Any no cost/very low cost way of keeping AA points?

[Pollywaffle]

Hi all.

I have 89K AA points that expire next month and I need a no cost (preferable) or very low cost way of keeping these points. Home life has gotten in the way of air travel so using points to travel is not an option.

I have looked at threads on AFF and FlyerTalk but all the methods I have read about are no longer valid or not valid for non-US residents.FYI, I am in Australia.

I am prepared to donate some miles to keep the majority of the miles in my account but I wanted to ask if anyone has seen anything recently that will help me keep all my points.

Can anyone offer any suggestions?

Thanks, pw.

 

[trixydoza]

Hi all.

I have 89K AA points that expire next month and I need a no cost (preferable) or very low cost way of keeping these points. Home life has gotten in the way of air travel so using points to travel is not an option.

I have looked at threads on AFF and FlyerTalk but all the methods I have read about are no longer valid or not valid for non-US residents.FYI, I am in Australia.

I am prepared to donate some miles to keep the majority of the miles in my account but I wanted to ask if anyone has seen anything recently that will help me keep all my points.

Can anyone offer any suggestions?

Thanks, pw.

Perhaps not as low-cost as you'd like, but doesn't buying miles reset the clock?

https://www.americanairlines.com.au/i18n/utility/mileageExpirationFAQs.jsp

Q:		How can I prevent miles in my account from expiring?
A:		It's easy to keep your account active and retain your miles indefinitely. Any mileage earning or redemption activity maintains your miles for another 18 months. Purchase and fly on eligible fare tickets on American Airlines, American Eagle®, or over 20 participating airlines. Make a purchase with your Citi® / AAdvantage® card. Earn miles with any company participating in the AAdvantage program, including through our buyAAmiles® and shareAAmiles® programs.

 

[kpc]

I bought a magazine subscription for 400 AA miles...and sent them to a local library

 

[dalereardon]

You can hire a car with Europcar or one of their other partners - the points always credit within the week for us
Buying 1000 miles is the quickest guaranteed way.

Ah have just remembered - there is a survey deal that was offering 500 miles with Aadvantage for completing your first online survey - I joined up and did the survey and got my 500 miles within a week or so. I just can't recall the name of the company at the moment.

Or you can use a hotel booking site such as Kaligo or PointsHound or Rocketmiles and see what their cheapest nearby hotel is for a treat and the miles credit within a fortnight or so.

Dale.

 

[dalereardon]

And heres a way to get a tax deduction and earn 250 miles:

American Red Cross

 

[moa999]

Or Hilton with Double Dip.. AA is my partner for this reason (until the QF promo came along)

 

[NM]

Launder some Amex or Diners Club rewards points via SPG (Diners can go direct, but better exchange rate if using SPG for multiples of 20K SPG points).

 

[NM]

And heres a way to get a tax deduction and earn 250 miles:

American Red Cross

Not sure how a donation to American Red Cross can result in a tax deduction for an Australian tax payer. The American Red Cross is not a registered charity with the ACNC (Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission), so the ATO won't allow it as a tax deduction under Donations category.

 

[Jobeki111]

Won't any purchase on the AAdvantage mall reset the 18mths but I guess it depends how long they take to process points.

E-rewards surveys may work??? If you select Aadvantage as the redemption and do a few surveys but again not sure how long the points would take to process. I have no personal experience with either method and the time frames, although I have done E reward surveys for velocity points and I don't know you would be given enough opportunities for even the first tier redemption in that time and for the points to post!

So, overall your safest way is probably to buy 1000 miles which get posted immediately and you'll also have the 90000 miles needed for a return business class on Etihad between Australia and Middle East

 

[kempvet]

AA tends to have free miles at least once a year for answering simple questions, such as the current AAdvantage University, whenever they have these, I tend to answer them using the family accounts and my second AA account to keep them active, costs nothing.

 

[Lorry]

e-Rewards works for me. It normally takes a few days for them to land in your account.

 

[get me outta here]

Just looking at extending some miles and found this. A $100 donation will get me 108 miles. At least that's what I think they are saying. Have I understood this correctly, that a donation will actually extend my miles: https://secure.nfcr.org/page/contribute/american-airlines2


Fly to Find a Cure

Spring is here, which means a well-deserved summer vacation is right around the corner. Let the National Foundation for Cancer Research (NFCR) help get you there!
From now until June 30, 2015, NFCR is offering a limited time AAdavantage® miles bonus promotion. With this special promotion, every gift of $100 or will be awarded with a generous mileage bonus. Please refer to the chart below for more details.

Gift to NFCR	Bonus Miles	Miles Earned	Gift to NFCR	Bonus Miles	Miles Earned
$25-$49	--	250-490	$5,000-$9,999	25%	62,500-124,988
$50-$99	--	500-990	$10,000-$14,999	30%	130,000-194,987
$100-$249	8%	1,080-2,690	$15,000-$19,999	35%	202,500-269,987
$250-$499	10%	2,750-5,489	$20,000-$24,999	40%	280,000-349,986
$500-$999	15%	5,750-11,489	$25,000-$29,999	45%	362,500-434,986
$1,000-$4,999	20%	12,000-59,988	$30,000-$66,667	50%	450,000-1,000,000*

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Just looking at extending some miles and found this. A $100 donation will get me 108 miles. At least that's what I think they are saying. Have I understood this correctly, that a donation will actually extend my miles: https://secure.nfcr.org/page/contribute/american-airlines2

But $29 (or whatever) plus tax will get you 1000 miles if you just buy some, and at least that's instant. The charity route says it could be 2-3 weeks.

 

[get me outta here]

Yes, you are correct a better deal of close to AUD100 for 1000 miles. I guess there's no way around that precessing fee(?):

Cost of miles $29.50
USD Federal excise tax $2.21
USD Processing charge$30.00
USD Total charges$61.71 USD

But $29 (or whatever) plus tax will get you 1000 miles if you just buy some, and at least that's instant. The charity route says it could be 2-3 weeks.

 

[burmans]

e-Rewards works for me. It normally takes a few days for them to land in your account.

+1 for erewards, can be a hassle but better than playing $100

 

[Isochronous]

How hard is it to earn miles through e rewards?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Yes, you are correct a better deal of close to AUD100 for 1000 miles. I guess there's no way around that precessing fee(?):

Cost of miles $29.50
USD Federal excise tax $2.21
USD Processing charge$30.00
USD Total charges$61.71 USD

d'oh! Forgot about the $30 processing charge. Makes it somewhat less appealing.

How hard is it to earn miles through e rewards?

I've been a member of e-rewards for like... forever... I logged in to my account today and had 5000 points. I fill out about one survey a month, maybe less. It's taken me a few years to earn those. You get send surveys almost every day - they range from 25 points to 500+ points. I only fill out the ones that are in interesting.

 

[get me outta here]

I am a member and used to get points credited to VA when I could be bothered. I just tried to join erewards with a different email address so that I could 'choose' AA, but it says that it is by invitation only. So, that may be a dead end too now.

d'oh! Forgot about the $30 processing charge. Makes it somewhat less appealing.



I've been a member of e-rewards for like... forever... I logged in to my account today and had 5000 points. I fill out about one survey a month, maybe less. It's taken me a few years to earn those. You get send surveys almost every day - they range from 25 points to 500+ points. I only fill out the ones that are in interesting.

 

[Gold Member]

A very cheap way is to donate 1000 miles to a charity. Its immediate and removes the risk of external activity hitting your account too late.

 

[get me outta here]

Once I bought an on line Wall St Journal (which I never looked), but I find it hard to locate those cheap options within the AA site. I have not left it till the last minute this time, so I have time to scout around.