Airmiles Armchair Chatter

[Misha72683]

Just back from Sobey's first bought 2 $150 gift cards and then got $140 of groceries (all stuff we needed, Friday is our normal shopping day) and got a total of 457 bonus miles, plus I still have $160 worth of gift cards for next week. In the last two weeks I have earned 860 airmiles just buying stuff I need anyway. I split 50/50 cash and dream. The dream are piling up for next year's Disney trip and the cash are being accumulated for baby stuff I need. Once the baby comes, I may switch to 100% dream or 25/75. We'll see.

 

[pigletto]

Just back from Sobey's first bought 2 $150 gift cards and then got $140 of groceries (all stuff we needed, Friday is our normal shopping day) and got a total of 457 bonus miles, plus I still have $160 worth of gift cards for next week. In the last two weeks I have earned 860 airmiles just buying stuff I need anyway. I split 50/50 cash and dream. The dream are piling up for next year's Disney trip and the cash are being accumulated for baby stuff I need. Once the baby comes, I may switch to 100% dream or 25/75. We'll see.

Fantastic job!!!
I'm itching to get out and get my cards and my shopping done but we aren't going until tomorrow morning.

 

[ottawamom]

I got my Sobey's cards today. In case anyone is wondering I put them all through in one transaction and got the correct AM on the receipt. Picked up a few things at Sobey's for some more AM then I stopped in to pick up a loaf of bread at Rexall (for toast) so that I got a coupon for spend $30 get 50AM for next week Mon-Thu.

 

[mort1331]

Does anyone know if you can buy a gift card with a gift card at Sobeys? Specifically, I am buying the Sobeys gift cards for the bonus airmiles this weekend. One of the items on my shopping list Saturday is a $25 gift card I need to get for a birthday gift. Just wondering if I can use one of my Sobey's gift cards to buy it.

They might allow this, on a seperate transaction. They wont let us do the GC swap for their own cards. Let us know how it works out. One way to try and slide it by is always get the Sobeys card first, and pay for that with a seperate transaction. Then have a few things your purchasing and the $25 card with those items all on one bill. Pay for all with the Sobeys card. That should work.

 

[ottawamom]

Does anyone know if you can buy a gift card with a gift card at Sobeys? Specifically, I am buying the Sobeys gift cards for the bonus airmiles this weekend. One of the items on my shopping list Saturday is a $25 gift card I need to get for a birthday gift. Just wondering if I can use one of my Sobey's gift cards to buy it.

I haven't tried to do this myself. I read through the Sobey's website and it doesn't say specifically that you can't do this. I know they were shutting down the Gift Card roulette last fall but they may let a small transaction through. The gift card being purchased will go through with your other groceries before you present the Sobey's gift card as payment. Give it a try, the worst they can say is no. Report back and let us know if it worked or not.

Mort1331 types quicker than I do.

 

[mort1331]

5 Day Base $362US (taxes incl) cost 3550AM (no taxes to be paid). You are saving the entire exchange rate (3550AM=$373 CDN cash (95AM=$10)). There is no way we are going back to the two currencies being at par anytime soon so you will always be ahead on the deal. There is a chance that Airmiles may increase the number of AM needed for the park tickets or they may decide not to carry the park tickets at all (purely speculation).

Bottom line. I don't think you will be out money by using your AM as earned towards tickets as opposed to waiting until you have enough to get them for the whole family closer to your trip date. There is no cash involved in the transaction with Airmiles.

Why are you even giving then ideas..shhhhh...lets just get while the going is good, they raised them up too much in the past year alone.
keep smiling

 

[ottawamom]

I only said that because they stopped carrying the Go "City" (enter whatever city) tickets this year. I was hoping to get another one for this summer. They were a really great deal. I was bummed when all we get now is a discount.

 

[pigletto]

Thanks to both of you. I'll put it through with my groceries and report back how it turned out!

 

[Misha72683]

I just checked the Foodland flier and they have ice cream on for $2.99 and buy 3 get 75 airmiles. With two young children and a pregnant lady, we go through a lot of ice cream, so I'll send my husband to stock up tomorrow!

Oh and what I did with the Sobey's gift card was buy it first and then go do my shopping. They put each card through as a separate transaction.

 

[ottawamom]

Oh and what I did with the Sobey's gift card was buy it first and then go do my shopping. They put each card through as a separate transaction.

I always buy the Sobey's gift cards first as well. The people in the store don't question most things I do when it comes to airmiles. They had to do an over-ride on the gift card purchase because I wanted to put it on my credit card to get more AM. The guy who did the over-ride just looked at me and said he didn't want to know what I was up to. I never bend any rules, I just use the offers to my advantage.

Happy shopping everyone!

 

[westcoastminnie]

New Airmiles collector here, hoping you guys can help me out. I'm out west, so no Sobey's but we do have Thrifty Foods which is owned by them. I am trying to figure out what is a good value purchase-wise. For example the current flyer has "get 75 reward miles when you buy 10 featured items". The cheapest item is a box of granola bars for $2.50 (it's a brand we buy). So if I bought 10, that's $25 to get 75AM. Is that a good deal? Is there a formula I can apply to make it easy to understand? Some offers hardly seem worth it, unless its something you would buy anyway. Thanks!

