I have a ton of miles on AA, but I would like to purchase a US ticket. A few years ago they allowed that, but when rumors of the UA-US merger started, AA dropped that program.

Is there any way I can do this? I've heard of maybe converting to another airline (or amtrak) first. Any ideas are much appreciated.

Ok, you got me.

Before you go through the trouble of transfering miles, which I don't think is possible, and if it is, probably will give you an exchange rate that will make you physically sick, WHY?

Where will US award ticket take you that AA or one of it's partners can't?

Is US premium cabin(if that's what you are looking at) that much better? US Air International coach is no match for AA with MRTC.

Is the award ticket that much cheaper?

I don't get it. If possible please explain. Thanks.

If you must know. My mother has to fly from southern california to pittsburgh. She is a very frightened flyer who is afraid of:
1) small planes
2) MD80s (ever since the Alaska Air incident)
3) O'hare

Flying AA from SAN to PIT would require a combination of some of those 3 things. I would very much like to somehow book her on the non-stop A320 or 757 that US flies.

Enough said. I still don't think it's possible to transfer miles.

You may want to look into AA 757 SAN-DFW-PIT, not sure, but it may be possible.

Good luck!

If you must know. My mother has to fly from southern california to pittsburgh. She is a very frightened flyer who is afraid of:
1) small planes
2) MD80s (ever since the Alaska Air incident)
3) O'hare

Flying AA from SAN to PIT would require a combination of some of those 3 things. I would very much like to somehow book her on the non-stop A320 or 757 that US flies.

AA flies 757s to DFW from SAN ... but I'm not sure about DFW to PIT. I'll check and see. Thanks for the input.

Jumpgate-

Welcome to Flyertalk. I would suggest you post on The Coupon Connection and see if someone will trade one of your AA awards for a US award. One thing in your favor is that AA miles are generally considered to be worth more than US miles. One thing against you here is that you have not been on FT very long and don't have many posts, so some FTers may be reluctant to trade with you. But do give it a try.

[This message has been edited by dream7 (edited November 11, 2003).]

AA only flies MD-80s from DFW to PIT, sorry!

Well, if you really have a TON of miles (as in at least twice as many you think you need for this ticket) and if you don't need to do this superquick:

If you get a Diners Club card ($95 annual fee), you can transfer 50000 AA miles a year into it. That'll turn into 50000 Club Rewards points, which you can then transfer into 25000 US Airways Dividend Miles (you have to pay something like $24.75 transfer fee for the DC->US transfer, not sure if there are any transfer fees for AA->DC). Hopefully 25000 US miles is just enough for that ticket and that that ticket is available for when you need it.

FYI: This works from AA or UA only, but Diners Club points (which you earn 2 of for every $1 spent, plus lots of signup and other bonuses) can be turned into miles at LOTS of different airlines (typically in increments of 2000 points = 1000 miles). The fact that you want US miles isn't therefore what makes this conversion work, but rather that it's AA miles you have to start with.

But of course, if you don't think you can make other use of a Diners Club card later (if you make one purchase a month, you'll have 24000 bonus points equivalent to at least 12000 miles at the end of your first year), you have to think about whether $95 + $24.95 + losing half the value of your miles is still worth more than what it would cost you to simply buy a ticket with $$$ on US Air.