Exchange Gift Cards

Did Grandma give you a gift card to PETCO for Christmas, but you don't have a pet?

Well, United has a solution; Gift Card Exchange. United will allow you to exchange your gift card for miles.

To exchange your gift card, you needs to go to this website and complete three easy steps:

The amount of miles that you earn depends on the amount of the gift card and demand for that merchant. The website provides you with a chart to show you approximate number of miles one can earn.

Now the exchange is offering a 25% bonus:

I decided to try out the exchange with a $25 Best Buy Gift Card. The exchanged offered me 840 miles like the chart above shows.

Since I paid $25 for the card, the 840 would cost be 2.9 cents per mile. Not a great redemption value. However, if you get the card for free and don't want it then it may be a good redemption.

Here are a few additional things you need to know about the exchange:

Here is a list of most of the gift cards that they will exchange for miles:


Abercrombie & Fitch                Dick's Sporting Goods         Lowe's                              The North Face
Areopostale                             Disney Store                      Macy's                               TicketMaster
Armeine Exchange                   Domino's Pizza                   Nieman Marcus                  Toys R US
Banana Republic                      DSW                                  New York & Company        United Artists
Barnes & Noble                        EB Games                          Nike                                 Victoria Secret
Bass Pro Shops                         Ethan Allen                        Nordstrom                        Walmart
Bath & Body Works                  Finish Line                         OfficeMax                         West Elm
Bed Bath & Beyond                  Flemings                            OfficeDepot                      Zappos.com
Best Buy                                 Foot Locker                        Old Navy
Bob Evans                               Forever 21                          Omaha Steaks
Bon Ton                                  Four Seasons                       Orvis
Bonefish Grill                          Gap, Gap Kids                     Overstock.com                        
Brooks Brothers                       Guess                                 Payless
Buca di Beppo                         Guitar Center                      PETCO
Burton                                    Hollister                             Pottery Barn
Cache                                    Home Dept                          Puma
CB2                                        HP                                     Pipeline
Chico's                                   J. Crew                               REI
Coach                                    Justice                                Regal Entertainment
Columbia                               Kmart                                 Rite Aid
Converse                                Kohl's                                  Saks Fifth Avenue
Crate & Barrel                        L.L. Bean                            Sears
CVS                                       Land's End                           Target
Carrabbas Italian Grill            Legal Sea Food                    The Body Shop
Champs Sports                       Lids                                     The Container Store
Dean & Dulca                         Lord & Taylor                      The Great Indoors

I would not recommend this as a way to earn miles except if you have no use of gift card. There are cheaper ways to earn the miles than buying gift cards for the purpose of exchanging for miles.

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Getting Real & What's Up For July

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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Follow us on Twitter @doit4thepoints! Have a question for us? E-mail us at chris@doitforthepoints.com or jd@doitforthepoints.com

Father's Day Shopping Bonus Announced for MileagePlus Shopping Portal

With Father's Day coming up on June 16th the usual increase in shopping portals have started to crop up. United has announced their increased shopping options through the MileagePlus Shopping Mall. Some of the highlights include:
-15x per dollar spent on Omaha Steaks
-15x per dollar spent at Jos. A. Bank
-6x per dollar spent at Home Depot

The full list of increases or highlighted stores from the MileagePlus Shopping store is below:

	Shopping home		View all retailers		Special offers		MileagePlus Shopping login

Was 6, now 18 miles per dollar through 6/10 Online only Father's Day savings event, get 30% off plus free shipping. Ends 6/16/13.   Shop now

Featured retailers this week Was 5, now 15 miles per dollar through 6/10 Online only Thrill Dad. Get 8 free burgers plus free shipping on selected combos. Ends 6/30/13   Shop now    Was 5, now 15 miles per dollar through 6/10 Online only Work hard and make it look easy with our Travelers Collection. Ends today, 6/4/13.   Shop now    Was 2, now 6 miles per dollar through 6/10 Online only Get $5 off $50. Enter HDDAD5 at checkout, ends 6/12/13. Plus, free ship to store on over 300,000 items and free shipping to your home on most orders $45 or more.   Shop now    Was 3, now 6 miles per dollar through 6/10 Online only The next class - gifts with a life beyond graduation.   Shop now    Earn: 4 miles per dollar Online only Take 20% off all wine gift sets and baskets. Enter UAWINE20 at checkout, ends 6/20/13.   Shop now    Was 2, now 4 miles per dollar through 6/10 Online only Save on the perfect gift for Dads & Grads. Free shipping on all orders over $45.   Shop now    Earn: 3 miles per dollar Online only Stock up and save on beauty specials plus free shipping on any $30 order.   Shop now    Earn: 2 miles per dollar Online only Dads & Grads savings event all this week. Free shipping on all orders over $50.   Shop now    Earn: 1 mile per dollar Online only Save all month on select HP printers.   Shop now

If you plan on getting Dad something to say thanks for putting up with you (no, that's just me?) then it's even better to get some extra points out of it. Who knows, maybe he will even share a few of those steaks with you....right Dad?

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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