Again for Nov & Dec: Buy/Gift/Share miles, receive 100% bonus
Dec 5, 2009, 5:53 am
#136
Suspended
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 758
Dec 5, 2009, 7:27 am
#137
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: 10280 & 91101
Programs: AA Аэрофлот UA LH AF AS SPG HH PC
Posts: 461
Hi Friends,
I am awed at all the possibilities listed here by sharing, buying and gifting US Air miles. On my own, I would never have come up with all the angles.
Since we are frugal travelers, I attempted to get a saver award to Europe for early next year. Tried to book in November, hoping for a saver award at 50,000 miles. This was not possible.
Now to the question of buying and sharing miles.
Account A has 48,000 miles
account B has 60,000 miles
A buys 40,000 + 40,000 = 128,000 miles at $ 460
A transfers 20,000 + 20,000 bonus to B = 100,000 at $ 245 total $ 705.
I think this is probably the cheapest way. Or is it? Need advice, thanks.
I am awed at all the possibilities listed here by sharing, buying and gifting US Air miles. On my own, I would never have come up with all the angles.
Since we are frugal travelers, I attempted to get a saver award to Europe for early next year. Tried to book in November, hoping for a saver award at 50,000 miles. This was not possible.
Now to the question of buying and sharing miles.
Account A has 48,000 miles
account B has 60,000 miles
A buys 40,000 + 40,000 = 128,000 miles at $ 460
A transfers 20,000 + 20,000 bonus to B = 100,000 at $ 245 total $ 705.
I think this is probably the cheapest way. Or is it? Need advice, thanks.
Buying miles is much more expensive than sharing miles. 2.5 cents/mi -vs- 1.0 cents/mi. Therefore, A buys 40k + 40k would cost $1000 instead of 460. Try to share as much as possible.
Having said that, you could minimize your cost if you do the following
Share A -> B 48k+48k bonus A=0 , B=156k $480
Share B -> A 50k+50kbonus A=100k, B=106k $500 total $980
The amounts dont include the $30 fee + tax per transaction
Dec 6, 2009, 10:06 am
#138
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Rolla, MO USA
Programs: American, BA, NWA, United, US Air
Posts: 199
Thanks, lesenok. Your example is indeed cheaper. Now, why could I not think of it!, but was not aware of the different cost in buy/share.
Slow learner, I must say.
Thanks again.
Hakluyt:-:
Slow learner, I must say.
Thanks again.
Hakluyt:-:
Dec 7, 2009, 10:18 am
#139
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Point Place, Wisconsin
Programs: LH HON, BA Gold, EK Gold
Posts: 14,505
I've had absolute murder with this - bought 50/100k miles and they are "lost" somewhere - although I have a Points.com confirmation number and an authorisation on the Amex card used - albeit no email. US can't search using the Points.com reference and any attempt at speaking with points.com will get you nowhere - they wash their hands of it and tell you to sort it out with the airline. I was quite literally thrown from pillar to post.
I wasted about 7 hours on the phone over the weekend talking to a bunch of absolute cretins who quite frankly talked nothing but rubbish. One told me I should have received an eticket number and a confirmation for my miles purchase!!! one minute I'm being told it'll be resolved within 24hrs, next minute I'm told to wait 10 days for an investigation which was completely unacceptable given the short time frame before departure on the reservation on hold - had to rebook it three times!!. Anyhow, I eventually got through to a supervisor who agreed that if I purchased another 50k, they would refund my credit card if the charge for the first chunk of miles actually hit. Lets see, eh!
Thankfully the second purchase hit straight away and I received a confirmation email unlike first time round and I was able to go ahead and have the reservation ticketed.
I wasted about 7 hours on the phone over the weekend talking to a bunch of absolute cretins who quite frankly talked nothing but rubbish. One told me I should have received an eticket number and a confirmation for my miles purchase!!! one minute I'm being told it'll be resolved within 24hrs, next minute I'm told to wait 10 days for an investigation which was completely unacceptable given the short time frame before departure on the reservation on hold - had to rebook it three times!!. Anyhow, I eventually got through to a supervisor who agreed that if I purchased another 50k, they would refund my credit card if the charge for the first chunk of miles actually hit. Lets see, eh!
