Merry New Year!

Some people call it the most wonderful time of the year.  Screw that.  I hate any time of the year when my elite balances are going to turn to zero. 

Having said that, I have a lot to be thankful for.  After a year of unemployment, I found a job.  My wife recovered from a serious illness.  And I have two wonderful kids who continue to thrive, even if dinner time is a struggle.  2010 was an F.  2011 was an A-.

As you know, I am not spending as much time on this blog, since there really isn't much going on for GS12.  Most of my time is spent on two other blogs:


Mysuitepoints focuses solely on hotel deals.  There were 10 or so hotel partners last year, and I look for deals that are either ridiculously cheap, or free.  It's a site for "quick hits" rather than extensive analysis and I post as many deals as possible that won't be a waste of time.

Freepointsite is turning out to be a lot of fun.  It focuses on non-travel loyalty programs, ranging from My Coke Rewards to Pampers Points.  For the most part, it is a list of free codes to get points at any of those sites.  I laughed at first until I realized A) how many free points these sites tend to give away and B) they have pretty good prizes (e.g., You can get movie tickets at Pampers Points.). 

I update both of those sites daily and look forward to the day when I make my fortune from google adsense (Okay, that'll never happen.).

Points are good, but I hope that you have a safe, happy and healthy new year.

Update: e-rewards, e-Miles, Wyndham

I'm currently at $58.21 on e-rewards, so I'm a little over halfway to getting enough points for one of the GS12 hits.  Hey, it's a start, and we're not even in 2012.  The e-rewards surveys have been coming a little more frequently, although they do come in waves.  Hopefully, I'm not at the end of the wave.

e-Miles is so easy that I tend to forget about it.  I had 70 points waiting for me and am now up to 165.  I'll have no problem hitting the 500 mark.  Note: When you sign up for a newsletter or free offer, it says to use the same email address that you use for your e-Miles account.  That tends to lead to a lot of spam and I've never had a problem using an alternate address.

My easy Wyndham hit is now gone.  There was a mistake fare for a Ramada in Mexico which allowed me to book two rooms for under $10 and qualify for the 6,500 bonus points for two stays.  A number of people, however, have been having trouble with the hotel, and I don't feel like fighting with a hotel in Mexico.  I cancelled the reservations.

Updates

It's been a busy few weeks preparing for GS12, a promotion that may not even exist next year.  Having said that:

I rented a car this week using a Radisson promotion that would give me 9,000 points.  We'll see if the points actually hit or if I need to fight with them.

FT pointed out a mistake fare for a Wyndham in Mexico city.  Assuming that all goes to plan, which rarely happens, that'll be 6,500 of the 7,000 I need.

I'm up to $42 in e-Rewards and have just gotten a few new surveys.  It's a long way to what I need, but with Club Carlson and Wyndham potentially done for next year, it will help.

Don't let your emiles expire

I just got an email reminding me that I hadn't been to emiles in a while.  Not a revelation, since I get this email about once per week.

What caught my eye, however, was that my account went inactive and my points were about to expire.  Oops, can't have that.  I logged back in and did one of the clicks.

Emiles is one of the easiest GS hits and, since you can get either Hilton points or US Airways points, it's actually worth two hits, although getting enough Hilton points to transfer to US Airways for a hit would involve a thousand clicks.  You can speed it up by signing up for the 10-15 point offers, but be sure to use an email address that is not vital to avoid all the spam. 

Bottom line: because it's so simple, it's easy to forget about it.  Don't.

More eRewards!

Okay, you're gonna get sick of hearing about eRewards, but I've been getting a bunch of them over the past week, so keep at it in preparation for GS12.  I'm up to $28, which is about 5-10% of what I believe I will ultimately need, but a good start.

Note: DO NOT just click random answers.  They have filters to grab people who are doing surveys faster than humanly possible and/or giving highly inconsistent answers.  Get caught enough times and they'll shut you off.

e-rewards surveys coming in, so start now!

e-rewards tends to go in fits and starts.  Over the past several days, I have gotten lucky and qualified for one or two, along with a few that booted me.  Take advantage of the surveys while you can, since you may not see another one for a while.

Why start now?  $7,500 gets you 4,500 Club Carlson points.  $100 in e-rewards currency can get you any of the following: 4,000 Choice points, 4,000 La Quinta points, 4,000 Priority Club points or 7,000 Hilton points.  What do those all have in common?  Not a single one will get you enough points for a hit.  Furthermore, there may be limitations on the number of transfers to a particular partner in a quarter, which means you need to get these transferred by the end of September to be able to get a second transfer in during the third quarter to top off your balances.  And let's not forget the 500 emiles you can get for $25 e-dollars or the actual US Airways hit you can get for transferring 25 e-dollars.

The bottom line is this: You are going to need several hundred e-dollars to convert to hotel points to max out on these hits.  True, there are easier ways to get those hotel points, but e-rewards is consistent.  The good news is that there is a lot of time between now and next September, so get crackin!

What's next? Preparing for GS12

So now that I'm essentially done with GS11, I've decided to keep this blog open and start preparing for GS12.  Granted, it could all be for naught, since they may not run the promo next year, or it may be so different that nothing from this year applies.  My suspicion is that we will see the promo again, but with more restrictions added regarding minimum purchases and what counts/doesn't count.  That means you, Audience Rewards.

Now is the time to start preparing.  Yes, now.  eRewards is your friend.  You're going to need several hundred eRewards dollars if you want to convert them into hotel points for later transfer, so get started.  It seems intimidating at first, since you start at zero (if you can even get an invite) and don't often qualify for surveys, but you'll thank yourself later.  And yes, I'll put it out there one more time: the new blog focuses solely on hotel points.  By the time GS12 rolls around, you'll easily have enough for several transfers.  I put up one opportunity today that may get you almost halfway to the Radisson hit, no money required.  I promise, that's the last of the self-promotion for today.

