What an issue this is. They tell you they're worthless and have no monetary value. Then they offer to sell them to you. So it's cool for them to do it but not for you to do it. They offer shopping opportunities where you can redeem them for other goods and services. This means that they acknowledge the economic value of this currency.

My personal opinions are a dichotomy.

The miles are earned and paid for. You don't magically find them like mushrooms in Mario Brothers. They do in fact have a monetary value, whether the airlines like it or not. A good lawyer should be able to tapdance into court and win this. Not only are they a currency, they are in fact one of the largest forms of currency on the planet. There are more FF miles issued than almost all small nations' units of currency. So if they are proven in a court of law to be a valid currency, why then cannot they be traded or moved?

On the other hand, I have a REALLY high mileage balance in my account. So you won't see me playing games with them, for fear of losing all my goodies.

But I will tell you this - if they did take my status or miles away, I would have them in court begging for mercy. It doesn't seem hard to prove a jury of my peers that they stole tens of thousands of dollars from me, and juries love to punish big evil companies.

I hope no one ever wins a case that they have a specific monetary value... then it would be easy for the IRS to say they are "income" and have to be reported... and I personally do not want to see that happen.

The IRS has currently stated they do not value these... but if a court did... they might change their oinion.

William

I just heard that there's a class action suit in NY against Delta about their Medallion points.

You do have a great point about that tax thing tho... A VERY good point.

Great point clanson...

No, it's like being invited to a card game, purchasing chips after being told what the rules of the game are, and then after a few hands, the rules change.

And you are required to keep playing, because you can't cash out...

You do if you're playing the game right.

I buy and sell on Ebay all the time
 

As a struggling business man who travels often I buy and sell AA related stuff on Ebay often. I have bought and sold miles, VIP's, Fly 3 certs. etc. and have never had any problems at all. All my transactions have gone very smooth. There are a few tricks to the this but the main trick is not to have very many miles in your account so if by some chance they catch you and freeze your account, just reopen another one using a diffrent address, phone etc.

I am a very firm believer that if I earned the miles, certs. etc. legitimately I own them and I have a right to do with them as I please. If the airlines don't like it then stop awarding FF miles, stop the promotions etc. and I would have nothing to buy and sell.