Airmiles Armchair Chatter

[Aladora]

So, I had submitted a receipt the other day that was taking a bit of extra time to review. I expected to get 5Am for cheddar and 6AM for waffles but when I opened the app today I also got 21 (!) for meatballs. I thought it was another ground beef/beef burger mixup so I checked my receipt and found that the app gave me 7am for each of the frozen Swedish meatball meals that my son loves! Sometimes the app does know more than the human, lol!

 

[bababear_50]

Cup of Tea and off to get a new tire hopefully.
Tire slowly leaking air due to a screw lodging in it.
Have a great day!
Hugs Mel

 

[hdrolfe]

Stopped at Global petfoods today, spent $28 before taxes so only getting the 100 AM bonus, but they just don't sell the food my dog eats. I could have tried something else for him I suppose but I felt I was spending enough on KitKat who is being fussy. She goes through phases where she won't eat and I have to entice her.

 

[bababear_50]

Don't forget to Gas Up tomorrow!
Hugs Mel

 

[bababear_50]

* Offer available to AIR MILES collectors with a linked Canadian-issued Mastercard (“Eligible Mastercard”). Offer valid Aug 30, 2024 – Aug 31, 2024, or while quantity of AIR MILES® Bonus Miles™ last at Dollarama stores in Canada. To be eligible for the offer, an eligible collector must first opt in to the offer by clicking the “opt in” button during the offer period. After opting in, an eligible collector can then earn 100 Bonus Miles when spending $30 at Dollarama in a single transaction and paying with an Eligible Mastercard during the offer period. Minimum qualifying purchase of $30 must be made in a single transaction on an Eligible Mastercard, and includes taxes, duty, eco fees, shipping and handling as applicable. For clarification, minimum qualified spend is calculated based on the entire purchase, being the total amount that is posted to the Eligible Card’s statement. Limit of one (1) offer per collector number. This offer can be combined with other offers. AIR MILES reserves the right to make changes to this offer and to terminate the offer at any time, for any reason and without notice. Your AIR MILES collector number must be linked to an Eligible Mastercard at the time of the eligible transaction. If you have a Canadian-issued Mastercard that is not linked to your AIR MILES collector number, you can manually link them by visiting airmilescardlink.ca and following the linking instructions. BMO AIR MILES credit cards are linked by default and do not need to be manually linked. Your Mastercard account must be in good standing at the time the Bonus Miles are awarded. To qualify for the offers, eligible purchase transactions charged to your Eligible Mastercard must be subsequently posted to your Mastercard account by August 31, 2024. In the case of an online purchase made during the offer period, it may not qualify if the Eligible Mastercard is charged on the shipping date and that date occurs after the offer ends. Mastercard is not responsible for the fulfillment of the offers. Purchases made by an authorized user per day of a supplementary card linked to the Eligible Mastercard do not qualify, unless the supplementary card is also linked to the AIR MILES collector number. Please allow up to 30 days after the unique offer’s end date for Bonus Miles to be posted to the collector account. Collectors who previously manually linked their AIR MILES collector number to their Eligible Mastercard and who no longer wish to participate in exclusive card-linked offers can unlink their Mastercard from their AIR MILES collector number at any time at airmilescardlink.ca/unlink. The unlink feature is not available to collectors with a BMO AIR MILES credit card that was automatically linked to their AIR MILES collector number by BMO’s auto-link feature. ®™ Trademarks of AM Royalties Limited Partnership used under license by AIR MILES Loyalty Inc. and Dollarama. ™*/®* Mastercard is a registered trademark, and the circles design is a trademark of Mastercard International Incorporated. Used under license.

Hugs Mel

 

[dancin Disney style]

I found the craziest receipt yet. $573 total with $40 worth of bath salts, some sort of capsules from the Natural foods section for $50, another $45 of vitamins, $32 for hair product, $50 in household items (looks like kitchen), $60 for flowers and $95 worth of pre cooked food. The rest was actual groceries...dairy, produce etc. but most items were bought in multiple...3 boxes of cereal, 4 blocks of cheese, that sort of thing so not much of an assortment. LOL....there are 3 large bottles of Realemon. This one got me 39 miles.


That being an amusing little highlight of the week, the low light....DD only has one more week of rehearsal and then she's gone until March. I'm missing her a little already. She's home right now, still sleeping in her bed with the dog and I've got cinnamon rolls in the oven (don't get excited, they came straight from the tube that had a best before date of at least a month ago) . It's a perfect Sunday morning for a mom. There is a chance that I will be invited to attend her final rehearsal at the office this week which I'm really hoping for. She said they don't allow phones in but I only want to watch and soak it into the brain. The one thing I REALLY want to see and she knows, is her getting into a character costume. I just can't quite comprehend that it's actually her. She doesn't think that I will ever get to see this but she is going to ask if it would be possible if I'm in the office.

