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The British Airways shopping portal is offering double points for all merchants this weekend.
Important: When you browse to the British Airways Shopping Portal make sure to switch to the US version of the site if it defaults to the UK site:
This offer has led to some fantastic deals. One that jumps out at me is the ability to buy Avios for less than a penny per point.
Do you remember my post “Buy miles, get a date (76 miles per dollar)“? In that post I showed how you can use the BA Shopping portal to buy Avios for 1.32 cents per mile by signing up for a dating service (regardless of whether you actually use that service). That deal was based on an earning rate of 76 Avios per dollar. Now, BA is offering double points: 150 Avios per dollar! This is for first time match.com customers only.
UPDATE 3/2/17 10:50pm Eastern time: The match.com deal appears to have expired. Clicking through the portal produces an error that says, “Invalid Publisher Code, Offer, or Publisher – Advertiser Partnership Status”. We will keep you updated if there is any news to report. eHarmony may still be alive.
Assuming that Match.com still has a $197.88 package available, this weekend’s deal should result in 29,682 Avios! That comes to .67 cents per Avios ($0.0067)! That’s dirt cheap! And while Avios points aren’t great for all awards, they do have extreme sweet spots that make them very much worthwhile. I don’t usually buy miles anymore (since I earn so many from signup bonuses and promotions), but at this price I’ll consider it. A similar play should be possible with eharmony as well (but I haven’t researched that option).
UPDATE: Readers have reported that you can un-bundle your subscription to Match.com to make it more expensive. This One Mile at a Time post has the details on how to do this and earn up to 82,285 Avios for $548.57. You can also see our update.
Other deals
Check your Amex Offers for deals that overlap with these. For example, you could stack the current Sunglass Hut Amex Offer (Spend $200, Get $50 Back) with the BA portal’s 16X rewards.
Another stack we noticed (by “we” I mean “Nick”) is Ebags which has both an Amex Offer and is 24X through the BA portal.
Nick also pointed out the following:
- T-Mobile 15,000 for new service.
- Safeway…..2,000 for new customers. I don’t see any minimum purchase. They only deliver in California, Arizona, Maryland, Oregon, Delaware, Virginia, Washington and Washington D.C. Might have to send a can of coffee to someone.
What deals have you found?
This offer is only available through March 5th. Please help out other readers by reporting in the comments below any great deals you find! And, likewise, read the comments before shopping to get ideas from other readers. Thanks!
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Since the Match offer was dead I went through and tried to sign up for the eharmony one. It seemed like a decent deal until I read over the terms more carefully:
“I agree that I will be charged $79.80 today and 2 subsequent monthly payments of $79.80 each, for a total of $239.40 for a 12 month term; my subscription will automatically renew on these same terms until I cancel; I authorize eHarmony to charge my card now and upon each monthly payment and each renewal; and a cancellation will be effective on the next renewal date of my subscription.”
The terms for Cancellations is where they get you:
“If you purchase a subscription on an installation payment basis (such as three-part pay), cancellation will not affect your obligation to pay the total contractual amount due on your subscription and your credit card will continue to be charged the scheduled payments until the remaining balance is paid in full. ”
So in effect you will be required to pay $239.40 for 10,374 Avios giving you a price per point of $0.043. Ouch! Not a great way to buy Avios. Just thought I would give people the heads up so they don’t go through the trouble of setting up an account just to spend way too much on purchasing Avios.
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I signed up yesterday morning for $572.57 while it still showed 150 point/$. I just received an email from support@shopping.ba.com below. What should I do now?
Our merchant Match.com US has informed us that you made a transaction with them on 02-Mar-17, and as a result the allocated Avios are pending.
Retailer: Match.com US Pending Avios: 34184
I was thinking about using my recent AmEx Offer-purchased Neiman Marcus giftcard at Last Call through this portal, until I saw this fine print:
“Avios will not be awarded on the purchase of gift vouchers or purchases made using gift vouchers, which for avoidance of doubt includes gift cards, gift certificates or on VAT, sales, use, excise or other applicable taxes, and delivery charges.”
So, does this mean you can’t pay with a giftcard and get points? Guess I’ll be sticking with United’s shopping portal. 🙁
I’m on match.com so I can’t take advantage of the promo but will try eharmony instead.
On match.com, you can “hide” your profile so it can’t be seen by anyone.