Airmiles Armchair Chatter

[bababear_50]

I have two fountains, since I have 4 cats and a dog lol. Most of my cats prefer this style:
catit water fountain
My bengal prefers a bigger dish style that I got for the dog. However he prefers it because he can throw his toys in it and fish them out. So it's more of a toy? They do drink from it as well though.
What type of wet food have you tried? I'll be honest here, my cats prefer friskies or fancy feast to the more expensive kinds that are probably healthier. Except for BFF food in aspic, they love that stuff but it is very low calorie and expensive so they don't get it often. The pate versions are better than the ones with gravy or sauce, but I have one cat who really prefers those saucy ones. I also have one cat who now prefers the same raw food I feed my dog. It's Big Country Raw and they have a cat version, but if your cat won't eat wet food, likely won't want that either. If they need to gain weight, whatever food she will eat is what you want to give though. If that is dry food, make it the best quality she'll eat.
And don't put the food near the water.

Hi Heather
Thank you so much for your help.
I have been overwhelmed trying to figure out how to help her.
I took her to the vets 2 weeks ago for her Booster & Rabies shot.
He said her gums were a bit red and the Vet thought it might be teething but did say she is not gaining weight like she should.
We tried organic food from Global Pet,, she hated the can stuff but tolerated the dry. I also don't believe she was getting any dry from the previous owners. (I know she got no kitten vet visits) She did have worms when we took her for her first visit and we got the deworming pill. Which means she was probably born with them and suffered with them for the first 3 months of her life . Last visit they gave her another deworming pill but no sign of any worms this time.

She has now been on Iams Dry Kitten food and Iams perfect portions Pate. She won't eat the cuts & gravy ones and will only tolerate the Adult Tuna ones. I figure hey some is better than none. I've taken to adding a half pouche of the Temptation lickables to her wet food to get her to eat it.
***The thing is she ate all of her wet food when we gave her Fancy Feast/ Friskies,,,, which is what she arrived here eating from previous owner.
Tonight I gave her a larger big glass bowl for water and she drank some of the water,



I was using this type



Yep I am so attached to her in such a short time.
****Edited to add: We think she was born April 15th but the previous owners may have lied because KIjjii won't allow listings for Kittens under a certain age. So she is between 5-6 months old we think.


I will look at the water fountain you posted,,, is it easy to get filters for it?
Thanks Mel

This used to be *MY* table,,, slowly everything I kept on it made it's way to the floor,,,,lol

 

[hdrolfe]

Hi Heather
Thank you so much for your help.
I have been overwhelmed trying to figure out how to help her.
I took her to the vets 2 weeks ago for her Booster & Rabies shot.
He said her gums were a bit red and the Vet thought it might be teething but did say she is not gaining weight like she should.
We tried organic food from Global Pet,, she hated the can stuff but tolerated the dry. I also don't believe she was getting any dry from the previous owners. (I know she got no kitten vet visits) She did have worms when we took her for her first visit and we got the deworming pill. Which means she was probably born with them and suffered with them for the first 3 months of her life . Last visit they gave her another deworming pill but no sign of any worms this time.

She has now been on Iams Dry Kitten food and Iams perfect portions Pate. She won't eat the cuts & gravy ones and will only tolerate the Adult Tuna ones. I figure hey some is better than none. I've taken to adding a half pouche of the Temptation lickables to her wet food to get her to eat it.
***The thing is she ate all of her wet food when we gave her Fancy Feast/ Friskies,,,, which is what she arrived here eating from previous owner.
Tonight I gave her a larger big glass bowl for water and she drank some of the water,

View attachment 708430

I was using this type
View attachment 708429


Yep I am so attached to her in such a short time.
****Edited to add: We think she was born April 15th but the previous owners may have lied because KIjjii won't allow listings for Kittens under a certain age. So she is between 5-6 months old we think.


I will look at the water fountain you posted,,, is it easy to get filters for it?
Thanks Mel

This used to be *MY* table,,, View attachment 708432slowly everything I kept on it made it's way to the floor,,,,lol

Kitten food is good, more calories after all. But any of the pates would probably work, if she'll eat them. If she never had dry food before she will probably prefer it. Iams isn't a bad food, if she'll eat the kitten version then for sure let her have what she wants. You may want to try some freeze dried food or treats, stella and chewys should be available at petvalue. You can add it as a topper to dry or wet food if she likes it, to encourage her to eat. It's expensive to feed as straight food but if you are adding it the other stuff it's reasonable.
The water fountain filters are on amazon, or at walmart, so pretty easy to find. There are all kinds of them, if you don't want the plastic one you can probably find a porcelain style (since she likes the toilet lol).
I assume the vet is doing a test to see if she still has worms? You can get advantage for cats at pet stores now. You may also want to look at some probiotic stuff for her. Fortiflora is good but I'm sure there are lots of others.
She is adorable, I hope you are able to sort out what she'll eat. If she is teething that could be part of it.

