IRISHMPK67

I keep getting emails about the Global Points Exchange which is to be rolled out in December. Does anyone know any more than what is illustrated on the points.com home page? I am curious to know how they will make a buck if there is no fee for the transaction. Would it be a cut of the miles??? I would also like to know when it will roll out.

Any info would be helpful!!

lin821

Of course there will be a cut of miles. I bet a HUGE cut.

With or without the new GPX, Points.com are making profits by "ripping off" your miles/points, with (much) less than desirable customer services. Look around here and S.P.A.M. and search for threads on Points.com, you'll see why.

I googled for Points.com new scheme and found the Canadian press release: Points International Ltd. Reports 75% Annual Revenue Growth in the Second Quarter of 2007. Points.com is not making profits for no reason. (Read one example thread: Is Points.com dishonest? )

There are at least 4 changes of ownership in the last 3-4 years and they've changed their business models over the years. I guess they learned their lessons from the 2004 fiasco. Can't find that thread right now but it's about AA miles from Points Gold sign up & eBay Everything Points..etc. It's a very long thread. Maybe someone can dig it out for our viewing pleasure.

Don't expect to get a 1:1 ratio with Global Points Exchange though. It's not going to happen. My crystal ball tells me.

IRISHMPK

That is the most information I have seen about points.com as they seem to be difficult to contact. You are not kidding that they are making money! You are right too, it is right out of our miles!

My hopes were that the "GPX" would be a trading board, not another way for them to bleed our miles.

I will still check it out, but my hopes are a little bit dashed!

Thanks for the reply lin821!

nonyflyer

******

rrgg

I don't see any reviews. GPX only just started in the last 24-48 hours (at least for me)

Here's my review. No way no how will I use GPX. I login into GPX and it says I can trade 6000 AA miles for 7000 Mileage Plan miles. The GPX fee is $130.00!!!!

jsammerman

It looks like GPX is in Beta form right now. Points.com apparently takes a trading fee based upon the program you are transferring out of. The number of miles available to swap look like they depend on whatever individual users are willing to offer.

The trading fee varies by program as listed below. On top of that Points.com charges a $6.95 fee, which is currently waived. It looks like there is not much activity right now, so there aren't many trades available. Those that are appear to be at the 50 to 80% exchange rate (i.e. you lose between 20 to 50% in the swap in addition to the fees below).

Trading Fees for Alaska Mileage Plan are:
Number of Miles Trading Fee
1,000-30,000 miles $25.00 + $0.01 per mile

Trading Fees for American Airlines AAdvantage are:
Number of Miles Trading Fee
1,000-5,000 miles $80.00
6,000-10,000 miles $130.00
11,000-15,000 miles $180.00

Trading Fees for Aeroplan are:
Number of Miles Trading Fee
1,000-30,000 miles $0.02 per mile

Trading Fees for Frontier Airlines EarlyReturns are:
Number of Miles Trading Fee
1,000-10,000 miles $50.00
11,000-20,000 miles $75.00
21,000-25,000 miles $100.00

Trading Fees for Iceland Air are:
Number of Miles Trading Fee
1,000-30,000 miles $40.00

lin821

Speaking of AAdvantage Miles, the fee schedule is exactly the same if you choose to Share/Give Miles from AA's website directly. If Points GPX is not giving a deep discount, why would anyone want to pay a middle man for an exchange that can be essentially done directly between the airline and the account holder? (I know my example is restricted between AAmiles to AAmiles only.)

Even GPX allow you to swap between various programs, remember they don't aim to make us mile/point richer by doing swaps. They conduct business by making profits for THEMSELVES. The only good thing about this program is the flexibility. A VERY expensive one, may I add.

We all try so hard to earn/accumulate our miles (for free, as humanly possible ). Why would any seasoned FTer settle for 20%-50% deflation? I only know FTers will chase and fight for double, even triple bonus miles. Never heard of anyone who would "voluntarily" take reduction in one's hard-earned miles. On top of that, paying for this middle man to do it? That's totally insane! You need to re-take our FT University Classes.

There are exceptions, of course. If those miles/points are going to expire or only small chunk of miles/points are involved, say less than 5000 miles or something; or, if you just need to top off an account in order to redeem the award, those swaps might be worth it. For those who have at least 10K in the miles bank, it will be MUCH cheaper to simply earn more miles for a free domestic ticket. There are so many free credit cards offers with 15K to 20K miles. Did I mention FREE for the 1st year? Who can top that? Who needs the middle man?

Brendan

Big disappointment!
GPX is nothing more than a forum for people to pair up & trade miles by paying the normal outrageous transfer fees !
Like a watered-down tCC only for people willing to pay said outrageous transfer fees !
Only positive: If this type of barter is approved by the airlines involved, then by logic everything on tCC is = ly acceptable ! They can't logically nix tCC while authorizing GPS !

lin821

https://www.points.com/static/html/gpx_faq.html

QUESTION: What is the GPX Trading Fee?

ANSWER: The Trading Fee covers two costs: it includes the fees charged by the Loyalty Program to transfer the miles or points into your account, and a small Points.com processing fee of $6.95.

All reward programs participating in GPX charge a fee when you transfer miles or points to another member of that program. The nature and size of this fee varies from partner to partner: some charge a flat fee plus a cost-per-mile/point; others charge only a flat fee that's based on a range of miles or points....

The Points.com processing fee covers the cost of running and servicing the GPX trading board, as well as the resources that go into guaranteeing your trade.
(Bolding mine)

So basically, the airlines are not taking any cut in fees with these "free-will" trades. Points.com will charge you the processing fee (when the promo is over). Those who offer trades, I would think, will ask for a "reasonably profitable" price for their trades. Everyone is a winner so far, right?

Who will be the losers?

mia

There would be a market if GPX transfers are not subject to the program limitation on transfers, and are less expensive than purchasing miles from the carrier. Mileage transfers and purchases occur when they liberate a large balance. For example, you have 105,000 miles but need 125,000 for an award. The cost of transferring or purchasing the remaining 20,000 miles is likely to be small compared to the cash price of the ticket that can be obtained for 125,000 miles.

Sneakers

I just posted 3 trades - we will see what happens....