OZ,

That's great advice...a little late for me...but the 2 MM lifetime Platinum thing is my real objective, which together with my AA balance, preexisitng TWA miles, and the AMEX miles I have, presuming they follow their own policies here and acknowledge status.

Does Diners allow redemptions into QF? Same strategy to get more for your $$ might apply there?

nologic .. yes I can see that if you get under the wire for the AA M/M that has great advantages if you succeed, apart from the points. For others it may have some merit to look into tho.

Diners Club here are allied with the Ansett scheme. You get 1.5 Ansett points (good for any Star * bookings) for each $A spent.

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~ Glen ~

No Logic:

Maybe you could help me. As an avid TW flyer I am not familiar with AA's program. Does AA count all miles towards the one million mile plateau or just flown miles? If they count all miles, I have well over a couple of million miles in TW and over 875,000 actual flown. Please let me know!!!
Regards,

U-Lover

Freakflyer: I'm afraid the only real way to get Amex Points is to spend! They do have some bonus opportunities but I can never figure out if I get them or not. So, I charge everything possible. Taxes, Cars, groceries, PG&E you name it, if they take plastic, I'm there........

They count all lifetime miles in your Advantage account, irregardless of how you got them (flights, bonuses, hotels, credit cards, etc.).

For purposes of the TWA transfer, I would expect them to count the ending balance in your Aviator account, not you TWA lifetime miles, or your flown miles...just the ending balance when the program ends in 6 months or so -- unless they pull a fast one and change the policy from previous acquisitions.

[This message has been edited by nologic (edited 04-14-2001).]

Sdix,

Check out the Amex gold rewards card. YOu do get quite a bonus depending on where you use the card (or associated cards).

FF

Just a bizarre twist to my notes above. "Australian Financial Review" (our WSJ) here has a lift out section on the OZ FF war here this weekend. One bizarre loophole they identified was that you can run up a large bill on the Qantas Visa card which I have a large points balance in. (Transferring those points to QF also attracts the new deal 20% bonus.) Then according to AFR the new Amex blue 'credit card' allows you to pay off other credit card accounts, allowing another 30 days to pay total owed. (Was news to me.)

So, spending $A20,000 ($US10,000) in a month on Qantas card gives you 20,000 + 20% QF points = 44,000 QF miles. Pay this off with the Amex card and get the same 44,000 QF miles = 88,000 QF miles already, which is a free OZ-USA round tip with 8,000 'change'.

I know nothing much on the Amex blue 'credit card', but I assume you also earn some MR points on the $A20,000 payment, so assuming that you do at the usual 1=1, one single $US10,000 purchase on a credit card gives you virtually a free BUSINESS class OZ-USA ticket!

Now I am a Visa card merchant, and the cost to me is 1.8% to accept a VISA card. A $20,000 purchase off me at 1.8% attracts a total merchant fee of $A360, or $US180. For basically a C class trans-pac. Many of the things I sell are basically "cash" like gold bullion coins, and mint current stamps - i.e. their resale value is virtally the purchase price - i.e. a $US10,000 spend can be readily sold for $US9,000 anywhere in the USA/world next day. And "exports" do not attract the 10% GST here.

And the Qantas VISA gives me DOUBLE the poiints if goods are bought OUTSIDE Australia, so a $20,000 buy brings 40,000 + 20% points = 48,000. So, a fully refundable First Class ticket USA to OZ on an airline I don't use like AA costs over $A20,000 - but I have a full 12 months to use it and cancel it and receive a 100% refund.

That's the Easter Math lesson.

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~ Glen ~

TWA lifetime Plat. needs ACTUAL miles. Partners do not count. And even if they did, not sure AA will honor Lifetime Plat status on AA.

I am considering transfer of some of my 750,000 amex points to TWA. Could someone enlighten me a bit about the rewards available to AA members?
I already have 2 million UA and 2 million Latin Pass, so what could I do with AA points that I can't do with my current Amex, UA, and LP points?
Can the AA be used for British Airways and at reasonable redemption levels?
Can the AA be used for all Oneworld, and at reasonable redemption levels?
Thanks for any input.

http://www.im.aa.com/American?BV_Operation=Dyn_AAPage&referer=index.htm l&for m%25referrer_site=None

I was trying to insert the direct link for AA awards but the site does not allow that. Click on the link and then go to the AAdvantage drop down menu and select member guide/use miles for award options.

[This message has been edited by chix (edited 04-18-2001).]

Thomas Gregory,

One million cumulative AA miles from any source gets you lifetime AAdvantage Gold. If you have others already, this transfer could put you over the top. (AFAIK, AA has not specifically stated that TWA transfer miles will be included in the lifetime total for this purpose, but if they're not it would be the first exception.)

thanks Chix and Efrem. I transferred 775,000 yesterday.