Emiles is an easy hit.  Start it today. 

I'll be posting my progress as I go along.  Obviously, the postings won't be as frequent, but I will show up.  Stay with me in the journey to next year. 

Hit #37 posts. Pshaw...

No waiting this one out for me.  Hit #37 posted today, so I'm pretty sure that I'll be getting those last 20,000 miles.  Total cost for the promo?  Just a hair under 0.52c per mile.  And lots of fun.

And it's over! Part II

Hilton hit.  36 hits achieved, another 20,000 miles to make their way to my US account.  100,000 total.  The insurance hit, which will post Thursday, won't be necessary.  Rats, I could have used that hotel stay to earn my 50,000 Radisson points as discussed here.  Surprisingly, they still haven't gotten 50,000 sign-ups.

I wonder what I'll do with all my free time now.  Start preparing for GS12, perhaps?  I'm already building up the erewards points and really should get to work on emiles, but for now, I'm just going to think about where SQ is going to take me.

Thanks to those of you who have checked out the new blog.  It's been fun to write and I hope that you will continue to follow it.

And it's over!

Grand Slam 2011 has come to an end.  Don't worry, there's still plenty of time for those hits to count.  I'm still waiting on one of two, but you could have hits posting for the next several months, so don't fret!

Still waiting...

It's not quite "excruciating," but I'd like to get that 36th hit securely over the finish line.  Is that mixing metaphors?  I don't know if that's allowed on the internet.

The Hilton stay hit my Hilton account and now I'm waiting for it to get over to US Airways.  And then I'll be done with this friggin' promo for another year.

Mysuitepoints.com is up and running and I'm having fun posting promos that you may or may not be interested in.  But I encourage you to visit, since it makes me feel good.

Stuck at 35 for now...

But it should come to an end on Thursday, when my Hertz hit posts, if not before then.

I stayed in the Doubletree on Washington Street in Boston the other night as my safety hit and I'll give them credit where credit is due.  I have no status at Hilton but my wife is Diamond.  We were staying under my number, but when we mentioned that my wife is Diamond, they gave her a Diamond amenity and free internet access, anyway.  Granted, the amenity is only two bottles of water and a couple of bags of fruit snacks, but we both appreciated the gesture.

Meanwhile, I'm continuing to focus most of my time on getting mysuitepoints.com up and running.

The new hotel blog is up!

And as an added bonus, it has a cool name: mysuitepoints.com.  Get it?  "Sweet?"  "Suite?"  Okay, let's face it, all the good names were gone, so I went for a cute pun.  It will focus exclusively on hotel point opportunities, which aren't as numerous as airlines in terms of points, making them a little more fun to manipulate.

This site is a major work in progress.  I'm going to try to post daily, just to get into the flow of things, but I'm looking for questions, comments and observations.  I encourage you to check it frequently and make it a part of your daily grind.  Of course, I'm a little biased.

The sweep has happened

At this point, it is academic, but another 35,000 miles made their way into my account, with the 32 hit barrier having been breached.  Two Hertz hits remain, and one of them should post today.  I've got a Hilton stay tonight as an insurance hit, but I don't think it will be necessary.

It's over! 36 hits achieved!

33 posted, with two Hertz hits and NetSol still to come.  The Hertz hits shouldn't be a problem.  Nor should the NetSol one, although that will take a few months to post.  I have a hotel stay coming up this week, so that stay should provide the insurance hit.  A few notes from my FT post:

With the mysterious Connie having saved my Choice transfer, I have finally reached 36 hits (insurance hit to come later, but that's a freebie). My total out of pocket was $596.24, earning me 114,462 miles, pre-insurance hit. Cents per mile of 0.5209083 (although that seventh decimal point might have been rounded), which just missed my goal of 0.5 cpm. That number includes the $44 I spent for Choice points to transfer; Had I decided not to do that hit, I would be under the goal but sweating out every hit.

A few notes:

1. Any hit which involved a hotel I would have stayed in anyway, a restaurant I would have eaten at, an item I would have ordered, etc. was considered a free hit, since there was no incremental cost. If I surrendered a more valuable currency for a cheaper one to earn points (i.e., not earning SPG points and choosing to earn miles instead), the difference was added into the cost.

2. When I transferred points from a hotel program to US, I added the cost of the points (based on Lucky's estimates) to the numerator and the miles that I received to the denominator. That made my "accounting" more conservative, since a straight valuation of the miles might have made them worth more than the points transferred, but ultimately I felt that it made for a better comparison in a cents per mile sense. There was no discount given in programs where I never would have used the points anyway (I'm looking at you, PCH.).

3. "Negative costs" accrued where I bought a substitute item at a cheaper price than I would have paid absent the promo. Let's just say my wife received cheaper flowers this year than she might have in the past. She can think about it while she's drinking her PDB in SQ F.

4. Most expensive hit: The Wyndham transfer, valued at $70. Ouch. I shouldn't have done that one so early. Or at all.

5. I gave no bonus for the enjoyment I got out of doing the promo which includes, but is not limited to: trying to explain to the Hertz people that I really don't need the car, chatting with Joan from Choice in her van down by the river and trying to figure out exactly how much to spend at the W Hotel restaurant without going over $67.

And it gets interesting once again...

One more Hertz hit done, which puts me at 35.  An upcoming Hilton stay will give me 36, so I am essentially finished.  But I decided to do my Choice transfer, just in case.

Remember Choice?  The one that told me they had the problem all fixed so I could transfer to US?  Surprisingly, they didn't.   I should have known.  I called CP and got a representative named Joan, who sounds like she is answering the call from a van.  "Hmm, um-hmm, um-hmm, hmm..."  It's pretty bad.  They're still trying to tell me that it is because the account was an old America West number (It wasn't.) and that there is literally one person who can help me.  They have asked me to put AW in front of the redemption.  Didn't work.  Asked me to call US to make sure it's the right number.  Umm, I'm pretty sure I'm okay there.