 

[ottawamom]

Mel sorry to hear about your kitten worries. Kids and pets not gaining weight two of my greatest concerns in life. You'll get it sorted out.

I broke down last night and got a Scene card. If I can't beat them I guess I need to join them. I feel like I'm kind of over chasing for Miles/points. I'm more about just keeping the grocery bill as low as possible these days. Always looking for the bargain.

I've been reviewing hotels near Disneyland of late. I found one that is inexpensive, clean and will allow me to cancel and get my AM back up to a few days before arrival. I'm thinking I should just book it and get my savings out of Airmiles.

Tossing and turning between flying into LAX or SNA. SNA means a connection LAX I can do direct (from Toronto). SNA has a short taxi/uber/rideshare whereas LAX it is considerably longer. Decisions, decisions... Leaning towards SNA.

 

[cari12]

Did anyone out west do the Save On Foods card linked offer? It was spend $100 and get 200 AM. Per the attached it clearly says 200 AM per week, not combined. I did both weeks and last night only 100 AM posted. I can see the week 2 not posting yet but I was expecting 200 AM per week.
I guess I’ll wait a few days and if they don’t correct it I’ll have to chase it down.

 

[ottawamom]

I bit the bullet and booked a room in Anaheim for next April. When the confirmation came through it looks like the booking was done by Getaroom. This appears to be a third party that Airmiles has outsourced with. Anyone have experience with this type of hotel stay.

They say the reservation won't appear at the provider until 72hours before we arrive... If I had know before confirmation that this was how it worked I might have done more investigation.

Worried!

 

[hdrolfe]

I bit the bullet and booked a room in Anaheim for next April. When the confirmation came through it looks like the booking was done by Getaroom. This appears to be a third party that Airmiles has outsourced with. Anyone have experience with this type of hotel stay.

They say the reservation won't appear at the provider until 72hours before we arrive... If I had know before confirmation that this was how it worked I might have done more investigation.

Worried!

I haven't booked an AM room since the summer, but it was 1 night and somewhat last minute. I am not familiar with the getaroom site. But I am happy you booked it! I am sure it will all work out and you'll have a great time

 

[bababear_50]

I bit the bullet and booked a room in Anaheim for next April. When the confirmation came through it looks like the booking was done by Getaroom. This appears to be a third party that Airmiles has outsourced with. Anyone have experience with this type of hotel stay.

They say the reservation won't appear at the provider until 72hours before we arrive... If I had know before confirmation that this was how it worked I might have done more investigation.

Worried!

Hi Hon
While I am happy you have chosen to book a room for a Hotel stay I am not seeing positive reviews online re *Getaroom* .
Have a look
https://ca.trustpilot.com/review/getaroom.com
https://www.sitejabber.com/reviews/getaroom.com
https://www.bbb.org/us/tx/dallas/profile/hotel-reservation/getaroomcom-0875-90022997/complaints
https://www.complaintsboard.com/getaroom-b116873

Edited to add that I have no personal experience with them.

Hugs Hon
Mel

 

[Pumpkin1172]

Ugh....this is exactly what I was going to do with out AM. Use them for hotels for our Florida trip (maybe California we can't decide)

I have enough AM for us to stay at Endless Summer is the 2 room suite for the entire trip. Back to the drawing board

Edited to add. I think it's just time to use what we have, and focus on other programs. We are not big on-line shoppers and that seems to be the route they are taking now.

 

[bababear_50]

So this is probably a stupid question....
But isn't Redtag.ca the AIRMILES Travel Partner?

Hugs Mel

Edited to add
Looks like

Is this site operated by AIR MILES®?​

POINTS TRAVEL INC. provides the website travelhub.airmiles.ca (the “Website”) to assist AIR MILES collectors in gathering travel information, determining the availability of travel-related goods and services, making legitimate reservations or otherwise transacting with travel suppliers. AIR MILES has engaged POINTS TRAVEL INC. for the provision and operation of the website. By making a booking, you instruct POINTS TRAVEL INC. and its suppliers to purchase, supply and process the travel-related goods and services on your behalf. The provision of services takes place directly between the AIR MILES collector and the respective hotel or car company. AIR MILES is neither the procurer nor the supplier of the travel-related goods and services offered on this site.

https://travelhub.airmiles.ca/shopping/faq?locale=en-US&currency=CAD&flow=combined&resetMsg=true

 

[momof2gr8kids]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/credit-card-surcharge-shop-1.6606997

Looks like racking up our AM CCs might not be so easy any more.

