uses for small number of miles
Jun 14, 2007 | 9:03 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2004
Programs: united airlines
Posts: 4,967
uses for small number of miles
Newspaper/magazine subscriptions are one reasonable way to burn off relatively small numbers of miles, making for an excellent way to dispose of miles that would otherwise go unused, "orphan" miles. Are there other good ways to use miles (especially UA) in lesser amounts than required for award travel and upgrades, that is 0 to 5K of them?
Jun 14, 2007 | 3:02 pm
#4
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 201
What about swapping those miles with some other points program you have? Have you got a hotel card? or another airline card? What about points.com? Maybe there's a swap/reward there that might work. Are your miles expiring, such that you will lose if you don't use? Or are you not traveling any more? (No you don't sound miserly...I'd love 5K miles right now..)
Jun 14, 2007 | 5:35 pm
#5
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Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: GVA (Greater Vancouver Area)
Programs: D.R.E.A.D. Gold card holder
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Jun 19, 2007 | 4:51 pm
#7
Join Date: May 2003
Location: RDU
Programs: TSA/INS/FBI Platinum (stopped last 12 of 13 int'l returns - the computer broke once)
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Outside of the donations or magazines, the next best options seem to be to abandon them or use the mileage mall/iDine to get them up to a threshold to get something you can use (like the 5K intra-Hawaii or using them to redeem for merchandise or some other option based on what the program allows). From some other discussions, the airlines don't consider any balance less than 25K as a liability on the balance sheet so they don't really consider them as any value either.
Jun 24, 2007 | 3:44 pm
#10
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Washington, DC
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Jun 24, 2007 | 9:12 pm
#11
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: PHL
Programs: US Gold, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 313
UA allows you to use miles to purchase merchandise. I've done this with them, to get rid of a few orphaned miles.
Jul 1, 2007 | 9:33 am
#14
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: home = LAX
Posts: 26,111
A few of the very biggest programs (AA, UA) have multiple ways, and a few more may have magazines only.
But with most programs, the only use is once you have enough miles for a short flight with a partner (inter-island in Hawaii or short hop in Europe, for example). But, of course, that only works if you happen to get to wherever that free flight can be taken (it's useless if you want to spend the miles without traveling to that specific destination).
Jul 1, 2007 | 2:54 pm
#15
Join Date: May 2003
Location: RDU
Programs: TSA/INS/FBI Platinum (stopped last 12 of 13 int'l returns - the computer broke once)
Posts: 2,653
To redeem within US, the cheapest options are currently 5K for a one-way upgrade to F from full-fare, or 10K from cheaper fares. If you fly them at all then it might be worth doing something to earn a few more and redeem for that.
A lot of the earning/spending options went away after the merger with HP.