Last week, I got a phone call from my Grandfather. The phone call is not out of the ordinary, as we speak once or twice a week anyways. What was out of the ordinary was the conversation. It went something like this:
Grandfather: I was reading your blog the other day.
Me: Wait you read my blog?
Grandfather: Of course, I read your blog. I read it a few times a week.
Me: Interesting.
Grandfather: Well, I like the content, but I have a question, "how do you earn points?"
Me: What?
Grandfather: You talk frequently about using points, but not so often about earning points.
I hate to say it, but the old man is correct.
We have discussed how to plan for your dream trip and spent a great deal of time talking about burning points. But how does one earn these points & miles is a question we have failed to explain. One can't burn miles if one doesn't have them.
This is going to change. July, at Do It For the Points is Earning Month is earning month. Every day in July, we will write about one way to earn United miles. Why United miles? Well, Chris is a big fan of the Star Alliance and I need to build my balance up in my United account. While we will be talking about earning miles on United, many of the ways discussed apply to other airlines and hotels.
What are some of your favorite ways to earn United miles?
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Have a question for us? E-mail us at chris@doitforthepoints.com or jd@doitforthepoints.com
Showing posts with label point earning portals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label point earning portals. Show all posts
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Friday, June 14, 2013
Tapping Out - I'm Done with US Airways Grandslam Lite
I'm done! I'm finished! I am tapping out! I can't take it any more....
Yes, I am tapping out of what I dubbed here as US Airways Grandslam Lite. As a quick refresher, one earns bonus points for completing purchases at particular merchants. The more purchases one makes, the more bonus points that one earns up to a 100% bonus.
On May 23, Mommy Points wrote that she decided against participating based upon the unclear rules. Even with the unclear rules, I decided to move forward. Participate now; argue about the details later. I even had a plan to maximize the twelve hits to get earn the 100% bonus:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Follow us on Twitter @doit4thepoints! Have a question for us? E-mail us at chris@doitforthepoints.com or jd@doitforthepoints.com
Yes, I am tapping out of what I dubbed here as US Airways Grandslam Lite. As a quick refresher, one earns bonus points for completing purchases at particular merchants. The more purchases one makes, the more bonus points that one earns up to a 100% bonus.
Hits 1-6 - Dining Rewards
Hit 7 - SkyMall
Hit 8 & 9- FTD/1800 Flowers - Mother's Day Gifts
Hit 10 - Wine Insiders
Hit 11 - Dividend Storefront (Best Buy)
Hit 12 - Dividend Storefront (Kiehl's)
My intention was to spend no more than $100 on unnecessary expenses ie things I don't need.
Now 45 days into this promotion, I have only completed 3 dining reward stays. 3 visits to the local smoothie shops and now I don't know if it is worth the money to continue.
I forgot to send flowers for Mother's Day and I don't really need anything from the SkyMall. With that, I am down three hits and a ton of points.
On top of that, I was planning on counting purchases at Staples, Best Buy and Kiehls that I needed to make anyway. However, when I compare what I could earn with the US Airways Storefront compared to other shopping portals, I don't think its worth it. For instance, I could earn 1 point at Staples, 2 points at Kiehl's and 1 point at Best Buy with the US Shopping Portal. However, at the Ultimate Reward Portal, I can earn 1 point at Best Buy, 2 points at Staples, and 4 points at Kiehl's. Some might argue that with the 100% bonus, I might be better off making the purchases through the promotion. I would agree except that I value Ultimate Reward points more than US Airways points.
For these reasons, I have decided to tap out and call it quits on the US Airways Grandslam lite.
Best of luck to all those still participating!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Follow us on Twitter @doit4thepoints! Have a question for us? E-mail us at chris@doitforthepoints.com or jd@doitforthepoints.com
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.
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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Follow us on Twitter @doit4thepoints! Have a question for us? E-mail us at chris@doitforthepoints.com or jd@doitforthepoints.com
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.
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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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Follow us on Twitter @doit4thepoints! Have a question for us? E-mail us at chris@doitforthepoints.com or jd@doitforthepoints.com
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