Miles on Sale

[NM]

80,000 will get you First to anywhere in Europe. QFF is 192,000 points just to LHR. Buy AA miles during a bonus period, supplement with SPG points and it's a no brainer.

Or would have been good to purchase 40K (+15K bonus) in last calendar year and then buy again now in January, getting 110K miles for US$2000.

 

[MrJetset]

Or would have been good to purchase 40K (+15K bonus) in last calendar year and then buy again now in January, getting 110K miles for US$2000.

I bought during last year's bonus for my partner and I so we scored 65k. Also got 3k AA miles with every Hyatt stay, the shortfall was fixed with SPG points which were also on sale.

 

[JohnK]

Need some help from people who know AAdvantage quite well.

Do not have many miles in AAdvantage and this promotion looks good. Looking for cheap ways to get SE Asia and preferably in economy and can be for a one way redemption not necessarily a return.

 

[Baysider]

Depending on which part of SE Asia, a one-way trip will cost either 25,000 or 30,000 AA miles. See http://www.aa.com/i18n/disclaimers/aadvantageAllPartnerChart.jsp

 

[NM]

Need some help from people who know AAdvantage quite well.

Do not have many miles in AAdvantage and this promotion looks good. Looking for cheap ways to get SE Asia and preferably in economy and can be for a one way redemption not necessarily a return.

AA awards are now all one-way except for their OneWorld award. Availability is the same as you will see for QF award seats and obviously can use with any OneWorld airline. The miles premium for business and first class awards is a lot less than with Qantas.

Mileage costs for partner awards can be found through this page.

 

[JohnK]

So if I have this right I can purchase 55,000 AA miles (40,000 + 15,000 bonus) for ~USD1,030? At an exchange rate of ~USD0.98/AUD and 3% credit card surcharge that is ~AUD1,080 or AUD0.019636/AA mile?

I can then travel one-way SYD-HKG-TPE in economy for 25,000 AA miles (~AUD490) or in business class for 35,000 AA miles (~AUD687)?

Are my calculations correct? Sounds a little too good to be true.

Is 100,000 AA miles the maximum number of miles one can purchase in a year?

 

[NM]

So if I have this right I can purchase 55,000 AA miles (40,000 + 15,000 bonus) for ~USD1,030? At an exchange rate of ~USD0.98/AUD and 3% credit card surcharge that is ~AUD1,080 or AUD0.019636/AA mile?

Sounds about right to me.

I can then travel one-way SYD-HKG-TPE in economy for 25,000 AA miles (~AUD490) or in business class for 35,000 AA miles (~AUD687)?

Yep

Are my calculations correct? Sounds a little too good to be true.

Welcome to the wonderment of AAdvantage.

Is 100,000 AA miles the maximum number of miles one can purchase in a year?

Maximum purchase of 40,000 miles per calendar year.

 

[Baysider]

Note also that they state the bonus miles will not be credited until the end of the promotion, so don't count on using these towards something soon. Also, you may find that SYD-HKG-TPE gets broken down into separate legs, so the HKG-TPE leg may require additional miles.

 

[JohnK]

Welcome to the wonderment of AAdvantage.

Still to be convinced about earning status on AAdvantage on "el-cheapo" airfares and "el-weirdo" status runs.

Maximum purchase of 40,000 miles per calendar year.

I was on a roll there. Had I done my sums earlier I could have purchased some last week and then some more now. Oh well.

Note also that they state the bonus miles will not be credited until the end of the promotion, so don't count on using these towards something soon.

No problem. I can wait until 31/01/2011.

Also, you may find that SYD-HKG-TPE gets broken down into separate legs, so the HKG-TPE leg may require additional miles.

Why? As far as I am aware there is no direct SYD-TPE Oneworld service so HKG is the logical transit point. Not looking for a stopover in HKG.

 

[knasty]

JohnK don't forget there's US tax as well (approx 7% I think), so 40,000 miles costs approx USD1,100 inc the $30 admin fee. Still extremely attractive IMHO.

 

[NM]

Still to be convinced about earning status on AAdvantage on "el-cheapo" airfares and "el-weirdo" status runs.

Status is a whole different kettle of fish for a whole different discussion sometime.

Why? As far as I am aware there is no direct SYD-TPE Oneworld service so HKG is the logical transit point. Not looking for a stopover in HKG.

Correct. The only reason it may require two one-way awards would be if there was no valid connection with award availability. If there is award availability for a valid award connection then its a single one-way award. I have booked AA awards such as KUL-HKG-BKK as a single award (nice value for a F award, even if KUL-HKG only had J service).

 

[NM]

JohnK don't forget there's US tax as well (approx 7% I think), so 40,000 miles costs approx USD1,100 inc the $30 admin fee. Still extremely attractive IMHO.

US Federal Excise Tax is 7.5%, so adds US$75 to the cost of 40,000 miles.

 

[samh004]

Welcome to the wonderment of AAdvantage.

Does a purchase of miles each year count as activity, so the miles wont expire?

Starting to look at AA from a Lifetime POV.

 

[JohnK]

Does a purchase of miles each year count as activity, so the miles wont expire?

I believe it does count. Until the latest Bose promotion I was looking to purchase some miles before May to keep my accont active.

 

[Baysider]

Yes, it counts !!

 

[peachy3333]

JohnK: That's what we are doing all the time. Just cashed in some miles for my partner to go to Japan from Perth in CX J. $1900 all up incl taxes. Pretty nice for her. Econ fare in CX is $1100-ish.

 

[medhead]

AA awards are now all one-way except for their OneWorld award. Availability is the same as you will see for QF award seats and obviously can use with any OneWorld airline. The miles premium for business and first class awards is a lot less than with Qantas.

Mileage costs for partner awards can be found through this page.

I'm having trouble deciphering the award cost. It seems that a one way business flight in the South Pacific is 30000 points. But I'm not sure how one gets a return for 35000 points. The standard award table suggests a return would be 30K each way. Looking at the oneworld award table the cost varies according to distance, and could cover a return trip. But depending on distance the oneworld award is quickly greater than 35000.

35000 AA miles will purchase a return business class award wholly within Oz/NZ.

 

[serfty]

35000 AA miles will purchase a return business class award wholly within Oz/NZ.

I'll rephrase.

35,000 AAdvantage miles can be redeemed for two one-way trips wholly within Australia/NZ (each one-way is 17,500 AAdvantage miles).

e.g.:

• BNE-SYD or
• PER-xSYD-AKL or
• HBA-xMEL-CNS or
• MEL-xBNE-DRW or
• PER-SYD or
• ADL-xMEL-xSYD-xCNS

in business class will each cost 17,500 miles.

 

[medhead]

I'll rephrase.

35,000 AAdvantage miles can be redeemed for two one-way trips wholly within Australia/NZ (each one-way is 17,500 AAdvantage miles).

e.g.:

• BNE-SYD or
• PER-xSYD-AKL or
• HBA-xMEL-CNS or
• MEL-xBNE-DRW or
• PER-SYD or
• ADL-xMEL-xSYD-xCNS

in business class will each cost 17,500 miles.

Ahh, I'm being totally thick, that's from the top section of the table that I didn't even really notice.

Thanks for the patience

 

[NM]

Ahh, I'm being totally thick, that's from the top section of the table that I didn't even really notice.

Thanks for the patience

Indeed the American's think (rightly or wrongly ) that Australia and New Zealand are the same country. So makes for some very good value awards for longer trips (such as PER-AKL), but can be poor value for short trips (such as BNE-SYD).