I have informed Joan that I paid for points with the express purpose of getting US miles and I expect them to refund me the $44 if I am not able to transfer them.

This is it! The last week...

We're almost there!  Get your hits in this week, since GS11 ends on Sunday.  And it feels like it just started.  Actually, with two fewer weeks this year, I think it did...

31/34 have posted for me although, if tradition holds, Hertz should post this week and SPG should post today.  And I have a Hilton stay and a Hertz rental coming up this week, so that should leave me at 36.  Now, what to do about that insurance hit...

In the home stretch...

It's hard to believe that there are only two weeks left to go in the promo.  I've made it to 34 hits, with 31 of them having posted.  Waiting for one SPG, one Hertz and one NetSol.  Unless that NetSol hit appears in the next week or two, I'm gonna have to do a bonus hit, just in case.

Hertz posted like clockwork this week.  I don't know why I live in fear that it won't show up some week.  Probably because a missing Hertz hit last year cost me my 36th hit.

My apologies to those of you who left comments that I didn't reply to promptly.  I've been out for a day and a bit under the weather.

One SPG hit...

I was getting pretty nervous about those SPG hits, where I got credit for dining.  It was definitely taking a lot longer for the miles to get to US than it did when I was simply transferring points.  Thanks to those on FT who pointed out that it is a longer process and, indeed, the first of two hit today.

One more meal, maybe two, and a Hertz hit should do it for me.  I'm at 34 completed and have room for one more Hertz rental and at least two hotel stays.  Come to think of it, I have a hotel stay this coming Thursday night.  Cool.  Down to one rental and one dine.  Man, that was fast.

34 down, two to go...

Another meal at the W Boston and a quick stop at Hertz, where I promised to drop off some of the websites that I use to find all of these great deals.  I suppose that I should point to my own, but this is probably going away soon.

Hey, Flyertalkers out there, let's be nice, okay?  There's a lot of flaming going on in the GS forum.  Can we keep it down?  Seriously, if somebody asks a question or mentions something at the end of a thousand-post thread that was mentioned four hundred posts ago, it may be missed.

What's next: And now, for something completely new...

A number of people have asked me what I am going to do once GS11 is over.  That number happens to be zero, but I'm okay with that.  Well, not really, but I don't get much say in the matter.

In any case, I like the travel blogging.  It's fun, productive and allows me to practice my typing.  I'm still unsure about a couple of things, though:

1) I suck at blog design.  I literally just kept what blogger has and can't figure out much more than that.  I guess "Blogger for Dummies" would be a good start, but I look at Gary's and Lucky's blogs and feel more than a little envious.  Hopefully, my next effort will be a little better.

2) I've decided to focus on hotel points, and solely hotel points.  A) I like hotel points programs and feel like they don't get the presence that airline programs do, and B) Lower-end chains like Choice, Wyndham, etc. don't get the coverage they should.  In addition to hotel bonuses, I'll probably touch on bonuses from credit cards, rental cars, etc. 

The new blog will be found here, mostly because all of the good names were taken.  Hopefully, I will start posting soon. 

Right on track with Hertz

I'm slowly getting over my Hertz paranoia, as the hit managed to post again properly this week.  Four out of six Hertz hits done, 32 out of 36 overall.  Breathing a little easier, as I could finish it off at any time with (expensive) hotel transfers.  Instead, I'll take my wife to dinner at a W restaurant.

Mike

FTD: How to lose a customer in ten minutes

A month after the order date, my FTD miles still have not posted.  I called 1-800-SEND-FTD and got
Gene.  The fuzzy background indicated to me that I was speaking to a rep many miles away.  I explained the situation and asked when my miles would post.  He then asked me for my name, address, address of the recipient, what was written on the card and the last four of the credit card number, in addition to other items that I have forgotten (in order to verify me; This guy has a career at the TSA coming!).  He told me that the miles had posted.  I informed him that they hadn't.  He read back to me the US Airways number.  I told him it was the correct.  He told me the miles had posted.  I told him they hadn't.  He told me that he would let management know (CEO or CFO?) and I asked him when the miles would post.  He didn't know.  I asked him if they would contact me.  He said they would, but didn't know when.  I like to keep track of whom I spoke to, so I asked him what location he was at.  He told me that the company was headquartered in Downers Grove, IL (now that's a downer) but that he was not allowed to release his location.  Too bad, since I was going to take my GS miles and fly to wherever he was to buy him tea.

I didn't really trust that he knew what he was doing, so I got a supervisor.  She told me that, in fact, the miles hadn't posted but assured me that Gene would be reprimanded.  Pictures of a dungeon, the gimp and whips/chains immediately came to mind, so I told her that perhaps it would be better if he were just corrected on procedure.  She agreed.  No gimp.  She told me that she would personally deliver the mileage request to a specialist who would process them immediately.  When?  Dunno, maybe 24-48 hours.

I wouldn't have ordered from FTD if it weren't for this promo, but if I had previously had any thoughts of doing so, they are gone now.  I can only what it is like to try to get a missed delivery fixed. 

Note to all companies who view customer service as a cost center rather than a revenue center: You will be reprimanded.  I heard the gimp has some availability.

Mike

Two more credits

Best Western and Teleflora were kind enough to credit today, bringing me up to 37 credited hits.  The interesting one at this point will be how long SPG takes.  I got credited for a lunch four days ago and the points were shipped out the same day.

Sweeps week

Not that kind, the important kind. 

Another 10K was officially credited to my account as US did a sweep yesterday and caught 24 of my 26 hits.

Interestingly, I also got 50 points for Audience Rewards.  You know, the show that never took place and they never called me or refunded my ticket so I charged it back?  How's that for a run-on sentence?  Clearly, a nice non-profit wasn't ready for the onslaught of crazy people ordering tickets for shows they would never go to.

