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.