Thankfully the second purchase hit straight away and I received a confirmation email unlike first time round and I was able to go ahead and have the reservation ticketed.
Purchased the miles online and got a confirmation. However the miles did not post. It has been 3 days now and the money has been taken from my AMEX but NO miles.
Several clueless agents now told me that the transaction has been voided and I should purchase them again!
Er, excuse me. Can I please have my money back first ??
Who do I call to get this mess sorted ?
Dec 7, 2009, 10:22 am
#140
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: A lovely little town filled with cows
Programs: US2, Hyatt Diamond, SPG Plat, Hilton Gold
Posts: 3,284
Dec 7, 2009, 10:32 am
#141
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: SIN
Programs: UA Platinum, DL Platinum, AFKL Gold, Qatar Gold
Posts: 895
I am in a similar or even worse position.
Purchased the miles online and got a confirmation. However the miles did not post. It has been 3 days now and the money has been taken from my AMEX but NO miles.
Several clueless agents now told me that the transaction has been voided and I should purchase them again!
Er, excuse me. Can I please have my money back first ??
Who do I call to get this mess sorted ?
Purchased the miles online and got a confirmation. However the miles did not post. It has been 3 days now and the money has been taken from my AMEX but NO miles.
Several clueless agents now told me that the transaction has been voided and I should purchase them again!
Er, excuse me. Can I please have my money back first ??
Who do I call to get this mess sorted ?
May I ask you if you just created the account 10 days ago, and if you booked with a credit card that has same name as US Air account?
No need to call Points.com. They won't do anything and say that you purchased the miles on US Airways, so you have to contact them. Some US Airways agents will tell you to call Points.com..
But from the experience I had with them two weeks ago only US Airways was able to do something about it. Actually they were not able to do anything, I had to buy miles with another account, and that worked. They only told me the transaction was voided and that my credit card would not be charge.
They said the problem was because I did not respect the 10 days period... but I actually did... But that was right after 10 days... What I am assuming is that this might be because I was using my own credit card to purchase miles for my brother's account...
I am planning to buy/share miles in two weeks to get 500,000 more miles. I hope I can get those miles for my family's accounts by paying with my credit card...
Dec 7, 2009, 10:41 am
#142
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Point Place, Wisconsin
Programs: LH HON, BA Gold, EK Gold
Posts: 14,505
Points.com was a waste of time. They just pointed me right back to USAir.
Amex told me to wait another 2 days to see if a credit will come through on the card? If not, they will do a charge back.
Dec 7, 2009, 1:32 pm
#143
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: AU
Programs: former Olympic Airways Gold (yeah - still proud of that!)
Posts: 14,408
Hi all
I can confirm that the '10 day' rule actually seems to be '11' days - in that for whatever reason it seems to be that you can only purchase points on the 11th day after opening your account.
I made a 'purchase' on the 10th day and got a confirmation, and my credit card was down the USD1373 in available balance (that is, an authorisation).
I too called US airways when the miles didn't post.
Eventually the agent said I was too early in making the purchase.
I can confirm the purchase did NOT go through, and my credit card was never billed. The authorisation charge went off my card after about 7 days.
I made a new purchase on the 12th day and everything was fine - instant confirmation again - but this time the miles were there!
So to anyone else in the same boat the message is 'don't worry'! You have not been billed - but it does appear as a charge waiting to come on for a few days.
Regards
lme ff
I can confirm that the '10 day' rule actually seems to be '11' days - in that for whatever reason it seems to be that you can only purchase points on the 11th day after opening your account.
I made a 'purchase' on the 10th day and got a confirmation, and my credit card was down the USD1373 in available balance (that is, an authorisation).
I too called US airways when the miles didn't post.
Eventually the agent said I was too early in making the purchase.
I can confirm the purchase did NOT go through, and my credit card was never billed. The authorisation charge went off my card after about 7 days.
I made a new purchase on the 12th day and everything was fine - instant confirmation again - but this time the miles were there!
So to anyone else in the same boat the message is 'don't worry'! You have not been billed - but it does appear as a charge waiting to come on for a few days.