Back on track with Hertz rental #4

One down, four more to go with another Hertz rental this afternoon.  That's four, for those who are keeping count or reading the titles.  Add in two SPG meals and that should do it.

2/4 on getting some variation of, "Oh, so you're one of those people!" when (not) picking up my cars.

A quiet weekend

My cancelled trip to NYC wiped at least two hits off the board and nothing posted, so I'm stuck at 31 hits with 26 having posted.  That means three more trips to Hertz, which is the easiest way for me to get the extras at this point, with at least two more meals at the local W Hotel.  Of course, that leaves me at exactly 36, leaving no room for a foul ball.  Ugh, may have to go for that third meal at the W.  My wife is not going to be thrilled with date night for the next few weeks, but she should have no problem spending the miles.

The inevitable chink in the armor...

This is why you do or plan for extra hits: My trip to NYC this weekend got cancelled, costing me two hits.  Not good.  Not a desperate situation either, though, since I can make up at least some of them with Hertz rentals (I have three I can still do.) and a few more meals at the local W Hotel.  That does mean that my cost per mile goes up, but it also means that at least one of the expensive hits that I did earlier makes a difference.  How do I determine that?  Excellent question:

I have 31 hits completed (but not credited).  I can do four hotel hits and three Hertz hits, giving me 38 total.  Of the 31 I have done so far, three were "expensive," meaning $50 in value or more.  If I hadn't done those three, I would have only gotten 35 hits total, and that doesn't give me a "pinch hit" in case of a foul ball.  Truthfully, I'm probably not going to eat at the W three times.  I'll be lucky to get two.  But it matters.

Hertz posts again

Minutes after posting something on FT asking when I could start to panic about my Hertz hit not posting (They post on Thursdays.), the hit posted.  Those FT guys sure do work fast!

Also, I got the "new" receipt, where the number of miles that you earn does not show on the receipt.  No effect on the posting, obviously.

Choice now ready for take-off

Hey, they were right!  Apparently, the problem was that my old US number was listed as an AWA number and US managed to relink it.  On the other hand, I've now got more than enough hits to qualify for the promo, so those Choice points will likely sit until GS12.

Mike

Hit #31: Lunch at SPG

What's even better than a $91 lunch at the W Boston?  Having someone else paying for it and letting you use your SPG number.

Looks like I'm actually on track to get 39 hits this year.  Which means that I can skip one or two hits that I planned on doing or go for triple-protection.  Decisions, decisions...

But I really wished that I had saved a couple of the more expensive hits.

Odd issues with Choice hit

So Choice couldn't take my US number.  No idea why, since others have had no problem.  At first, they tried to tell me it was a United number.  Nope.  So it's going to be 72 hours while they figure out exactly what the problem is.  I won't hold my breath.

Choice Hotels for the pinch-hit

Let's face it: Something isn't going to post.  I know it, you know it and US knows it.  So it is critical to do hit #37 and maybe even #38.

To that end, I transferred some e-Rewards points to Choice and kicked in $44 to buy another 4,000.  I don't like paying that much, but it's worth it as an insurance policy.  My new e-Rewards account offers a number of hotel partners, so I'm just saving up for next year.  GS 2012 will be made on the back of hotel transfers.

Note: for Choice, the purchase was almost instantaneous, but you actually have to log out and then back in to see the points.

As my total breaks 200,000...

Given some help from last year's GS and previous miles, I am proud to say that my US balance is now over 200,000.  Hoping that SQ will be in my future someday.

My Hilton double-dip came through so, with the addition of the Office Max miles, I am now up to 25 posted hits. 

In addition, I did another Hertz hit today, where the clerk said to me, "Oh, so you're one of those people.  It's always nice to be recognized.

Office Max shows up

Per the discussion in FT, I decided to email Office Max to speed them up.  Hey, whaddaya know, there it is!  That's hit #23 that credited, although I'm pretty confident about most of the rest.

Hey, just for my personal edification, I'm curious if anybody actually clicks on the adsense ads ever.  Please feel fre to leave a comment.

I bit the bullet...

and moved 5,000 Membership Rewards points to Best Western for future transfer to US.  I have to admit, it hurt, since I consider it a $50 hit.  But it will be hit #36, assuming that my back-to-back Starwood nights transfer separately, I get to the W for dinner on October 19, 26 and November 2, and that they all credit successfully.  And that I get four more Hertz hits.  And that I get no "foul balls (hits that don't credit)" with my existing hits...

You see where I am going but, in theory, this should be my most expensive hit left.  But it's going to get ugly at the end, since I'm planning on doing #37 if I don't have 36 in time.  Better safe than sorry, unlike last year, when two hits went foul and I ended up with 35 hits.  Ouch.

Another update from US

US ran the numbers again and I received another 10,000 miles, having passed the 20 credited mark.  No other hits credited last night, so I'm still waiting on a bunch.  28 completed, 22 credited.  I have two hotel stays coming up, which should push me up to 30 (assuming SPG gets the conversion right) and then can make up the rest of it on hotel dines (three more) and rental cars (four more).  I'll likely have to do a hotel point conversion, which is an expensive but guaranteed hit.

Teleflora posting-three weeks from the order

I noticed on FT that people were starting to post that Teleflora had hit.  It hasn't hit for me, so I called them.  They told me it would be three weeks.  Odd, since people who had ordered after I did got their miles already.  This one is worth watching.

ETA: Turns out that the activity date is based on the delivery date, not the order date.  As is often the case, the representative was, well, wrong.

The eye roll...

I have to admit, I enjoy the eye roll.  That's when you tell somebody what you are doing for miles, they roll their eyes and look at you like you are crazy.  Today, it was another Hertz rental, which makes, um, 1+1=2.  In and out in three minutes, which beats my previous four minute mark and came with no sarcastic comments from my wife.

I told somebody about it today and he said, "Are you one of those people who bought gold coins from the mint?"  I can very confidently say that I bought no gold coins from the mint.  Silver dollars, on the other hand...

