Changing miles between carriers

[SpanishForker]

Probably a stupid question but is there any way to transfer miles between different carriers. I have miles on Continental and United due to some work trips I would love to get transferred in to Delta. SLC being a Delta hub we almost never use those other carriers for our family flights. We use mostly Delta and Southwest.

 

[prncess674]

You can launder some miles through different programs but it results in a significant loss of miles and not recommended. How many miles are we talking about?

 

[SpanishForker]

I have about 20,000 on United and 8,000 on Continental. I know not a great deal of miles, but if they are never going to be used otherwise getting them transferred into an accoun that does get used is better than nothing.

 

[prncess674]

I have about 20,000 on United and 8,000 on Continental. I know not a great deal of miles, but if they are never going to be used otherwise getting them transferred into an accoun that does get used is better than nothing.

It takes 25,000 for a domestic saver coach award on UA. I would apply for a UAL Visa and get the associated bonus miles, then use the miles perhaps for someone to come visit you and your family. Trying to transfer will result in losing almost half of the UA miles. I would just let the 8,000 CO miles sit there or use them for magazine subscriptions.

 

[crashbb]

Continental should be joining Star Alliance soon (it was announced a while ago), thus they will be in the same group as United. I imagine (though don't know) that there will be a process for merging Continental miles into an existing *A airline when they do join - so at least you'd have 28,000 in a single set.

 

[prncess674]

Continental should be joining Star Alliance soon (it was announced a while ago), thus they will be in the same group as United. I imagine (though don't know) that there will be a process for merging Continental miles into an existing *A airline when they do join - so at least you'd have 28,000 in a single set.

Currently CO is a partner in SkyTeam which DL is also a partner. Unless two airlines MERGE then you can't combine the miles into a single account. Being in the same alliance only allows you to book tickets on the other carriers using miles from a single account. In other words once CO joins the Star Alliance you still won't be able to pool those miles to buy a single ticket. I don't forsee UA and CO merging anytime in the near future. CO won't even be a part of the Star Alliance till earliest late 2009, a merge (which hasn't even been socialized) wouldn't even be happening till 2010.

 

[crashbb]

Currently CO is a partner in SkyTeam which DL is also a partner. Unless two airlines MERGE then you can't combine the miles into a single account. Being in the same alliance only allows you to book tickets on the other carriers using miles from a single account. In other words once CO joins the Star Alliance you still won't be able to pool those miles to buy a single ticket. I don't forsee UA and CO merging anytime in the near future. CO won't even be a part of the Star Alliance till earliest late 2009, a merge (which hasn't even been socialized) wouldn't even be happening till 2010.

I know that you generally cannot merge points between programs within an alliance, but when BMI first joined *A, there was a period of time where you could merge your points. The argument I was given was that, previously, you couldn't get Air Canada (for example) points on BMI flights, so you had no choice but to collect BMI points, so they allowed the swap over. Once they are members of *A though, you had a choice to collect BMI or AC points, so there was no swapping allowed - you had made your choice.

 

[nordkin]

It takes 25,000 for a domestic saver coach award on UA. I would apply for a UAL Visa and get the associated bonus miles, then use the miles perhaps for someone to come visit you and your family. Trying to transfer will result in losing almost half of the UA miles. I would just let the 8,000 CO miles sit there or use them for magazine subscriptions.

You can also rack up miles pretty quickly on UA if you shop on line through the United Mall. The number of miles awarded per dollar spent varies by retailer, but I have earned a lot of miles this way as well as their Dining option. The Dining option is you register your credit cards and check cards and when you dine at a participating restuarant you earn miles.

Both are also a great way to keep the account active so the miles will not expire.

 

[crashbb]

OP, I meant to add something earlier.

Most programs have rules stating that there must be activity every X months (often 12) or else the account (and miles therein) expire. If you are just going to let your miles die, that is fine, but if you hope to do something with them, make sure that you don't let them expire.