Don't You Dare Take My Miles!

I had a dilemma last week. I received notice that my son's American Airlines miles were going to expire soon for lack of activity. You have to either use or add to your miles within an 18-month period, or they will expire, and he has been in Afghanistan for over a year. No way he'll be using them in time.

I searched the AA website for a military exemption. No. I saw that I could transfer points to someone else, at a hefty fee. I could donate them. No. None of the options were good. Finally, I called customer service, and the guy who answered gave me an option I could definitely live with. I went to www.aadvantageeshopping.com and bought something, which added a few points to his balance and therefore saved all the miles for another 18 months. This is a site that has over 200 retailers who partner with AA to give you points as you shop. I simply went through this site to the Walmart online shopping, used his Aadvantage number, found the clearance items which were eligible for 69 cent shipping, and bought myself a $9 item that I could use. Voila! Mission accomplished.

I would think that other airlines would have the same kind of opportunity. This was so easy, I've decided to check this site anytime I'm buying something online, in case I can get airline points for something I'm about to buy anyway.

Now...Supermom is off to save another day for mankind.....(who am I kidding?) Really good news -- our son will be leaving Afghanistan in the next 3 weeks. Yippee!!