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.
Friday, December 30, 2011
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
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.
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.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
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.
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.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
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.
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.
Monday, November 21, 2011
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.
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.
Friday, November 18, 2011
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!
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!
Thursday, November 17, 2011
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.
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)