Converting AA Miles to CO double check me...
 

I wanted someone to double check my math on this...

I just flew AA last month IAH-MIA-MAD (round trip) got 11,776 AA Miles I dont plan to ever fly them again. From what I've read online I can do the following:

1) Get a Diners Club Charge Card ($95/Year)

2)Transfer 10,000 AA to DinersClub RW(1:1) Is this done online or by phone?

3)Transfer 10,000 Dinersclub to CO Onepass (2:1) and get 5,000 more one pass points

Does this sound correct?

I also read that Dinersclub will give me 1,000 Dinersclub points for every month I make a purchase with the card (For the First Year). If that is the case then I could add another 6,000 on to my Onepass at the (2:1) transfer rate, after a year

I would appreciate any advice on the feasibility of this from someone whos done it.

Also, I've got 20,000 DL points I wouldn't mind moving to CO if there was some route to do that.


Thanks for any help

A cursary glance at items 2 and 3 does not seem right.

Here check this out for yourself:

http://www.webflyer.com/programs/mileage_converter/

mike

The webflyer converter actually gave me the idea, this is what I got from it:

Path #1 Miles/Points
American AAdvantage converts to (starting) 11,776
Diners Club Club Rewards (at a ratio of 1:1) converts to 10,000
Continental OnePass (at a ratio of 2:1) Total: 5,000

I wanted to see if someone here has had actual success doing this.

Confusion arises because Diners Club has very recently revalued their points, but the end result is the same. Now: AA 10,000 = DC 5,000 = CO 5,000.

This also means that the DC 1,000 point per month bonus would convert to CO 12,000 after 12 months, plus 1 point/1mile per dollar spent.

Note also that there is a $25 fee for tranferring AA to DC, and also a small fee for transferring DC to any airline.

dennis

I have done each of those transactions (though at widely on separate times) with my wifes account but it appears that Webflyer might not have updated to the recent Diners changes but the end result for your example will be the same.
Currently 10k AA will convert to 5k DC
5k DC will convert 5k CO.

However when you sign up for the DC the bonus is ( or was) 12k old DC points = 6K new DC points = 6k miles.

mike

Good question! I was gonna post a question regarding the opposite... how would I convert CO miles into AA? Is there another (decent) way besides Diner's Club?

To the OP,

If you want the Diner's Club card that is an option for transferring. The other option is to get a Citibank AAdvantage Mastercard. Search around and you can find the threads where you can get at least a 10,000 bonus. There is likely going to be an annual fee, but I think it is less than the Diners Card. That card has "reduced mileage awards" which can be useful. I went to the Caribbean for 22500 miles instead of the regular 30000 (Turks and Caicos is gorgeous if you have never been there). Regular Domestic Awards are 25K. You would practically be there already. Would make a nice gift if you didn't want to go yourself. You could always donate the miles too, which can be tax deductible I believe.

How about transferring to HHonors program for 20K pts?

Why on earth would anyone want to transfer miles (especially AA miles) into useless CO NonePass miles....especially at a 2:1 ratio? I've seen some silly things on FlyerTalk before, but this one takes the cake. :eek:

This is why I'm looking to go CO->AA instead of the other way around :D

points.com
 

Another option is to exchange your points via points.com, you can get some certificate from their website, but their conversion rate is horrible, andplus you need to pay $9.95 USD to complete a "swap"

I don't think its silly at all, consider my situation:

1)First of all and most importantly, I live in Houston, CO Headquarters, IAH is a huge CO hub, can go many places non-stop, especially international, for that, with AA I have to go to Dallas or Miami or somewhere else. Adding to my travel time.

2)I already have a little over 25k in my onepass, im trying to stick with one airline to build up points on.

3)I flew AA last month for the first time in a long time, and I think the service was substandard to CO transatlantic flights. The AA 767 from MIA-MAD, had crap IFE, just a row of tv's down the center eisle. In the past when i've flown CO 767's transatlantic they've had the back of the seat monitors. To me that makes a big difference in passing the time on the trip.

Most importantly to me its the routing, and the time saving.

Mike, Thanks for the Info, aslong as the end result is the same, I'm happy, it still means an 11,000 addition to my one pass account(after a year). Do you remember was the process was for your to transfer from AA to DC? Who you had to call ect?

Its been about 3 years but I believe I called Club Rewards ( Diners) and they gave me a number at AA to call which handled the transfer.
I have also done this with some orphan UA miles and for UA the names on the Diners account does not have to match (I was able to transfers miles from my account into her Diners account) but the names on the AA pretty well has to match.

mike

I'm sure there are many opinions out there here is another
 

If Continental can work for you thats great in the long run.By all means bank away from here on in.
But if I were you I would leave those AA miles parked right where they are and not pay a silly amount of dollars to make all those transfers to end up with 5k which is next to nothing in the mileage world .
When you get done with the Diners fee and all the penalties imposed you will have effectively lost all the miles full value.10k is worth approx 200 dollars and up IMO.
With 5 K Continental miles minus all the fees you will be paying you will almost be minus 200 dollars :( :td:

Instead open a AA Citibank business Master Card and earn 15 k and save it for a rainy day.
You will then be sitting on a free ticket that you can actually redeem.
Then go gift it to a friend.Then have the friend gift you one on Continental. ;) Or save them for a rainy day.The bottom line is you have valuable miles in one of the best Domestic Airline redemption programs in the industry.
I urge you to keep banking those AA miles and turn it into a nice business or first class ticket down the road on Qantas,British Airways,or Cathay Pacific
I am going First Class on BA to Cape Town from London this summer thanks to AA.
AA continues to bring me world class opportunities and I usually get the seats.
Only a few programs IMO can beat their record.
And they are International based.

FYI There are some AA flights that are very nice even if your flight didn't happen to be so.
Sorry to hear about your experience
Good luck in your choice and thanks for your post on Flyertalk