28 down, 22 credited.  Eight to go.  Well, probably nine. 

22/27, nine more to go!

I've now had 22 of my 27 hits credit, waiting on Office Max, FTD, Teleflora, Hilton and Network Solutions.

Office Max and Network Solutions appear to be "problem hits."  Not a red light, more of a yellow light.  Office Max hits posted last year in days, but the merchant is warning that it might take longer this year.  Or maybe not.  They don't really seem to know.

Network Solutions should hit, but it will be long after the promo is over.  In other words, there is going to be a lot of fingernail biting until the runner crosses the plate.  It's hits like these that lead to the need for a 37th hit.

So with nine to go, I have five hotel stay hits that I can do (with two already booked) and five car rentals left.  I also have a bunch of hotel points transfers.  In other words, I should be able to pull it off, with one to spare.  In honor of the promo, maybe I'll rent a car tomorrow.

The blog returns! With a few updates...

I'm back!  I know you've all been waiting with baited breath.  Who came up with that phrase, "baited breath," anyway?  Why would you think of something like that?  Just don't kiss me.  Or breath near me.

With the October roll-over, I got a quick 500 emiles, which posted almost immediately.  I also stayed at a Hilton for a few nights, giving me a hit there.  Hertz, DM shopping, debit card shopping, the toolbar and DM shopping mall all posted, meaning that I have reached 26 hits, with 21 having posted.  Still waiting on a couple of flower guys, Net Sol, Office Max and Hilton.  Truthfully, I could give myself a big boost by transferring some points from Hyatt, Marriott and Hilton, but those are very expensive hits, even after translating for the miles that I earn.  I'll save those for the end, in case it looks like I'm running behind.  But I'm confident of the five that are outstanding, so I think I'm in pretty good shape.  In the meantime, I'll have five more cars to rent, I have two upcoming hotel stays and my wife is going to get to eat at the W restaurant three weeks in a row.  There's the magic 36, although there will also be some "safety hits" thrown in, just in case.  The end is near.

In stall mode, off for a few days...

Well, no new hits or offers over the past few days, and I'll be out of town until Thursday, so there may or may not be any posts until then.  Unfortunately, I didn't think about GS11 when I made my reservations and only have one hotel stay, not two, for this trip.

One FTer has apparently discovered a flaw in the system regarding hotel transfer points.  According to the T&C, you must transfer hotel points for a minimum of 850 US Airways miles.  Anyone who did it for that exact amount, however, seems to be missing a hit.  It looks like the coders at US set the hit for greater than 850 miles.  I would anticipate this error being corrected by the next sweep.  While the explanation may sound odd, it absolutely corresponds with the hits that FTers have received.

I've decided to put off the Choice hit for this year and start prepping for next year.  Choice points apparently take a while to hit the system, and with six weeks left in the promo, I'm not going to chance it.

It's official, 15 hits have counted!

Um, but there's an issue.  I had 16 as of 9/29.  Let the neurotic behavior begin!

Vinesse posts miles, tiers finally appear

Well, they didn't get all sixteen of the hits that had posted, but I did get GS credit for the first three tiers, i.e., 12 of the hits.  Hopefully, the rest will catch up in the next round.

Biscoff hit early this year and Vinesse pleasantly surprised me for my purchase of a wine cooler (recorded on US's website as a wine purchase), so there are two more hits that posted.  The downside is, without my spreadsheet in front of me, I've lost track of exactly how many I have, although I believe the number of credited hits is 18.  Since we're still in September, I'm not particularly concerned.  Note that Vinesse was a concern since we didn't have confirmation that it would count as a hit without a subscription.

Beltway has reported on FT that people are getting credit for AR trivia, Vinesse non-wine hits and funding a Sharebuilder account without making a trade.  All good signs for the Grand Slammers.

e-miles finally completed

Well, that was an unexpected surprise.  I had a bunch of e-miles clicks waiting for me and I completed enough to put me over 500 miles.  Deposits apparently occur monthly, but I couldn't tell you if I will get them 10/1 or 11/1.  Hey, as long as it counts, I'm not complaining.

A little half and half anyone? Some bonuses starting to post...

So here's the scoop.  A number of Flyertalkers are starting to report that their bonuses are posting.  And some aren't.  A number of people have called customer service at US and the general consensus is that there is no general consensus.  It appears that the tier bonuses could appear anytime from tomorrow through the next two weeks.  Great, combine airline customer service with IT and get pretty much any airline promotion that has run this year.

Most of the other news is good.  It is virtually impossible to confirm, but it does appear that the Audience Rewards trivia is counting as a hit.  This bonus is extra nice, since AR has proven very difficult to deal with.  My Hertz hit posted, as did the Trackitback.  People are reporting some issues with Sharebuilder, though.

I did manage to get a hit this weekend, eating at a local restaurant for Dividend Miles Dining.  Zero cost, since I would have eaten there anyway.  This hit was making me nervous.  It is so simple to get that it would be easy to just keep putting it off and never getting around to it.  Glad it's out of the way.

Most importantly, though, happy new year to everyone, Jewish or not.  May your new year be fruitful and sweet.  It's been rough around the country for the past year, so I'm rooting for everyone out there.

Any day now...

In theory, today is the day that we find out how many hits US has credited us for.  Of course, in theory, Communism works.

Note: I will be out the remainder of this week and much of next, so there may not be much in the way of new posts, starting tomorrow.

Buying US Airways miles for $28.68

This hit is always out there but I've been too lazy to do it.  Until today.  The hit was $27.50 plus 7.5% tax, although I get to subtract a few cents for the SPG points that I earned on my credit card.  Who doesn't need 1,000 extra US miles, anyway? 

It gets interesting for the next four hits.  20->24 hits gets me an additional 10,000 miles, but then it's an incremental 15K, followed by two jumps of 20.  At that point, I'm simply trying to find the cheapest marginal hit.