There have been zero crew discounted cruises, well they are offering the Vancouver to Hawaii for an amazing price but that doesn't help me. So if I want to go it looks like I'm going to have to book at full price. I was hoping to get the discount and then do a B2B in January for a 9 day cruise but that is just too much money at full price. The darn exchange rate is the killer. Right now I'm looking at going in November which is the lowest price 7 day cruise available and it's an inside cabin, I would prefer at least a porthole but that's an additional $500 USD which just doesn't seem worth it. A verandah is even more....$1000 I think. The perk is that I would get to see the Christmas show. I've got to make a decision VERY soon. There are only 3 inside cabins left at the lowest price, which BTW is still going to be around $5600 CAD....then gratuities, airfare and hotel I can do AM for the hotel and airfare (see how I brought that back) to save a little. I can also do Aeroplan points or Amex Cobalt points. So the question then becomes how do I go forward with booking the cruise. I could go through Costco and get a $300 gift card as a discount. I could book with a travel agent that gives an onboard credit but that would likely only be $75-ish. I could book directly with DCL. Second question, which card do I pay with...Amex Cobalt or BMO for AM. I guess which path I take for booking may dictate the card. I am not at all up to speed on how Cobalt rewards work, guess I should get on that.

 

[ottawamom]

View attachment 889015

* Offer available to AIR MILES collectors with a linked Canadian-issued Mastercard (“Eligible Mastercard”). Offer valid Aug 30, 2024 – Aug 31, 2024, or while quantity of AIR MILES® Bonus Miles™ last at Dollarama stores in Canada. To be eligible for the offer, an eligible collector must first opt in to the offer by clicking the “opt in” button during the offer period. After opting in, an eligible collector can then earn 100 Bonus Miles when spending $30 at Dollarama in a single transaction and paying with an Eligible Mastercard during the offer period. Minimum qualifying purchase of $30 must be made in a single transaction on an Eligible Mastercard, and includes taxes, duty, eco fees, shipping and handling as applicable. For clarification, minimum qualified spend is calculated based on the entire purchase, being the total amount that is posted to the Eligible Card’s statement. Limit of one (1) offer per collector number. This offer can be combined with other offers. AIR MILES reserves the right to make changes to this offer and to terminate the offer at any time, for any reason and without notice. Your AIR MILES collector number must be linked to an Eligible Mastercard at the time of the eligible transaction. If you have a Canadian-issued Mastercard that is not linked to your AIR MILES collector number, you can manually link them by visiting airmilescardlink.ca and following the linking instructions. BMO AIR MILES credit cards are linked by default and do not need to be manually linked. Your Mastercard account must be in good standing at the time the Bonus Miles are awarded. To qualify for the offers, eligible purchase transactions charged to your Eligible Mastercard must be subsequently posted to your Mastercard account by August 31, 2024. In the case of an online purchase made during the offer period, it may not qualify if the Eligible Mastercard is charged on the shipping date and that date occurs after the offer ends. Mastercard is not responsible for the fulfillment of the offers. Purchases made by an authorized user per day of a supplementary card linked to the Eligible Mastercard do not qualify, unless the supplementary card is also linked to the AIR MILES collector number. Please allow up to 30 days after the unique offer’s end date for Bonus Miles to be posted to the collector account. Collectors who previously manually linked their AIR MILES collector number to their Eligible Mastercard and who no longer wish to participate in exclusive card-linked offers can unlink their Mastercard from their AIR MILES collector number at any time at airmilescardlink.ca/unlink. The unlink feature is not available to collectors with a BMO AIR MILES credit card that was automatically linked to their AIR MILES collector number by BMO’s auto-link feature. ®™ Trademarks of AM Royalties Limited Partnership used under license by AIR MILES Loyalty Inc. and Dollarama. ™*/®* Mastercard is a registered trademark, and the circles design is a trademark of Mastercard International Incorporated. Used under license.

Question about the Terms. Is "during" (opt in during the offer period) new. Does that mean we should wait until the 30th to opt in or will opting in now work also? Thoughts.

 

[bababear_50]

I see that you can favorite the Dollarama offer but I do not see anywhere where you can Opt in.
Perhaps that will be added closer to the date itself?
Hugs Mel

 

[dcessford]

Not bad for filling my tank and getting some lotto tickets

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

I have given up on cruising. Way too expensive now and exchange sucks. When we first got into cruising 9 years ago, you could go for a week for $500 CAD per person.

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

I see that you can favorite the Dollarama offer but I do not see anywhere where you can Opt in.
Perhaps that will be added closer to the date itself?
Hugs Mel

I don't see any opt in either. I just made it a saved offer for now. Do we typically opt in for those ones? Drawing a blank....

