Monday, June 10, 2013

George Costanza was right: Double Dipping is OK!

Everything that happens in the world can always be brought back to Seinfeld somehow. In an 1993 episode, George accompanies his current girlfriend to her aunt's wake. It is at the wake that a young boy accuses George of double-dipping his chip...



George was correct "double-dipping" is perfectly ok, especially in the points world. In the points and miles world, the double-dipping doesn't involve chips, but rather earning extra points.

For instance, on our Memorial Day trip, we stayed at two Marriott to participate in Marriott's Unexpected Bonus. We earned Marriott Reward points for every dollar we spent on the hotel rooms. Most people would be happy with getting points for their stay. However, you shouldn't! I earned an additional 2 Ultimate Reward points per $1 spent by simply going to the Marriott website through the Ultimate Reward portal.

Purchase DateRewards MerchantRewards Earned
5-17-2013Marriott226 extra points
5-17-2013Marriott280 extra points



Marriott isn't the only hotel that one can double-dip. In the Ultimate Reward Portal, one can earn additional points with Best Western, Choice Hotels, Holiday Inn/Intercontinental Hotels. Also, the Ultimate Reward portal allows one to earn points on travel booking sites Hotwire, Hotel.com, Orbitz, and Travelocity. Almost every airline and hotel chain has an online points/miles earning portal. However, not all point earning portals allow points to be earned for booking hotels through them.

For many this is not earth shattering news. Double-dipping is common practice in the points community; actually Frequent Miler writes about it all the time. This is the cheapest way of earning points, because it doesn't cost you a thing except extra time. The hardest part of earning points this way is remembering to go though the portal first. I am guilty of leaving valuable points on the table by forgetting to go through the portal first. I always kick myself after I hit the submit button.

George was correct, Double-Dipping is perfectly acceptable.


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