Alternate use for miles
 

Hi everyone

This is my first post. Very excited to hear what folks have to say.

How often do you use miles for something other than your own travel? For example, giving miles to relatives or donating them to charity.

Thanks

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Michael
Editor
Biztrip.com
The web site for Road Warriors, Corp Travel Managers and Meeting Planners www.biztrip.com

[This message has been edited by mes70 (edited 04-18-2001).]

Michael,
I tried to register and kept getting back to the mail page. Oh well.

I've tried to give my 79 year old mother a first class ticket. She absolutely will not get on an airplane.
As for charitable donations, I don't think many of us have actually done that.
Most miles are used for upgrades.

Dan

Welcome mes70.

I donate more than half my miles to friends and family to come visit me in Sausalito - everyone wants to come here!

On a related note, I typically redeem AMEX Membership Rewards points into AMEX $US gift checks and then give the checks to non-profit organizations. That way I get the tax deduction for a gift I earned by simply using my AMEX for business expenses.

Good question Michael. Last year I gave my father (68 yrs old) and his wife Envoy class tickets to Madrid on US Air. I don't think he had ever flown in anything but coach before - certainly not internationally. Most miles for me are banked for premium class international tickets and for my girlfriend to accompnay me on biz travel to decent destinations. Rarely used for domestic travel for myself. Have given some domestic tix to friends and family though.

Gatorboy

I donated 50,000 Delta miles to my brother so he could accompany me to Europe. We're renting a car for two weeks and spending most of our nights at Hilton/Starwoods (free nights using points). Using the free tickets for family who would otherwise never go is a great use of miles!

* Upgraded my housemate on a trans-Atlantic trip last March. We flew together. (His first time in int'l business class.)

* Redeemed a business class ticket for my mother to Asia.

- Pat

I've given my parents 2 first class tickets to Hawaii.

I've given my sister a trip to Cancun.

I've given my 2 aunts first class tickets to SEA, SFO, and DFW.

I'm giving one of my best friends an AA VIP2 so he can upgrade to first on a trip to Europe.

I make 200k miles from travel each year and I end up using it all up by giving it away. I only use them personally for upgrades or last-minute trips.

I don't want to seem greedy, but I have never donated miles to charity. They all go away to friends & family.

When you say "tried to register", do you mean register for my site? If so, to join my mailing list takes only an email. Please let me know if you have any problems.

Thanks

Miles make for great wedding presents. I have done this 3 times to friends who were just getting out of graduate school.

I also sprung for tickets for my brother to send him from Colorado to Florida to catch up to his wife on a vacation.

My sister-in-law and niece probably be getting tickets to a Girl Scout trip this summer.