I have 2 unrelated questions:

1-How can I figure out when I am at risk for losing miles? I fly on USAir primarily so I never seem to lose those-I also have United, AA, National, SW, Hilton, Marriott and Starwood?

2- My daughter will be taking a student trip to Australia and New Zealand this summer. Flying there, she will take AA from the East Coast to LA and then Quantas to and from Australia (as well as internal flights). Coming home, once she gets to LA she will fly USAir to the East Coast. I know miles are not transferable. However, I was told that she can have the Quantas miles credited to USair or AA. So far, she has about 2700 miles on USAir and none on AA. Logic would tell me that she should get her Quantas miles linked to USAir, particularly since my husband and I have enough USAir miles for free tix (I have limited AA miles-my husband has none) Am I missing something?

a few random thoughts... your daughter is going on a purchased ticket, i assume.

if it is important for her to accrue mi's, then i would worry about the fare basis. otherwise, buy the cheapest ticket you can get.

i have had reasonable quotes from qantas vacations and would suggest getting quotes from them.

i don't know about usair but for discount fares, qf gives 70% of mi's to aa. unless you are on an aa code share.

edit to add... is she on a packaged trip? if so i would suggest you talk to the people running the thing.

btw.. welcome to ft. over a few days the questions will resolve themselves and a lot of info will be provided.

[This message has been edited by clacko (edited 04-10-2002).]

[This message has been edited by clacko (edited 04-10-2002).]

First off, welcome to FT, BXIAN, from an old Mt. Laurel native (grew up in Ramblewood)! Are you new to the area or a long-time denizen?

Most of the airlines have miles expiring in 36 months from date of last account activity (I don't fly US so don't know their policy). AA is nice enough to give you the expiration date up front when you log in to the AAdvantage web site ... most of the other airlines don't offer this. You can always call the 800 numbers associated with each program and get the expiration date of your miles.

Also, BTW, "account activity" for every domestic major airline refers to anything which adds or subtracts miles ... hotel or car rental partner bonus, airline CC activity, redemption, etc.

Southwest is the only exception. Any "credits" you earn disappear exactly one year from when they're earned ... so if you earned 4 credits last December, 10 this year, and 2 next January, your account would show a balance of 12, not 16 (and you wouldn't get the free ticket!)

As for Starwood, they'll freeze your account in 12 months and delete it in 18 w/o any activity; Hilton will put you "on notice" after 12 months and delete you after 15; for Marriott, you're gone after 24 months. Again, this refers to a lack of any activity whatsoever -- if you go to the specific web sites for the programs, there's a million ways to earn miles for each.

You can get more specific info on each program at the boards dedicated to the program. I recommend the Starwood board in particular ...

Hope this helps.

SP

Yes welcome Bxian

As to expiring miles and points. Call the airline/hotel and ask them when you miles/points expire. They will not only tell you but often suggest a not flight way to extend them.

Secondly, you can go to the individual web sites and check for yourself.

Often the individual program will has a "tweek" you need to know for them.

Finally, while you cannot count on this, some airlines offer magazines or similar before they "take" your miles.

Thanks for the helpful suggestions-I just used one-called Starwood and was told my points will expire at the end of this year but I can extend by doing something such as having lunch at a Starwood property.

Nice to have such a warm welcome to your very helpul bulletin board. To satellite parking-while I am not a Mt. Laurel native (a New Yawka until 5 years ago), I love living here! Of course, I know exactly where Ramblewood is-my daughter goes to Lenape High School and has friends who live there. I am lving in a part of town that was probably all farmland when you were here