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One great way to buy miles cheaply is to buy 1800Flowers gift cards at a substantial discount and then buy items using their mile earning promo codes. Full details and examples can be found here: 1800Flowers Extreme Stacking promo codes, portals, gift cards, and more.
A big problem with this approach has crept recently. A number of readers have reported that they did not get the miles they expected. And, when they asked 1800Flowers about it, they were told that gift cards were not eligible for promo code rewards. My guess is that this is a misunderstanding. Perhaps it was an internal training program gone wrong. The truth is, there are gift card like things that are ineligible for promo codes. When you buy 1800Flowers or 1800Baskets gift credit from deal sites like Groupon or Living Social, those gift credits are (usually) ineligible for use with promo codes. Gift cards bought from resellers are often of this type too.
However, if you buy gift cards directly from 1800Flowers or from a place that sells new, unused gift cards (e.g. any retailer n-store, Staples.com, certain eBay merchants, etc.), or if you redeem Discover Cash Back for a gift card, those gift cards should be eligible for use with promo codes. At the very least, there is nowhere to be found any terms stating otherwise. I’ve had success many times in the past with applying promo codes to these “good” gift cards.
Gift Cards from 1800Flowers
If you shop for gift cards at 1800Flowers.com (found here), you’ll currently find the following description:
Gift-giving has never been easier with the 1-800-FLOWERS.COM® Gift Card! They can browse a wide selection of fresh flowers, delicious gourmet treats and desserts, beautiful plants, stunning gift baskets and more–and then choose exactly what they want!
- Please allow 7 days from purchase date for UPS Ground delivery
- Your Gift Card is redeemable at 1-800-FLOWERS.COM®, 1-800-BASKETS.COM®, Fannie May®, Cheryl’s® and The Popcorn Factory®–online, by phone where available, and at certain participating stores.
- Accompanied by a greeting card printed with your personal message
- Available in denominations of $25, $50, $75, $100, and $200.
- Promotion codes cannot be accepted on Gift Cards
- No expiration date and no service fee!
One line from above that may give you pause is the statement declaring that “Promotion codes cannot be accepted on Gift Cards.” That means that you can’t use promo codes when buying gift cards. It is not intended to mean that you can’t use promotion codes when paying with gift cards. I do think, though, that this could be a source of some of the confusion.
The back of each physical 1800Flowers gift card has no restrictions against using promo codes:
Redeemable at many of our sister brands online, by phone where available, and at certain participating stores. Visit www.FreshGift.com or call 1-800-242-5353 for a complete list of where this card is redeemable, current balance and terms of use. Not redeemable for cash except where required by law. This is not a credit card or debit card. No expiration date and no service fees. Issued by Fresh Gift Cards, Inc.
And, www.FreshGift.com, also has no restrictions against using promo codes:
THE GIFT CARD and GIFT CERTIFICATE.
The Gift Card and Gift Certificate is a prepaid payment device that comes with a set dollar value. It is not a credit card, charge card or debit card. The Gift Card and Gift Certificate has no associated service or dormancy fees and no expiration date. The Gift Card and Gift Certificate can be used at the brands, the company owned and participation franchised retail stores, web sites and on phone orders, as listed at www.FreshGift.com. We reserve the right to require credit card or alternate non-promotional payment method information for verification purposes, even if the Gift Card or Gift Certificate fully covers the transaction order total. We do not allow the purchase of a Gift Card with another Gift Card, Gift Certificate, Savings Pass, Appreciation Award, Award Card, or Rewards Pass. Your 19-digit Gift Card may become redeemable at additional brands and locations, which information will be updated on this page. The Gift Card and Gift Certificates may only be used to purchase products and services and may not be redeemed for cash, unless otherwise prohibited by law. The Gift Cards and Gift Certificates are not transferable and may not be used for unlawful purposes. Our Gift Cards and Gift Certificates are issued and administered by Fresh Gift Cards, Inc.
