Aadvantage points question

[Lvsdisney]

Not sure if I should post here or Transportation board (or both) but I have an odd question.

I have almost enough AA miles to purchase 2 round trip (or 4 one way) tickets. DH, DD, and DS have enough miles to cover the difference. If I transfer their miles to my account, it would cost roughly $150.

Here's the question: How would this transaction post on my Disney Visa Card? I know I can apply my points towards airfare purchases, but would this count? I'm not sure if it codes differently.

TIA!

 

[supersnoop]

Does your son have enough points that he could book one of the one-way tickets? Either that, or look at the cost to buy the necessary points instead of transferring them. Transferring is a pretty terrible value.

Does the Disney Visa specifically limit points to "airfare," or to "travel" expenses? Some credit card companies will receive the full itinerary when you book a flight. If that information doesn't get passed through, then it likely won't be recognized as "airfare," but it should be in the "travel" category.

 

[Lvsdisney]

DH, DD, DS do not have enough miles for a single ticket, that's why I thought about transferring. My other option is to cash my miles in for GCs which is also poor value. But I could cash in for Disney gcs or even target gcs and buy sw gc with those. I was hoping I could use miles to buy park tickets, but they don't sell Disney tickets. Hmmmm.... I only fly about 1x/year so it would many trips before DH and the kids have enough miles for a ticket.
Thanks for your input!

 

[Marionnette]

DH, DD, DS do not have enough miles for a single ticket, that's why I thought about transferring. My other option is to cash my miles in for GCs which is also poor value. But I could cash in for Disney gcs or even target gcs and buy sw gc with those. I was hoping I could use miles to buy park tickets, but they don't sell Disney tickets. Hmmmm.... I only fly about 1x/year so it would many trips before DH and the kids have enough miles for a ticket.
Thanks for your input!

Could you possibly do a sufficient number of purchases through their shopping portal to make up the difference for what you need? We had to cash out our Diner's Club points a couple of years ago and ended up converting a large number of points into AAdvantage emiles. We didn't use all of them for our trip to Europe last year, so I tend to make a small purchase thru their portal each year just to keep the remaining points active. They credit fairly quickly. If your own account is close to being enough for the 4 tickets, this might be an option. Otherwise, it might be cheaper to purchase points than to transfer points.

 

[gottalovepluto]

How long does the transfer take? I ask because award flight availability with AA is... um thinking of kid friendly language here... a PAIN. We'll go with that. Availability can be so scarce! If points transfer right away you can see if there is availability first and then transfer your miles. My point here is remember there is risk that you will pay to transfer miles and then not find MileSAAver flight availability (I'm assuming that's what you're looking at). Now, I don't have lots of experience with this, just enough to know it might be an issue.

Other ways to top off your AA account include a credit card offer if you're interested in that sort of thing. I just saw the 60,000 mile offer, annual fee waived first year, is live again. That's nice because it would get you free checked bags for your whole group if on the same reservation. (I know getting credit cards just for sign up bonuses aren't for everyone though!)

 

[Lvsdisney]

I think I'm going to cash out the miles for a GC. I know it's not the best, but I worry about the MileSaaver availability like PP said, plus I think it's the equivalent of basic economy and I want to make sure my family sits together. Thank you everyone for your advice/input! I love these boards!

 

[gottalovepluto]

I think I'm going to cash out the miles for a GC. I know it's not the best, but I worry about the MileSaaver availability like PP said, plus I think it's the equivalent of basic economy and I want to make sure my family sits together. Thank you everyone for your advice/input! I love these boards!

FWIW I just got back from a MileSaaver ticket trip (which I snagged by changing my travel date) and it wasn't basic economy. That could change obviously. In your shoes I'd do the GC route too in order to save lots of stress.