In June (and many months previous) US Airways offered a 100% bonus on purchased miles.
This month, through July 31, US Airways is offering a 50% bonus on transferring miles from one account to another. The maximum bonus under the offer is 25,000 miles.
They’ve offered a 100% bonus on shared miles in the past, so I won’t be jumping on this 50% bonus without a specific award to top off for. But I do appreciate the bonuses, the best bonus offer is the one that’s running at the time you need one for an award. So certainly one for the arsenal if you’re putting something together during July. You just need to know someone with a few miles you can have, or have family members whose accounts you can raid.
This is a terrible offer. Ignore it.
Costs 570$ for 25k “new” miles = 2.24 cpm.
Very cool. Question: My friend and his wife each bought 100K miles recently but now realize that their dreams of going LAX-Joburg/CPT in business will require at least 120K.
Is this a solution: my friend transfers 14,000 miles to his wife and gets 7,000 bonus so she now has 121K.
I then transfer 23,000 miles plus 11,000 bonus to my friend’s account and he has 120,000 miles as well.
Total cost $350. Is that worth it for such a high fee?
Basically I’d say buying miles at a couple cents apiece makes sense to top off towards business class to Africa when you’re 80% of the way there. Especially if you can find the award space, put the seats on hold, and THEN do the transfer. Remember, US Airways will do a 3-day hold without the miles in your account and the points post instantly. That’s why I say the best offer is the one that’s available when you’re ready to book something, I wouldn’t do this offer speculatively but I would do it to top off towards a specific award that I am about to book.
Less expensive to buy refundable ticket, add 2x or 3x mileage multiplier which posts instantly and then refund the ticket.
Erik–you just described my AS trick heheh
Can someone please explain Erik’s post. How do miles post without flying on a ticket?
I’m interested in that trick as well. What is the cost for the mileage multiplier per mile?
AS and US (and perhaps others) give you the option near the final purchase page to add on additional miles for a certain amount of money. AS gives a several amounts to select from at a rate equal to 2.0 to 1.9 cpm depending on which you select. US will let total up all the miles you will earn including any elite and class of service bonuses and then offer a chance to double or triple that for a set fee equal to 2.1 to 1.9 cpm. It varies a lot.
These extra miles (AS or US) do not count towards status. The fee for these extra miles is nonrefundable regardless of whether your ticket is refundable. These miles post immediately, separately from the BIS miles.
If you don’t fly the purchased ticket, cancel it, refund it, whatever – you keep the add-on miles purchased. So you buy a AS refundable ticket, buy the nonrefundable add-on (AS offered 10K miles for $190), cancel and refund the ticket but retain the 10K AS miles. Lather, rinse, repeat. 🙂 Good for topping off at a rate much better than the standard 2.75cpm rate.
Erik, Gary or others, if you “buy” miles through a flight you never intend to take through the USair 2*/ 3* option, how long does it usually take for your credit card to be refunded following cancellation of the ticket?
US can take up to two weeks (they say). I’ve never had a refund faster than 5 business days. I’ve had a refund take nearly a month. I’ve had a refund issued, then some bean counter / security nut thought it was a fraudulent refund and charged me again. That took a lot of emails and phone calls to clear up. (Wanted it cleared up properly, not just disputed with credit card because I still wanted to be able to buy US tickets.)