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The Extra Mile
Rack up frequent flyer miles for holiday shopping
December 27, 2004 - Ever since it first occurred to a savvy retailer that frequent flyer miles could be used to grab buyers' attention and spur increased sales, the airlines' mileage programs have been morphing gradually from frequent-flyer programs into frequent-buyer programs.
This past year will be remembered as a milestone in that evolution: just in time for the 2004 holiday shopping rush, all major programs now feature online mileage malls.
An online mileage mall is a network of online merchants, all of which offer miles-for-shopping in the loyalty program of a particular airline. Generally, program members earn between one and 10 miles for every $1 spent at participating retailers.
Since the price is the same whether a buyer elects to earn miles or not, the mileage bonus truly represents added value. Or to put it differently, since there's no extra cost to earn miles, the same item purchased from the same merchant without earning miles is effectively overpriced.
Like their bricks-and-mortar counterparts, online malls aim to lure shoppers with the promise of one-stop shopping. That means cobbling together a wide-ranging roster of retailers offering products of every type and price range.
For example, American Airlines' online emporium, the AAdvantage eShopping mall, features more than 90 online merchants, from Adidas.com to Wine.com, covering most popular product categories and price points. Other airline malls boast similarly robust merchant line-ups.
Now that the mileage malls are in place, and competing against each other as well as with more traditional malls, they are offering extra miles to woo holiday shoppers.
Through Dec. 31, American AAdvantage members will earn double miles for purchases at the AAdvantage eShopping mall charged to a MasterCard. And MasterCard purchases with 25 featured merchants award even more bonus miles: 2,500 miles for $250 spent, 5,000 miles for $500 spent, or 10,000 miles for $1,000 spent.
Also through the end of the year, Delta is offering 150 bonus miles for purchases of $100 or more or 500 bonus miles for purchases of $250 or more, plus an additional 500 bonus miles for spending $150 or more at two SkyMilesShopping merchants. And United is offering 1,000 and 2,500 bonus miles for purchases at selected Mileage Plus Mall merchants of $50 and $100 respectively.
To earn miles at the airline malls, program members must begin shopping at the malls' homepage before proceeding to the individual merchant sites. Internet addresses for the major carriers' mileage malls are as follows:
While there's still time to have gifts rush-delivered before Christmas, the bonuses on offer make this a rewarding time to purchase non-gift items as well.
Another way to give
For frequent flyers whose holiday spirit tends toward charitable giving, the gift of miles may be just the ticket. All major programs permit members to donate miles to selected charities, such as American Cancer Society, City of Hope, Make a Wish, Starlight Foundation, Unicef, and United Way. And some airlines match their members' contributions.
It is also possible to donate miles directly to a charity, or to an individual in need. But because airlines generally prohibit direct mileage transfers, donations must be in the form of award tickets, issued in the name of the person traveling. So the charitably inclined must be willing (and able) to donate at least 25,000 miles -- the minimum requirement for an award in most programs.
A comprehensive resource for anyone contemplating a mileage donation is the MileDonor website (http://www.miledonor.com). In addition to information and links to the airlines' charity programs, the site lists smaller charities and individuals in need of travel assistance.
Where miles are concerned, generosity will have to be its own reward. The IRS has ruled that mileage donations are not tax-deductible.
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