Earned hit #11, AR trivia and the first posting of the hits

My Priority Club points posted overnight, so I have now gotten credited for 11 hits.  It's always fun seeing my DM balance change and trying to guess what hit credited.

Audience Rewards trivia points also posted yesterday, which gives us a chance to see if those count as a hit.  I think.  I can't remember from last year whether they broke out which hits you had actually received.

Speaking of which, the chatter on FT is that tomorrow will be the first day that we will see how many hits we officially have.  US posts hit totals every two weeks or so.  Hopefully, it comes through.

Three hits and a miss

Alas, the first hit got pulled back today, as the Audience Rewards show that I bought (Brass something-or-other) got cancelled.  Of course, no one bothered to tell me, so I didn't find out until I called.  Good thing that I did.  For now, I'm going to see what happens with the trivia points, but I have a feeling I'll be buying another ticket.

The plus side is that I got two cheapos and a potential cheapo.  I bought my wife a teddy bear on FTD (With the romantic message, ""Happy birthday! You're worth every one of the 650 miles (and 93 Starwood points) I earned from ordering this!") and some flowers on Teleflora.  Total cost?  -$15.16.  Negative?  How did I pull that off?  Well, it turns out that what I bought her this year is a grand total of $15.16 less than the cost of the flowers I would have bought her locally.  Hey, those costs work both ways.

Vinesse could be an issue.  FTer dsquared37 turned me on to a wine chiller, which cost me $10.70, after $.75 shipping (versus the free shipping that others seem to have gotten).  There is still some controversy over whether a non-subscription is good for miles and, therefore, a hit.  The T&C on Vinesse's website may or may not indicate that a wine purchase is required.  Of course, those T&C are also from 2009, so take it for what it's worth.  If it does come through, it's a cheap hit for a wine chiller that I will never use for the wine that I don't drink.

Will Hertz be the one that hurts me this year?

Pardon the pun.

My Hertz hit from last week really should be hitting any minute now, and it shouldn't be a problem.  But I haven't seen anything yet and I got a PM from a FTer who was told at the location that I went to that Hertz won't give miles for the hourlies.  Ouch.  If I can't get the Hertz/rental car hits, 36 is pretty much out of the question.

Nothing to report today, but a big hello...

Nothing new today.  No new hits, no new confirms.  Rats.

But a big hello to everyone who attended the Boston Do last night.  I enjoyed putting a lot of names to handles.

Supershuttle hits, and fortunately, my wife's birthday is in October...

Turns out there are three flower-related hits (1800flowers, ftd and teleflora), a fact that had escaped my attention earlier.  Shipping is the killer with both of these, with the shipping costing as much as the cheapest items!

My DFW Super Shuttle no-show hit.  Thanks to FTer Heffa, who was kind enough to check a bunch of us in when we all missed our non-existent flights to DFW and weren't able to get to our non-existent Hyatt reservations.

Office Max is working! Hit #20

Thanks to the folks who kept on the companies to get the Office Max link working.  I've needed a new calculator, so the cost of the calculator didn't count against my total, although the shipping did.  Total cost for the hit was $7.98.

Since this was hit #20, I hit another step and reduced my cost per mile to $.008.  Not near my target of $.005, but still not terrible.

Hit #19 and some mild disappointment

Hit #19 goes to DM shopping, which is one of the ultra-cheap hits.  I bought a couple of songs through the itunes link which I was planning to buy anyway, so that's a freebie hit for me.  The problem is that I often have trouble getting credited for itunes downloads through affiliate sites, so I'll have to keep an eye on this one.

We've now reached that stage in the promo where I get disappointed if my balance doesn't change overnight.  Not a big deal, but I've done enough hits that I expect to see more miles each day when I wake up.  Still, I'm doing my hits earlier this year than I did previously, so it'll give me more time to watch and wait.

An oldie but goodie: Track it Back makes hit #18

Lucky #18 and the half-way point belongs to Track it Back, a company that produces little stickers that you can put on the back of electronic goods so that people can return them if you lose them.  TiB is best known in FF circles, however, as  the guys who were offering 40 miles per dollar while US was doing a 250% partner bonus promo, allowing scores of frequent flyers to earn 140 miles per dollar spent.  Ah, the good ol' days.  $24.57 for a sticker gives them a great profit margin and me another hit.  That includes the world's most expensive shipping envelope at $4.99.

SkyMall and my Wyndham points conversion were kind enough to post last night, giving me nine veritable hits.

I'm on the Interweb! Hit #17 from Network Solutions

I now have a domain name that I may never use, but the $25.31 was a reasonable price for hit #17.  Note: You will get 2,000 US miles for doing a 3-year registration, through the link on the shopping page (It says only 1,000.).  Use code RETAIL70AF on the page with the slider (how many years you are choosing) and it will knock the price down by 70%. 

My seventh hit posted last night, so that's always a good feeling.  My pierced ribbon votives arrived yesterday and man, are they ugly.

And Priority Club makes 16

Valuing PC points at 0.6c each, I made a $60 hit to transfer 10K PC points into US.  That's hit #16 and worth another 8,000 miles or so.  Yup, this was a lazy hit, but one that I would have to do anyway, so I might as well get it out of the way early.  I just hate the expensive ones.

Unfortunately, this transfer could not be done on line, so I had to spend several minutes on the phone with someone who kept verifying my information over and over and then told me that my frequent flyer number didn't match the one on account.  PC makes it easy to get points, but doing anything else with them is like pulling teeth.  I have been put on hold several times, because they can't replace the fake number with mine.

Two more hits credited today, Thanks Again and well, something else, I think SPG.  That's six in total that have actually credited.  I'm a little worried about the Super Shuttle hit.  Hopefully, DFW didn't close down the no-show loophole.  And I even tipped the phantom driver!