 

[kuhltiffany]

I found the craziest receipt yet. $573 total with $40 worth of bath salts, some sort of capsules from the Natural foods section for $50, another $45 of vitamins, $32 for hair product, $50 in household items (looks like kitchen), $60 for flowers and $95 worth of pre cooked food. The rest was actual groceries...dairy, produce etc. but most items were bought in multiple...3 boxes of cereal, 4 blocks of cheese, that sort of thing so not much of an assortment. LOL....there are 3 large bottles of Realemon. This one got me 39 miles.


That being an amusing little highlight of the week, the low light....DD only has one more week of rehearsal and then she's gone until March. I'm missing her a little already. She's home right now, still sleeping in her bed with the dog and I've got cinnamon rolls in the oven (don't get excited, they came straight from the tube that had a best before date of at least a month ago) . It's a perfect Sunday morning for a mom. There is a chance that I will be invited to attend her final rehearsal at the office this week which I'm really hoping for. She said they don't allow phones in but I only want to watch and soak it into the brain. The one thing I REALLY want to see and she knows, is her getting into a character costume. I just can't quite comprehend that it's actually her. She doesn't think that I will ever get to see this but she is going to ask if it would be possible if I'm in the office.

There have been zero crew discounted cruises, well they are offering the Vancouver to Hawaii for an amazing price but that doesn't help me. So if I want to go it looks like I'm going to have to book at full price. I was hoping to get the discount and then do a B2B in January for a 9 day cruise but that is just too much money at full price. The darn exchange rate is the killer. Right now I'm looking at going in November which is the lowest price 7 day cruise available and it's an inside cabin, I would prefer at least a porthole but that's an additional $500 USD which just doesn't seem worth it. A verandah is even more....$1000 I think. The perk is that I would get to see the Christmas show. I've got to make a decision VERY soon. There are only 3 inside cabins left at the lowest price, which BTW is still going to be around $5600 CAD....then gratuities, airfare and hotel I can do AM for the hotel and airfare (see how I brought that back) to save a little. I can also do Aeroplan points or Amex Cobalt points. So the question then becomes how do I go forward with booking the cruise. I could go through Costco and get a $300 gift card as a discount. I could book with a travel agent that gives an onboard credit but that would likely only be $75-ish. I could book directly with DCL. Second question, which card do I pay with...Amex Cobalt or BMO for AM. I guess which path I take for booking may dictate the card. I am not at all up to speed on how Cobalt rewards work, guess I should get on that.

When I’m paying that much in USD, I use a CC that doesn’t charge Forex fees. That extra 2.5% often means it’s not worth the points/miles.

 

[Debbie]

I don't see any opt in either. I just made it a saved offer for now. Do we typically opt in for those ones? Drawing a blank....

I just checked the Dollarama 50AM a month offer, and it refers to opting in as well in the T&C. I'm pretty sure that I didn't "opt in", nor is there a button to do so. I think we'll need to check back on August 30 to confirm one way or another.

 

[Debbie]

Oooh! While I was checking the Dollarama offer, I notice that DD needed gas today! Yay!!!

 

[tinkerone]

I found the craziest receipt yet. $573 total with $40 worth of bath salts, some sort of capsules from the Natural foods section for $50, another $45 of vitamins, $32 for hair product, $50 in household items (looks like kitchen), $60 for flowers and $95 worth of pre cooked food. The rest was actual groceries...dairy, produce etc. but most items were bought in multiple...3 boxes of cereal, 4 blocks of cheese, that sort of thing so not much of an assortment. LOL....there are 3 large bottles of Realemon. This one got me 39 miles.


That being an amusing little highlight of the week, the low light....DD only has one more week of rehearsal and then she's gone until March. I'm missing her a little already. She's home right now, still sleeping in her bed with the dog and I've got cinnamon rolls in the oven (don't get excited, they came straight from the tube that had a best before date of at least a month ago) . It's a perfect Sunday morning for a mom. There is a chance that I will be invited to attend her final rehearsal at the office this week which I'm really hoping for. She said they don't allow phones in but I only want to watch and soak it into the brain. The one thing I REALLY want to see and she knows, is her getting into a character costume. I just can't quite comprehend that it's actually her. She doesn't think that I will ever get to see this but she is going to ask if it would be possible if I'm in the office.

There have been zero crew discounted cruises, well they are offering the Vancouver to Hawaii for an amazing price but that doesn't help me. So if I want to go it looks like I'm going to have to book at full price. I was hoping to get the discount and then do a B2B in January for a 9 day cruise but that is just too much money at full price. The darn exchange rate is the killer. Right now I'm looking at going in November which is the lowest price 7 day cruise available and it's an inside cabin, I would prefer at least a porthole but that's an additional $500 USD which just doesn't seem worth it. A verandah is even more....$1000 I think. The perk is that I would get to see the Christmas show. I've got to make a decision VERY soon. There are only 3 inside cabins left at the lowest price, which BTW is still going to be around $5600 CAD....then gratuities, airfare and hotel I can do AM for the hotel and airfare (see how I brought that back) to save a little. I can also do Aeroplan points or Amex Cobalt points. So the question then becomes how do I go forward with booking the cruise. I could go through Costco and get a $300 gift card as a discount. I could book with a travel agent that gives an onboard credit but that would likely only be $75-ish. I could book directly with DCL. Second question, which card do I pay with...Amex Cobalt or BMO for AM. I guess which path I take for booking may dictate the card. I am not at all up to speed on how Cobalt rewards work, guess I should get on that.

