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30% off American Airlines miles – and extra 10% off until TOMORROW

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American Airlines is offering yet another promotion for buying miles.

This one (a 30% bonus) is less generous than the one which ran in January (33%).  However, the reason I am bothering to mention it is that you will receive an additional 10% discount if you buy before 5am (note AM!) GMT on February 7th.

You can buy via this page, click on the AA logo.

AA buy miles

If you get in during the next two days, and buy the most ‘efficient’ amount (40,000, to get an extra 12,000 free) you are paying $970 for 52,000 miles.  This is noticeably cheaper than the January deal – 1.87c per mile versus 2.06c.

There was a long discussion in my January post about the best deals you can get using AA miles, including their 60,000 miles (return) business class seats to the Middle East and their amazing 160,000 mile First Class award to Australia from London.

Category

American Airlines and AAdvantage

Comments (35)

  • Dannyrado says:
    5 Feb5 February 11:32

    OK, so it would appear that I was totally screwed yesterday then?? I have paid $70.13 in federal tax, are you saying this shouldn’t apply? I’m UK based. Also the admin fee was $35. Total cost of 40k base miles, excluding bonus $1040.13

    I have a good use for the miles, but there is no way I’m paying more than I should.

    • Rob says:
      5 Feb5 February 11:34

      Perhaps I’m wrong? I was under the impression that federal tax only applies if you are based in the same state as the seller.

      However, points.com says this on their website under AA miles purchases:

      “ALL AMOUNTS CHARGED TO MEMBERS FOR THE PURCHASE AND TRANSFER OF MILES INCLUDE U.S. FEDERAL EXCISE TAX (CURRENTLY SEVEN AND ONE-HALF PERCENT (7.5%) AND ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE) AND A USD $30 PER TRANSACTION PROCESSING FEE. American will remit excise tax to the U.S. Government on behalf of the Member. Amounts charged also include Canadian GST as applicable. All amounts paid by the Member under this Agreement are exclusive of other sales, use or privilege taxes, or tax-like charges, fees or similar liabilities. ”

      It may be worth dropping points.com an email for clarification.

      • Louie says:
        5 Feb5 February 12:06

        I’ve never bought AA miles, but frequently buy US ones and they always charge 7.5% excise tax (and even more to Canadians).

        • James67 says:
          5 Feb5 February 17:23

          Same here, always charged the tax on both aa and united miles purchases

          • Phil says:
            5 Feb5 February 18:11

            Same here and that is from a South African IP address and a South African address in my profile.

          • Lil says:
            5 Feb5 February 21:02

            Ive bought AA miles before and I just checked and I was charged tax (Nov 12). Trying to decide if it is worth buying some today, was also looking around the 40k mark.

  • andy says:
    5 Feb5 February 12:08

    I just bought some to keep my wife’s account active and was charged the 7.5% tax and admin fee of $35 on top of the price quoted

  • Apoorva says:
    5 Feb5 February 17:56

    Raffles
    I am planning to buy 64000 AA miles (plus 18000 bonus) for £912 ( plus $35 charge), have around 38000 AA miles in my account. I am planning to buy 2 business class return tickets on Etihad LHR to Mumbai via Abu Dhabhi. Guest reward seats are available for the dates I am looking for.Total taxes and charges is £435, total 120K AA miles. This sounds like fantastic value for money as I am getting 2 business class return ticket for about £1450. If I buy the ticket from etihad website, the quoted price is around £3000 for 2 tickets ! Even a return economy ticket on Etihad LHR-AUH-Mumbai is for £ 1300 for 2. Am I missing something here?
    Thanks
    Apoorva

    • Rob says:
      5 Feb5 February 20:06

      No, as long as Guest miles seats are available (not the more expensive ones, which AA cannot book) then all should be fine.

    • James67 says:
      5 Feb5 February 21:52

      Do you have avios? BA have frequently sold WTP to India for £750ish return. Chances to UuA would be good and you’d be getting a good chunk of your avios back, tier points, and you would still have your AA miles for future use. If you have avios or clubcard points then consider buyimg AA miles for outward journey but using BA or Virgin fore return.

      • Apoorva says:
        5 Feb5 February 22:11

        Thanks for the response James67,
        .I have 110K Amex points which I could convert to Avios to buy one leg of the journey
        The sweet spot on AA redemption on Etihad is Mumbai-Abu Dhabi-London leg, its 30K AA miles for one way business class and only 15£ in taxes and charges. For London-Abu Dhabi-Mumbai on Etihad business using AA miles, the taxes and surcharges are only around £220 ( plus free taxi from home to Heathrow) , how much would a Avios redemption cost me?

        • Rob says:
          6 Feb6 February 07:11

          You can check online easily but at a guess BA would be around £350 out of London, one way, due to the Air Passenger Duty on top of the fuel surcharge

  • Cornelis says:
    6 Feb6 February 15:45

    Just bought 60,000 + 18,000 bonus which showed on the purchase site. The bonus does not show on the receipt by email :
    60,000
    Total Cost: $1,402.50 USD
    Federal Excisel Tax: $105.19 USD
    Processing Fee: $35.00 USD
    Total (billed to your credit card):* $1,542.69 USD
    When I phoned AA customer service they told me tax would always be added from wherever you order

  • Cornelis says:
    7 Feb7 February 10:23

    I also bought 2 lots of 60 + 18K – for me and my son. My son’s purchase ‘failed’. Both were on my Amex credit card. Same address. This is the message I got

    Your purchase of AAdvantage miles could not be completed because we were unable to process your transaction. The purchase was canceled and a refund has been processed to your credit card.

    Purchase Cancellation Summary
    Purchase Date: Feb 06, 2014
    Transaction Number: 22842822064727428
    AAdvantage Account Number:
    Number of Miles: 60,000
    Total Refund:* $1,542.69 USD
    If you want to try your transaction again, please return to buyAAmiles to reenter your transaction and payment information, ensuring that all information is correct. We apologize for any inconvenience that you may have experienced and thank you for using the buyAAmiles program. If you have any questions about your transaction, please contact AAdvantage Customer Service at 1-800-882-8880.

  • Cornelis says:
    7 Feb7 February 10:51

    Well I bought the same miles again. Same procedure, names, card, etc. Same confirmation. Difference is that I now paid $200 more…

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