 

[Donald - my hero]

I've used miles for hotels often, planning on using some when we head to Florida in the spring for the leading night - don't have the mental energy to address every comment, just giving some thoughts:

• Redtag is only for packages/cruises & park tickets
• MOST 3rd party reservations (expedia, hotel .com those types of things) won't show up at the local hotel until a few days (or hours) before you check in, heck even travel agencies "own" your reservation until you stand at the desk
• Less than a month ago we booked at a Marriot thru the airmiles hotel portal (paid cash since i wanted to EARN miles not use them) and I got an email from the hotel before the other confirmation came thru
• If you read the FAQs on the travel page of the airmiles site it says BEST POINTS INC. are actually in charge of the bookings and they are legit and trustworthy, part of TICO

I know we're all nervous and unsure of what's going on with the entire program - i think this is just another example of how a global pandemic (not using the "C" word to avoid this thread being shut down!) has impacted every business that is based on travel. Sponsors are leaving because it costs them to give us the miles and they get better bang from either their own loyalty systems (Like Rexall) or joining one that doesn't charge them (like Scene) Airmiles is changing the value of miles because they have a TON sitting out there waiting to be redeemed and it's sort of like waiting for a run on the bank in It's a Wonderful Life - if everyone decides to cash in at the same time they're screwed!

How we as collectors decide to deal with our miles during the uncertainty needs to be based on personal acceptable risks - do you cash in now for something you might not want or ride it out until you are able to use them as you planned when you earned them? We've got a bunch just sitting waiting for Disney to eventually sell AP again OR release 2023 rooms to 3rd party bookings and if something doesn't happen soon I'll just cash out for 10 day tickets and still consider them *free*

 

[ottawamom]

So this is probably a stupid question....
But isn't Redtag.ca the AIRMILES Travel Partner?

Hugs Mel

Edited to add
Looks like

Is this site operated by AIR MILES®?​

POINTS TRAVEL INC. provides the website travelhub.airmiles.ca (the “Website”) to assist AIR MILES collectors in gathering travel information, determining the availability of travel-related goods and services, making legitimate reservations or otherwise transacting with travel suppliers. AIR MILES has engaged POINTS TRAVEL INC. for the provision and operation of the website. By making a booking, you instruct POINTS TRAVEL INC. and its suppliers to purchase, supply and process the travel-related goods and services on your behalf. The provision of services takes place directly between the AIR MILES collector and the respective hotel or car company. AIR MILES is neither the procurer nor the supplier of the travel-related goods and services offered on this site.

https://travelhub.airmiles.ca/shopping/faq?locale=en-US&currency=CAD&flow=combined&resetMsg=true

I know. So much has changed and I didn't read the terms before I booked to see that Airmiles was farming it out.

After a little more investigation I feel more comfortable with the whole thing. I found the Get a room website and entered the confirmation # AM supplied me with. It shows the reservation confirmation and that everything has been paid in full. (well some measure of comfort anyway). I had made a reservaton through an online company when we went to Texas (by error) and it all worked out just fine. I'm sure this will be the same.

Points Travel Inc is a huge rewards redemption travel agency based in Toronto. They recently merged with another travel company called Plusgrade. I think they have the monopoly on travel rewards bookings.

 

[ottawamom]

Thanks for the reassurring words Jacqueline. You are the Jiminy cricket on my shoulder for all things airmiles

 

[bbangel]

I just used Airmiles to book a hotel stay in Vancouver in September. Everything went great and I would book a room using them again.

 

[bababear_50]

Edited: previous post
moved to Scene+ thread.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On a positive note my second 20$ instore shop at Shell worked for another 50Airmiles

​

• October 7, 2022
  
  50 MILES WITH $20 IN-STORE
  +50

Hugs Mel

 

[dancin Disney style]

Well I'm back from the hot and sunny Dominican Republic. I must have acclimated at hyper speed because I have been freezing since I got off the plane last night. I nearly got up in the middle of the night to get flannel PJ's. I was planning to get a PC Express order for pick up yesterday (DD was available to do it) but I saw the AM offer for Sobeys and decided that I had better take full advantage of every last mile I can squeeze from them this month. Dragged my butt out of vacay mode at 7am and off I went. I had a couple of my offers that were good, so that coupled with some in store offers and the spend $125/100 I walked out with 299 miles from a $129 spend. Used the GC I bought last week to pay.

I happened to buy the 20X max pass thing last week but I did not read the small print so I was not aware that it had such a short date range. Oh well...it was only $5. I'm going to head over to Shell today to at least grab a couple of bottles of coke (we are out) for the spend $20/50 offer and hopefully the max pass thing applies to that. I could also get a car wash for another 50. I'm off to read the details of these to see if the max pass applies. DD's car could use some gas so it's not a totally frivolous trip out.

