What's in your reward miles redemption history?

[buyerbrad]

I was looking at my history and thought this may be cool idea. What is your reward miles redemption history showing for the past year? Here is mine:

1 - Sidney Crosby autographed jersey (got this framed through Frameworth and it looks amazing!)
3 - African Lion Safari General Admission Tickets
2 - SeaWorld Orlando Single Day Admissions
2 - Disneyland Adult 3-Day Park Hoppers
1 - Disneyland Child 3-Day Park Hopper
1 - Cineplex Entertainment Great Escape Certificate for Two (only cost 1 Airmile!)

I also currently have 3185 miles sitting in my account. I will likely grab a 5-Day Child DisneyWorld pass to save for later and use the remainder to grab my first of 3 African Lion Safari passes for this year.

 

[Donald - my hero]

Sure I'll play this game!
1- $30 Cineplex Gift card (used it to see B & B)
1 - Cineplex Great escape ticket (the 1 AM redemption)
1 - $20.00 Bay Gift card
1 - $10.00 Bay Gift card ... had a targeted promotion :redeem for up to $30.00 and earn 50 AM
1 - ET concert for 1 AM
2 - Admission to Canada's Wonderland
2- Adult 5 day WDW tickets (Pre-sale)
2 -Adult 2 day park to park Universal Tickets

What doesn't show since the trip is done:
1 night at the Sheraton in Pearson
2 - 1 week car rentals

Currently have a butt load of both Cash & Dream miles waiting to be used

 

[tgropp]

In the past 2 years

1) 8 flights from Toronto to Orlando
2) 6 flights from Toronto to Orlando

Now just passed the 6,000 Airmiles mark and hope to pass 10,000 by Jan 1

 

[ottawamom]

My redemptions in 2016

Movies for 2 people (5) can't remember all the titles (ONYX rewards)
7 Day park tickets WDW (6)
Return flights to Orlando from Ottawa (3)
Return flights Ottawa to Winnipeg (2)
Return flights Ottawa to Calgary (2)
Cirque du Soleil show Montreal (1)

I have enough saved for 4 more return flights Ottawa to Orlando. Waiting for the flights to open up for 2018 when we'll be going.

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

My redemptions in 2016:

3 return flights Halifax to Miami
2 5-day adult WDW passes
2 2-day US adult passes
1 Great Escape movie pkg for 2 (1 air mile)
1 Kubo and the strings movie preview for 2 (1 air mile)
2 tickets to the Wine Show in Halifax (1 air mile)
1 Snowden movie preview for 2 (1 air mile)
1 Masterminds movie preview for 2 (1 air mile)

I have over $200 in cash miles and almost enough dream miles for two flights to Florida as well.

DH redemptions in 2016:

1 Great Escape Movie pkg (1 air mile)
1 5-day kids WDW pass
1 2-day US kids pass

 

[Debbie]

I'm game. I have only been collecting since last year, so my first "purchase" was in July.

• Cineplex Entertainment - Great Escape Certificate for Two (2)
• Walt Disney World Resort Florida 3-Day Magic Your Way Base Ticket - Adult
• Walt Disney World Resort Florida 3-Day Magic Your Way Base Ticket - Adult
• Universal Orlando ® Florida - Adult - 2 Day / Park-to-Park Access

 

[tgropp]

Sure I'll play this game!
1- $30 Cineplex Gift card (used it to see B & B)
1 - Cineplex Great escape ticket (the 1 AM redemption)
1 - $20.00 Bay Gift card
1 - $10.00 Bay Gift card ... had a targeted promotion :redeem for up to $30.00 and earn 50 AM
1 - ET concert for 1 AM
2 - Admission to Canada's Wonderland
2- Adult 5 day WDW tickets (Pre-sale)
2 -Adult 2 day park to park Universal Tickets

What doesn't show since the trip is done:
1 night at the Sheraton in Pearson
2 - 1 week car rentals

Currently have a butt load of both Cash & Dream miles waiting to be used

I am noticing that people are getting Cineplex tickets with minimum Airmiles. How is this done?

 

[Donald - my hero]

I am noticing that people are getting Cineplex tickets with minimum Airmiles. How is this done?

There are often special events that pop up on the Airmiles page for previews of certain movies. The one for the Great escape (2 adult admissions, large popcorn and 2 drinks) was a one-time limited offer that popped up, I shared the link i had and several fellow hunters snagged it as well.

We usually report to each other when these offers show up in the Airmiles Alert thread, if you're not a regular in there, you should join in the fun!

