Airmiles Armchair Chatter

bababear_50 · Jul 27, 2016

2 50.00 purchases--took my sons shopping (Family shopping trip to Rexall)

,,,gosh my sons had such a laugh at me.

One son needed to stock up on travel items--leaving for a trip to Vancouver tomorrow.
Had to redo one purchase as the total kept messing up saying I was and wasn't at 50.00---seems when the airmiles card was swiped there are certain items (Fanta orange pop 3.49 a bottle) that drop to 99 cents which messed up my total. BUT mom wasn't leaving without her 200 airmiles,,and a bonus 10.00 gift card :dogdance:

.
Happy shopping
Hugs Mel
I agree with Ottawamom and Pigletto Rexall regular prices are high.

bababear_50 · Jul 27, 2016

American express question (Get 2000 Bonus Airmiles with new American Express Card)

Can I buy $500.00 dollars worth of Food Basic gift cards to meet the minimum purchase to
acquire the 2000 Bonus points? Or maybe some shell Gift Cards?
I checked and Sobeys, Metro,Foodland,Price Chopper and Food Basics take American Express.

info links
http://www.foodbasics.ca/more-about-us/faq.en.html

https://www.americanexpress.com/ca/en/content/our-cards/choice/merchant-list.html

ottawamom · Jul 27, 2016

I have to give credit where credit is due. It was Pigletto who said Rexall prices are high. Although I do agree with her assessment of their prices.

bababear_50 said:
American express question (Get 2000 Bonus Airmiles with new American Express Card)

Can I buy $500.00 dollars worth of Food Basic gift cards to meet the minimum purchase to
acquire the 2000 Bonus points? Or maybe some shell Gift Cards?
I checked and Sobeys, Metro,Foodland, and Food Basics take American Express.

info links
http://www.foodbasics.ca/more-about-us/faq.en.html

https://www.americanexpress.com/ca/en/content/our-cards/choice/merchant-list.html

I don't see why not. All they want is for you to charge $500 to your card to qualify. Happy shopping!

bababear_50 · Jul 27, 2016

ottawamom said:
I have to give credit where credit is due. It was Pigletto who said Rexall prices are high. Although I do agree with her assessment of their prices.

I don't see why not. All they want is for you to charge $500 to your card to qualify. Happy shopping!

Sorry Pigletto~~Hugs Mel~~
Hi Ottawamom--what is your first name if it's ok to ask?
I haven't got the card just yet ,,I got a letter saying I will receive it in a few days, I am trying very hard to NOT put stuff on credit so I am looking for just stuff I normally would purchase but kind of pre buying.
Thanks for your help
Hugs Mel

Debbie · Jul 27, 2016

bababear_50 said:
American express question (Get 2000 Bonus Airmiles with new American Express Card)

Can I buy $500.00 dollars worth of Food Basic gift cards to meet the minimum purchase to
acquire the 2000 Bonus points? Or maybe some shell Gift Cards?
I checked and Sobeys, Metro,Foodland,Price Chopper and Food Basics take American Express.

info links
http://www.foodbasics.ca/more-about-us/faq.en.html

https://www.americanexpress.com/ca/en/content/our-cards/choice/merchant-list.html

Yes. I did not see any restrictions on the $500. Just charge and pay it off.

pigletto · Jul 28, 2016

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/air-miles-hiding-merchandise-1.3697143
I read this article this morning. It is disappointing to read to say the least.

ottawamom · Jul 28, 2016

bababear_50 said:
Sorry Pigletto~~Hugs Mel~~
Hi Ottawamom--what is your first name if it's ok to ask?
I haven't got the card just yet ,,I got a letter saying I will receive it in a few days, I am trying very hard to NOT put stuff on credit so I am looking for just stuff I normally would purchase but kind of pre buying.
Thanks for your help
Hugs Mel

It's Anne-Marie

ottawamom · Jul 28, 2016

AM I missing something or is the Sobey's flyer this week a huge disappointment AM-wise? I feel like we've hit the dog days of summer on the AM front. KD and peanut butter at Metro and maybe the +50AM meal at Sobey's that's it. I guess I'm going to have to go to Rexall for allergy meds to get anywhere with my AM this week.

bababear_50 · Jul 28, 2016

Foodland
http://ontario.foodland.ca/flyer/
If you buy Tim Hortons coffee Packages / bottled ice capps it might be a good offer.
Buy 3 get 60 airmiles
or the one below it --however don't tell Mort about the gatorade,
Hugs Mel
Hi Anne-Marie

no Sobeys for me this week.

Donald - my hero · Jul 28, 2016

pigletto said:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/air-miles-hiding-merchandise-1.3697143
I read this article this morning. It is disappointing to read to say the least.