I think I'm very much not enjoying getting back to real life so fast. It's hard having people do literally everything for you and then you have to go home and do it for yourself

 

[tinkerone]

Well I'm back from the hot and sunny Dominican Republic. I must have acclimated at hyper speed because I have been freezing since I got off the plane last night. I nearly got up in the middle of the night to get flannel PJ's. I was planning to get a PC Express order for pick up yesterday (DD was available to do it) but I saw the AM offer for Sobeys and decided that I had better take full advantage of every last mile I can squeeze from them this month. Dragged my butt out of vacay mode at 7am and off I went. I had a couple of my offers that were good, so that coupled with some in store offers and the spend $125/100 I walked out with 299 miles from a $129 spend. Used the GC I bought last week to pay.

I happened to buy the 20X max pass thing last week but I did not read the small print so I was not aware that it had such a short date range. Oh well...it was only $5. I'm going to head over to Shell today to at least grab a couple of bottles of coke (we are out) for the spend $20/50 offer and hopefully the max pass thing applies to that. I could also get a car wash for another 50. I'm off to read the details of these to see if the max pass applies. DD's car could use some gas so it's not a totally frivolous trip out.

I think I'm very much not enjoying getting back to real life so fast. It's hard having people do literally everything for you and then you have to go home and do it for yourself

Welcome home, sorry it's chilly .
How was the airport? Any issues with luggage? We will be flying out in 12 days and it's the first time I have been nervous. Not really sure what to expect.

 

[dancin Disney style]

Welcome home, sorry it's chilly .
How was the airport? Any issues with luggage? We will be flying out in 12 days and it's the first time I have been nervous. Not really sure what to expect.

Thanks!
Ok so…I have several friends that work either at the airport, airlines or tour operators. I can tell you they have all said the media has blown everything way out of proportion. Couple that with social media and the fact that one unhappy person takes to the internet and things blow up fast. My own personal experiences this year have been nothing out of the ordinary (pre 2020 days). I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve passed through YYZ and my kids have. Oldest DD now travels for work across Canada. Combined we are at maybe 12 trips in the last 8 months. Not a single problem between us. Well, some weather delays but those don’t count in my book.

What my friends have said about the things that we have all seen on the news etc. The biggest line ups are for flight prior to 9:30-10am. Those problems come from the passengers themselves. People show up 4-6 hours early and before customs/security opens. Then they start lining up. So by the time they do open the lines are very long. My flight last week was scheduled to depart at 8:15am so we arrived at the airport at 5 am. There was hardly anyone around. We walked right up to the counter, checked our bag and went to security. There was a short line there that took maybe 10 minutes but I don’t think it was actually that long. Now, I drew the short straw and got pulled aside for additional screening….happy to report I passed the swabbing of my hands and the sniffing of the dog. Then my carry on was also pulled aside. That guy took his sweet time and also took pleasure in being a jerk. I was ripped a new one for putting both our liquids bags in the same bin. That part took longer than waiting in the line.

Returning home yesterday was a lot faster then any normal day. Which surprised me considerably. We travelled Sunwing (swore I would never ….sorry to my exec friends there) and due to construction they are using the satellite terminal which is pretty far out on the property. It’s a good 10ish minute bus ride. The one perk to the satellite terminal is that when they drop you back at the main terminal you are right at CBSA…literally a few steps. I had used ArrivrCan to do my declarations and we scanned our passports at the kiosk it spit out the paper and we were done…about as fast as you just read that. We did have to. wait a bit for luggage which is to be expected when they have to off load and then make that 10ish minute drive. We had priority bags so ours came out first and off we went. All total from when we got off the plane to getting home was 90 minutes. The biggest delay by far was waiting for the limo.

My advice has always been just show up early enough. If you know your way around and don’t need to stop for food or anything then you are probably fine with 2ish hours ahead. If you don’t know your way or want to make some purchases then 3 hours. The X factor though is US immigration if you have to go through there…it can be fast or slow. There is an app for that now that saves time. Now, I know my way and have the option to call for a favour to skip the lines (which I have never done) but I will always show up 3 hours early. I prefer to be early and sit in a quiet corner with a tea.

That was like a novel!

 

[ottawamom]

Thank you for the Pearson report. It's just what I needed to hear.

Anyone have thoughts on booking with WestJet now for a flight in late April. Great seat sale now. My inclination is to wait and see how they do over the next few months (re cancelling flights etc) and book in February. Flight is YOW-YYZ-LAX April 30-May 6

 

[tinkerone]

Thank you for the Pearson report. It's just what I needed to hear.

Anyone have thoughts on booking with WestJet now for a flight in late April. Great seat sale now. My inclination is to wait and see how they do over the next few months (re cancelling flights etc) and book in February. Flight is YOW-YYZ-LAX April 30-May 6

Our flight, in less than two weeks, is with WestJet. I've been watching and they don't seem to be having delays so that's always a plus. We are flying out of YYZ.