A Reader’s Experience
A reader who was initially denied Southwest points reports having success in pointing this out to 1800Flowers. When they told him that he would not get miles because he had paid with a gift card, he asked to be shown the terms & conditions stating that promo codes cannot be used with gift cards. It worked! Of course, there’s no guarantee that it will work for you too, but it’s worth a try.
What follows is his email exchange with loyaltypriority@1800flowers.com. Names have been removed to protect the innocent….
Initial support request
Presumably via 1800Flowers’ online Customer Service form (found here), the reader submitted the following request:
I placed five different orders on 02/09/2016 with the Southwest Airline code rr84 which gives 1750 miles per order. That would be a total of 8750 miles. There doesn’t seem to be a way to track the miles. When can I expect the miles to post on my Southwest account?
1800Flowers Response 1
Thank you for contacting us.
I wanted to check your orders to make sure the Southwest promo code RR84 was used for the 1750 pts per order and it was used. Generally it can take 6-8 weeks to reflect onto your account. If you have any questions, please contact us at: 1-800-993-1192.
We look forward to sending a smile soon.
Sincerely,
[name removed]
Sales and Service Specialist / Fresh Rewards
loyaltypriority@1800flowers.com
Reader request 2
In reply to the above:
To: “loyaltypriority@1800flowers.com” <loyaltypriority@1800flowers.com>
It has been 8 weeks since I placed 5 orders and have not received my Southwest points. Why do I need to call and e-mail every time I use a promo code for points. Please have someone in the Southwest team credit my points immediately. If not, I will be contacted Google Trusted Store to get this resolved.
1800Flowers Response 2
I’m so sorry for any inconvenience. I have reviewed your orders and found that they were paid for with gift cards, savings passes or Celebrations Rewards passes. I’m sorry but you are not eligible for miles/points on this order.
We appreciate your inquiry, and look forward to serving your gifting needs in the future.Sincerely,
[name removed]
Loyalty Priority Services
loyaltypriority@1800flowers.com
1-800-993-1192
Reader Request 3
To: “1-800-FLOWERS.COM” <Loyaltypriority@1800flowers.com>
When I made 5 orders in February, 2016, […] I used Discover cashback to purchase 1800flowers egift cards on the discover web site. I have been told in the email attached to this email that because I used a gift card, i would not be eligible for Southwest miles using the RR84 code. When i placed the orders, the RR84 code was accepted. I am including the terms & conditions found on the Discover website when you purchase a 1800flowers egift card. There are no restrictions for using a code for airline miles. […]
[From Discover website] 1-800-Flowers Terms & Conditions
The eCertificate is a prepaid payment device that comes with a set dollar value. It is not a credit card, charge card or debit card. The eCertificate has no associated service or dormancy fees and no expiration date. The eCertificate can be used at the brands, the company owned and participation franchised retail stores, web sites and on phone orders, as listed at www.FreshGift.com. 1-800-Flowers.com reserves the right to require credit card or alternate non-promotional payment method information for verification purposes, even if the eCertificate fully covers the transaction order total. To obtain your Available Funds balance, call the toll-free number 1-800-242-5353. 1-800-Flowers.com does not allow the purchase of an eCertificate with another eCertificate. Your 19-digit eCertificate code may become redeemable at additional brands and locations, which information will be updated on this page. The eCertificates may only be used to purchase products and services and may not be redeemed for cash, unless otherwise prohibited by law. The eCertificates are not transferable and may not be used for unlawful purposes. eCertificates are issued and administered by Fresh Gift Cards, Inc.
1800Flowers Response 3
Unfortunately, we cannot give you the South West miles. South West’s policy is that the order cannot be paid for with a gift card. The Discover cashback is considered a giftcard. South West issues the miles to your account. We will not be able to issue the miles to you.
I apologize for inconvenience this may have caused.
