I just received a targeted email offering a 100% bonus on purchased miles until October 31, 2012. Normally miles cost 3.5 cents a piece plus tax, but with this promo they come out to just about 1.9 cents each, which isn't as great as the share miles promo, but not a horrible option for those people who want to buy a small amount of miles so they can leverage the share miles promo- since you need existing miles to take advantage of that bonus.
It is a targeted promotion, but I tried out a few other accounts that I manage and some were eligible even though they didn't get the email, so it can't hurt to try and login and see whether the 100% bonus offer populates. If you are eligible, once you enter your information it'll show red text highlighting the bonus.
100,000 miles through the buy miles promotion costs $1,881.25, or nearly 1.9 cents per mile.
Alternatively, you could purchase 12,000 miles and get a 12,000 mile bonus for $451.50. You could then transfer those 24,000 to another person's Dividend Miles account for $288 and account number 2 would end up with 48,000 miles. You could then transfer those 48,000 back to account #1 for $546 ending up with 96,000 miles for only $1,285.50, or almost 1.3 cents per mile- much cheaper than buying them outright.
If you need to increase your US Airways balance to take advantage of the Share Miles bonanza, you can also transfer Starwood points to US Airways at a 1:1 ratio and you get a 5,000 mile bonus for every 20,000 points transferred. Note: it can take up to a week or more to transfer from SPG to US Airways so plan in advance- if you start now, you'll have more than enough time before the promotion ends October 31, 2012.
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