Airmiles Armchair Chatter

[ttaylorcan]

Just received some different coupons from Metro expiring March 8. 10am wus 95 cash am, 7am wus $5 on fruit and veggies, 15am wus $30. So for $30, 32am. Others as well.

So check your Metro offers!

 

[Donald - my hero]

I'm getting really annoyed with AM right now, still no STB resolution, the 50 from the Metro coupon during that hassle hasn't posted, I never received the blue booklet and noticed with some digging that a bunch were Rexall that expire today, the tailored offers we just got in an email from Metro are NOT tailored very well, only 3 of them are things we buy on a regular basis, and we had a rather unfortunate snag with one of our redemptions connected with our trip.

We had booked a night at the Sheraton Gateway for the night before our flight since hubby didn't want to risk getting stuck in rush hour traffic in the winter on our way to the airport. THEN the ice storm hit and we flew out the day before and i thought i'd be nice and let the Sheraton know we wouldn't be staying in case they needed the room for stranded passengers. OMG what a mistake THAT was, "sorry you can't cancel that since you didn't book thru us so you'll be charged for the night in full. Can we have a credit card #" UHM, seriously?? Don't think so, we've paid in full. Great, let's call AM and ask them how to handle it... yet another mistake, the person i got had NO idea how to handle what i was trying to do and offered to put me on hold, might take 90 minutes NO THANK you, we're literally on our way out the door. OK he'll get someone to call us .. I kept saying that i didn't pay for insurance and do NOT want my miles back, all I wanted was to cancel ... we eventually got a call to hubby's cellphone at 5 PM, as he was turning the phone off on the flight to New York (only 7 hours after my call!) We stopped at the hotel on our way to the flight and asked the on duty manager "Would you prefer we check in now and then toss the key in the express box as we leave, RIGHT now or just cancel the reservation so you have the room?" Finally someone who understood, no problem, moral of that story? Just don't show up!

AND one other thing to mention: if you rent a car thru AM be sure you bring a print out of the receipt!!! We forgot the 2nd set of paperwork and while they were able to pull up the reservation they wanted to charge us 5X our expected rate ... the walk up rate minus the piddly amount we had actually "paid" thru AM. Luckily that go around we actually got ONYX level service, phone was answered on 2nd ring and we had them shoot a copy to us via e-mail (when we looked thru the My Travel section the one for car rental was a broken link!) showed that to the agent and POOF the expected $49.00 instead of the amount she had tried to charge us -- $259.00

 

[pigletto]

That's all so frustrating. I can't blame you for being at your wits end with them.

 

[mort1331]

I'm getting really annoyed with AM right now, still no STB resolution, the 50 from the Metro coupon during that hassle hasn't posted, I never received the blue booklet and noticed with some digging that a bunch were Rexall that expire today, the tailored offers we just got in an email from Metro are NOT tailored very well, only 3 of them are things we buy on a regular basis, and we had a rather unfortunate snag with one of our redemptions connected with our trip.

We had booked a night at the Sheraton Gateway for the night before our flight since hubby didn't want to risk getting stuck in rush hour traffic in the winter on our way to the airport. THEN the ice storm hit and we flew out the day before and i thought i'd be nice and let the Sheraton know we wouldn't be staying in case they needed the room for stranded passengers. OMG what a mistake THAT was, "sorry you can't cancel that since you didn't book thru us so you'll be charged for the night in full. Can we have a credit card #" UHM, seriously?? Don't think so, we've paid in full. Great, let's call AM and ask them how to handle it... yet another mistake, the person i got had NO idea how to handle what i was trying to do and offered to put me on hold, might take 90 minutes NO THANK you, we're literally on our way out the door. OK he'll get someone to call us .. I kept saying that i didn't pay for insurance and do NOT want my miles back, all I wanted was to cancel ... we eventually got a call to hubby's cellphone at 5 PM, as he was turning the phone off on the flight to New York (only 7 hours after my call!) We stopped at the hotel on our way to the flight and asked the on duty manager "Would you prefer we check in now and then toss the key in the express box as we leave, RIGHT now or just cancel the reservation so you have the room?" Finally someone who understood, no problem, moral of that story? Just don't show up!

