Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with miles

Bank Accounts are to bankrate.com as Frequent Flyer Miles are to X? Solve for X.

jefficator — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 07:33:35 -0800

Is there a frequent flyer program comparison website? I've seen the forums that previous posts have linked to, but I'm curious. Bankrate.com compares banks and helps me find the best interest rates, etc. Is there a similar site that will aggregate data about frequent flyer programs? I'm traveling this fall and am not constrained by any airline or prior miles programs. As such, I would like to establish a relationship that will benefit me most. Is there a one-stop reference for this info, or will I have to plow through outdated websites and anecdotal forums?

When buying a plane ticket, how do you decide whether to cash in your frequent flyer miles?

inatizzy — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 06:45:49 -0800

When you buy a plane ticket, how do you decide whether to cash in your frequent flyer miles, or pay cash and earn the miles? I have a specific decision to make that's prompting this question:

I've accumulated about 50,000 frequent flyer miles on a major airline over about 5 years of personal domestic travel. I'm going to Buenos Aires in September, one-way, economy, and I can either:

a) buy a ticket for about $450-500 (on two different airlines that I don't normally fly, with 2 stops on the way, about 16-19 hours trip time), or

b) spend 20,000 miles (on "major airline", 1 or 2 stops along the way, 14 hours trip time).

To buy the one-way ticket on "major airline" would cost around $1800 or more and I'd earn 5800 frequent flyer miles. Way too much for me to pay!

How do you decide whether to spend the miles or the money? I've really never been sure when to cash them in, but I'd sort of like to do that now because I could use the $$ to help secure an apartment, settle in, etc. (I'm moving there on my own without a job to pay for moving expenses.) But I'm also a little hesitant because I wonder, is this really getting the best value for my miles? Should I save them for later?

For what it's worth, I'm probably going to be in South America indefinitely after this trip and I'm unlikely to fly the "major airline" to travel between cities and countries there. However, I may use it to come back to the US for visits (such as at Christmas). Thanks for your advice!

Help me earn 200 miles!

j1950 — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:29:31 -0800

How can I earn 200 Delta SkyMiles quickly? I'd like to earn 200 Delta SkyMiles pretty quickly so I can subscribe to the Wall Street Journal (I'm 200 short). I am not planning any travel soon. Is there a way to quickly earn 200 miles (preferably without spending any money)?

Question about Miles Davis at Lincoln Center's Philharmonic Hall

sour cream — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 15:41:50 -0800

How much of the Miles Davis concert recorded on Feb. 12, 1964 at Lincoln Center's Philharmonic Hall was (not) improvised? Available in various cuts on a number of CDs (My Funny Valentine, Four and More, The complete concert...), this is commonly regarded as one of the great Jazz concerts in history. The line-up is Miles Davis, George Colemen, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams.

I've listened to this recording many times. I think the concert is pure genius, but recently it struck me that it is so perfect that I wonder how much of it is improvised and how much is, well, rehearsed. This is at least true for the not-so-up-tempo standards of the concert, such as My Funny Valentine, All Of You, Stella By Starlight, I Thought About You, There is No Greater Love, maybe not so much for the other tunes.
Some of the exhibits:

* The arrangements are more complex, in terms of harmonies and tempo, than in other recordings, even by Miles with other sidemen.

* The execution is too flawless. Usually, in a solo, there'll inevitably be instances where the soloist is temporarily lost - if only for split seconds - and you can hear how he is trying to get back into the song. Not so here, even though the solos (especially sax and piano) are extremely complex including phrases and musical thoughts that seem to me longer than usual, they never miss a beat.

* There seems to be more coordination in the rhythm section than in other Jazz combos.

For example, compare this version of Stella By Starlight with the one recorded by the same rhythm section on Ron Carter's "Third Plane". The latter sounds much more improvised, whereas the Lincoln Center version sounds much denser, more thought out and more ... meaningful.

Or take the end of the sax solo / beginning of the piano solo in All Of You: there is this coordinated figure of bass and piano which ties in perfectly with the end of the sax solo. Then at the beginning of the piano solo, Tony Williams not so much echoes, but underlines some of Herbie Hancock's figures, like he knows what's coming.

So what gives?
Is my hunch correct, that there is actually less improvisation going on at this concert than at other great Jazz concerts? If so, how much of the solos are rehearsed? All of it? Just some? How'd they do it?

Can I determine possible black-out dates for using ff miles to get a rental car, and can I possibly get a car by this weekend?

garfy3 — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 17:20:50 -0800

redeeming frequent flyer miles for a rental-car - anyone with experience in this arena? (using American Airlines specifically?) i've just plunked down 12,500 miles on American Airlines to get a car next weekend through Alamo (in the US). called both AA and Alamo to see if the small print about "possible blackout dates" will impact my plan, and all told me they have no blanket policy of dates, but i could only determine a specific date *after* i receive the "voucher" for the car, which would appear in 3-5 business days. i need to drive the car friday, that is, in less than 5 complete business days.

questions: (1) how long does it actually take to receive a "voucher," and (2) can the dreaded "blackout dates" be predicted before i get this precious "voucher"?

