Should I or Shouldn't I Particpate?

Most of the community has discussed the 2,000 mile offer from AAdvantage Shopping mall for spending $35 by September 30th.  My problem is deciding to participate or not.

When I first glanced at the email with the promotion, I dismissed it. All I read was the subject headline. I though the spend was higher based upon previous similar promotions.  After a few days of blog posts, I went back to the promotion's email and finally read the details:

Still I did not plan on participating. I couldn't come up with anything to purchase that cost $35. My next thought was to just spend $35 on anything to earn the points. Earning 2,000+ points for spending $35 is a good deal. To purchase 2,000 miles from AA, the cost would be $93.43.

Yesterday, Frequent Miler had a great write up about the promotion. It was in this article that I got a closer look at the promotion and I missed an important detail. The $35 spend requirement is "cumulative" not all in one purchase. I never clicked the link on the email, so I missed the terms and conditions!

With this new information, I am leaning towards participating in the promotion. However, I still can't think of something or things to purchase.  The only thing I NEED is a purple morph suit for the upcoming Northwestern football game in October.

 But $50 is more than I want to spend for the suit. I bought Blue for $20 at Walmart.

If you are undecided like me, Frequent Miler post has some interesting ways to complete this spend, but none of them make sense for me.

Therefore, I still have a conundrum.  To participate or not?

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Recap of 31 Days of Earning United Miles (Posts So Far)

Since we are 3/4 of the way through July, here is a recap of all the posts so far. The links below take you to that day's article.

Day 1: Flying

Day 2: Insurance

Day 3: e-Miles

Day 4: Buy / Transfer Miles

Day 5: Exchange Gift Cards

Day 6: Shopping Portals

Day 7: Tickets to Shows

Day 8:  Social Media

Day 9:  Credit Cards

Day 10: Mortgages

Day 11: Hotel Stays

Day 12: Super Shuttle

Day 13: Buy Wine

Day 14: Amtrak

Day 15: Renting Cars

Day 16: Peapod

Day 17: Eating Out

Day 18: Electricity Bills

Day 19: eRewards

Day 20: Transfer from Hotels

Day 21: Gilt

Day 22: RocketMiles (PointsHound broke up with United...no longer a way to earn)

Day 23: Investments

Day 24: Thanks Again

Day 25: Send Flowers

Day 26: Points.com

I hope this series has helped you to see that there are many ways to earn United/Airline miles.

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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

Earning Miles Through: Shopping Portals

One of the easiest and really pain free ways to earn miles on United, without the obvious of flying, is to take advantage of online shopping portals. Do you need to buy some new clothes for work? Some new electronics? Or just some random items that you know you will need to purchase soon?

Well you should make your way over to the MileagePlus shopping portal site. If you create an account and tie it to your United MileagePlus account it is very easy to get started. After you register you can search for the appropriate store by interest area (i.e. electronics, mens clothing, flowers, etc.). Once you find a set of stores that will have what you need look to see what their earning rate is. Each store will give you a points per dollar amount for your purchase. They will also have a set of fine print that will tell you what you can and can't earn points on (i.e. giftcards are almost always excluded). Make sure you will earn points for your purchase and when you have found the retailer you are the most comfortable with (the one that's offering the biggest points per dollar for me) click through to shop on their site.

Around different holidays (everything from Thanksgiving to Mothers/Fathers Day) watch for specials at different retailers. They will consistently offer a large points per mile bonus around these holidays so if you can hold off on your purchase till a holiday...wait and see what you might be able to take advantage of!

The important step here is clicking through to the site from the United shopping mall page. This allows the shopping mall to track your spending so it knows how many points to award you down the line. If you simply go to the retailer's site and don't log in, you will not receive the spending bonus!!!

The great thing about shopping portals is that that don't cost any extra money out of your pocket. You will still get those same items that you were going to go to the brick and mortar retail store for, but you will earn a points bonus on top of your purchase...just for clicking an extra button! That's great bang for your buck and it only take a small change in your buying habits.

Happy Shopping!



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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

MileagePlus Shopping Bonuses for Mother's Day Announced

United MileagePlus has posted the business that will be offering double-points through their shopping portal for Mother's Day. The list includes Godiva, Restaurant.Com, Sephora and many others. Don't forget to say thank you to your Mom for putting up with you...that's just me....oh ok.

The full list of offers is below: 
 

Was 2, now 4 miles per dollar through 5/6 Online only Enter SHOP at checkout, ends 5/10/13.   Shop now

Featured retailers this week Was 10, now 20 miles per dollar through 5/6 Online only $10 for $25 restaurant gift certificates now at Restaurant.com.   Shop now    Was 6, now 12 miles per dollar through 5/2 Online only Save $90 on 12 bottles from Zagat Wine plus 3 free bottles - just $89.99. Order now.   Shop now    Was 4, now 8 miles per dollar through 5/6 Online only Save 15% off any purchase & 20% off purchase over $100. Enter DEAL4ME at checkout, ends 5/2/13.   Shop now    Was 4, now 8 miles per dollar through 5/2 Online only Free shipping over $50 and 3 free samples with every order.   Shop now    Was 3, now 6 miles per dollar through 5/6 Online only Save up to 25% on gifts for Mom. Free FedEx shipping. Ends 5/10/13.   Shop now    Was 1, now 2 miles per dollar through 5/6 Online only Shop sale and save 25-50% every day at Bloomingdales.com.   Shop now    Earn: 3 miles per dollar Online only All patio furniture, grills & outdoor decor on sale + exclusive savings - extra $20 off orders of $200+. Enter SODL20 at checkout, ends 5/4/13.   Shop now    Earn: 2 miles per dollar Online only Save $15 on any $60+ purchase. Enter SPRING15OFF at checkout, ends 5/1/13.   Shop now    Earn: 2 miles per dollar Online only Get 25% off the item of your choice. Find your favorite new look for less. Enter BCBG25OFF1 at checkout, ends 5/21/13.   Shop now

. Shop at retail stores near you with a registered card and earn miles.   Find more stores

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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