My experience has always been that booking with Costco is our best bang for the buck. You get a Costco gift card on your return PLUS if you are an executive member you get the 2% benefit for your year end rebate. I have a US credit card so we always use that to pay for our trips so can't comment on which of your two cards would be better.

As for the cabin, I know you are looking at inside however if you do happen to decide on ocean view and if they are available, look at cabins 5522, 5520, 5022, 5020. They are pretty much two room mini suites. They also have two of the large porthole windows. The first two give you a great view of Castaway Cay. You probably already know this but thought I would throw it out there anyways. When we book ocean view I do my best to book these cabins. We had three of them when we booked for our family last year. There are a few good Youtube videos of them.

Planning is so much fun, even with any anxiety it might cause.

 

[ottawamom]

I have given up on cruising. Way too expensive now and exchange sucks. When we first got into cruising 9 years ago, you could go for a week for $500 CAD per person.

Don't say that. I'm just trying out my first cruise in 30 years. I'll see if we like that type of holiday and decide after if we will be continuing. There are a few places I want to go that are best done on a cruise ship. I hope it will work for us.

 

[Debbie]

Don't say that. I'm just trying out my first cruise in 30 years. I'll see if we like that type of holiday and decide after if we will be continuing. There are a few places I want to go that are best done on a cruise ship. I hope it will work for us.

I love cruising. It is definitely an easier holiday than Disney. And I have seen so much of the world-places the 12 year old always-reading-travel-books me could never imagine seeing. The trick with cruising is to plan it well in advance-you end up with cheaper cruises and better perks!

 

[tinkerone]

About cruising, I'll add that you don't always have to book in US so that helps when it comes to the cost. While you have to book in USD for DCL, RCCL allows you to book in Canadian dollars. They also allow you to reprice if the cost of your cruise goes down which has often happened for us. Haven't been able to reprice DCL to a lower price in about 15 years. I'm not going to swear to it but I believe that other cruise lines can be booked in Canadian as well.

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

I'm not saying cruising isn't great, it is! You can visit many different places you normally wouldn't book for a land vacation. That is what got us hooked.

All I was saying is that your cruise for 7 nights will run you at least $1000 CAD per person (season and cabin type will affect the cost). Then you pay another $300 (or more) so per person for grats, and you still haven't drank anything outside of the buffet freebies (not only referring to alcohol, that could be pop as well). Add your pre-cruise hotel and maybe post-cruise hotel and your flights and you are already up to $5000 for two people.

We would use points for flights so that takes it down $1500-$2000, but I just can't justify the cost anymore. Highway robbery.

Royal and NCL you can book in CDN. Carnival is in US.

We will probably try it again once we retire and are more flexible. Right now, we are enjoying the all inclusive / resort life. Happy sailing!

 

[dancin Disney style]

My experience has always been that booking with Costco is our best bang for the buck. You get a Costco gift card on your return PLUS if you are an executive member you get the 2% benefit for your year end rebate. I have a US credit card so we always use that to pay for our trips so can't comment on which of your two cards would be better.

As for the cabin, I know you are looking at inside however if you do happen to decide on ocean view and if they are available, look at cabins 5522, 5520, 5022, 5020. They are pretty much two room mini suites. They also have two of the large porthole windows. The first two give you a great view of Castaway Cay. You probably already know this but thought I would throw it out there anyways. When we book ocean view I do my best to book these cabins. We had three of them when we booked for our family last year. There are a few good Youtube videos of them.

Planning is so much fun, even with any anxiety it might cause.

I will probably go with Costco. It's the only discount I'm going to get. I'm not executive but maybe I should upgrade first. LOL....last time I was in there a staff member (trying to upgrade people) walked up to me at the cash and said 'why do you still have that card'. The way she said it was so rude. Anyway, I did know about those cabins and would LOVE one but cost is almost as much as a verandah. The thought of an inside cabin is not overly appealing but that's what it is. I found a youtube video of the cabin that is available and it looks like a closet compared to the verandah we had last time. Although, DD lived for 4 months in the same cabin...so I guess I'll be fine for a week. The great part is, it's deck 9 right beside the midship stairs. So we can avoid having to use the elevator most of the time. The way people shove themselves in when there clearly is not enough space really stressed me out.