Donate Air Miles

carter32 — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:52:12 -0800

Donating air miles for a cause A friend of a friend is sick and is hospitalized in a city far from friends and family. My friend would like to set up a charity (or something) to allow people to donate air miles for visiting her in the hospital. I've done a search, and all I can find are existing charities for me to donate my unused air miles.

Has anyone had any experience doing something like this?

Thanks

Best travel points plastic for a Canuck?

unSane — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 05:05:47 -0800

What's the best Canadian credit card to earn travel miles? I have lots of credit but am looking for a credit card to earn travel rewards. It will be paid off in full each month. Will probably have an average of $50-60,000 going through it each year. I had Aeroplan for a while, which was fine, but can I do better?

How often should I get my car maintained, if I don't drive much?

JZig — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 16:47:04 -0800

Should I believe the 6 months = 7500 miles rule in my car's maintenance schedule, or is miles actually the important number? I'm not exactly a car expert, but when I hear people talking about car maintenance, they always talk in terms of miles. So, I'd been following that rule. However, I went to actually read my car's manual and it says that you should get the 7,500 maintenance after 7,500 miles or 6 months, whichever is sooner. I drive my car way less than that (I've driven around 6000 miles after a year), so when should I actually get my car maintenance done? Also in terms of selling used car, they always just mention the miles, so does that mean that other people always get maintenance done on a mile schedule?

I can't drive... 55

ForeverDcember — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 17:35:53 -0800

When to drive our new car up a long distance and up a mountain... (more inside!) My husband and I just purchased our first new vehicle, a 2007 Nissan Versa (known as a Nissan Tiida outside of the US). It now has 250 miles on it and we are planning to go from Orlando, Florida to Asheville, North Carolina next weekend. Should we take the new car? I have heard that you shouldn't drive a new car long distances or at higher speeds for a while. How many miles should we ideally have before a long trip? Just for reference the trip is about 590 miles and we bought the car on Friday with about 10 miles on it.
Thank you in advance for your help.

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?

How do I efficiently use frequent flier miles when the travel date is flexible?

rabbus — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 07:44:33 -0800

If you can be flexible on when you travel, how do you find future travel dates available for minimum frequent flier mile usage? I have lots of ff miles on NW Airlines. I'd like to take a trip or two. But it seems the only way to book them is to start with the dates and places you want to go, and see if something is available. Usually, all that's available requires double miles. What I'd like to do is provide departure and destination points and get back a calendar showing available dates of travel using x amount of miles. So, for example, I could put in travel from Chicago to Rome and back, and find future dates when this is currently doable for 50,000 miles, etc. Any ideas? Thank you. I should note: In the past, having given up on line, I've called NW...and they seem to be doing the same thing, that is, "Let's try this date.... Let's try that date", instead of saying "You could do this on November 13, December 22,...: etc.

At no cost to you, something that would mean so much to them.

lannanh — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 17:06:15 -0800

Can airline miles be gifted to a charity cause or person? This new years, I had friends from NYC visiting me in SF. New Year's Day my friend suffered from an aneurysm due to a rare genetic condition called Moyamoya. She is currently in a coma at SF General and needless to say this has been extra difficult due to the distance she is from her family.

She has not woken up yet and I am guessing she will not be moving any time soon. We are doing as much as we can on both coast to fundraise for airfair, car rentals, meals etc. for her family but we were thinking it would be extra helpful if there was an easy way that people could donate any travel miles they may have accumulated.

Is this possible, does anyone have any experience with this? Also, any other creative fundraising ideas are appreciated.

Are Capital One miles really available as they say

judybxxx — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 11:12:19 -0800

Does Capital One REALLY have airline miles with no blackout dates? With seats available? I think it's too good to be true, and possibly they just have very few or no seats on those flights. My experience with Northwest is that often you have to use double the miles to get flights in non-blackout times. But it would be nice to get miles on other airlines. anyone have experience on this? I've been getting Capital One offers lately, and as far as I can see, the only way to know how useful their miles are is to get one of their cards. In my experience, it sounds too good to be true, and therefore probably is ( no fee, any airlines, etc.). BTW, i pay off my balance every month, so the interest rate isn't critical.
Judy

Best cashback/miles card in the UK

Mossy — Thu, 16 Mar 2006 02:01:17 -0800

Best value UK cashback/points credit/charge card? Looking at this question started me thinking about what the best value UK card for a similar situation would be. I pay off my balance monthly and will probably spend £50-80,000 on it this year. I currently have an amex platinum credit card (2% cashback over £7,500) and an amex green corporate card (membership awards available for £25 or so on that). I travel a lot (mostly BA), but have never got around to signing up for any frequent flyer or hotel membership programs. Any recommendations on a good UK card?

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?

Is the original Miles Davis version of "Miles Beyond " available on CD?

richtea — Mon, 08 Aug 2005 23:27:01 -0800

Is the original Miles Davis version of "Miles Beyond" by Marhavishu Orchestra available on CD? I recently rediscovered Mahavishnu Orchestra's album Birds of Fire. One of my favorite tracks "Miles Beyond" apparently a Miles Davis cover.

I have searched the net but can't find any reference to the original version being available, and I would really love to here it.