Give a Christmas Dog Collar to the SPCA from Skymall

If you need a cheap hit, there is an inexpensive Christmas dog collar on Skymall.  I'm happy to take a collection of them if you want to send them my way and donate them to the MSPCA after the promo is done.  PM me at Flyertalk (mikeef) or leave your email below and I'll contact you with my address.

Mike

Batteries cancelled, need to redo Skymall hit?

Seriously?  The merchant ran out of 9 volt batteries?  I'm ordering this, instead.  My wife will love me for it.

Mike

Hertz rental bonanza, otherwise known as "Oh, no, she's making him a sandwich!"

(Kudos if you get the obscure Simpsons reference in the title.)

For those of you who are lucky enough to live in Boston, New York or Stamford, you have a special Hertz opportunity for an easy hit.  Hertz offers hourly rentals in these cities, and while you may have to pay some extra taxes or fees (My $12 hit totaled $24.83 after getting hosed by Boston's convention tax.), it's a good marginal hit if you are getting toward the end.  50 miles, which is 49 more than the hit requires.

I'll get my six rental car hits easily this year, which is a plus, since I was using lunches at Starwood for hits last year, and those are now less likely, with the 200 point hotel minimum.

Note: Certain rental agencies will not give you points for rentals that do not take place at an airport.  Please check and make sure your agency is not one of them.

The following conversation took place this weekend:

Me: Oh, I have to run over to the Park Plaza Hotel on Monday.

DW: Why?

Me: I'm having an affair.

DW: (After five minutes of laughing): Seriously, why?

Me: What, you don't believe somebody would have an affair with me?

DW: Okay, what points scheme is this related to?

In Boston, the Hertz "hourly rental" place is across from the Boston Park Plaza hotel. The guy told me that I needed to take the car out once he did the paperwork, but once he realized that I truly had no interest in it, he just checked me back in. He understood once I told him it was a mileage promo. Total was $25.60, due to non-amortized Convention Center tax. The receipt said "50 miles awarded" and gave my DM number.

Total transaction time: about four minutes. It's worth noting that, when I told my wife that, she started to get nervous that I actually was having an affair.

Mike

Share miles weekend hit

Shared miles with a FTer and got a hit at a cost of about $31.  Again, a little high, but it's one I would have done, anyway.  The danger with these weekend hits is that I don't have my spreadsheet in front of me and am having trouble keeping track.  Thus, the blog.

I have officially gotten three hits to credit now, the points.com transfer, which took about two days, and the mileage share and magazine redemptions, which were essentially instantaneous.  I'll keep an eye on the rest and update them as they come in.

I'm going to start looking at local car rentals this week.  Speaking of which, if you are reading this, feel free to check out the rates through the adsense link that is somewhere on this page.  No, I don't get referral fees, but I think google gives me money or something if people click on my ads.  I'm not too up on this whole interweb thingie.

Mike

Five more hits, but don't forget that "apply" button

Took a big hit today for $70, with a Wyndham transfer.  I have a feeling that I'm going to discover that this one is not worth the money in the end, but if I'm stuck at 36 hits, I'll be okay with it.  I traded Marriott points with another FTer for it.


Spent 500 US miles for Fast Company magazine.  I could have done Sunset for 400 miles, but there's a chance I'll actually read FM.

Other hits: Thanksagain got me a restaurant.com cert.  Use promo code Savor for 80% off.  FTer Heffa was kind enough to offer to check a bunch of us in at Super Shuttle, so that was another hit. Finally, some $.99 batteries at SkyMall got me a hit.  I hope they give credit for hits under $1, but at three miles per hit, they'll owe me at least two miles. 

The "Apply" button came into effect twice today.  For Restaurant.com, when you enter the promo code, you have to hit "Apply" to get it to take.  For SkyMall, you have to hit the button after you enter your US number.  Don't leave it out.

I'm now at 13 hits and running at $.008-.009 per hit.  Good, but not great.  That Wyndham hit is going to end up costing me, although I may be valuing Marriott points that aren't going to get used effectively.  I keep finding cheap hits that I had missed previously, so all is good for now.  Hopefully, as the number of miles goes up, I'll be able to keep the costs down.

Seven hits today...

The good news is, I did seven hits today.  If all eight credit (and they should, since none of them is a "controversial" hit), that's 10,000 miles at just under 0.6 per mile.

Biscoff: Anna's sampler for $8.47, plus $5.00 in shipping (subtracting out $.40 for the value of the SPG points I earned on my credit card).  See Beltway's thread (the link is in a previous post) for the cheapest hit.

1-800-FLOWERS was also kind enough to sell me a set of Pierced Ribbon Votives.  I have no idea what they are, but they could be elephant dung (I'm pretty sure they're not.) and I would have taken the hit for $13.99.  Beltway's thread.  Edited to Add: There is at least one post in the FT thread where 1800F posted the hit for a date before the promo began, even though it was ordered after the promo.  I'd wait a week on this one.

I have my Visa Debit card from last year and that got me a free hit today.  It counts as free if I am purchasing something that I would have purchased otherwise, since there is no additional outlay.

I gave in and did my first hotel transfer, as well.  850 SPG points became 850 miles, which is a net loss based on 3c per mile.  A $25.50 hit this early in the game hurts, but I'm pretty sure that I would have needed this one to push me over the top, anyway.

Freebies:

Here's where it gets good: I got three free hits (well, virtually free, anyway).

1) I downloaded the US Airways Toolbar and did three searches to earn a mile.  Possibly the easiest hit in the history of this promotion.

2) I used Points.com to transfer four AA miles into a US mile.  I value AA miles at two cents each, so that was an $.08 hit.

3) I transferred my e-Rewards into US Airways miles.  No cost there.  The thread I linked to describes both the e-Rewards and e-Miles programs.

Tomorrow gets more difficult.  I got through the easy stuff and will have to start making decisions about which hits to take chances on (Will DFW SuperShuttle give points for a no-show again?) and which ones are worth the cash.

Cheapest hits in the "other" category...