 

[marchingstar]

I am noticing that people are getting Cineplex tickets with minimum Airmiles. How is this done?

earlier this year there was a special offer for onyx collectors: a great night out movie pass for 1 AM. I can't remember who, but a few people posted about it over in the air miles thread and most of us were able to snag one. That thread is a great resource for special offers!

eta: hehe. posted at the same time!

 

[marchingstar]

my collections this year:
2 7-day adult WDW passes
1 great night out movie pass
1 venque backpack

i know merchandise isn't a great use of miles, but the backpack is perfectly my style and it was relatively "cheap" (750 miles).

this also isn't a ton of redemptions--my balance is way up again, but i've left the points to accumulate after some helpful suggestions from seasoned collectors.

 

[Donald - my hero]

my collections this year:
2 7-day adult WDW passes
1 great night out movie pass
1 venque backpack

i know merchandise isn't a great use of miles, but the backpack is perfectly my style and it was relatively "cheap" (750 miles).

this also isn't a ton of redemptions--my balance is way up again, but i've left the points to accumulate after some helpful suggestions from seasoned collectors.

Just curious what you might be thinking of "spending" your points on? We're not planning on heading to Disney anytime soon so the tickets are of no interest to us and with no trips planned, the miles are just sitting there, staring at me

 

[marchingstar]

Just curious what you might be thinking of "spending" your points on? We're not planning on heading to Disney anytime soon so the tickets are of no interest to us and with no trips planned, the miles are just sitting there, staring at me

ugh, I have no idea! I honestly feel a bit silly not cashing in on the discounted tickets one more time, because even though we don't have a trip planned right now, I'm certain we'll be back many times. But I'm just not sure if two hopperless trips are going to work for us. I know lots of folks have good experiences getting flights, but I hate that we still pay taxes with air miles. My partner's credit card rewards covers everything, so we tend to save up her points for flights. And everyone knows merch holds a bit less value (maybe things are a bit better now with the 10% gold/20% onyx discount?). I've browsed the catalogue, especially the kids section (we're expecting in the fall)--maybe once we're closer to our due date I'll cash in? There are drawbacks to both the merch and disney tickets, so here I sit, ordering nothing, and watching the points add up!

 

[pigletto]

My 2016 history is
Canada's Wonderland - One Day Admission (this was for two people)
Walt Disney World Resort Florida 5-Day Ticket- Adult
AIR MILES ONYX Exclusive Event - Trius Winery Black Glass Dinner (for two people)
Walt Disney World Resort Florida 5-Day Ticket - Adult
AIR MILES Cash Instant Redemption at Sobeys - ($200 Gift card with Shop the Block Cash bonus)
Cineplex Entertainment - Great Escape Certificate for Two (2)

And I just redeemed for two one day car rentals Fort Lauderdale to Orlando and back again.

I need to step up my game. I really want flights to Calgary and I'd like to go anywhere from May 2018 to August 2018. I wonder if I could save up enough for two of the three flights by then.

 

[Pumpkin1172]

My history is
1- Cineplex Great Escape offer
1 - WDW Adult 5 Day Pass
I also used miles for our trip in Dec for hotels. We stayed in Disney Springs at the Best Western for 5 nights, One Night in Miami at another Best Western before our cruise. I paid out of pocket for our hotel on the last day of our trip In Miami...as I wanted to stay right on South Beach which was sooo wonderful I would definitely do that again.

 

[ottawamom]

My 2016 history is
Canada's Wonderland - One Day Admission (this was for two people)
Walt Disney World Resort Florida 5-Day Ticket- Adult
AIR MILES ONYX Exclusive Event - Trius Winery Black Glass Dinner (for two people)
Walt Disney World Resort Florida 5-Day Ticket - Adult
AIR MILES Cash Instant Redemption at Sobeys - ($200 Gift card with Shop the Block Cash bonus)
Cineplex Entertainment - Great Escape Certificate for Two (2)

And I just redeemed for two one day car rentals Fort Lauderdale to Orlando and back again.

I need to step up my game. I really want flights to Calgary and I'd like to go anywhere from May 2018 to August 2018. I wonder if I could save up enough for two of the three flights by then.

You can do it pigletto, I know you can. There's nothing like having a goal you're working towards to help you step up your game!

