Questions and Answers

Hi everyone, my name is Dominik and I write to you from sunny South Africa. I am new to the points game and only started learning about points a couple of months ago.

We are not spoiled for choice with credit card companies that are affiliated with airlines. The only real viable option is with a company called Discovery, who allow you to accumulate miles for your credit card purchases and then convert them into Avios. However one thing I have noticed is that award flights with Avios are ridiculously more expensive if compared with Advantage miles. I looked at flights on Business Class from Johannesburg to London using the BA award booker and for 62 500 Avios + R25 344.72c ($1808) I could have a return trip on BA’s A380 Business Class.

In Comparison I used the American Airlines award booking tool and for 75 000 American Airlines miles + Taxes & Carrier Imposed Fees (+-R12 200/$870), I can book the exact same flight.

Therefore what I would like advise on is whether it is a good idea for me to take advantage of the AAdvantage mile special at the moment, and purchase the maximum amount of AAdvantage Miles to use for travel at a later stage. I am also planning to visit my sister in Sydney some time next year, so would also like to use some miles for that flight, possibly via Qatar instead of a direct flight. Because i am dying to try their business class, it looks amazing.

All suggestions and help will be greatly appreciated, have a great day everyone.

Hi Dominik–just spent a couple of weeks in South Africa. Beautiful country!

If you live outside the United States and don’t have a social security number, purchasing miles is going to be your online viable way to accumulate large amounts of points. Most airlines have an annual limit of points that you can purchase so I would definitely max out the current promotion so that you are able to go back to the well again next year. I don’t think we’ll have another one this year.