Airmiles Armchair Chatter

[bababear_50]

Rexall has been losing money for some time. Their parent McKesson made this announcement today. You can read the story in the Globe and Mail,

Oh Dear
Thank-you for the information.
I'm not a subscriber to the Globe And Mail but I was able to read a bit
Rexall to shutter some stores as pharmacy market faces pressure ...
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/.../article-rexall-to-shutter-some-stores-as-pharmacy...
9 hours ago - As the company navigates a complex drug market, which includes falling generic drug prices in the wake of increased government and insurance scrutiny, Rexall will shutter 40 stores in Ontario and Western Canada, close to 10 per cent of its total retail footprint, according to a memo sent to company ...
Regards Mel

 

[TFC_UNTIL_I_DIE]

Well I would imagine their footprint in Kanata/Stittsville is a bit large - they have the two big stores on March road and the little one on Eagleson.....all generally dead. If they are corporate owned (not sure of their structure) then my guess is the March rd next to the Metro closes and probably the Eagleson one in the mall...

 

[TFC_UNTIL_I_DIE]

BTW speaking of gift cards, I mentioned that Sobeys on Terry Fox in Kanata has chopped out their non-corporate gift cards. Apparently Sobeys Stittsville as well. Does anyone know if this is a new store-wide thing? They run AM offers on GCs but I've found these two stores to repeatedly reject the offers in the flyers. In Ontario some stores are corporate, some are franchise....I'm not sure how the Air Miles works as my knowledge was deeper around Club Sobeys.

I may check out the Sobeys way up on March Road - they are the ones that always let me convert Sobeys GCs over to Shell GCs.

 

[Mickey&JoshNut]

I have a question for those of you with the BMO World Elite MasterCard...I noticed that they have a 3000 AM bonus and the $120 annual fee is waived for the first year...is this a good credit card? I got the PC Financial Mastercard to earn the PC points but am finding since they switched their point program to the PC Optimum, I am finding we do not shop as much at Loblaws owned stores - for many reasons, prices are higher and I seem to have to do points enquiries all the time because my points are awarded. So I started looking at other MasterCards and noticed this one. I see that it grants you lounge access at airports. Any experience to know if you get access to a lounge at Pearson for flights to LAX or MCO (terminal 1)? or at the Orlando airport?

 

[AngelDisney]

I have a question for those of you with the BMO World Elite MasterCard...I noticed that they have a 3000 AM bonus and the $120 annual fee is waived for the first year...is this a good credit card? I got the PC Financial Mastercard to earn the PC points but am finding since they switched their point program to the PC Optimum, I am finding we do not shop as much at Loblaws owned stores - for many reasons, prices are higher and I seem to have to do points enquiries all the time because my points are awarded. So I started looking at other MasterCards and noticed this one. I see that it grants you lounge access at airports. Any experience to know if you get access to a lounge at Pearson for flights to LAX or MCO (terminal 1)? or at the Orlando airport?

Yes, you have access to lounges at Pearson. You can download the priority lounge app and check out the lounges. I love the HK lounge with great food options. I even took the packaged sandwiches to the plane as snacks. Can’t wait to do that again this summer!



I used the points to claim flights for December one way to Fort Lauderdale, and it’s all inclusive. No additional taxes to pay like airmiles. Hope this helps.

Lounge access is why we get this card. The points are bonus.

 

[kuhltiffany]

Eagleson has them on the back wall, opposite the cash, very small collection though (that’s the one I stop at most, I go by it every day to drop DS at school).

OK great to hear as I will try to rack some up at the same station. The shell on eagleson has a good group of guys that work there but is small and doesn' have gcs. They know me as one of the AM crazies since I buy my gas in $15 allotment

 

[Mickey&JoshNut]

View attachment 319612

Yes, you have access to lounges at Pearson. You can download the priority lounge app and check out the lounges. I love the HK lounge with great food options. I even took the packaged sandwiches to the plane as snacks. Can’t wait to do that again this summer!



I used the points to claim flights for December one way to Fort Lauderdale, and it’s all inclusive. No additional taxes to pay like airmiles. Hope this helps.

Lounge access is why we get this card. The points are bonus.

Thanks so much...

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

View attachment 319612I used the points to claim flights for December one way to Fort Lauderdale, and it’s all inclusive. No additional taxes to pay like airmiles. Hope this helps.

I have a question for those of you with the BMO World Elite MasterCard...

OP - Are you looking at the World Elite Air Miles Mastercard or the World Elite Mastercard that you earn "points"?
The one for air miles you still have to pay for the taxes on flights. I think this poster must have the one that earns "points".

I have the Air Miles one and I like it. It's nice to know that if I have a crappy month earning miles, my Mastercard pretty much guarantees me 200-300 per month. And it has full travel/medical insurance on it!

