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Miles Momma reports that Amtrak is offering 30 points per dollar through 1800Flowers. To get 30X Amtrak points, you must apply promo code AMT56 when checking out. The offer is good through February 28th.
Amtrak points are worth up to 2.9 cents each when used for Amtrak travel. So, 30 points per dollar is like getting an 87% rebate (30 x 2.9) in the form of Amtrak travel credit. But it gets better…
Spend $50, get $15 back
Remember, there is an Amex Offer available for 1-800-Flowers: Spend $50, Get $15 Back. Tweet #Amext1800Flowers to enroll in this offer.
Free shipping
If you want to apply a promo code, like the Amtrak one mentioned above, you will need to sign up for Celebrations Passport in order to get free shipping and handling.
Celebrations Passport costs $29.99 per year, but if you cancel within a month, you’ll get your money back. So, you can sign up as a free trial, but make sure to put a reminder on your calendar to cancel later.
IMPORTANT UPDATE: Cancelling may not work. A reader has pointed out that even though the summary terms state “membership fee refundable within 30 days,” the full terms appear to state that the membership fee is refundable only if the benefits have not been used: “Your paid Membership fee is fully refundable during the first 30-days of your initial enrollment and during the first 30-days of any Membership renewal, if your Membership benefits have not been utilized during that period and you cancel your Membership during the first 30-day period.”
Or, you can use an enrolled Amex card to pay the $29.99. Then you’ll only need to spend $20.01 more to get $15 back.
Another option is Paypal: Many people have received Paypal offers for $15 off $15 or more at 1-800-Flowers. If you have that offer, use PayPal to pay for Celebrations Passport and you’ll have free shipping for 12 months for only $14.99 ($29.99 – $15).
Don’t bother with portals unless you’re double dipping
Portals and promo codes don’t mix. If you have time to wait for physical by-mail gift cards to be delivered, you could go through a cash back portal to buy the gift cards (and pay with your enrolled Amex cards) in order to get 1800Flowers gift cards for half price after rebates. Unfortunately, if your goal is to get delivery by Valentine’s Day, you won’t have time to order by-mail gift cards, and egift cards won’t work for the double-dip.
For more, see: Eight Tips for Extreme Stacking 1-800-Flowers.
Make sure to pay with your enrolled Amex cards
The Amex Offer does not require that you spend all $50 in one shot. But, to maximize savings, you should try to spend as little over $50 per Amex card as possible. If you have multiple enrolled Amex cards, that means that you would be better off sending someone two $50 gifts in separate orders, rather than one $100 gift. However, if you have previously bought 1800Flowers gift cards, you can use those in conjunction with Amex credit cards in order to make larger purchases and still optimize your savings.
Huge discount
Here’s how the math plays out even without buying gift cards first. This is making the dubious assumption that you can find gifts that, in total, sell for exactly $50. This analysis also ignores sales tax which you may or may not have to pay depending on what you purchase and where you have it delivered.
- With Amex Offer, net cost for $50 purchase = $35
- Amtrak points earned with promo code AMT56: 30 x 50 = 1500
- Value of Amtrak points earned: (up to) $0.029 x 1500 = $43.50
Bottom line: It is possible to get up to $43.50 worth of Amtrak travel, and send gifts to loved ones, for $35 per enrolled Amex card.
Not interested in Amtrak?
See “1800Flowers Extreme Stacking promo codes, portals, gift cards, and more.” for a list of currently valid promo codes (including 30X United miles, 1750 JetBlue or Southwest points per order, and more).
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[…] HT: Frequent Miler […]
My guess is that they incorrectly coded for 25X. Hopefully they’ll fix this retroactively for everyone.
I hope so. They responded to my inquiry stating I had to wait 8 weeks to officially request the difference. Not a big deal at all (I would’ve still done it at 25x), but would be nice to get the full 30.