 

[Donald - my hero]

ugh, I have no idea! I honestly feel a bit silly not cashing in on the discounted tickets one more time, because even though we don't have a trip planned right now, I'm certain we'll be back many times. But I'm just not sure if two hopperless trips are going to work for us. I know lots of folks have good experiences getting flights, but I hate that we still pay taxes with air miles. My partner's credit card rewards covers everything, so we tend to save up her points for flights. And everyone knows merch holds a bit less value (maybe things are a bit better now with the 10% gold/20% onyx discount?). I've browsed the catalogue, especially the kids section (we're expecting in the fall)--maybe once we're closer to our due date I'll cash in? There are drawbacks to both the merch and disney tickets, so here I sit, ordering nothing, and watching the points add up!

Not sure if this will help or not but this is how we treat our miles:
EARNING:

1. we never buy anything we don't need stritcly for the Airmiles (ok, perhaps that one bonus on the cheesecake snacks )
2. The return has to be at LEAST 1:1 on our money.
3. We have plenty of storage space for dry goods so have no problem with buying oh, a year's worth of toilet paper , medication with extended expiration dates ...
4. We use our AMEX card almost exclusively since it has a higher earning point -- MasterCard is only used when there is a promotion or in a store that doesn't take AMEX
5. Before i buy anything on-line I check the Airmiles shop 1st and sling shot thru there. **keep several shopping carts almost full waiting for bonus events
6. As much as it pains me to watch the AMAZING stories connected to foodbank deliveries (@mort1331 I'm looking at you ) we won't buy something strictly to donate, our charitable $$ are already spoken for.

REDEEMING:
Because we really don't earn Airmiles on anything we wouldn't normally be buying & we're not shopping in stores we wouldn't already be shopping in (Yes, Metro is usually more $$ but we would still shop there even if no AM) we look at our Airmiles as "FREE". So long as point 1 & 2 in our Earning criteria are met i rarely do any other math. Using this logic (and yes i realize this is not shared by most!!) if we can redeem our miles for something we would normally **want** to purchase but can't justify actually buying.. BONUS! Like you we don't like using them for flights, doesn't seem to be a good value, if i watch for sales thru Expedia (thru the Airmiles shop site!) i can get them for less than the tax. If i see "something" i want, that would truly be a luxury (current desire is a sound bar for the tv), then I'll redeem for that! Once it arrives i will giggle and show it off cause I'm a dork! I think the best *value* has been for car rentals

We won't be doing the Disney tickets because we like to hop AND we have no idea when/if we'll go back.

*** congrats on the baby

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

I will be using the Cash miles at Sobeys starting this weekend and putting those $50 increments into our travel fund for Disney.

I use our Dream miles solely for flights to Miami for our cruises. They can cost anywhere from $700-$900 return for April (the airlines know to charge more on Saturday and Sunday afternoons when all of the cruise ships get back to port!) I have a BMO World Elite mastercard for Air Miles so flights to anywhere in Florida are only 2,325 miles, versus 3,100 for everyone else. It adds up when you are buying more than 2 flights at a time. It's a great value when we use them for Miami. Orlando, not so much.

We also charge EVERYTHING to this credit card as we can earn hundreds of miles each month from that alone.

 

[Debbie]

Not sure if this will help or not but this is how we treat our miles:
EARNING:

1. we never buy anything we don't need stritcly for the Airmiles (ok, perhaps that one bonus on the cheesecake snacks )
2. The return has to be at LEAST 1:1 on our money.
3. We have plenty of storage space for dry goods so have no problem with buying oh, a year's worth of toilet paper , medication with extended expiration dates ...
4. We use our AMEX card almost exclusively since it has a higher earning point -- MasterCard is only used when there is a promotion or in a store that doesn't take AMEX
5. Before i buy anything on-line I check the Airmiles shop 1st and sling shot thru there. **keep several shopping carts almost full waiting for bonus events
6. As much as it pains me to watch the AMAZING stories connected to foodbank deliveries (@mort1331 I'm looking at you ) we won't buy something strictly to donate, our charitable $$ are already spoken for.

REDEEMING:
Because we really don't earn Airmiles on anything we wouldn't normally be buying & we're not shopping in stores we wouldn't already be shopping in (Yes, Metro is usually more $$ but we would still shop there even if no AM) we look at our Airmiles as "FREE". So long as point 1 & 2 in our Earning criteria are met i rarely do any other math. Using this logic (and yes i realize this is not shared by most!!) if we can redeem our miles for something we would normally **want** to purchase but can't justify actually buying.. BONUS! Like you we don't like using them for flights, doesn't seem to be a good value, if i watch for sales thru Expedia (thru the Airmiles shop site!) i can get them for less than the tax. If i see "something" i want, that would truly be a luxury (current desire is a sound bar for the tv), then I'll redeem for that! Once it arrives i will giggle and show it off cause I'm a dork! I think the best *value* has been for car rentals

We won't be doing the Disney tickets because we like to hop AND we have no idea when/if we'll go back.

