Expert’s Advice on How to Sell Airline Miles

Airline miles are a new concept. They have been around since the 1990s to promote brand loyalty among frequent flier. Over the years, frequent flyer miles have grown from being limited to just one airline to extending to an entire group of airlines and other commercial services. Today, you can collect airline miles by buying flight tickets from various airlines, rooms in hotels, food from restaurants, car rental bookings associated with an alliance.

In fact, it has become so easy to get airlines miles in your account that you may end up collecting more than you wanted. What do you with all the excess miles in your account? Do you let them stay unused or take this opportunity to make some money out of them? If you are inclined towards the second option, you could sell those extra airline miles. For every person who stacks up too many miles, there are several others who find themselves just short of the required amount to avail an offer or discount they had in mind.

The best part about selling airline miles is that it is easy and legal to do. Buying is relatively easier, with airline companies sometimes offering bulk purchases of airlines miles. Every now and then, you can find companies offering lots of airline miles on purchasing some of their products for a limited period.

However, if you are looking to sell your excess airline miles, here are some expert tips that can help you out:

Transfer them to someone you know
Some frequent flier alliances give you the option to transfer your airline miles to others having an account with the alliance. They could be your friends, family members, or some other acquaintance. Some programs also offer bonus miles to the recipient when you transfer miles to them. You can then charge them for the miles transferred. The whole procedure is informal, so there are no fixed rates involved. Depending on the person and your own negotiating skills, you could end up getting less or more for the miles transferred.

Contact online brokers
Unfortunately, there are no legal ways to transfer your miles for money directly to someone you do not know. There are, however, online brokers who can arrange to buy the miles from you and sell them to someone else. Here the broker essentially acts as the middleman, so expect to trade a certain percentage of your earnings on the commission for the broker. Although you get less money, approaching a broker is the most efficient way of selling your extra airline miles off when you have no contacts of your own.

Conclusion
In this day and age where most people shops or uses facilities of a company that is linked to an airline miles program, it is not that difficult to find a friend or acquaintance who has an account similar to yours. Brokers are rarely ever needed, so it is best to keep them as a last resort.

Author Bio:
Jennifer writes for SellMyRewards.com a premium points and miles buyer based in USA. She frequently writes about the uses of airline miles and also on how to sell airline miles at the right time.

1 comment:

  1. Great idea! This would be an extra income for a frequent flier. Thanks for sharing this information. But does this airline miles have an expiry dates too?
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