As best I can figure, I received 1325 Amtrak points on each of three $54.99 orders. However, I received 1750 JetBlue and Southwest on the same size orders.
seems same happened to you as happened to me – they’re appearing to only be awarding 25 pts/dollar, instead of 30. I submitted an inquiry with Amtrak and they requested my order info so we’ll see.
I only received 1000 points for an $40 (40X30=1200) order before shipping. Do they usually pay points on shipping?
It posted as 400 points base and 600 points bonus
fyi, my points posted on Amtrak today for a delivery I had scheduled on 2/14. however, instead of 1,500 points as expected (the flowers, before taxes and fees, cost $49.99) only 1,250 points posted. Not sure how to even go about getting the extra 250 I’m owed, but wanted to send along the DP.
[…] 30X Amtrak at 1800Flowers — Sometimes it’s good to be wrong. This one stuck around longer than I thought it would. Get on this train before it rolls out. […]
[…] 30X Amtrak at 1800Flowers — The terms of this deal state that it is good through February 28th, but I speculated that it could get pulled early. We have the perfect storm: 1) Amtrak points have relatively high value. 2) A lot of people with the Amex Offer are probably using it. 3) A lot of people are sending flowers this week. That three-pronged attack makes it unlikely to last to the end of the month in my opinion. I’d use this one sooner rather than later. […]
As reported in another post, promo code TENPASS gives $10 discount on Celebrations Passport
Amtrak points are no longer worth that much especially if you book the cheapest SAVER fare more than 3 weeks before travel dates, which most deal hunters often do. Try doing a search between NYP-WAS
Celebration passport a PITA to cancel. Signed up in 2014. Tried to cancel but was automatically renewed in 2015. Had to use Credit card dispute to get charges reversed. Lo and behold was renewed again this year after I did not have it at all last year! Credit card dispute and on phone with them for an extended time to have it reversed again – this occurred even after I removed all payment options form 1-800 Flowers account. Beware….
Good point. 1800… can be a pain to deal with in many ways.
[…] another display of dominance over 1-800-Flowers, Greg shows how you can get $43.50 worth of Amtrak travel PLUS flowers for someone you love for $35. Because nothing says “I love you” like $35 worth of flowers and a 1-way train […]
Does the item have to be delivered by 28 Feb or just ordered by 28 Feb in order to get the 30 Amtrak points per $?
It just has to be ordered by Feb 28
[…] I published “30X Amtrak at 1800Flowers. Here’s why that’s a great deal…” In that post I showed how to get a fantastic point rebate from 1800Flowers, with the […]
All: I’ve updated the post to show that buying and then cancelling Celebration Passport probably won’t work to get free shipping.
It seems that if you take advantage of the free shipping, then they have the right not to refund your Celebrations Passport membership. Are there any data points that they refund the whole thing anyways? “our paid Membership fee is fully refundable during the first 30-days of your initial enrollment and during the first 30-days of any Membership renewal, if your Membership benefits have not been utilized during that period and you cancel your Membership during the first 30-day period. “
Thank you for this. I see what you mean. The summary terms do not mention this restriction at all, but if you go to the full terms (on a separate page), you do see the restriction you mentioned. I do not know if that rule is enforced or not. Anyone else know? I’ll add a caution to the post for now.
For the record, the page which allows you to add Celebration Passport to your cart simply states: “membership fee refundable within 30 days.” But there is a link that states: Click here for complete Terms and Conditions. If you do so, you will see the terms that Peter mentioned:
“Your paid Membership fee is fully refundable during the first 30-days of your initial enrollment and during the first 30-days of any Membership renewal, if your Membership benefits have not been utilized during that period and you cancel your Membership during the first 30-day period. After the 30-day period, your annual Membership fee is non-refundable, unless otherwise prohibited by applicable law. 1-800-Flowers.com reserves the right, at any time, and without further notice, to change, modify or discontinue the Passport Program (including but not limited to, Membership fees and surcharges) however, any changes to the Membership fees will only apply if and when your Passport Program Membership is renewed.”