Flyertalk member Beltway has taken on the thankless task of keeping track of the cheapest hits in the "other" category, which is essentially anything not related to hotels, cars transfers of miles.  This list can literally change minute by minute, so please check often for the best deals.  This list is essential in keeping down your cents per hit.

And They're Off!

First hit today: Audience Rewards.  Normally, I would wait until the second day of the promo, just in case, but I didn't want all of the cheap tickets to go, and Flyertalk notes that these hits post on the day of the show, not the day of purchase.

I bought a $15 ticket to a show in Charlotte (I don't even remember which one.), even though there were cheaper tickets for the Poetry Slam.  I took one for the team, so to speak, since I have a feeling that the Poetry Slam is going to be filled with FT no-shows.  In order to avoid that outcome, please see the thread here so that we don't fill up a particular show with no-shows.  There is also an email address for those who wish to donate their tickets.

Stupid is as stupid does...

In my "idiot move of the day," I bought a book directly from Amazon's site today.  Had I waited a few days, I could have bought the same book through US Airways shopping and gotten a hit for it.  (Smacks self in head.)

Grand Slam starts in two days!

I know everyone's excited to start, and I'll be posting from Day 1.  But my advice is to use the next few days to gather your hits and decide what you want to do.  Find the cheapest hits and list them.  Get a good spreadsheet together.  Get a good night's sleep in preparation for the fun.

I'm not going to do my first hit until the 16th, with the possible exception of Audience Rewards, so that I can still get a cheap ticket.  I'm just a little paranoid about the backdating that way.

9,000 Club Carlson points for a 3-day Avis or Budget rental

If you need to rent a car and are going to max out on your car rental hits, Club Carlson is offering 9,000 points for a 3-day rental at either Avis or Budget.  8,000 points is good for one hit.

Shopping for Choice points

Took a little bit of a hit today when I went to buy a Nordstrom gift card through the Choice shopping mall to get enough points to send to US Airways.  Turns out that, for this particular merchant, gift cards are excluded.  Ouch.  That was going to be an easy hit by buying a card that I would have used anyway.

With less than a week before we officially launch, I'm starting to position myself for easy, early hits before getting to the complicated ones.

Minimums for Hotel Stay hits

Unlike last year, where any number of points from a hotel got you a hit (Thank you, SPG restaurants.), US Airways is requiring a 200 mile minimum.  At hotels that give miles per $ spent, this creates a potential problem for mattress runners.  Thanks to lowfareair's thread on Flyertalk, we have easy access for the minimums:

Best Western: Any stay earns 250 miles

Carlson: Any stay earns 250 miles at Country Inns & Park Inn, 500 miles at Park Plaza and Radisson

Choice: Any stay earns 250 miles

Hilton: 500 miles per stay (fixed miles) at all except Hampton, Homewood, and Home2, which require $200 (variable miles).  Check to see whether fixed or variable miles work better for you

Hyatt: Any stay earns 500 miles

IHG: $100 most brands, $200 Staybridge & Candlewood (two points per dollar, one point, respectively)
La Quinta: Any stay earns 250 miles, they might also allow points on third party website bookings such as Expedia.  This one's a big "maybe."

Marriott: $100 (Marriott brand and better), $200 (all mid-tier and lower brands)

SPG: $100, or $67 for Platinum Members

Wyndham: $100, or any stay at a Wyndham Hotel or Wingate (these chains are 500 per stay)

Hotels: Alternative methods and points for Third Party bookings and no-shows?

There are six possible hits for hotel stays.  If you're a frequent traveler, just be sure to set your profile to miles and enjoy the easy hits.  I have three hotel stays during the period and I think that number will stay pretty hard and fast.

The other way to get the hits is a little more complicated.  You can either make an "arrangement" with a manager at a hotel to give you a discounted rate, plus the points, and guarantee him/her a no-show.  Or you can just go the no-show route on your own, although only Wyndham claims that it awards points for no-shows.  Others state outright that you don't get points or say it's up to the local hotel.  Caveat emptor.

Another cheap method to get hotel points is by using Expedia's best rate guarantee, where it will give you a $50 credit if you find a better rate for the same stay.  Simply google Expedia Best Rate Guarantee and make your reservation.  Get your credit, then cancel the reservation.  Keep the credit and use it toward a future property.  The problem?  Only La Quinta allows you to do it, and even they are a "maybe."  Double Caveat emptor.

9/6/11: Reregistration

I re-registered for the promotion, just in case.  It's important to print your registration.  Note that, just above where your name is, it should read, "You have successfully registered for this promotion.  Thank you for choosing US Airways."

New Rules: What's different from 2010

US Airways has done an admirable job of tightening up the rules this year and making it more difficult to earn cheap hits.  Among the new rules, which I'll add to as things change:

• Hotels now require 200 miles per stay to count as a hit and 850 miles per transfer to count as a hit.  Ouch.  There go some very easy meal hits at Starwood, not to mention the 1 point transfers for Platinum members.
• There's now 40 hits, but the additional four are only for Preferred members and earn another 10,000 miles, which count toward status.
• There's a slight change in the earnings ramp: You get fewer miles at the lower level of hits and more incremental miles at the higher levels.
• Sorry, only one car rental per day.  No finding a friendly rental location and knocking them out all on the same day.
• The dates for the promo will run September 14-November 14.  Don't be late.  Or early, since last year started on September 1.
• There is, at least, the implication that if any of your hits reverse due to a cancelled subscription, US will take away all your miles, not just the one from that hit.
• Miles are not offered for quotes, unlike last year, where you could get a hit for an insurance quote.

Thus begins my journey...

As a way of keeping myself sane for the US Airways Grand Slam promo, I'm starting my blog to keep track of my attempt to get the 36 hits needed for 100,000 US Airways hits in the cheapest way possible.  Valuing the miles at a penny per, anything under $1,000 total qualifies.  Plus the fun of it all.