Can we combine US Airways miles?

[CruisinManiac]

I saw this on US Airways web site and not sure how it works. Both DH and I have close to 30,000 miles each. Neither has enough to do much with. If we can take advantage of this deal and DH gives me his miles, we could use the points to book one ticket flight or perhaps upgrade somewhere along the line. Is anyone familiar with this and how do I go about it?

http://shopping.usairways.com/en-US/dividendmiles/programdetails/purchasemiles/default.html

[waterbug123]

I saw this on US Airways web site and not sure how it works. Both DH and I have close to 30,000 miles each. Neither has enough to do much with. If we can take advantage of this deal and DH gives me his miles, we could use the points to book one ticket flight or perhaps upgrade somewhere along the line. Is anyone familiar with this and how do I go about it?

http://shopping.usairways.com/en-US/dividendmiles/programdetails/purchasemiles/default.html

 

Have you called US Air to ask them?

[Zach1213]

I saw this on US Airways web site and not sure how it works. Both DH and I have close to 30,000 miles each. Neither has enough to do much with. If we can take advantage of this deal and DH gives me his miles, we could use the points to book one ticket flight or perhaps upgrade somewhere along the line. Is anyone familiar with this and how do I go about it?

http://shopping.usairways.com/en-US/dividendmiles/programdetails/purchasemiles/default.html

 

While I am not familiar with US Airways personally, the website seems to lay it out pretty simply - yes, you share miles with family and friends. There is normally a processing fee of $30, but it's temporarily waived and they're throwing in bonus miles. At least, that's what I gather from reading the link you posted. Click on the "Share Miles" link and enter the details of both parties.

[CruisinManiac]

While I am not familiar with US Airways personally, the website seems to lay it out pretty simply - yes, you share miles with family and friends. There is normally a processing fee of $30, but it's temporarily waived and they're throwing in bonus miles. At least, that's what I gather from reading the link you posted. Click on the "Share Miles" link and enter the details of both parties.

 

Thank you! ;) The site was hard to understand. It was unclear - to me - if we would be able to share ALL of our miles to a family member of if that was only if we wanted to gift them to a charity.

[Gardyloo]

Thank you! ;) The site was hard to understand. It was unclear - to me - if we would be able to share ALL of our miles to a family member of if that was only if we wanted to gift them to a charity.

That's a good offer but be sure to do it by the end of June.

 

Generally gifting miles to a charity is against the rules, unless it's one of a very few charities specifically sponsored by the airline (usually big mega-charities that have plenty of fundraising capacity on their own.)

 

The "fine print" in airline frequent flyer programs always says that the miles still belong to the airline, so you giving the miles away (as opposed to flights you "pay" for with the miles) is not allowed - they're not yours to give.

 

As you probably saw, if you "share" (i.e. transfer) 30,000 miles to, say, your spouse, then during June US Airways will "bonus" 15,000 miles to that account, so if the account currently has 30,000 miles in it, it will end up with 75,000 miles (30 + 30 + 15). So you'll be "buying" 15,000 miles for the $300 transfer fee, i.e. 2c per mile, which is way less than the 3.5c/mile you'd pay just to purchase those 15,000 "bonus" miles. For US Airways, that a very good deal, too.

 

One important thing to note is that US' mileage plan (Dividend Miles) will be merged with American Airlines' AAdvantage program when the two airlines complete their merger, probably sometime next year. So your US miles will be come AA miles at that point, and, while nobody knows the details of how AA's program will change post-merger, right now at least it's certainly one of the better FF plans - some would say (including me) - the best. AA offers one-way mileage redemption which US doesn't, and its redemption "prices" (miles for trips) are competitive or sometimes better than US'. So you're really not losing anything by sharing or buying US miles at this stage - they'll be just as useful, maybe better, after the merger.

[bulldog on water]

Instead of paying a transfer fee, use the points to buy a one ticket for each of you. (30000 points is more than enough for a one way ticket, possible even a first class ticket). Then go and book a one way for both of you the other way.

[Zach1213]

That's a good offer but be sure to do it by the end of June.

 

Generally gifting miles to a charity is against the rules, unless it's one of a very few charities specifically sponsored by the airline (usually big mega-charities that have plenty of fundraising capacity on their own.)

 

The "fine print" in airline frequent flyer programs always says that the miles still belong to the airline, so you giving the miles away (as opposed to flights you "pay" for with the miles) is not allowed - they're not yours to give.

 

As you probably saw, if you "share" (i.e. transfer) 30,000 miles to, say, your spouse, then during June US Airways will "bonus" 15,000 miles to that account, so if the account currently has 30,000 miles in it, it will end up with 75,000 miles (30 + 30 + 15). So you'll be "buying" 15,000 miles for the $300 transfer fee, i.e. 2c per mile, which is way less than the 3.5c/mile you'd pay just to purchase those 15,000 "bonus" miles. For US Airways, that a very good deal, too.

 

One important thing to note is that US' mileage plan (Dividend Miles) will be merged with American Airlines' AAdvantage program when the two airlines complete their merger, probably sometime next year. So your US miles will be come AA miles at that point, and, while nobody knows the details of how AA's program will change post-merger, right now at least it's certainly one of the better FF plans - some would say (including me) - the best. AA offers one-way mileage redemption which US doesn't, and its redemption "prices" (miles for trips) are competitive or sometimes better than US'. So you're really not losing anything by sharing or buying US miles at this stage - they'll be just as useful, maybe better, after the merger.

 

It's $30, not $300, and according to the link, they will waive that fee at this time in addition to the bonus miles. Definitely a good deal in my book.

[Zach1213]

Instead of paying a transfer fee, use the points to buy a one ticket for each of you. (30000 points is more than enough for a one way ticket, possible even a first class ticket). Then go and book a one way for both of you the other way.

US Airways does not offer one-way tickets using miles. Well...they do, but it's not worth it. According to their terms and conditions, you can call and make a one-way reservation, but it will be done "at a roundtrip value", meaning a big waste of miles. And right now, there wouldn't be a transfer fee if done soon, as per that link.

[Twickenham]

It's $30, not $300, and according to the link, they will waive that fee at this time in addition to the bonus miles. Definitely a good deal in my book.

 

They're waving the $30 processing fee, but not the actual cost of the mile transferral, which for 30,000 totals $300.

[Zach1213]

They're waving the $30 processing fee, but not the actual cost of the mile transferral, which for 30,000 totals $300.

 

 

Ah, okie dokie. I've never done a mileage transfer so thanks for clarifying. My apologies for the misinformation I was throwing out.

[Twickenham]

Ah, okie dokie. I've never done a mileage transfer so thanks for clarifying. My apologies for the misinformation I was throwing out.

 

No problem - I wasn't sure myself, until I went thru the process and saw the charge.

[CruisinManiac]

They're waving the $30 processing fee, but not the actual cost of the mile transferral, which for 30,000 totals $300.

 

UGH!!! I didn't know that either. I am not spending $300 to transfer. We will just wait until we have more miles to use them. Thanks