Nominat someone for your air miles!

[JAS21]

I ordered tickets through an agent ... actually at a better price than I could book online!

Just before ticket issue he offered me a refund of about 5%.if 'somehow' someone else would use their Air Miles to pay for the tickets. I googled and found that it is done but the legality is a bit suspect. So turned the offer down.

Now I suppose that had it been a friend, using his Air Miles, booking the tickets for me and just giving me the tickets then it would have been okay. So I suppose if in the future the offer comes again as long as you can call the guy a friend and know something about him and can agree a reason why he is 'paying' for your flight that the airline couldn't really complain.

Views and who has done this and has anyone fallen foul of the airline at check in? is 5% the normal reward for this? thanks .........

Edited April 29, 2014 by JAS21

[Jiu-Jitsu]

For 5%...forget about it. I used to do this as a young un', with a 40% discount. Possibly times have changed, by why go through the stress for 5%?

[lomatopo]

Not sure I understand your scenario, but are you saying the "agent" was acting as a broker between you and a third-party, whereby the the third-party would sponsor your trip using their miles, the agent would offer you a discount, and presumably pay the third part some monies for their miles?

I can absolutely guarantee you that this is against the rules of the frequent flyer program of the third-party, and you also could have your trip cancelled.

The risk-reward, be it for 5% or 90%, is not worth it, assuming you want to make the trip.

You can Google Mileage Brokers. Many airlines have robustly staffed fraud departments (both internal and external) which have become very aggressive given the outstanding mileage balance they've built up, as a result of their own marketing activities (selling of miles to partners, like credit card companies), which impact their balance sheets negatively.

[JAS21]

Not sure I understand your scenario, but are you saying the "agent" was acting as a broker between you and a third-party, whereby the the third-party would sponsor your trip using their miles, the agent would offer you a discount, and presumably pay the third part some monies for their miles?

I can absolutely guarantee you that this is against the rules of the frequent flyer program of the third-party, and you also could have your trip cancelled.

The risk-reward, be it for 5% or 90%, is not worth it, assuming you want to make the trip.

You can Google Mileage Brokers. Many airlines have robustly staffed fraud departments (both internal and external) which have become very aggressive given the outstanding mileage balance they've built up, as a result of their own marketing activities (selling of miles to partners, like credit card companies), which impact their balance sheets negatively.

I thought that I conferred that I rejected his offer ... I googled and found the pitfalls and then thanked him for his offer but no thanks. However whilst googling I did see that someone had purchased tickets for his friend using his own air miles.

I think someone was trying to make quite some Baht.

Just wondered how common this practise is.

[asanee]

Again this mainly shows how limited the knowledge of USAers is in general. It IS possible-but on SOME airlines only, to transfer/''donate'' the miles to someone else. Without any details, it is thus impossible to tell if youre suspected scamming is right or not. In fact-the major airlines even have different conditions on their miles programs for different countries.

[JAS21]

Again this mainly shows how limited the knowledge of USAers is in general. It IS possible-but on SOME airlines only, to transfer/''donate'' the miles to someone else. Without any details, it is thus impossible to tell if youre suspected scamming is right or not. In fact-the major airlines even have different conditions on their miles programs for different countries.

No, well to me it wasn't a suspected scam. A guy wanted to sell his air miles basically. So he would have purchased the tickets that my agent was about to buy for me and then nominate me as the owner of the tickets. The money that I had paid would have been split 'somehow' between the agent and the air miles holder less a refund to me of 4000Baht.

Actually I think that this was the agents plan all along and that he would suddenly come up with an offer to save me 4000Baht thinking I'd just agree there and then.

As I said and others have agreed ... a bit 'iffee' and I could have ended up not been able to board the plane!!

[lomatopo]

Again this mainly shows how limited the knowledge of USAers is in general. It IS possible-but on SOME airlines only, to transfer/''donate'' the miles to someone else.

(I like the personal insult by the way. Not subtle, but assume it made you feel good?)

Actually this is correct for most/all frequent flyer programs; the key words being "transfer" or "donate".

Many airlines allow for the donation of air miles both directly and indirectly, to charitable/non-profit organizations.

Example: https://www.united.com/web/en-US/content/company/globalcitizenship/humanrights.aspx

Click through to see 50+ options.

However, I can absolutely guarantee that if any financial remuneration is involved, then said "exchange" would violate the terms and conditions of the program, and all sorts of penalties could be incurred.

Using your own air miles to issue an award ticket for a third-party starts to get a bit more dicey. Obviously if it is for a family member, relative or even a friend it can be fairly easy to document the relationship, having the airline note this detail in the PNR, which would insure a relatively easy trip. There may be some issues with the credit card used for the taxes, fees and fuel surcharge, but again, these can be documented in the PNR. It's always a good idea for the person "gifting" the miles to give the "giftee" a detailed letter documenting the arrangement, and offering to be available for contact.

When you start to involve a broker, financial payments, and a third-party who is unknown to the gifter, you start to enter the risk area. So caveat emptor, and YMMV.

Another issue is one where air-miles are used from one program to issue award travel on an alliance partner. This introduces another layer of complexity, and potential challenges.

Note that many (but not all) airlines now charge significant fuel surcharge (YQ), which along with the other fees (passenger service, security, etc.) and taxes (VAT), greatly increase the "cost" of a "free" ticket, sometimes approaching 50% - 60% of a discount economy ticket. So the "discount" offered in mileage-brokered tickets tends to be a lot lower than in the past, and the "profit" for all three parties (gifter, broker, giftee) is lower.

Edited May 1, 2014 by lomatopo