Sincerely,
[name removed]
Loyalty Priority Services
loyaltypriority@1800flowers.com
1-800-993-1192
Reader Request 4
To: “1-800-FLOWERS.COM” <Loyaltypriority@1800flowers.com>
Please show me in writing the policy that states miles will not be issued if paid w/ a gift card. Through the entire process of my orders, there was never a term or condition that said miles would not be issued if a gift card was used. I’d like to see the policy and directed to where on the Discover site or 1800flowers site this policy was printed.
1800Flowers Response 5 (2 months after the initial inquiry)
Thank you for reaching out to us.
I apologize for any confusion. We have contacted SouthWest to apply the points for these orders, however it can take up to 8 weeks after the delivery date for the points to post.
Again, I apologize for any confusion and we look forward to helping you deliver smiles!
Sincerely,
[name removed]
Loyalty Priority Services
loyaltypriority@1800flowers.com
1-800-993-1192
So, there you go. There’s no guarantee that it will work for you, but we have this one data point showing success.
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[…] possible) to work one’s way through customer support to get the miles or a full refund (see: How to get your 1800Flowers gift card miles). As of early May 2017, if not earlier, things have changed. It seems that the refusal to pay […]
I’m arguing with 1800Flowers about them not crediting 30points/$ for the portion of my recent order that was paid for by a gift card. Have been getting the run around that they dont pay on gifts card usage and when I pointed out that the terms they eventually sent me still did not exclude gift cards I was sent this:-
“Hello. We are sorry for any distress this has caused you. We have contacted the airlines because they are the ones that issue the points, we just send them the information. The airlines say that you are not entitled to the points. If you would like more conformation on this you can call the airlines your self. Have a nice day.
Thank you for reaching out to us.
Sincerely,
xxxxxxxx
Loyalty Priority Services”
Can somebody clarify this? Its always been my belief that its under the control of the vendor and they effectively pay the airlines for the points.
Yeah, that’s my understanding too. I don’t know if there’s anything to this or just a very confused support person. Even if it’s true, the problem is on 1800Flowers end in that they could (and should) report to the airline the full price paid, not just the credit card portion.
I was just reviewing my orders from 2016, which included 10 using the RR89 promo code. For all of them I paid $30 with a gift card from Discover, and the remaining cost with a credit card. I received 1750 miles for each of the 10 without any problem.
I just placed a few orders using the Amtrak 30 miles/$ code and am curious if I will get points on the full amount or the net amount after $30 Discover GC deduction…
You certainly should get 30X based on the full amount.
Points are starting to post for five Christmas 2016 orders. I used egift cards purchased using Discover cash back. Surprised to see “1850” JetBlue points per order, even though I used TB1750 code. As usual, 1800 flowers screwed up orders that did not arrive on time or were damaged. Was given a $20 credit and order re-ship on a $34.95 order that was damaged. They shipped a replacement item I sent to someone else that cost $59.95. Looks like I’ll get 9,250 miles for the five orders.
I used the AKA3 code and have only gotten points on 1 order. Hope I don’t have to deal with all this.
Got this email today from 1800 flowers customer service:
Sadly, our Company has an automatic disqualifiers for Airline promo codes, where miles or points cannot be applied, when the payment is done with a Gift Card, Savings Pass or Celebrations Rewards Pass.
If you have any other question, please just give us a call to 1-800-993-1192.
Sincerely,
Paola Haro
Loyalty Priority Services
loyaltypriority@1800flowers.com
1-800-993-1192
It sucks, but you’ll need to contact 1800flowers and protest. I placed 5 Christmas 2016 orders w/ gift cards and have receive 1850 x 4 to date.
Here’s the Lady who helped me get my points as described in the article above: apatterson@1800flowers.com
Arlinda E Patterson
Loyalty Priority Services
I had several orders not track using RRMD24 and received the same response as everyone else- gift cards don’t qualify.
I’m pretty unhappy. Does anyone think this amounts to false advertising or the like? 1-800-Flowers.com has screwed a lot of people on this. How are all of you going to proceed? Do nothing?
