Normally I don’t advocate buying frequent flier miles, as they’re overpriced and not always redeemable. But sometimes, a deal is just too good to pass up. And now there’s a sale.
Gary Leff does the math. US Airways is offering a short-term 50% discount on purchased frequent flier miles, which means you pay 1.25 cents per mile plus a $30 processing fee. If you pay for 50,000 miles, you get 100,000 miles credited to your account. (Alas, you can’t get more than a 50k bonus.)
That means a business-class ticket to Europe from North America — including a stopover, or an open-jaw — costs only $1030. (It costs 80,000 miles for the ticket, but you buy 40,000 miles, plus bonus, for that price.) That’s a great deal, especially if you have a better airline in the mix (Singapore Airlines, for example…) I wouldn’t get too excited if my only options were for redemptions on US Airways themselves.
Before you do anything like that, check to see the availability of award tickets on US Airways’ Star Alliance partners. Japan’s ANA, a Star Alliance member, shows award inventory on their website across all their partners. That’s a very, very useful feature.
If you’re not a member of their program, Mileage Club, join; it’s free, and you’ll be able to search award availability, even if you don’t have any miles banked with ANA.
Gather your data, then buy your miles, then call US Airways to book. The bonus ends August 15, 2009.
Hats off to Gary for the find.
RSS (FeedBurner)
Read with Amazon Kindle
Subscribe by E-mail
Follow on Twitter
July 23rd, 2009 at 10:08 pm
Twitter Comment
RT @upgradetravel: New post: How to fly business class to Europe on Star Alliance for only $1030 [link to post]
– Posted using Chat Catcher
July 24th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
You may want to state that it costs only 80,000 miles to go from NA to Europe on an award. That is how you get to math of $1030. Someone may think you need 100,000 based on how it was worded….and think the math was a little off.
July 24th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
Thanks PWMDude19! Clarified.
For those who are interested, see the complete US Airways partner award redemption chart.
July 25th, 2009 at 6:36 am
Cannot figure out how to access award availability on ANA’s site, though I am a member. Can you please walk me through it?
July 25th, 2009 at 10:05 pm
Zippypam,
1) Go to the ANA Mileage Club page and log in with your account number and PIN.
2) Click on the “Using Miles” tab at the top of the screen.
3) Scroll down and choose “Request Partner Flight Awards.”
4) Click on the second option, “Use Star Alliance Member Airlines.”
5) On the next screen, run the search. You may need to click the “All airport” link to choose your airport, since the number of airports in the basic pulldown menu is rather short. Note also that there is a warning, “Reservations for Air China[CA], Shanghai Airlines[FM] and Swiss International Air Lines[LX] cannot be made through the internet.” I’m not sure if those airlines are appearing in searches or not.
Note the airline combinations that show availability (Available flights are noted with a circle, not an X.)
I hope this helps.
July 27th, 2009 at 11:33 am
Sorry – but did you count the tax as well, for that ticket cost?
July 28th, 2009 at 7:01 am
Touche’. Taxes were not included in the calculation.