Wow! That's beyond WRONG!!!!! My daughter's MIL has (get this) 49,000 to use before the end of
the year.... she first tried to pay for their flights to Florida and they couldn't get the site to work and the phone went unanswered so she cashed in some of her Areoplan points (which NEVER expire now) . She then picked up universal passes for them and figured they could get some luggage thru air miles. I thought my daughter was having trouble using the site because I could see easily 10 times more than she could. Now I read this article and understand, I'm not happy with this, pretty shady business practices I think!

pigletto · Jul 28, 2016

ottawamom said:
AM I missing something or is the Sobey's flyer this week a huge disappointment AM-wise? I feel like we've hit the dog days of summer on the AM front. KD and peanut butter at Metro and maybe the +50AM meal at Sobey's that's it. I guess I'm going to have to go to Rexall for allergy meds to get anywhere with my AM this week.

Sobey's is a bust for me this week as well. We are headed to the cottage for the week and there is no Sobey's near there, so it's just as well that I can skip it for the week. I can't even do the 50 airmile meal deal because I have an aversion to that cut of chicken.
I'll get my 100 airmiles at Rexall on Friday and I'm done. Better luck next week!

pigletto · Jul 28, 2016

Donald - my hero said:
Wow! That's beyond WRONG!!!!! My daughter's MIL has (get this) 49,000 to use before the end of
the year.... she first tried to pay for their flights to Florida and they couldn't get the site to work and the phone went unanswered so she cashed in some of her Areoplan points (which NEVER expire now) . She then picked up universal passes for them and figured they could get some luggage thru air miles. I thought my daughter was having trouble using the site because I could see easily 10 times more than she could. Now I read this article and understand, I'm not happy with this, pretty shady business practices I think!

I agree. I've been soured by reading this thread and seeing the complete lack of customer service and inconsistency when it has come to delivering peoples Disney tickets. Reading this article is doing nothing for my opinion of the program sadly.

I was talking to my husband this morning and there is a strong case to be made for shopping the cheaper stores, watching for deals, and putting what I save in the travel account. I think it would accumulate faster to be honest.
Using this program though has made grocery shopping fun, and less of a chore, and when it's in airmiles it's socked away and less likely to get dipped into for household items. Plus the current reward amount for Disney tickets is a savings over any other way I can get them.

I don't know.. just thinking outloud I guess. I would miss the hunt and everyone in this thread of I stopped collecting. I just don't want to read the things I have been reading lately and throwing our hard earned money at a rip off you know?

bababear_50 · Jul 28, 2016

Thinking out loud here too.................The article was disheartening to read. I received a Airmile information (PR letter) two days ago where they talked about their commitment to hiring more staff and being more transparent in there service.

small part of letter

"There are longer than acceptable wait times to speak to an AIR MILES Customer Care Specialist
Your frustration is our frustration. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience you are experiencing. Higher than expected call volumes are causing the delays in answering your calls. We have all available representatives on the phones to take your calls. You can expect improved service as more representatives are brought on board.

Everything you need to know about the AIR MILES Reward Program is on airmiles.ca
There have been intermittent website availability issues due to high activity. Providing website stability is one of our top priorities so you, our Collectors, can take advantage of everything our website has to offer. "

I find the system works for me when I

A) buy products on sale at Rexall and super stock up--toilet paper, tissues,laundry soap.

B) Buy a few things with high point average like spend 10 dollars on popsicles and get 75 airmiles.
and lets not forget the powerade super buy.

C) Buy gift cards that I normally would buy for gift giving and get airmiles.

I have a vacation account through work but it just covers the cost of yearly maintenance fees for timeshare.
A saving account that I have accessibility to on a day to day basis would not work for me as I would be dipping into it all the time.

Airmiles lets me stock pile all the extras that I want for our yearly trip
Park tickets/Passes
Starbucks gift cards
and a few Visa gift cards.

My normal weekly bi weekly shopping is done at No frills or Food Basics due to prices.

Hopefully as airmiles grows they will improve on there service.
JMHO
Hugs Mel

brandyleeann · Jul 28, 2016

The Sobey's/Safeway flyer for the west is great this week! Sorry to those (assuming in Ontario) where it's not that great.....

There is the 190 bonus AM for $150, plus a ton of deals I can use (like four drumsticks for 50 bonus, toilet paper for 40 bonus, kraft products for 100 bonus miles). Yeah

ottawamom · Jul 28, 2016

brandyleeann said:
The Sobey's/Safeway flyer for the west is great this week! Sorry to those (assuming in Ontario) where it's not that great.....

