In working on a post that will hopefully show how to buy British Airways miles cheaply, I ordered a $10 Sears gift card for myself. Or, more accurately, I ordered it for Frequent Miler. With such a small purchase, I was surprised when Sears’ Account Services department called to verify the order. It turned out that I had accidentally put the wrong zip code in with my billing address, so it was no problem getting that cleared up. The interesting part was the following:
Sears Agent: Are you buying this for the miles?
Me: Um, uh, well I did go through the Membership Rewards mall to buy this…
Sears Agent: Its no problem, I was just wondering. A lot of people buy these for the miles.
Me: OK. Just out of curiosity, why did you ask?
Sears Agent: I saw this was a gift to Frequent Miler which sounds like “frequent flyer”. It’s no problem at all. We’re very happy to have you as a customer. Thank you for shopping at Sears.
Well, that’s cool! If Sears knows we’re doing this for the miles and thanks us for it, then it seems likely the Sears gravy train will continue. I wish I had thought to ask “When is 10X coming back to the Ultimate Rewards Mall?”
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Thanks for the quick reply! I’ll see how it goes calling in and will post an update to share my results.
Just curious, have you attempted using Sears gift cards through UR recently? I’ve successfully double-dipped in the past when Sears was still at 10x, however I made a purchase 15 days ago through UR with a Sears gift card and nothing has posted yet. Last time the points posted within 4 days. Hopefully I’m getting ahead of myself, but starting to get a little concerned that they may have “corrected” the problem… If they do not post, would you suggest calling to inquire about the points or would that be a waste of time considering the “requirement” to use your Chase credit card?
Thanks for all the great information!
Erik: I made a purchase on March 8 and it posted March 11. Yes, I’d be concerned if I were you. I don’t think it’s likely that they “corrected” things as much as it seems that UR Mall sometimes somehow doesn’t capture purchases. They missed one of mine that was made with a Chase card. I think you have two options for getting points:
1. Call Chase, plead ignorance if they say you have to use a Chase card, be nice, and hope that they’ll be nice to you and give you points. Try several times until you get a nice rep.
2. Call Sears and tell them that the transaction didn’t go through to the UR Mall. I’ve never tried this approach but I’m really curious whether it’s possible to get help from the merchant side of things.
Call back! 😉
Kevin–probably difference in Chase cards. For my Sapphire, it is 4X and my Ink Bold is at 5X.
Frequent; loved your post. I laugh my arse off!
Kevin F: My account for Membership Rewards shows 4X for Sears. Is this where you looked: http://membershiprewards.com/earn? It’s possible that, like Ultimate Rewards, Membership Rewards gives different rates for different cards.
THEsocalledfan: Glad you liked the post! Note that Kevin was talking about Membership Rewards not Ultimate Rewards.
Hi,
My Membership Rewards account shows Sears at 3x. I see your lab webpage shows it as 5x. Is there any way that I can get 5x as well? Thanks for your help!