NOTE: apologies to those who saw an earlier draft of this. Chalk it up to blogger-error.
I’m trying out a new format tonight. I usually publish a focused single-topic post every morning. Sometimes, though, I have little tidbits of info to share as well. So, every now and then you’ll see this “evening news” post. It will generally go without any pictures and with minimal editing. The idea is just to catch you up with the latest Frequent Miler related stuff. So here goes:
- Magazines.com double dip: As I’ve written about before, magazines.com is currently offering 40 points per dollar through the Ultimate Rewards mall. In some cases it has proven possible to increase the yield to 60 points per dollar by double dipping with gift cards, but I really want to get to 80 points per dollar! I tried one experiment that didn’t pan out. I might have messed it up by using a coupon code. So, I’ll try again (Mom, I hope you want a subscription to Cooking Light…).
- Magazines.com price match: On a MilePoint thread, Katstarr, author of the new blog Will Run For Miles, reported that after making magazine purchases at Magazines.com, she was able to call up and get them to price match to better competing prices. They gave her credit for the difference. So, if you want to take advantage of the 40X promotion, but you don’t want to overpay for magazines, try this out!
- Sears double dip: tomorrow I’ll publish a post about the best current options for this. I’m currently running a new experiment with the Aadvantage eShopping Mall. I’ll let you know how it goes.
- American Express OPEN savings for gift card purchases: I wrote about this the other day in my post about how to maximize points at Amazon.com, but I hadn’t actually tried it at that point. So, I ran out and bought an Amazon gift card at OfficeMax using my Amex business card. I’ll let you know what happens.
- Southwest Companion Pass: Unlimited free companion flights! I’m playing with ideas for how to essentially buy this pass (more magazines anyone?) at a reasonable rate. I’ll write this up if/when I figure something out. Yes, you’re much better off signing up for a couple of 50K bonus offers, but it’s a fun puzzle anyway.
- Gift Card Churning discussion: Don’t forget about the gift card churning thread on Milepoint. Please visit and participate!
- Chicago Seminar: I attended the 2011 seminar and I just signed up for the 2012 one. I can’t wait! Here is the Milepoint thread for more info.
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In reference to the Sears gift cards, we’ve had some very challengimg weeks with sears.com customer service and the local Sears store. I made an UR Mall GC purchase for $100 when the bonus was high. The paper that the card was mailed on said it was $100 but the card only had $50. One and a half hours talking to cust svc and store manager to convince refunding us $50. Wondering if someone at their processing facility is on the take swapping out $50 and $100 cards. Check your GC’s balance when you get them.
Not sure if they run “targeted” redemption rates as does Membership Rewards (infuriating when I get an email touting a better redemption rates for Platinum card holders that I don’t have available when I log in as a Plat. cardholder!) but I was all over a 10 pt. per dollar IC hotels rate offered for a short time in December – It went away shortly thereafter. Did others notice this? The Blogosphere was quiet about it…
James: I don’t think they’re targeted. I did run a post about this: https://frequentmiler.com/2011/10/19/lots-of-extra-ultimate-rewards-points-for-holiday-inn-and-intercontinental-reservations/