Miles for not flying? What’ll they think of next?

by Elizabeth Smith on October 15, 2008

So United Airlines is offering the opportunity to earn bonus miles by buying an expensive ticket? US Airways has done one better: it’s offering bonus miles on mileage purchases.

No kidding.

Are you getting close to the miles you need for your next award travel? We can get you there now with our Buy Miles bonus. Earn up to 20% more miles now. Here’s how the Buy Miles bonus works:

* Buy miles by December 31, 2008

* Earn a 10% bonus when you purchase between 1,000 – 19,000 miles

* Earn a 15% bonus when you purchase between 20,000 – 29,000 miles

* Earn a 20% bonus when you purchase between 30,000 – 50,000 miles

The Buy Miles bonus makes award travel so easy that all you have left to do is decide where you want to go.

Incidentally, the cost per mile for buying miles without the bonus is as follows, plus tax:

  • 2.5 cents per mile
  • $30 processing fee
  • 50,000 miles maximum per transaction

    • What makes this promotion even more interesting is that over the course of 2008, US Airways has greatly diminished the way leisure and frequent travelers can earn miles by flying and increased mileage earning opportunities from other sources.

    This spring, the company got rid of the 500-mile minimum earned for flight segments under 500 miles. During the summer, it offered a Grand Slam Promotion in which one could earn miles and bonuses by credit cards, shopping, hotel stays and car rentals — in other words, anything but flying.

    Then, in August, it discontinued the mileage bonuses that frequent fliers earn on flights.

    Call me crazy, but I thought US Airways was in the air transportation business, not the mileage bargaining and selling business. Taking away flight mileage earnings and bonuses, passing the mileage earning expenses to partner companies, and the outright selling of miles are not good signs.

    In fact, these changes in mileage earning opportunities and the sources of such earnings are indicators of troubled times in the airline business. Simply put, airlines like US Airways are having trouble selling seats on their planes.

    So this latest promotion begs the question, “Why go through the hassles of air travel when you can easily buy miles online in the comfort of your home?”

    But just remember, to get any real value from your miles, you will need to redeem them by — guess what — flying.

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    Tagged as: loyalty program, miles, US Airways

    • Pingback: Miles for not flying? What’ll they think of next? « C’est Beth!

    • Matthew B

      Don’t pony up with your hard earned cash unless you are going to immediately use the points to purchase a ticket on one of US Air’s more financially sound Start Alliance Partners (say Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, or government owned Air New Zealand). Not much fun having a bunch of points that crash with the airline. I lost 60,000 points when Ansett Airlines of Australia went belly up, and I have friends who lost hundreds of thousands of points. We got nothing in the liquidation of Ansett, so don’t imagine you’ll get anything if any of the US airlines go into liquidation.

    • Henry

      I believe Delta has also offered bonus miles on top of mileage purchases (or transfers).

    • http://cestbeth.wordpress.com Elizabeth Smith

      Other airlines have offered various bonus mile incentives, but not all of them have pulled away air travel mileage earning opportunities at the same pace as US Airways has. My point was that airlines, US Airways in particular, are passing mileage expenses to their partners and selling miles as quickly as they are pulling them away from legitimate air travel. That is because it costs them more to award miles based on air travel. These mileage earning and selling promos are another way to boost their bottom line, much akin to selling drinks and adding fees for luggage, award trips, etc.

    • anonymous

      early warning for US liquidation? wonder if UA is far behind?

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