*** congrats on the baby

These are good guidelines. I always forget the airmilesshop.ca link. Now, I did use AM for a one-way flight that I wanted, needed and was available for our Rocky Mountaineer trip. So happy that I did, too, because coupled with the WestJet outbound flight(WestJet Dollars/Companion fare), the cost was negligible for us, and the RM is $$$$$$$, so getting the travel part(to Vancouver, from Calgary) for a wee amount was the best!

HOLD THE PHONE....I can use airmilesshops.ca for Expedia? Off to cancel a booking and redo a new one....

Key is not to buy anything you won't use. Our shelves are full, so there won't be a lot of AM collecting over the next little while. Just the regular monthly insurance ones and fresh food shopping.

 

[kerreyn]

I had been 'saving' (read: not using because flights on AM are now ridiculous) for a couple of years. Since January 9/17 I have purchased:

4 x 5 Day Magic Your Way Base Tickets (Canadian Deal)
1 x 5 Day Magic Your way Base Ticket (Canadian Deal)
1 x Universal Orlando 2 Day Park to Park Pass
1 x Cineplex Escape Ticket
1 x Universal Orlando 2 Day Park to Park Pass
2 x Universal Orlando 2 Day Park to Park Pass

I still have 2 x Universal Orlando 2 Day Park to Park Pass to go, and another 5 Day Magic Your Way Base Ticket (for a Non-Canadian, so can't purchase while the deal is on). Just need a couple more good Blue Friday's by December, and we should be in good shape!

My daughter and her hubby have copies of my AM card, which is a big reason how we've been able to get so many AM's. I've done the math, and using Airmiles for the passes will save us over $5k CAD for our family of six in February.

 

[marchingstar]

Not sure if this will help or not but this is how we treat our miles:
EARNING:

1. we never buy anything we don't need stritcly for the Airmiles (ok, perhaps that one bonus on the cheesecake snacks )
2. The return has to be at LEAST 1:1 on our money.
3. We have plenty of storage space for dry goods so have no problem with buying oh, a year's worth of toilet paper , medication with extended expiration dates ...
4. We use our AMEX card almost exclusively since it has a higher earning point -- MasterCard is only used when there is a promotion or in a store that doesn't take AMEX
5. Before i buy anything on-line I check the Airmiles shop 1st and sling shot thru there. **keep several shopping carts almost full waiting for bonus events
6. As much as it pains me to watch the AMAZING stories connected to foodbank deliveries (@mort1331 I'm looking at you ) we won't buy something strictly to donate, our charitable $$ are already spoken for.

REDEEMING:
Because we really don't earn Airmiles on anything we wouldn't normally be buying & we're not shopping in stores we wouldn't already be shopping in (Yes, Metro is usually more $$ but we would still shop there even if no AM) we look at our Airmiles as "FREE". So long as point 1 & 2 in our Earning criteria are met i rarely do any other math. Using this logic (and yes i realize this is not shared by most!!) if we can redeem our miles for something we would normally **want** to purchase but can't justify actually buying.. BONUS! Like you we don't like using them for flights, doesn't seem to be a good value, if i watch for sales thru Expedia (thru the Airmiles shop site!) i can get them for less than the tax. If i see "something" i want, that would truly be a luxury (current desire is a sound bar for the tv), then I'll redeem for that! Once it arrives i will giggle and show it off cause I'm a dork! I think the best *value* has been for car rentals

We won't be doing the Disney tickets because we like to hop AND we have no idea when/if we'll go back.

*** congrats on the baby

These are such good guidelines! I've learned a lot from these boards about maximizing earning. Now it's figuring out the best ways to redeem the miles piling up. Hah! We also don't change our shopping habits significantly for air miles, but I still feel compelled to try and maximize the value of the miles I'm redeeming. I'm also totally willing to break that when I see something I love--the backpack I ordered last year looks professional (I'm a grad student and I teach at my university, so a nice backpack is something I use and appreciate daily). It seems like one of the worse "values" has been using the personal shopper service because they're tacking on service fees. I sort of understand the extra fees, but it really seems to me like the premium is just not worth it. There's enough turnover in merchandise for me to wait patiently for the items I most want.