How to transfer worthless points into valuable miles

How to transfer worthless points into valuable miles

Frequent flyers often want what they can't have. They have Delta
miles, but wish they had Northwest. They've got extra American miles
lying around, but what they need is United. And one of the most
frequent questions we get is "how can I transfer miles between
programs?"

The good news is there are several ways to transfer miles between
frequent flyer programs. The bad news is the options are restricted to
specific airlines, involve a middleman, can be costly, and may result
in a significant loss in mileage value.

If you're still interested in practicing a little mileage alchemy,
here's the scoop on four programs that let you transfer miles from one
program to another.

Amtrak Guest Rewards

Amtrak is the only program that exchanges miles at a rate of 1:1.
While you won't lose any mileage value during the transfer, you do
have extremely limited program options. Amtrak partners only with
Continental and Midwest. You can transfer miles into Amtrak's Guest
Rewards program at a rate of 5,000 miles for 5,000 points, and then
out again at the same ratio (with a limit of 25,000 miles per year for
regular members).

If you need to transfer miles between Continental and Midwest, Amtrak
is your best bet. For all other exchanges, Amtrak won't be of any
help.

For more information on Amtrak's program, visit its Guest Rewards
website. To learn how to transfer miles out of your frequent flyer
program, go to Continental's or Midwest's website.

Diners Club Rewards

Diners Club gives its cardholders the opportunity to join its Club
Rewards program, and through this program exchange miles. The catch is
that you can only transfer American or United miles into Club Rewards
points, though you can trade your points for miles in many programs,
including Alaska, American, Delta, Frontier, and Southwest. You should
note that you will no longer be able to transfer points into United
miles as of April 28, 2006.

You can transfer your American or United miles into points at a rate
of 5,000 points for every 10,000 miles you convert. Transactions must
be made in 10,000-mile increments, and you can convert a maximum of
50,000 miles each year. You can transfer points back into miles at a
rate of 1,000 miles for 1,000 points (or one Southwest credit for
1,500 points). Ultimately, you'll experience a 50-percent conversion
loss.

You also must pay for the privilege of exchanging miles. The Diners
Club annual fee is $95, and every transfer costs 95 Club Rewards
points or 95 cents. As most transfers are in increments of 1,000,
you'd be paying $9.50 to exchange 10,000 points for miles. The price
isn't too high if you already have a Diners Club card, but if you sign
up for the card just to make a transfer, you'll be shelling out $100
or more to trade miles.

For more information, visit the Club Rewards website.

Hilton HHonors

The Hilton HHonors program is another vehicle for exchanging miles,
but like Diners Club, it allows fewer transfers of miles into points
than points into miles. For North American programs, you can only
transfer American, Hawaiian, Mexicana, and Midwest miles into HHonors
points. However, you can trade your points for miles in many more
programs, including Air Canada, Alaska, America West, Continental,
Delta, Northwest, and Southwest.

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