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The Fastest, Easiest Frequent Flyer Miles Ever?

Posted on October 1, 2009 at 12:41 pm ET by Tim Winship
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Frequent flyer miles aren't free. One way or another, you pay for them.

Typically, the price of the miles is built into the price of the product. Which leads to the following side note: Since you've already paid for the miles, you're not getting full value for your dollar if you opt not to earn them.

Sometimes, though, miles are awarded in exchange for one's time rather than one's money. An example is the new Bose promotion.

For the next two weeks, members of American's AAdvantage program can earn 150 miles by watching a two-minute online video extolling the virtues of the new Bose noise-canceling headphones.

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That's 75 miles a minute, 4,500 miles an hour. Or to put it differently, it would take just over 5.5 hours to earn a free domestic award ticket. (That's purely hypothetical—the terms and conditions stipulate that "AAdvantage miles can only be earned once per AAdvantage account.")

As a point of comparison, there's also a 350-mile bonus on offer for sitting through an in-store demonstration of the headphones. Given the likely time and expense required to visit a Bose dealer, that's not very appealing.

And finally, there's a 1,500-mile bonus for actually purchasing the headphones. At $299.95, that amounts to earning five miles per dollar. That's a decent payout. And if you're going to buy the headphones anyway, it would be economically irrational not to take the miles in the bargain. After all, you'll pay for them, one way or the other.

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Archived Comments:

  • Ken - October 2, 2009

    So why have you not supplied a link to the AA / Bose web-site so we can earn those miles ??

  • Myles - October 2, 2009

    I found the link on frequentflier.com: https://www.aa4miles.com/miles4bose/

  • A la card - October 2, 2009

    Maybe I missed it but why don't you tell people how much the airfares increase by a number of "a la Card" charges from luggage to seat selection etc. As most peolpe only see their NEW real price only when they have already purchased/booked their flight. Yes, you have told us that theses charges are real but not given us the "shock effect" if you will how much in the end a flight now cost. Can we add yest, do we refer to you charts whne making plans, mostly NO! Thanks!

  • Jaclyn Liechti, SmarterTravel Staff - October 2, 2009

    A la card, a few months ago our own Sarah Pascarella found out what the real cost of an airline ticket is once fees for luggage and the like have been added in. You might be interested in what she found out. Take a look here: http://www.smartertravel.com/travel-advice/what-the-real-cost-of-your-airplane-ticket.html?id=3286631.

  • henry - October 2, 2009

    now southwest is charging for the order you get on the plane Seems like Southwest is joining the nichol and dime club because they don't charge for luggage.Should be a law against it. No luggage charge up to a reasonable amount. and 1st come first served rule

  • Rich - October 5, 2009

    To "henry": Give me a break! "Should be a law against it." It is you guys who will do anything to save $10 on an airline ticket that have created this mess of fees in the first place.

  • Daves - October 6, 2009

    I just don't get it. Why do people want laws to micromanage the way airlines choose to sell their product? If they no longer want to offer a free shipping service to go with your passenger ticket, why should they? I don't expect a free dessert if I order a meal off the menu, nor do I expect free valet parking if I attend an event. If people choose to offer those things, fine, but keep the government out of it. Pay the fees if it's a service you want, skip the service if you don't want to pay the fees. That's free choice.

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