Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with airmiles

Are BA miles safe?

Neiltupper — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 09:46:21 -0800

Are BA miles safe? My father has 180,000 points with the RBC Avion programme. He wants to transfer them to the BA miles programme, as they are currently offering a 50% bonus for transfers.

My concern is with the solvency of BA. If they were to file for bankruptcy, what happens to the points programme? I don't know the corporate structure of BA or how bankruptcy works, and he has only a few days left on this offer. What would be your advice to him?

Is this Credit Card going to cost me?

wildatheart — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 07:17:12 -0800

Could somebody take a look at these terms & conditions of a credit card I am thinking of getting. I am only considering this card because it belongs to a particular Airline I will fly a lot with over the next year, and I will get their airmiles with each purchase. I always pay any balance on my credit cards in their entirety, as I refuse to pay the ridiculous interest. However, I am worried about item 5 on the above .pdf. Am I right in thinking that I will be paying interest, regardless, on the £ 1500.00 that is mentioned here? And if so, what would this cost me?

Should I ditch my Air Miles card?

lindsey.nicole — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 12:36:10 -0800

I'm in Canada, and have an Air Miles card, which I use sporadically on grocery purchases..and that's about it. I just checked my total, and it turns out in seven years, I've earned a paltry 474 miles (less than half of what I'd need to get, say, a free blender). Needless to say, I'm not thrilled with those returns. Should I scrap the card, or try to use it more wisely - maybe get an Air Miles credit card, or go to different stores? Suggestions welcome. Also worth noting: I'm neither a big spender nor a frequent flyer, and I don't own a car or home. My daily purchases are pretty standard, but obviously do not include gas or vehicle maintenance. I expect I'd use my miles mainly on gift certificates, gadgets or household items, but not on actual flights.

Are airmiles worth collecting?

SpacemanRed — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 10:01:08 -0800

FrequentFlyerFilter: Is it worth booking a more expensive flight in order to gain rewards to use on a subsequent journey? I plan to travel London to Perth (Aus) and back later this year and then next year do a Round The World type trip, again from London. Both are unbooked at the moment. Looking at each trip individually, it may be cheaper to go with two different airlines.

Is it worth booking both trips with the same airline/organisation in order to benefit from any frequent flyer type rewards on the second booking? If so, what sort of rewards should I be looking for?

What's the AAdvantage(tm)?

medium format — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 13:11:46 -0800

Why would I want to purchase Air Miles? Specifically AAdvantage Miles. Is the cost of purchasing miles saving you money on the cost of a flight? i.e. Is the value of air miles greater than their purchase value when redeemed for a flight? If it costs me $250 to purchase 10,000 miles, will redeeming them save me more than $250 on my flight?

Cashing out Airmiles?

burhan — Sat, 17 Sep 2005 21:35:05 -0800

Does anyone know of a way to convert my Airmiles to Aeroplan points? Or to convert Airmiles to cash? I want to convert my Airmiles to either cash or to Aeroplan points so that I can redeem the combination of the two points for a Canon Rebel XT. I know a similar question has been asked about merging points from different star-alliance loyalty programs, but that doesn't help me out.. I've read vague posts in online forums about converting points from points plan a to points plan b, and then to point plan c, (etc.) - this I guess is also called 'points laundering', but haven't gotten any clear guidance on how to do this.

Should we redeam our skymiles right away?

monsta coty scott — Wed, 10 Aug 2005 21:46:43 -0800

With Delta Airlines on the brink of bankruptcy, how much longer are my skymiles of any value? My wife and I have accrued enough sky miles to fly both of us to Hawaii for a nice vacation. We were hoping to be able to do this next May. But with the predictions of Delta heading towards a Chapter 11 bankruptcy I wonder if our miles will be of no use by then. Would we be better off redeaming our miles for a less fanciful vacation and go somewhere right away, or hold out in hopes of going somewhere nice next spring?

Can someone explain airline-loyalty programmes to me?

Grensgeval — Wed, 03 Aug 2005 02:46:03 -0800

Airmiles, full-fare, goldmember elite worldclass club, Y-C-B and Z class tickets, Award flights, etc - even as a frequent flyer, I have no clue what these all mean, how I get them, and how I can use them to get an upgrade. I fly (economy) about three times a year from Amsterdam to the United States, and about 8 times to other European destinations. I just buy the cheapest ticket with the least stop-overs.

Recently it dawned on me, that some people who fly a lot less than I do, were spending airmiles they earned, or loyalty points they gained, on either free goodies or, -what I am more interested in- on flight upgrades.

I have never in fact gotten any miles or points from anyone; because I didn't ask?

Can anyone explain to me how this whole business of flyer-programs and other (semi-)freebies operates and what I could do to take advantage of it? Transatlantic flights would be so much better without thrombosis.

Air miles query

essexjan — Sat, 23 Apr 2005 10:18:23 -0800

I have 30,000 Mileage Plus airmiles on United and about the same number of Dividend Miles on US Airways. Both are members of the Star Alliance. Can I combine both sets of airmiles to buy a transatlantic flight on either (or another) airline? Both airlines say the airmiles are 'not transferable' yet their websites say I can use airmiles earned with any Star Alliance partner to buy other products or services.

Using Miles to Upgrade

mathowie — Mon, 11 Oct 2004 00:53:28 -0800

This may sound like a dumb question, but I can't find any basic info online. I've never used my airline miles before, and I'm trying to take a vacation to London and Ireland this xmas. But how do I try to score business or first class upgrades using the miles I have? (more inside) I have about 25k miles at both United and Alaska (which is supposed to work with American). I've heard major continental flights require about 20k miles to upgrade from coach to business/first, and that's only if they have space for the upgrades.

I've never used these miles and I'm ready to try this, so how should I go about this? Do I find the cheapest fare at Orbitz or United or Alaska's sites, then call the airline for the upgrade? Or do I have to order completely through the airline directly? Are there any lists of how many miles upgrades take on each program?

All the info seems to be gear towards helping folks acquire miles, but I can't find anything at either airline site about actually using the miles. Thanks in advance!

Using Frequent Flier Miles

stupidsexyFlanders — Mon, 20 Sep 2004 08:46:16 -0800

I have about 100K FF miles on USAir and I'm wondering if I should try to use them now or sit tight. Anybody else in the same boat? If so, what are you doing?