Airmiles Armchair Chatter

[Donald - my hero]

Happy Turkey Day everyone! Just opened my email while i sit down for a few -- turkey's cooking, rolls are made (yes i made them myself with Max the Mighty Mixer), veggies are waiting to be re-heated, both kinds of mashies are in a holding pattern, table is set & the house is quiet for another hour or so.

Found a coupon from Rexall for this week
Spend $40 get 60 AM Valid Oct 8th - 11th

 

[Donald - my hero]

Just discovered this little gem on the Airmiles site .. I've been waiting for Bay Days and have my eye on several things so this will make it worth my time!! They'll have the extra discount for using your HBC credit card if you have one, plus this multiplier AND whatever you "win" thru the Take Off Shopping Contest

 

[ottawamom]

Thanks for the heads up about Rexall. I have a S$25 G50AM so I'll shop and use that. DS has S$40 Get 40AM so I'll combine that with the email coupon and see if I can get him to ONYX this year. Now to go look at the flyer.

Forgot to check my receipt before I left and I was overcharged on some chips I picked up. Back to the store tomorrow to get the difference back. I used the $10 coupon on them so they should have been free (got the coupon for buying 2 boxes of halloween chocolates). It's only $4 difference but this one is a matter of principle.

 

[Donald - my hero]

Here's the link for the Rexall Survey coupon (always the same link BTW the date just changes!)

$5.00 off when you spend $25 or more at Rexall Valid until November 6th

If the coupon shows up with the October date, clear your history and refresh the page.

 

[gskywalker]

Question about Onyx: I am 800 airmiles away from Onyx for next year. I am on Airmiles Cash so is there any purpose in trying to make it to that status level? The only real benefit I have read is beneficial to Aimiles Dream Miles earners. thx.

 

[Donald - my hero]

Question about Onyx: I am 800 airmiles away from Onyx for next year. I am on Airmiles Cash so is there any purpose in trying to make it to that status level? The only real benefit I have read is beneficial to Aimiles Dream Miles earners. thx.

Originally the main benefit was your miles never expired but that was never an issue for most of this group, we redeem them regularly! Now they have added some bonuses that are only open to ONYX members for 1 or 2 miles that are often amazing! But you'd need to have dream miles for those so maybe get 50 or so for that and keep going with your cash miles. We're also supposed to have quicker service via a different number but I've never had that kind of luck.

 

[Disney Addicted]

All of Sobey's offers have disappeared from Ontario's autumn hub, including the spend $100 get 100 that was to be next week.

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

Yes! I just noticed this as well. Dang it!

 

[hdrolfe]

I can still see a Sobeys spend $100 get 100 AM or $10 gift card, it's for Oct 26 - 28 though. I'm not sure if that changed? I'll print a new one any way.

 

[juniorbugman]

I just checked and the Sobey's offer isn't showing up on mine either and I am in Ontario.

 

[osully]

I can still see a Sobeys spend $100 get 100 AM or $10 gift card, it's for Oct 26 - 28 though. I'm not sure if that changed? I'll print a new one any way.

Weird! It was supposed to be Oct 19. Maybe they sold too many gift cards this weekend! Lol

 

[CanadianKrista]

Question about redemption - do you all use your points to book flights, or something else? I'm starting to try to really focus on gaining points now, and my goal was to use it for flights from Ottawa to Orlando, but I'm reading some stuff that seems to point to the taxes and fees being almost as much as just trying to find a really good flight deal - is that true for people that have used the airmiles for flights? Should I be targetting our disney or universal tickets with the airmiles instead and hunt for good flight deals seperately?

 

[hdrolfe]

I have used them for flight, sometimes it's better to book one way flights. Deals on flights are harder to come by recently (for me any way!).

My 25 AM for signing up for the flu shot reminder posted.

 

[Debbie]

Question about redemption - do you all use your points to book flights, or something else? I'm starting to try to really focus on gaining points now, and my goal was to use it for flights from Ottawa to Orlando, but I'm reading some stuff that seems to point to the taxes and fees being almost as much as just trying to find a really good flight deal - is that true for people that have used the airmiles for flights? Should I be targetting our disney or universal tickets with the airmiles instead and hunt for good flight deals seperately?

I think it really depends on what is important to you. I've used my airmiles for Disney and Universal tickets, as well as flights. For me, the taxes were acceptable, and it was a flight done, so it was a priority for me at the time. eg. When we flew 1 way from Calgary to London last year, taxes and luggage fees for the two of us were $230. I considered that a win.