I exchanged nearly a dozen emails and almost as many calls with them. Eventually beat them to give me a $50 certificate and ended the battle. It’s not quite 8,750 SW miles but, all things considered, it was a decent deal in the end.
Our case is strong – their own webpage advertised the promotional code, without any caveat limiting the use of gift cards. The agents gave me a lot of BS references to where gift cards were explicitly excluded (we can all make inferences but the truth is they are not tied together at all). Once on the phone it wasn’t hard at all to make them agree with me… but all of them claimed to be “powerless” to help me out. Not even the manager’s manager. I eventually got transferred to some executive department, refused his first two BS offered, before settling with that $50 (which we all know is really worth like $20 cash).
It was a long process to go through, but all their agents were polite and reasonable so it wasn’t too painful. Definitely fight it and escalate it and don’t be afraid to call BS on anything they say that wasn’t a written rule. Best luck to you and hope you get a better result.
I received my points in 3 out 5 orders which coincidentally i pay 3 of 5 order with a couple of dollars on a cc and most of the order with a gift card. So it might be that if you paid a small amount with a card it will go through with no problem.
I just bought some Harry & David pears from 1800flowers using RR22. I paid with a gift card, and received my points the day after they were delivered ~June 14).
While these are Harry & David branded, they were ordered by clicking the gift baskets link under the 1800flowers tab, rather than clicking the Harry and David tab to access the larger selection of baskets. So, I don’t think this necessarily contradicts Tom’s datapoint, unless I am misunderstanding his datapoint.
Very interesting. I’ll have to test buying from the Harry & David tab to see if I get different results.
I bought Harry & David chocolate truffles under 1800flowers tab with gift card (from 1800flowers). Some orders were totally paid with gift card; some paid with gift card + credit card. I applied RR22 when ordering and received my SW points from all my orders. Thanks for Jamie’s sharing.
I spent a painstaking day with 1-800-f arguing back and forth about my missing SW miles. I had placed a bunch of orders using both the old code (no limit) and the new (5 per customer limit).
The CSRs were incredible in their response speed – something I would not have expected. But they were insistent on purchases with gift cards being ineligible. Their earlier tactics were to quote a term under earning points for the Celebration Rewards program (an earlier comment noted this response). When I pushed back hard they started quoting the terms found on SW’s shopping portal. Neither of them had anything directly to do with the particular promotion. I felt good that I stood solid grounds, but were pissed off about them insulting my intelligence.
Finally picked up the phone and asked to speak to a supervisor. After presenting my case, he noted that per agreement with SW they simply couldn’t do a thing. Out of a surprising turn, however, he offered to “cancel” all my orders and refund me the full amounts to my gift cards. Strange that it’d come to this point. Considering that I cannot un-eat all those pears and popcorn, getting a full refund was undeniably superior to getting my miles credited. I took it.
Kind of feel bad about the outcome – ending with a bunch of free things from the merchant and not paying a thing for them. I know it’s hypocritical as it’s not too different from stacking deals and getting miles on the cheap. But from what was offered to me it seemed like 1-800-f truly had no discretion to credit me the miles. It’s still their fault for not stating the rules more clearly, but I no longer feel that they were pulling a bait-and-switch intentionally.
That’s a really interesting outcome. I find it hard to believe that Southwest is the one preventing them from honoring the deal, but at least you came out whole in the end (not counting the aggravation involved!)
Here’s a really dated update, but that outcome changed and they refused to give me refund… apparently the first offer was made before they realized that my orders (from over a month ago) had already been fulfilled.
As my other comment below notes, I ended up with a $50 certificate which you know is worth ~$20. I had the pleasure of being right but it really wasn’t nearly as sweet as what I walked in expecting.
Another question for those who did or didn’t get points:
Tom (above) suggests that points were not given out when he bought things from brands other than 1800Flowers itself (even though he was on the 1800Flowers.com website and the website accepted the code), but he did get points when he bought flowers. How does that compare to everyone else’s results?
