3 Reasons Why I am Not Participating in US Airway's Fall Kickoff

US Airways sent out an email announcing their fall bonus, called Fall Kickoff. The promotion offers you bonus miles on top of miles earned for flights on US Airways between September 30th & November 30th, if you complete a partner activity.

As you can see, if you complete an activity from the left list, you will earn a Field Goal (50% bonus). On the other hand, complete an item off the right list and earn a touchdown or 100% miles bonus.

Here is why I am not participating:

1) Completing a partner activity to qualify will be unnecessarily spend for me

•  As written here and here, I have targeted spends on other credit cards
•  Most hotels allow you to earn miles or their points, not points. My hotel stays tied up     with IHG's The Big Win  
•  Don't need a rental car in the next two months plus rental car companies charge to earn airline  miles
•  Don't need to fly to Mexico City or to Boston or NYC (Shuttle Flights)
•  Annual membership in US Airways Club is outside my budget

2)  I don't have any planned trips on US Airways in the next 60 Days

• The bonus only works if you fly on US Airways during the promotional period
• No flights = no bonus miles
• 100% bonus on earned miles is nice, but no enough to mileage run

3) No Time to Plane

• US Airways sent the on the first day of the promotion. That gives very little time to plan to maximize the promotion. I am flying over the next 60 days heavily, but the trips were planned many months ago.

The promotion is kinda of lame compared to past US Airways promotions. If you are flying US Airways in the next few months, then this promotion is great. Participate, because leaving points on the table is never good. For me, I am going to register, because you never know what might come up. However, I am not going to go out of my way to participate.

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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:

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! 

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US Airways Grand Slam Lite - My Plan

US Airways bummed many of us by not renewing Grand Slam, last year. In its place, US Airways has offered various bonuses for buying and trading miles, but no real replacement to Grand Slam. That is until last week.

As reported here, here, here, here and many other places, one can earn bonus points by making purchases through US Airways Partners. The amount of bonus points one earns is determined by the number of purchases completed:

Number of purchases	Bonus miles
1 - 3	25%
4 - 6	50%
7 - 9	75%
10 - 12	100%

Let's call each purchase a "hit," because I like to bring up old memories. One can get a "hit" for shopping at the following merchants from April 22, 2013 to June 23, 2013:

• 1800Flowers (25 miles per $1)
• FTD       (25 miles per $1)
• FedEx    (1 mile per $1)
• Teleflora (15 miles per $1)
• Vinesse (2000 miles, when you order 6 bottles of wine)
• Wine Insiders (1000 miles, when you order 12 bottles of wine)
• Dividend Miles StoreFront (varies - must spend $50 to count for hit)
• SkyMall (10 miles per $1)
• DM Dining (varies)

One important part of the deal is that for a Storefront purchase to count towards this promotion it must be a minimum of $50. There are no minimums, at the moment, for the other partners, but that might change. 

My Plan

I have spent the past week thinking about my plan to get to 12 hits. Here is my road map for this promotion:

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)

Things might changed on who I use for Dividend Storefront based upon changes to the amount of points per dollar merchants offer. However, I need items from Kiehl's and Best Buy; therefore, it would be wasted money.

My plan is to only spend $100 on wasted items ie things I don't need. We will see if I am able to get 12 hits with only $100 wasted...

Important Steps to Do Now!

First, register for the promotion, here. 

Second, register most of my credit cards for US Airways Dining Rewards.

Finally, create a Google Spreadsheet to track hits.

I will blog about my progress in the next few months .  . .

Happy Batting!!!!

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