Go for the Emerald - oneworld Contest

Go again! They don't have a limit that I've seen.

Of course I was so busy at work today, I ignored the e-mail until tonight, and of course didn't get 1,000 miles. Stupid work!

What time was the cut off for receiving the bonus 1,000 miles? I entered at approximately 5:55 p.m. Central time.

Still unclear to me whether it was 20,000 AA players, 20,000 BA, etc. or just 20,000 overall for the whole oneworld program. But this post by AA suggests it was 20K per program.

Hmmm... No wonder AA is in bankruptcy!

Soon someone will change it to "No wonder AA will be cease to exist/liquidate" because when virtually all the major airlines have been through bankruptcy (some multiple times) they need to come up when something more hyperbolic.

Up to 77,000 now. No hint of 1000 miles for being in the first 20,000 anymore.

But it does work. So if it's worth your time to try to get two biz tickets around the world . . . then I guess chances are currently 1 in 77K.

Remember that if you win, AA will send you a 1099 for the maximum possible value of two RTW biz tickets. You will have to pay taxes on that amount (or a smaller amount if you can substantiate it and get the IRS to agree).

ARV is over $21k. Ouch.

Yeah - but you can argue against that, if you can support a lower number. But I'd almost be willing to pay the 40% tax hit for the tickets.

Yeah don't get me wrong I signed up first and didn't look twice at the ARV... to me the experience itself "might" be worthwhile.

But at $8,500 for 2 seats (40% of $21k) that's a tough pill to swallow for someone that might not know what they're getting into.

Still, I can certainly think of quite a few OneWorld 3-Continent itineraries that can run a lot more than $8,500 on business.

Even for $8500, my wife would be pretty happy making this happen. And I usually do win these things.

That's what she wants you to think. Maybe she's the one winning and she lets you think you are instead.

Sure, there are Oneworld itineraries that you could buy that would cost more. The question is would you buy them? Would you use miles instead? You could fly 25,000 miles in business class on Oneworld aircraft for 150,000 miles, so 300,000 miles for two passengers. I don't know many people who would value miles at over 2.8 cents/mile ($8500/300000).

Yeah - she's wily like that.

Well I guess it all depends on how you value your miles. If you have 3 million miles in the bank then you probably wouldn't blink at the thought of spending 300k for 2 RTW seats in business. If you only have 300K (or less) and it takes you a while to build balances, then you might value them much higher than 2.8cpm.

But regardless, this is not like someone is giving you 2 RTW tickets and a $8k bill to go along with it, which some people might run from. This is 2 RTW tickets and the surety of a 1099-MISC for $21k next year, which can probably be dealt with (or at least mitigated) with some creative accounting.

Not to mention that the immediacy (or lack thereof) probably plays a BIG part too. "Pay for it now" versus "deal with it in your taxes later" could easily make someone's mind one way or the other.

I, for one, didn't realize that I could spend 600K AA miles to get two RTWs in business, but, since I do in fact have the miles, it certainly lessens my excitement about winning an award that equates to the same thing. And having to further pay taxes on it at over 1c/mile.

Actually what gemac said is you could do 25k miles for 150k. The 300k came from it being two tickets.

OK - makes sense. I couldn't find any RTW award rates on the AA website. I was almost ready to pack my bags . . .

If it's only 300K total, I'll skip it

Well having the miles doesn't necessarily negate the potential "value" of the prize. After all, if you found a bag with $20k on the street and they told you that you could keep it, provided you paid taxes on it, chances are you're not gonna turn it down.

But I guess it's one of those "real money" things in the end. Finding a bag with cash means you can use the cash itself to pay the taxes... winning a contest (or Oprah giving you a car or whatever) that entails coming out of your own pocket to cover the taxes is another story altogether.

The car is actually pretty easy because you can sell it, and it's a commodity on which you can establish a price. And if you sell it for less than the 1099, then you've got a pretty good argument on the FMV issue. And you're ahead of the game.

This is a little more nebulous.

Why would the cost being LESS per ticket cause you to skip it?

AA Oneworld award ticket costs (distance based, unlimited stop overs, up to 16 segments, etc...) are here: LINK.

While he doesn't go so far as to say it, I agree with gemac and can tell you that if OW comes knocking on my door letting me know I won this prize, I'm going to have to politely decline. Not worth the $$$, particuarly when I can get the trip for less with my miles, or even buy a few fares over the course of my normal flying and get the miles.

Just kidding on that - makes me want to go ahead and plan. If only I didn't have kids and a job and . . .

That's why you use the unlimited stop overs and start with an open jaw.

Let's say for example you are based in NYC .... Take the Amtrak to DC or Boston and start your trip there. Do BOS-ORD-LHR-PRG for two week then return PRG-LHR-JFK and stop for 6 months. Then when you have more free time and a break in the kid's schedule you set off on JFK-HKG-DPS for another two weeks and return to BOS where you can catch an Amtrak return.

They're so flexible that I don't really redeem for any other type of award. Great value.