That’s great to have! Thanks Tom.
Quick Poll: For those who were denied Southwest points because you used a gift card, which promo did you use? And, please let us know if you ever received the points.
Which promo did you use?
A) 1000 points per order
B) 1750 points per order
C) Something else (please explain)
Did you get your points?
1) Yes
2) No
3) Some, but not all
Thanks!
I used RRMD24 and DID receive 1750 Southwest miles. Use TB33 on five orders and DID NOT receive 1750 Jet Blue miles/order.
I received SW points for four orders 1750,1750,1750, and 1000 using three different promo codes and paid with gift cards purchased previously direct from 1800flowers.
I did not receive SW points on three orders also paid with gift cards.
My theory is the three orders that did not track were from their partner site Cheryl’s cookies even though I shopped there thru the 1800flowers site. Problem is no where can you tell which of the seven orders paid and which didn’t.
I’m experimenting now to see if an order still works smoothly with another flower purchase paid with gift card.
Anyone know how this costs 1800flowers for honoring the Southwest promo code? Do they actually pay Southwest a fee (per order) to have them steer customers their way?
Three separate flower orders paid for with gift cards and using RR22 have all paid the 1000 points at SW 5/25-6/1. From my experience now, orders to the non-flower companies do not pay SW points even when placed thru the 800flowers site. You want points, buy flowers….
Ugh. Sorry to hear that
Below is our exact section of Terms and Conditions regarding the earning of any airline miles, points, or e-money, etc. This can be found at http://www.1800flowers.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ContentDisplay?c=pop-fresh-rewards-terms&t=d&storeId=20051&catalogId=13302&langId=-1.
“When a member makes a purchase online or by telephone at any of the Celebrations Rewards℠ Participating Brands, One (1) Point is earned per U.S. dollar spent on the Merchandise Value of the product or service. “Merchandise Value” is defined as the gross sales price of the product or service less discounts, gift certificates, gift cards, promotional gift certificates, gift codes, Celebrations Rewards passes, savings passes, promotional offers (e.g. airline miles, points, e-money, etc.), credits, chargebacks, refunds, discounts, and rebates, and excluding any and all applicable taxes, service, relay, and shipping and handling charges.
Totally bogus. They quoted this to me too. These are the terms for their own celebrations rewards program, hence “One (1) Point is earned……” line and the title of the page linked above. Nothing to do at all with the terms and conditions for earning Southwest miles using a promo code.
Jane Doe, you work for 800flowers?
At this link are the terms for the Southwest promo: http://www.1800flowers.com/southwest-airlines-13278?cm_mmc=BGS-_-swa-_-baseoff-_-1k&ddkey=http:Entrance&#details
And here they are copied:
*Member will receive 1000 points for each order of $29.99 or more, excluding service/delivery fees and taxes through December 31, 2016. An order can include more than one item. Points can be earned on purchases made at http://www.1800flowers.com or by calling 1-800-Flowers (1-800-356-9377), providing your Rapid Rewards account number and mentioning Promo Code RR22. Items may vary and are subject to availability, delivery rules and times. Offers available online and by phone. Offers cannot be combined, are not available on all products and are subject to restrictions and limitations. Minimum purchase price $29.99. Prices and charges are subject to change without notice. Void where prohibited. Must provide promotion code RR22 and Rapid Rewards account number at the time of purchase. No points will be awarded on cancelled orders. Please allow six to eight weeks for bonus points to post to your account. © 2016 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, INC.
Southwest reserves the right to amend, suspend, terminate, or change the program and/or program rules at any time without notice. Rapid Rewards Members do not acquire property rights in accrued points and awards. The number of points needed for any particular Southwest flight is set by Southwest and will vary depending on destination, time, day of travel, demand, point redemption rate, and other factors and are subject to change.