 

[youngdeb12]

I'm saving ours for when the new PVC booking website comes online. Before they came out with the vouchers, it was a great value. The closest travel agency is 4.5-5 hours away so using the vouchers would be inconvenient.

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

I've used mine for various theme parks tickets, flights, hotels, those old City Pass vouchers...

 

[Donald - my hero]

Put us into the category of "we redeem for what's important/needed/wanted at the time" We've done everything from flights , to hotels, rental cars (find this is often a GREAT use of miles), merchandise (love love LOVE my mixer!!), attraction tickets (went to Ripley's Aquarium in Toronto last Friday) and as many of those 1 mile ONYX rewards as possible -- basically whatever suits us at the time. Currently saving them to put towards a stay at a Sandals resort once the site goes live because we could NEVER afford that using straight up cash.

The way we look at it is everything we redeem for is FREE since we rarely (if ever) buy something strictly for miles -- it has to be at least a 1:1 ratio for me to pick something up that isn't on my list. I keep a running list for things we buy in store as well as one for things i order online and when a sale pops up I stock up. We adjust our spending timeline NOT our spending dollars so at times we have a stock pile of toilet paper under the bed & paper towel in the basement (doubt we'll need to buy either till 2019 ) When there is a BIG promo (think Sobey's ice cream about twice a year) we load up, when Rexall has coupons I can stack, I'm all over it, when there are multiplier offers on line coupled with free shipping and/or other sales I sit here and do some shopping.

It requires some math to figure out if promos are worth chasing down -- do we make the 90 minute round trip to Foodland or not , do we really need more vitamins or bandaids from Rexall ?? Often for us the things we redeem for I would never be able to buy (hello Max the Mighty Mixer and our amazing sound bar) but really want and they become treats. We watched The Greatest Showman on the weekend and i snickered when i cranked the sound! We would probably never go to the aquarium if we had to pay close to $70 but for free? YUP!

 

[bababear_50]

Question about redemption - do you all use your points to book flights, or something else? I'm starting to try to really focus on gaining points now, and my goal was to use it for flights from Ottawa to Orlando, but I'm reading some stuff that seems to point to the taxes and fees being almost as much as just trying to find a really good flight deal - is that true for people that have used the airmiles for flights? Should I be targetting our disney or universal tickets with the airmiles instead and hunt for good flight deals seperately?

Hi Krista
Just sharing what I use my miles for.
I have never used them for flights as I usually book mine very far in advance and use my WestJet Mastercard to get a companion flight.
I use them to offset the food costs at Disney by saving Starbucks gift cards and Park tickets (both Disney and Universal Orlando).
I use them for Movie passes,attraction-local ones like the zoo/Ripleys--I send them to my granddaughter.
Occasionally I will pick up something from the weekly deal merchandise if it looks like a good deal.(I picked up a nice black pearl bracelet last year).
Getting the Onyx level is great when they (airmiles) is offering those 1 or 2 airmile deals.
Depending upon how many people traveling in your party I would estimate the total airmiles needed and then realistically choose what to work towards.
Best wishes to you
Hugs
Mel

 

[ottawamom]

Question about redemption - do you all use your points to book flights, or something else? I'm starting to try to really focus on gaining points now, and my goal was to use it for flights from Ottawa to Orlando, but I'm reading some stuff that seems to point to the taxes and fees being almost as much as just trying to find a really good flight deal - is that true for people that have used the airmiles for flights? Should I be targetting our disney or universal tickets with the airmiles instead and hunt for good flight deals seperately?

I use my miles mostly for flights (Ottawa-Orlando, Ottawa-San Diego recently)and tickets (Disney and Universal). We have also used some for hotels. The issue with using them for flights and getting a good deal is that it takes a bit of obsessive flight watching and you generally have to bite the bullet on seats early (9months to a year out). As an example flight Ottawa-Orlando return(direct flight) May 2018 2520AM each plus $174(Cdn) taxes and fees. There were 5 of us travelling and we saved $5000 on tickets and flights.

If you have some dates in mind flying from Ottawa, I can maybe help to guide you a little more. Ottawa flights have become a mini obsession with me. Tickets can be a good deal if you don't want to upgrade to park hoppers or add days.

 

[ottawamom]

All of Sobey's offers have disappeared from Ontario's autumn hub, including the spend $100 get 100 that was to be next week.

I was planning on using the Spend $100 to stock up on fridge and freezer that I lost in the power failure. Maybe it will come back next week just in time.