Please forgive me if this is a faux pas . I saw an ad on Craigslist to obtain miles for travel and I wondered if this is common practice? I know all the usual caveats about miles being "gifted" from friend or family as I obtained VIP's once that way. But never have I obtained Miles or rather had tickets purchased with miles by someone else for me. Can the "gifter " later cancel reservation leaving me in a bind?

TIA.

David

Yes, the giver can do this, which is one reason not to take the chance.

In addition, the airlines are onto all the tricks. They can cancel your ticket, forcing you to buy a ticket at the walk-up price or not travel, and cancel the giver's frequent flyer account, including forfeiting all miles. They don't do it often, because it takes up staff time they can use elsewhere, but they don't always let it go either.

I would strongly advise against it unless you know the giver well enough to trust him/her not to play games with you, and to answer personal questions about him/her from an airline agent when you check in. A gambler might feel differently, but airlines - like casinos - have the edge.

Thank's Efram. I am aware of all the things that can go wrong and have taken those chances in the past but do not consider it a gamble. However this time we have decided it is too risky to plan our whole trip around.
BTW we spoke with the airline in question and they said that once the tickets are purchased the mile supplier has no recourse to cancel the tickets. I asked as a hypothetical as if I was going to be the one buying the tickets for someone else and they said only the person named on the ticket can cancel the reservation. Not sure how they would verify that but thats what I was told.

David

The bigger risk with buying awards comes from the airline, not the seller of the miles. As Efrem notes, airlines are notorious for cancelling award tickets that have been sold - in violation of their rules - leaving you to find your way home or losing your vacation altogether. (And since buying award tickets is against the airline's rules, they have every right to cancel the ticket right from under you.)

That said, though, one of the more common Craigslist scams right now is to post miles for sale, where the seller is actually using a stolen credit card to buy the miles for you. Once the stolen card is reported, the miles will be reversed out of your account, and you're out the money you spent.

Personally, I'd run far, far away from this, if only for that reason.

Mike