I am in the same boat as many of the above folks. Only four of seven purchases have successfully tracked and received airline miles using three different promotional codes. Three emails from different CSRs haven’t provided any insight as to what I did wrong to not receive the bonus miles. They’re all quoting boiler plate. Very frustrating. I suspect the four flowers orders tracked but the three cookies orders did not but there’s no way to tell that from reviewing the order details since the order details don’t show up.
All, See reply below from the CSR. Their last reply after this one said “we can no longer help you with this matter” !!
Dear Tom,
.We apologize for any confusion. I will try to explain it as best as I can. The terms and conditions of receiving Rapid Rewards points by purchasing orders state that if it is paid for by using a gift card or savings pass that it makes the purchase ineligible for points.
Some of the orders that you were awarded points for did not qualify, but through internal errors on our part you were awarded points. We are allowing you to keep those points because they were awarded by our mistake. However, the orders that did not receive points due to the above mentioned terms will not be receiving points.
To sum up, if an order is purchased using gift cards or savings passes it will automatically make that order ineligible to receive Rapid Rewards points. If any discounts are applied to bring the total merchandise amount below the qualifying amount of the promotional code terms, then it will make that order ineligible to receive Rapid Rewards points. I hope this helps clear things up.
Again, we apologize for any confusion and look forward to helping you deliver more smiles in the future!
Sincerely,
Tony xxxxxxxx
Loyalty Priority Services
loyaltypriority@1800flowers.com
1-800-993-1192
Wow, this just goes in circles. They told you that “The terms and conditions of receiving Rapid Rewards points by purchasing orders state that if it is paid for by using a gift card or savings pass that it makes the purchase ineligible for points. ” but they didn’t actually show you any such terms and conditions. Right?
Here is their last email
The terms do state that, “Not eligible on purchases made with coupon or discount codes “. Gift cards are also considered to be discount codes. Even if we wanted to help you out with this, we cannot because we’re in a contract with them, and these are their terms. We can no longer help you with this issue.
Thank you for reaching out to us.
Sincerely,
Anthony xxxxxx
Loyalty Priority Services
loyaltypriority@1800flowers.com
1-800-993-1192
My son got this reply… (He used gift cards from Discover)
Dear ,
Below is our exact section of Terms and Conditions regarding the earning of any airline miles, points, or e-money, etc. This can be found at http://www.1800flowers.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ContentDisplay?c=pop-fresh-rewards-terms&t=d&storeId=20051&catalogId=13302&langId=-1.
“When a member makes a purchase online or by telephone at any of the Celebrations Rewards℠ Participating Brands, One (1) Point is earned per U.S. dollar spent on the Merchandise Value of the product or service. “Merchandise Value” is defined as the gross sales price of the product or service less discounts, gift certificates, gift cards, promotional gift certificates, gift codes, Celebrations Rewards passes, savings passes, promotional offers (e.g. airline miles, points, e-money, etc.), credits, chargebacks, refunds, discounts, and rebates, and excluding any and all applicable taxes, service, relay, and shipping and handling charges.”
Thank you for reaching out to us and we apologize for any confusion on the matter.
Sincerely,
Susan Singleton
Loyalty Priority Services
loyaltypriority@1800flowers.com
1-800-993-1192
I just received the same link from the same CSR. As I read it the link pertains to the earning of “Celebration Reward” points and has absolutely no relevance to whether one can use a valid promo code and a gift card to purchase merchandise and receive airline miles. Am I misreading this?
Yep, I agree with Bob. They have yet to show anyone terms & conditions that have anything to do with earning airline miles through a promo code.
@AllenB: No offense, but it’s like going down to hell and preaching the gospel. This blog is about maximizing points / miles / etc and some of the ppl on this board will order (and as noted above enough to get the Companion Pass). How many orders do you think that is?? Pretty sure they don’t overly care about the quality of flowers being delivered in most cases.
That said, the flowers many times are nice and if they are crap b/c they sat in a truck in the cold too long, they’ll generally resend the flowers…granted most probably past the special date being recognized.