Regards
lme ff
Dec 7, 2009, 4:12 pm
#144
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: DCA/IAD
Posts: 135
Hi all
I can confirm that the '10 day' rule actually seems to be '11' days - in that for whatever reason it seems to be that you can only purchase points on the 11th day after opening your account.
I made a 'purchase' on the 10th day and got a confirmation, and my credit card was down the USD1373 in available balance (that is, an authorisation).
I too called US airways when the miles didn't post.
Eventually the agent said I was too early in making the purchase.
I can confirm the purchase did NOT go through, and my credit card was never billed. The authorisation charge went off my card after about 7 days.
I made a new purchase on the 12th day and everything was fine - instant confirmation again - but this time the miles were there!
So to anyone else in the same boat the message is 'don't worry'! You have not been billed - but it does appear as a charge waiting to come on for a few days.
Regards
lme ff
I can confirm that the '10 day' rule actually seems to be '11' days - in that for whatever reason it seems to be that you can only purchase points on the 11th day after opening your account.
I made a 'purchase' on the 10th day and got a confirmation, and my credit card was down the USD1373 in available balance (that is, an authorisation).
I too called US airways when the miles didn't post.
Eventually the agent said I was too early in making the purchase.
I can confirm the purchase did NOT go through, and my credit card was never billed. The authorisation charge went off my card after about 7 days.
I made a new purchase on the 12th day and everything was fine - instant confirmation again - but this time the miles were there!
So to anyone else in the same boat the message is 'don't worry'! You have not been billed - but it does appear as a charge waiting to come on for a few days.
Regards
lme ff
Had the usual round robin customer service cluster f**k with US and points.com, also as described, including being asked repeatedly for ticket numbers and record locators. Finally got assertive and asked for a US supervisor. She passed the matter up the line to someone in IT.
Lo and behold, and to my utter shock, I received a call 90 minutes later from a super courteous IT person who indicated there's some glitch when ordering on day 11. Said I wouldn't be charged, asked that I try the transaction again and assured me that all would be well. All was well, the initial e-commerce shortcoming notwithstanding. Kudos to the second tier service folks who provided the necessary reassurance.
All that said, I think you should be fine. Always have a fallback with the CC company in case of a double hit--but I haven't seen any posts from those experiencing these problems indicating that has ever happened.
Dec 7, 2009, 4:56 pm
#145
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 525
Quick question for the pros:
Can one person share 100k miles with two seperate accounts and both get the 50k bonus miles?
Thanks for your help!
Can one person share 100k miles with two seperate accounts and both get the 50k bonus miles?
Thanks for your help!
Dec 8, 2009, 9:02 am
#146
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: SIN
Programs: UA Platinum, DL Platinum, AFKL Gold, Qatar Gold
Posts: 895
A 100
A shares 50 to B - B has 100
A shares 50 to C - C has 50 or 100 ??
Dec 8, 2009, 9:05 am
#147
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: SIN
Programs: UA Platinum, DL Platinum, AFKL Gold, Qatar Gold
Posts: 895
Ho, and if you don't wanna pay 7.5% tax, it's really easy. Just change your address to Switzerland or another country as long as it is not the US or Canada.
Once the purchase is made you can change your address back to the good one.
Once the purchase is made you can change your address back to the good one.
Dec 8, 2009, 9:14 am
#148
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: 10280 & 91101
Programs: AA Аэрофлот UA LH AF AS SPG HH PC
Posts: 461
Dec 8, 2009, 9:28 am
#149
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: SIN
Programs: UA Platinum, DL Platinum, AFKL Gold, Qatar Gold
Posts: 895
Thanks.
But from what I read on this post, if B receives 50+50 from A, he cannot receive 50+50 from C or D right?
When receiving miles from sharing, it is limited. But when sharing miles to someone else, it is not limited.
But from what I read on this post, if B receives 50+50 from A, he cannot receive 50+50 from C or D right?
When receiving miles from sharing, it is limited. But when sharing miles to someone else, it is not limited.
Dec 8, 2009, 10:05 am
#150
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: 10280 & 91101
Programs: AA Аэрофлот UA LH AF AS SPG HH PC
Posts: 461
A can share 50k to B & C & D.
B & C & D will have 100k each
B & C & D can receive more miles but NO Bonus. You will get a warning message when you attempt to pay for the shared miles.