Does anyone know of a way to merge points from both airlines? I have paltry amounts of points in a number of programmes from the days before I started taking travel hacking more seriously and I would love to know if it possible to merge the points I have from both the above, or somehow even combine them to AVIOS
Welcome to InsideFlyer TTGLOBE4L. I am afraid there isn't any way to combing AA and UA miles. They are not even in the same alliance to make it worse. Have a look at their web sites as you may be able to use your points for things like magazine subscriptions which would enable you to get some value from them.
Unfortunately no cigar with that either (but think I might have confused issues as I mean US Airways which was recently merged into AA) as it only works if you are resident in the US!
There's a guide from April here about how to merge your US and AA accounts: http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2015/04/10/combining-american-and-us-airways-accounts/. I've no idea if the process still works like that, but it should still be possible one way or another I'd've thought. I'd suggest getting in touch with AA if that guide isn't any help. Also, how many Miles is 'paltry'? - with AA (at least until the devaluation in March) you might be surprised at what you can get. Plus, you can top up with SPG points (or from amex MR indirectly) if required. it's also worth mentioning that you can basically 'buy' 15,000 AA Miles for about £150 by mattress running the current Wyndham 3,000 AA Miles per stay promotion (Wyndham hotels can be really cheap, so £30 a night isn't too hard to find, max number of Miles you can earn is 15K for 5 stays). You can get at least 5,000 AA Miles (and I think possibly 7k, but untested), from your first Rocketmiles booking too. It's not too tricky to find rates below £50.00 and if it's a stay you actually need, even better! I'll be writing a post later this week, but if you would like a referral in the meantime in order to get 5,000 rather than 4,000, just message me on here. 30,000 AA Miles is currently enough for one-way in Business to the Middle East/India/Maldives etc from Europe on Etihad or Qatar with no fuel surcharges, and you can 'buy' at least 20,000 for ~£200 as outlined above.
God Joe you are like the god of knowledge and I call myself a travel hacker. This is awesome. Uh yes please I would like the link. I think I might switch allegiance to AA as their deals definitely look better although of course that is all about to change!
Haha, unfortunately not - but I do know a bit about AA Miles (basically, they're great!). First, sign up to rocketmiles using my link: https://www.rocketmiles.com/refer/JOEDEENEY2 Then, if you just want to definitely get 5,000 Miles, use this link https://www.rocketmiles.com/aa-3k-bonus for your first booking. You get at least 1,000 miles for every reservation, 3,000 first booking bonus, and 1,000 for being referred - so 5k. If you're feeling brave and fancy testing something out, once you've signed up, try this link instead for potentially 7,000 Miles in total: https://www.rocketmiles.com/aadvant...irect-mail-Q32015-5k-card-bonus&utm_source=aa (1k for any booking +5k first booking bonus +1K referral) It says you need to use an American 'Aviator' Mastercard (I assume that's a credit card in the United States), but I'm not sure if they could tell the difference (or care), so long as you used some kind of Mastercard. Personally, I'd probably just stick with the 5k. Do compare the ratesto what's available elsewhere because sometimes Rocketmiles is WAY overpriced. Usually it's just a little more expensive, which if you're getting 5,000 Miles back is absolutely fine.
Yeah absolutely - devaluation happens on 22nd March. Some of the best value redemptions are being changed quite dramatically, for example: Europe to Middle East/India is going from 30k in Business and 40k in First, is going to be 42,500 in Business and 62,500 in First. When you consider that there are no fuel surcharges (apart from on BA, and small charges on Iberia), high quality partners (like Etihad, Qatar and Cathay Pacific), that the chart is region based (so no extra miles for connections etc), and that Avios, United, Etihad, Aeroplan etc have all devalued already over the last couple of years, I think AA Miles will still be relatively attractive. Just not as good as they are now.