 

[tinkerone]

I have a question for those of you with the BMO World Elite MasterCard...I noticed that they have a 3000 AM bonus and the $120 annual fee is waived for the first year...is this a good credit card? I got the PC Financial Mastercard to earn the PC points but am finding since they switched their point program to the PC Optimum, I am finding we do not shop as much at Loblaws owned stores - for many reasons, prices are higher and I seem to have to do points enquiries all the time because my points are awarded. So I started looking at other MasterCards and noticed this one. I see that it grants you lounge access at airports. Any experience to know if you get access to a lounge at Pearson for flights to LAX or MCO (terminal 1)? or at the Orlando airport?

We have the AM BMO World Elite MC as well and love it. I can easily get 200, 300, even 400 AM a month however I pay for EVERYTHING with the card. Even if I'm buying a $1 coke, on the card it goes. Any bills that I can use MC to pay for, such as our cell phones/our car/house ins., on they go.
As for the lounges, we have used the one at MCO terminal A as well as the lounge in Jamaica. Both were a great pace to rest before a fight and get great drinks and food included. Its away from the masses so that's nice. We have not used any at Pearson though. Keep in mind that its only two free passes a year. You can purchase extra if you want.
The card is a good value especially if you travel. Try it for a year and see how you like it. Nothing to lose.

 

[Disney Addicted]

Well now, that should be quite the adventure! Do you currently have any Dream miles in your account?? I was just checking and pulled up Google maps, picked a spot that would be about 1/2 way and there are several hotels coming in around the 1,000 AM mark. If not there are also hotels on the travel hub that will allow you to EARN miles (and if you book before midnight use more one MM coupon ) Have a great time!!

Good Luck and safe travels to you! I hope you have a wonderful cruise!

Oh wow-what a roller coaster! Safe travels and enjoy the cruise.

Safe journey! Have a wonderful time.

Have a fantastic time!!! I'm booked on the Allure of the Seas for January. First time with Royal. Can't wait to hear how your cruise goes.

Yes, you are going to deserve lots of drinks once you get on board the ship. Good luck with your drive! Crazy that you had to change things up last minute like this.

Thanks everyone! We're back. We arrived home late Monday night. I have a lot of catching up to do.

First of all, yes I have lots of dream miles! But it never occured to me to check the travel hub to either cash in miles for a hotel or book to get miles. The 1st day of driving to Florida was just so stressful. My Dad, son, daughter and I hit the 407 at 8:15 AM on Friday. My husband ended up driving with our friend and his son. By the time we had dropped our daughter off and were leaving Oakville (9:30 AM) they were JUST leaving north Whitby. They were consistently 1-2 hours behind us the whole trip with my Dad refusing to wait for them. I had to keep texting them directions and making sure they weren't lost and find a hotel to stop for the night. We stopped at a hotel (border of NC and SC) at 11 PM and my husband & friend showed up at 1:30 AM!!

Saturday was considerably better but still a long drive with leaving at 9:45 AM (very late) and arriving at our hotel in FLL at 9:30 PM. This time hubby & friend arrived only 15 minutes after we did.

By the way, Google Map and TripAdvisor APPS rock!! I never knew before just how important they would be on a road trip!

If anyone's interested I will write more later about our trip, but probably not until Monday when I finally have the house all to myself again.

Ohh and hey! Remember the issue I had with my insurance through Air Miles just before we left? Thursday night (while we were frantically packing to leave Friday morning) I received a phone call back letting me know the entire amount I paid would be refunded to my Visa in 4-6 weeks. I went through our finances on Thursday and we already received our refund! I was very happy about that. I thought for sure I would have to fight for a refund when we came home.

 

[TFC_UNTIL_I_DIE]

does anyone now if Shoppers Drug Mark GCs now work across the PC world ie Superstore, Loblaws etc?

 

[Mickey&JoshNut]

OP - Are you looking at the World Elite Air Miles Mastercard or the World Elite Mastercard that you earn "points"?
The one for air miles you still have to pay for the taxes on flights. I think this poster must have the one that earns "points".

I have the Air Miles one and I like it. It's nice to know that if I have a crappy month earning miles, my Mastercard pretty much guarantees me 200-300 per month. And it has full travel/medical insurance on it!

Sorry, yes I meant the World Elite Air Miles Mastercard...I have the AMEX Platinum Air Miles and yes, it is nice to earn AM each month...I am just thinking that my PC points are just sitting there now because of the changes to the program and the only reason I have the PC Mastercard is because of Costco....