 

[Misha72683]

New Airmiles collector here, hoping you guys can help me out. I'm out west, so no Sobey's but we do have Thrifty Foods which is owned by them. I am trying to figure out what is a good value purchase-wise. For example the current flyer has "get 75 reward miles when you buy 10 featured items". The cheapest item is a box of granola bars for $2.50 (it's a brand we buy). So if I bought 10, that's $25 to get 75AM. Is that a good deal? Is there a formula I can apply to make it easy to understand? Some offers hardly seem worth it, unless its something you would buy anyway. Thanks!

The value of an airmile is about 10 cents, so 75 airmiles only have a value of $7.50. However, the question is would you buy the granola bars anyway? I'm buy ice cream tomorrow and spent $9 for 75 airmiles, so closer to the value, but I would buy ice cream anyway. I spent $300 on gift cards, but I always have to buy groceries and I generally spend about $150 a week, so this didn't cost me any extra. I won't go out of my way to get stuff with airmiles, but if it's stuff I will buy/use anyway, then I'll stock up.

 

[ottawamom]

New Airmiles collector here, hoping you guys can help me2 get out. I'm out west, so no Sobey's but we do have Thrifty Foods which is owned by them. I am trying to figure out what is a good value purchase-wise. For example the current flyer has "get 75 reward miles when you buy 10 featured items". The cheapest item is a box of granola bars for $2.50 (it's a brand we buy). So if I bought 10, that's $25 to get 75AM. Is that a good deal? Is there a formula I can apply to make it easy to understand? Some offers hardly seem worth it, unless its something you would buy anyway. Thanks!

First of all welcome to the crazy train! Another way to think about the whole AM thing is it is a savings account where you put aside all the deals you get on groceries etc for a special purpose. ie. If every time you save money on something at the store you took that cash and put it into a separate savings account and then used that savings account for a special purpose, that would be the idea behind AM (well mine anyway).

In your example the boxes of granola bars your usually purchase anyway, your savings (bonus AM) on the purchase of $25 is $7.50 (30% savings). To me a 30% savings on something I would eventually buy anyways is a good deal. Purchasing something you will not use is never a good deal. Some of the AM offers seem small (ie buy 2 get 5AM) but if you would buy the products eventually and you have the cash in your bank account, then those small bonuses do add up over time. It's more effort on your part to shop for them but its what has made grocery shopping fun for me this past winter.

Hope this helps and happy shopping.

 

[westcoastminnie]

Thanks Misha72683 and ottawamom! I've been passively collecting for a couple of years now and have around 2500AM, so I can definitely see how they add up over time. As soon as I have enough I'll cash in for a Disneyland Parkhopper ticket, although it won't be used until 2017. Time to amp up the collecting though because I'd like to have another two by the time we go I usually shop at Shoppers Drug Mart but there's a Rexall a few blocks away, so I'll give that a go too. All aboard the crazy train lol!

 

[pigletto]

Just to report back, I was able to buy a $25 Ardene gift card with my previously purchased Sobeys gift card. I asked when I was buying the Sobeys gift card for the 200 airmiles. She said it was fine to do that "if it was part of my regular shopping". So she meant if I was grabbing groceries as well. It sounded kind of arbitrary but I wasn't going to press it.

 

[mort1331]

Thanks Misha72683 and ottawamom! I've been passively collecting for a couple of years now and have around 2500AM, so I can definitely see how they add up over time. As soon as I have enough I'll cash in for a Disneyland Parkhopper ticket, although it won't be used until 2017. Time to amp up the collecting though because I'd like to have another two by the time we go I usually shop at Shoppers Drug Mart but there's a Rexall a few blocks away, so I'll give that a go too. All aboard the crazy train lol!

Good luck, the only thing I would caution about is. I think DisneyLand tickets do have an expiration date on them, WDW do not. Hopefully someone who has purchased lately can chime in, or call and ask.

 

[alohamom]

Well folks, I also bought the Sobeys gift card and I have to thank you all for the info and updates. I have been a collector since AMs began BUT I really backed off for a bit. I think if there are more offers like the Sobeys gift card one I will become a fan again.

First of all welcome to the crazy train

LOL too funny!

I think DisneyLand tickets do have an expiration date on them, WDW do not

This is great info, THANK YOU!

 

[westcoastminnie]

Good luck, the only thing I would caution about is. I think DisneyLand tickets do have an expiration date on them, WDW do not. Hopefully someone who has purchased lately can chime in, or call and ask.

Good to know! I'll be sure to check, thanks

 

[pigletto]

Well folks, I also bought the Sobeys gift card and I have to thank you all for the info and updates. I have been a collector since AMs began BUT I really backed off for a bit. I think if there are more offers like the Sobeys gift card one I will become a fan again.




LOL too funny!



This is great info, THANK YOU!

I wasn't a fan and had maybe 200 airmiles in my account from years of being a member. Once I really started to pay attention and shop the Sobeys and Rexall promos, as well as put online purchases through airmilesshops.ca, I really started racking up the points. I have redeemed for a 5 day Adult Disney ticket, and a 2 day park to park Universal ticket and I only started seriously collecting in the early fall. I may buy different things than I used to buy, but I don't buy anything I won't use, and I don't go over my regular spending budgets. We don't have the airmiles credit card yet, but I am considering it. The program is working well for us. Besides.. it's fun.

 

[Aladora]

Good to know! I'll be sure to check, thanks

They do have an expiry date but they can be used towards the value of a current ticket.