There is the 190 bonus AM for $150, plus a ton of deals I can use (like four drumsticks for 50 bonus, toilet paper for 40 bonus, kraft products for 100 bonus miles). Yeah

I'm going to have to have a look at that flyer. I'm heading to Winnipeg next Thursday (assuming that A/C doesn't cancel that flight :furious:

but I'm not still bitter) so I might have to take my AM collecting for the week on the road.

ottawamom · Jul 28, 2016

I've got to admit I'm feeling a little bummed about AM at the moment as well. It's kind of like how some of us were feeling about Disney when all the negative vibes were flying back in the late winter with all the changes that were happening then.

With sober second thought I have to remember that AM has provided us with quite a number of benefits. (park tickets, flights, hotel nights etc.) Until recently, I think there have been very few negative incidents. My park tickets will arrive eventually (they are on backorder right now and I'm not in a rush for them). I'm bummed about not being told A/C cancelled my flight but they (AM) did book me on the next best direct flight. I was able to rework my hotel stay etc. The couple of times I've called for help I have not waited more than 15 min on the phone for service (ONYX may have something to do with that) so I can't really complain.

I think we all need to just stop reading the bad press and continue on with what we have been enjoying. The collective shopping for the AM deal! :flower1:

Rant over!

pigletto · Jul 28, 2016

ottawamom said:
I've got to admit I'm feeling a little bummed about AM at the moment as well. It's kind of like how some of us were feeling about Disney when all the negative vibes were flying back in the late winter with all the changes that were happening then.

With sober second thought I have to remember that AM has provided us with quite a number of benefits. (park tickets, flights, hotel nights etc.) Until recently, I think there have been very few negative incidents. My park tickets will arrive eventually (they are on backorder right now and I'm not in a rush for them). I'm bummed about not being told A/C cancelled my flight but they (AM) did book me on the next best direct flight. I was able to rework my hotel stay etc. The couple of times I've called for help I have not waited more than 15 min on the phone for service (ONYX may have something to do with that) so I can't really complain.

I think we all need to just stop reading the bad press and continue on with what we have been enjoying. The collective shopping for the AM deal!

Rant over!

I agree. As long as I continue to work the program methodically and they continue to offer Disney tickets, it's worth it for me to keep collecting.

mort1331 · Jul 28, 2016

pigletto said:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/air-miles-hiding-merchandise-1.3697143
I read this article this morning. It is disappointing to read to say the least.

Well I can now say I have no guilt at all about my GC roulette that I did and will continue to exploit when I can.

bababear_50 said:
Foodland
http://ontario.foodland.ca/flyer/
If you buy Tim Hortons coffee Packages / bottled ice capps it might be a good offer.
Buy 3 get 60 airmiles
or the one below it --however don't tell Mort about the gatorade,
Hugs Mel
Hi Anne-Marie no Sobeys for me this week.

Still 6 cases in garage so Not for me..lol...plus no Foodland close.

brandyleeann said:
The Sobey's/Safeway flyer for the west is great this week! Sorry to those (assuming in Ontario) where it's not that great.....

There is the 190 bonus AM for $150, plus a ton of deals I can use (like four drumsticks for 50 bonus, toilet paper for 40 bonus, kraft products for 100 bonus miles). Yeah

We have to set up an exchange. Get extra cards and when you have great deals like this we can take advantage and vis versa. Hmmm.

mort1331 · Jul 28, 2016

ottawamom said:
I've got to admit I'm feeling a little bummed about AM at the moment as well. It's kind of like how some of us were feeling about Disney when all the negative vibes were flying back in the late winter with all the changes that were happening then.

With sober second thought I have to remember that AM has provided us with quite a number of benefits. (park tickets, flights, hotel nights etc.) Until recently, I think there have been very few negative incidents. My park tickets will arrive eventually (they are on backorder right now and I'm not in a rush for them). I'm bummed about not being told A/C cancelled my flight but they (AM) did book me on the next best direct flight. I was able to rework my hotel stay etc. The couple of times I've called for help I have not waited more than 15 min on the phone for service (ONYX may have something to do with that) so I can't really complain.

I think we all need to just stop reading the bad press and continue on with what we have been enjoying. The collective shopping for the AM deal!

Rant over!

pigletto said:
I agree. As long as I continue to work the program methodically and they continue to offer Disney tickets, it's worth it for me to keep collecting.

Yup work the system. Cant say I have ever had problems with getting my tickets. Sept is the first time flying with AM so hoping no issues.

bababear_50 · Jul 28, 2016

Edited to ignore this post
Soooooooooooooooo we decided that we want to try something else to meet the minimum requirement--buy a 500.00 Mastercard Gift Card with the new American Express (arrived today) and use the Mastercard to pay the hydro bill (hot summer). Anyone know if buying a credit card will meet their requirements.

Edited to add
Enersource only takes mastercard payments and charges 5.95 per every 250 dollars so this may not be a good option.
I will find a frugal way to use this money.
Thanks
Hugs Mel

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