 

[osully]

Rexall has been losing money for some time. Their parent McKesson made this announcement today. You can read the story in the Globe and Mail,

Well to be honest they have the highest prices of any store for pharmacy and drugstore items. I only buy things that are on sale + there has to be a good AM offer!

I would hope they re-evaluate their extremely high pricing for the stores that stay open.

I also find so many things scan the wrong price there like they hope people just don't notice. A 4 pack of mens disposable razors for example scanned at $17+ when they were supposed to be on sale for $7.99 only. You bet I made them fix that.

Consumers shouldn't have to make the store fix the pricing when things scan wrong ALL OF THE TIME. I'm vocal about it and there usually itsn't a line behind me but for example my husband would be too embarassed to dispute the incorrect price.

 

[osully]

Well I would imagine their footprint in Kanata/Stittsville is a bit large - they have the two big stores on March road and the little one on Eagleson.....all generally dead. If they are corporate owned (not sure of their structure) then my guess is the March rd next to the Metro closes and probably the Eagleson one in the mall...

The newest store in Barrhaven is ALWAYS dead. Doesn't matter what time of day and I am usually there on a weekend day in the afternoon when stores are usually crowded! It is the 2nd store in Barrhaven and I have no idea why they opened it.

I do hope they close the old one at least, if they are planning to close one here, so this brand new immaculate store can stick around and not be a waste of money.

 

[Donald - my hero]

Well to be honest they have the highest prices of any store for pharmacy and drugstore items. I only buy things that are on sale + there has to be a good AM offer!

I would hope they re-evaluate their extremely high pricing for the stores that stay open.

I also find so many things scan the wrong price there like they hope people just don't notice. A 4 pack of mens disposable razors for example scanned at $17+ when they were supposed to be on sale for $7.99 only. You bet I made them fix that.

Consumers shouldn't have to make the store fix the pricing when things scan wrong ALL OF THE TIME. I'm vocal about it and there usually itsn't a line behind me but for example my husband would be too embarassed to dispute the incorrect price.

I've started taking pictures of the signs on the shelves because that has happened too many times for my liking! My shopping trips have been known to take over 30 minutes if i need to separate transactions so that i can maximize my AM so if i get to the till and there is a massive difference which cost me too much $$ i will know something has scanned improperly. I also don't understand how in our small city the same product can sell for a different price at each store!!! I rarely buy anything at full price (other than basic groceries and our kids call us grocery snobs because we mainly shop at Metro so the sale prices there are often higher than the regular price at Food Basics ) and take a tad too much pride in working the system to get high-end items at rock bottom price (i inwardly chuckly everytime i head out with my $250 dollar leather purse that i got for FREE plus 25 AM). Shopping at Rexall requires a level head and a solid understanding of what products *should* cost. We have found lately that our local Shoppers cost us more for the same items and their new and improved point system SUCKS!

 

[Donald - my hero]

Sorry, yes I meant the World Elite Air Miles Mastercard...I have the AMEX Platinum Air Miles and yes, it is nice to earn AM each month...I am just thinking that my PC points are just sitting there now because of the changes to the program and the only reason I have the PC Mastercard is because of Costco....

We have the same AMEX card and use it everywhere we can. We also have the BMO AM Mastercard but only the basic, no fee card that we use wherever the AMEX isn't accepted AND at Costco. We don't see the advantage to having two of the higher end credit cards (what do you call that??) because we don't travel much so the benefits you mentioned aren't of any use to us. I agree with the PP who mentioned why not just try it for a year and see if it's worth it to you or not, you can always cancel it if you're not seeing it as useful.

 

[AngelDisney]

Now in London Ontario. Got $500 LCBO gift cards and 550 AM. Mission accomplished!! Now on my way to pick up DD. By the way, the cashier was so nice and an AM collector as well.

 

[Donald - my hero]

Now in London Ontario. Got $500 LCBO gift cards and 550 AM. Mission accomplished!! Now on my way to pick up DD. By the way, the cashier was so nice and an AM collector as well.

Which location? We have been known to travel to London strictly to see a movie!

 

[Pumpkin1172]

Consumers shouldn't have to make the store fix the pricing when things scan wrong ALL OF THE TIME. I'm vocal about it and there usually itsn't a line behind me but for example my husband would be too embarassed to dispute the incorrect price.

Too bad they don't follow the Scanner price accuracy code. It is frustrating as a customer and as a cashier when things don't scan at the correct price.
Here is a link to see who all follows the rules of correct price scanning. https://www.retailcouncil.org/scanner-accuracy. Sadly...they are not on the list, so it is not drilled into the employees.

 

[AngelDisney]

Which location? We have been known to travel to London strictly to see a movie!

The one next to the McDonald on Highbury near the 401 exit (957 Hamilton Road at Highbury and Hamilton).