IF she has a Diners Club, she can transfer

UA 1 mile -> DC 1 point, and then transfer 2 points for each mile in any other program (unless they are having a promo, then it's 1-to-1).

That's the only thing I can think of, unless she wanted to acquire miles from a Diners Club to "top off" the account and get an award.

I have been told by UA that I can transfer my miles to my minor childrens' accounts ONLY when I have accumulated enough miles to purchase a complete airfare for one of them. I'm not sure, but this may work for spouses as well.

Proto - I doubt UA would let you transfer 25K miles to a childs account (But I don't know the minutiae of thier rulebook). What they will let you do is claim an award which can be transferred to a third party.

Many programs have transferable award certificates - it's not the same as transferring miles, but the distinction is subtle. You generally can't, for instance, redeposit an award in a different account than it was claimed from.

Leroy is correct about BA - in fact, in the UK Airmiles program (and presumably Executive Club?), miles can be transferred to defined close relatives or to anyone who travels with you.

[This message has been edited by james (edited 04-24-2000).]

Rnmcd

To properly answer your question a little more information is needed.

We know at least that you are in Iowa.

Can you tell us in which program your mother has miles and roughly how many. It may be that you may have enough for a ticket already.

Generally speaking there are plenty of opportunities for gaining additional miles and it may be possible for you to top up your mothers account then claim an award in your name. It may even be that your mother can get some free miles by filling out surveys.

A really great site to get some instant free miles is as follows
http://www.tbsa.com.au/~ferrett/miles.htm

What a terrific site. If your mother is in one of the programs with free offers going you can get some free miles every quickly.

Failing that check out
www.mileageworkshop.com

You'll see many other free offers although many will take a bit of effort to get the free miles. I recommend that you consider getting your mother to switch telephone companies

eg the following is extracted from the mileageworkshop site

"25,000 free miles when switching to MCI. If the MCI rep asks for a code, tell them you received a flyer in the mail with a certificate, which has "25,000 miles" printed on it. The codes are: Z25A-American, Z25C-Continental, Z25D-Delta. Phone numbers: American 800-432-3426, Continental 800-256-1474 and Delta 800-269-2292. NEWS UPDATE 3/20/00: This promotion is only valid to residents of Iowa, Michigan, Montana, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, Washington and Wisconsin. Some contributors to this website have indicated that some MCI reps have declined to offer this promotion or have said it has expired. If you do not obtain this offer, try calling 800-754-7076 instead. Some readers living in non-qualifying states have called this number and have been offered 10,000 miles which is still better than MCI's standard offering. On a personal note, I switched one of my phone lines to MCI on 3/20/00 and was offered this promotion. "

Seeing as you are in Iowa the 25,000 miles offer applies to you. 25,000 miles will get you a round trip tricket within the US!

There are times I wish Australia was the 53rd state of the USA. We just don't get these deals downunder.

cheers Peter

Who are the 51st and thr 52nd?

[This message has been edited by james (edited 04-27-2000).]

James - I think you means 51st and 52nd! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Thanks Leo http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif That was so dumb, I had to edit it. I wish my brain would communicate with my fingers.

[This message has been edited by james (edited 04-27-2000).]

Sorry

I though there were 52 states

If there are 50 I mean the 51st state but only as long as we get all the same frequent flyer deals.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

cheers Peter

you probably confused Canada with one.... oops, just kidding http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif