Saturday Recap: American Transfer Miles Bonus, Milepoint Premium Membership, Scandinavian Airlines Discount, Avianca Miles Bonus

Here’s a recap of interesting points and miles news and promos from the week.

Up to 25% Bonus when Sharing American Aadvantage Miles
American Airlines is offering up to 25% Bonus when you share miles either for yourself or as a gift to the person you are sharing them with now through September 30th. You can receive:

-15% bonus when sharing 1,000-10,000 miles
-20% bonus when sharing 11,000-20,000 miles
-25% bonus when you share 21,000-25,000 miles.

It can take up to 3 business days for transferred miles to post to the designated AAdvantage account and 5 business days for bonus miles to post to the AAdvantage account of the member who transfers the miles. Members may transfer up to 100,000 miles and receive up to 100,000 miles per account, per calendar year. The member who transfers the miles (sharer) determines which member (sharer or recipient) will receive the bonus miles.

Remember, it costs:
-$50 to transfer 1,000-5,000 miles
-$100 to transfer 5,000-10,000 miles
-$150 to transfer 11,000-15,000 miles
-$200 to transfer 16,000-20,000 miles
-$250 to transfer 21,000-25,000 miles
-There's also a $30 per transaction processing charge.

As usual, transferring miles isn't a great option for boosting your miles count, especially considering that you'd have to pay $80 just to transfer between 1,000-5,000 miles. My two pieces of advice would be:

1. If you're going to take advantage of these transfer bonuses, try to hit the higher end of the miles-to-price threshold (ie transfer 15,000 miles instead of 11,000 miles) since it costs you the same

2. Only do this to top up for a specific award you have in mind and are sure you want to book because transferring miles speculatively, even with this bonus, is a low-value proposition.

$20 Amex Statement Credit with $200 at Best Buy
American Express and Best Buy have teamed up with another promo when you sync your American Express card using Twitter. Once you sync your card, Tweet #AmexBestBuy20 from you account to qualify for this offer. After you Tweet, the offer will be loaded automatically on to your synced card. Then, you must make a purchase online or in a store by September 16th and the statement credit should appear automatically 3-5 business days after your purchase. Since Best Buy sells many different gift cards such as Amazon or iTunes, this could be a good way to save some money or you could even start stocking up for holiday gifts.

Delta Medallions receive new benefits on Virgin Australia
Virgin Australia just announced some new benefits Delta Medallion members which will begin on September 12th. Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond Medallions now receive Priority Check-in and Priority boarding. Sky Priority members qualify for priority security lines and priority baggage handling as well. To take advantage of these benefits, Medallion members will need to present their membership card when checking in for a Virgin Australia flight. Skymiles members can continue to earn and redeem miles when flying with Virgin Australia.

Save up to $300 on Scandinavian Airlines with American Express
Scandinavian Airlines and American Express have teamed up to offer statement credits when you book with your Amex card. Here's how: Book a European trip on Scandinavian Airlines and get a $100 statement credit—up to $300—every time you spend $1,000. First, register any eligible American Express Card in your name between 9/1/12 and 11/30/12. Then, use that same card to book a European trip on Scandinavian Airlines by 11/30/12. Get a $100 statement credit—up to $300—every time you spend $1,000. Statement credits are generally issued within 5 business days after your qualifying purchase, but may take up to 2 billing cycles to post to your account. Right now you can snag an economy ticket on SAS from Chicago to Copenhagen for between $890-$1,500, for example. Obviously the trick is to get as close to $1,000 as possible so you maximize your savings with this rebate, but hey, get a few friends together till you hit the magic number, charge the tickets to your card (well, up to 3 of them to max out the per-person statement credit limit) and make a Norse weekend out of it.

100% bonus on purchased miles with Avianca LifeMiles: Now through September 28, 2012, Avianca’s LifeMiles is offering a 100% bonus on purchased miles. However, in order to be eligible, you must have signed up for a LifeMiles account prior to September 3, 2012. With this promotion, you can buy up to 75,000 miles and it brings the price down to 1.5 cents per mile. Purchasing 75,000 miles, you would receive 150,000 miles for $2,250. Avianca is a member of Star Alliance and you can view their award chart here, but for instance, roundtrip business class from North America to either Europe or Southern South America (Argentina, Chile, Brazil, etc.) is 100,000 miles (135,000 in first class). If you aren't eligible for this, you might still want to consider signing up for an an Avianca frequent flyer account, so you can take advantage of future buy miles promotions with them. As with all purchased-miles bonuses, having a specific redemption in mind is a good idea before committing to a purchase, especially a big one. However, purchasing Star Alliance miles at 1.5 cents each is a pretty good value if you know you're going to have some award travel coming up. Hat Tip: One Mile at a Time.

American Airlines Transatlantic First Class Upgrade for U.K. Residents
American Airlines has announced an upgrade promotion from paid business class to First Class on their transatlantic routes, however it is only available to those who reside in the United Kingdom. Customers will receive a complimentary one-way upgrade to American's First Class Flagship Suite, when they book an eligible transatlantic Business Class round trip ticket directly with American Airlines or through their travel agent .This upgrade is available on semi-flexible Business Class fares (R/D) booked between September 13– October 2, 2012 as well as fully flexible Business Class (J) fares booked between September 13 – November 13, 2012. Outbound travel must commence by November 13, 2012 and return travel must be completed by 20 November 2012. The upgrade can be used on your outbound or return journey and you'll also earn AAdvantage bonus miles for the cabin flown. The upgrade offer is available on eligible American Airlines and British Airways transatlantic routes with a First Class cabin.

Milepoint Premium Membership is Back
Milepoint is offering its premium membership option again, and for $59 you get a lot of bang for your buck this time around. When you purchase you'll receive 2,000 United MileagePlus miles, Hyatt Gold Passport Platinum status through Feb. 2014 or 2,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points, one year of ad-free navigating on Milepoint.com, a free one-year subscription to InsideFlyer.com, one free Gogo Inflight Internet 24-hour pass, a free 3-month trial of Clear Free upgrade to AwardWallet Plus account and a free AwardWallet OneCard, a free upgrade to UsingMiles Premier Membership, a free upgrade to National Car Rental Emerald Club Executive Status, a 20% discount on ExpertFlyer.com and BookYourAward.com, a 10% discount on KVS Tool and a couple of other book/seminar discounts. Each offer is valid for one year from date of purchase, unless otherwise specified. Please allow 8-12 weeks for miles, points and/or status to appear in your accounts. There are a lot of interesting perks and I personally feel I would reap my $59 membership if not more back in these benefits.

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