The Extra Mile

Save Miles on Summer Travel with Award Sales

Q&A: What to Do with US Airways Miles?

May 26, 2002 - As summer approaches, the thoughts of frequent flyers turn from earning miles for business trips to redeeming miles for vacation travel. And to squeeze the most value from their hard-earned miles, savvy frequent travelers will be taking advantage of summer award sales.

For instance, award flights on Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong are discounted from 60,000 to 40,000 AAdvantage miles. And awards to other Asia-Pacific destinations are available at comparable savings. Book by June 30, 2002, for travel by May 31, or between September 1 and December 15, 2002.

Or save 5,000 AAdvantage miles on a travel award on American Airlines to the Caribbean, through June 15, 2002. With the discount, a coach award is 25,000 miles and a first/business-class award is 55,000 miles. Call 1-800-882-8880 for reservations.

And don't overlook hotel program award sales. Hilton HHonors members can book free hotel stays for up to 40% fewer points by using Point Stretcher awards. Example: during June, two free weekend nights at the Beverly Hilton are available for 39,000 HHonors points, rather than the normally required 65,000 points. Similarly, Marriott Rewards' PointSaver awards permit members to stay free for up to 33% fewer points at participating hotels.

Be on the lookout for more award sales in the coming weeks, as the airlines and hotels get a better feeling for summer demand.

Readers: Miles on their Minds

Question from Bill

I have accumulated many miles on US Airways over the years. Now I'm worried that the airline could go bankrupt, leaving me with nothing. Any suggestions?

Answer

The first option is to get your miles out of the Dividend Miles program. Since US Airways does not participate in any conversion programs (e.g. Points.com or Hilton HHonors' Reward Exchange), you will have to cash in your miles for awards.

Not ready to take an award trip? Consider mileage insurance. AwardGuard (http://www.privilegeflyer.com/) provides coverage for miles in most major U.S./Canadian programs, up to a maximum dollar value of $7,500 in tickets. So if your airline disappears, taking your miles with them, AwardGuard will buy up to $7,500 worth of tickets for you, to replace award tickets you would have been able to redeem for miles in your account.

Cost: $119 for one year of coverage, $214 for two years.

Or you could sit tight and hope for the best. When TWA went bankrupt, Aviators members' miles were auto-transferred into American's program, to complement American's acquisition of TWA's routes and aircraft. But such a happy ending is much less likely today, with airlines still reeling from the effects of 9/11.