Re: Donating Air Miles

As mentioned in the article regarding our visa situation, our budget is in need of a "stimulus package" that might include an infusion of Air Miles from people who may have accumulated an "excess".

When we mentioned this need in our summer update, a few people came forward with offers of miles, but the means for donating their miles was unclear.  We set out to research it, and we were not too pleased with what we discovered.  Namely, that 'donating' excess miles comes with a price tag for the donor.  YET, given the overall economics of our budget and cost of travel, it's not a bad deal for us, as we will explain in more detail later.  Here are the facts, copied and pasted from the American Airlines website, found at the following link entitled,  shareAAmiles.

Mileage Pricing

#of miles

cost*

1,000-5,000

$50.00

6,000-10,000

$100.00

11,000-15,000

$150.00

16,000-20,000

$200.00

21,000-25,000

$250.00

*Prices listed above are in U.S. dollars and do not include $30 per transaction processing fee.

By the way, American also has a giftAAmiles program, whereby you can purchase miles as a gift, but the cost of purchasing those miles is equivalent to the cost of purchasing economy fare tickets, thus not an economical option.

This is the info for AA miles, though it seems that other airlines have similar policies.  If you find out differently, please let us know.  Though, American has certainly become our preferred carrier of late, other carriers are currently serving Russia, just offering less convenient or economical logistics for our purposes.  They include Lufthansa/United, and Delta. 

For you to better understand how your miles might help our budget, you should probably understand more about our air travel costs.  A typical flight ticket, round trip from Moscow to Dallas, costs us anywhere from $1,000 US dollars, off-peak season, to $1,600 per person, peak season (economy 'coach' fares of course).  Purchasing such a ticket with miles requires 40,000 miles per person, off-peak, to 60,000 miles, peak season (average cost of 50,000 effectively).  Therefore, the cost of paying $500 US dollars (the price American charges) for 50,000 "donated" miles would obviously be cost effective, easily cutting our airfare budget in half. 

So, if you find that you have miles you would like to "donate", here are two scenarios for you to consider.

Scenario #1 - You want to donate miles and personally incur the cost and fees

  • Donate miles at the shareAAmiles website link shown above
  • Pay the associated costs and fees
  • Send us an email informing us of your donation
  • We will watch for it to arrive in our account and gratefully acknowledge your generosity

 

Scenario #2 - You want to donate miles BUT can't afford to personally incur the cost

  • Donate miles at the shareAAmiles website link shown above
  • Pay the associated costs and fees
  • Send us an email informing us of your donation AND the amount of cost you incurred
  • We will watch for it to arrive in our account and gratefully acknowledge your generosity, AND mail you a check, reimbursing you for your costs (IF in the interim, you decide you don't really need the reimbursement we send, you can opt to donate it to your church, charity, or orphan ministry of your choosing, but in the meantime, we have received miles for less than half the cost of purchasing tickets.)

 

Either way, a worthwhile expense, considering the economics of our cost of travel, and the best stewardship of God?s precious resources. American has discontinued their Moscow service for now, but we can still connect with British Air via London and realize significant savings over other options.American has discontinued their Moscow service for now, but we can still connect with British Air via London and realize significant savings over other options.

Please

prayerfully consider if you can assist with this need.  But regardless, we?d appreciate your intercession for us to see God?s provision in this matter.