AND one other thing to mention: if you rent a car thru AM be sure you bring a print out of the receipt!!! We forgot the 2nd set of paperwork and while they were able to pull up the reservation they wanted to charge us 5X our expected rate ... the walk up rate minus the piddly amount we had actually "paid" thru AM. Luckily that go around we actually got ONYX level service, phone was answered on 2nd ring and we had them shoot a copy to us via e-mail (when we looked thru the My Travel section the one for car rental was a broken link!) showed that to the agent and POOF the expected $49.00 instead of the amount she had tried to charge us -- $259.00

That sucks Duck, hope you get it all worked out. And I hope your feeling better.

 

[mort1331]

Just over on another Can thread and there is talk about the Can ticket deal being extended till May20th. If that is the case then I might be in for a new CC to get me some quick easy AM for a couple of tickets.

 

[kuhltiffany]

Thanks for the heads-up on the car rental! Just printed our forms out to take with us tomorrow

I'm getting really annoyed with AM right now, still no STB resolution, the 50 from the Metro coupon during that hassle hasn't posted, I never received the blue booklet and noticed with some digging that a bunch were Rexall that expire today, the tailored offers we just got in an email from Metro are NOT tailored very well, only 3 of them are things we buy on a regular basis, and we had a rather unfortunate snag with one of our redemptions connected with our trip.

We had booked a night at the Sheraton Gateway for the night before our flight since hubby didn't want to risk getting stuck in rush hour traffic in the winter on our way to the airport. THEN the ice storm hit and we flew out the day before and i thought i'd be nice and let the Sheraton know we wouldn't be staying in case they needed the room for stranded passengers. OMG what a mistake THAT was, "sorry you can't cancel that since you didn't book thru us so you'll be charged for the night in full. Can we have a credit card #" UHM, seriously?? Don't think so, we've paid in full. Great, let's call AM and ask them how to handle it... yet another mistake, the person i got had NO idea how to handle what i was trying to do and offered to put me on hold, might take 90 minutes NO THANK you, we're literally on our way out the door. OK he'll get someone to call us .. I kept saying that i didn't pay for insurance and do NOT want my miles back, all I wanted was to cancel ... we eventually got a call to hubby's cellphone at 5 PM, as he was turning the phone off on the flight to New York (only 7 hours after my call!) We stopped at the hotel on our way to the flight and asked the on duty manager "Would you prefer we check in now and then toss the key in the express box as we leave, RIGHT now or just cancel the reservation so you have the room?" Finally someone who understood, no problem, moral of that story? Just don't show up!

AND one other thing to mention: if you rent a car thru AM be sure you bring a print out of the receipt!!! We forgot the 2nd set of paperwork and while they were able to pull up the reservation they wanted to charge us 5X our expected rate ... the walk up rate minus the piddly amount we had actually "paid" thru AM. Luckily that go around we actually got ONYX level service, phone was answered on 2nd ring and we had them shoot a copy to us via e-mail (when we looked thru the My Travel section the one for car rental was a broken link!) showed that to the agent and POOF the expected $49.00 instead of the amount she had tried to charge us -- $259.00

 

[buyerbrad]

Can somebody please explain to me what I need to do to get the 2000 Airmiles with the CC and not pay an annual fee.

 

[pigletto]

Just over on another Can thread and there is talk about the Can ticket deal being extended till May20th. If that is the case then I might be in for a new CC to get me some quick easy AM for a couple of tickets.

Hmmmm. I was going to pay cash for a ticket, but if that's the case I will continue collecting and see if I can make it to the last one.
That takes the sting out of realizing tonight that the 5 day tickets I planned to upgrade to 6 day tickets would lose their discount .. making them too costly to add one stinking day. I don't know how I didn't put that together before.

 

[DilEmma]

Can somebody please explain to me what I need to do to get the 2000 Airmiles with the CC and not pay an annual fee.

The American Express Air Miles Platinum card used to be first year free with a 2,000 Air Mile bonus when you spent $500 in the first three months.

Now it is $65 annual fee not waived in the first year. You still get the 2,000 bonus Air Miles but you have to spend $1,500 within the first three months to trigger the bonus.

It looks like the best you can do now is apply through Great Canadian Rebates which gives you $50 cash back:
https://www.greatcanadianrebates.ca/register.php?r=176304&p=Amex-AirMilesPlatinum

So you're effectively buying 2,000 Air Miles for the $15 annual fee not covered by the Great Canadian Rebates cash back.

Or if you don't like GCR or if you don't mind the annual fee, you can use a referral link from a friend. They'll get a 500 Air Mile bonus.

I no longer have the card but did when it was first year free. I did not use it much after the minimum spending because it is not a very good earning card after the welcome bonus. It's on my list to get again though.

 

[tinkerone]

I'm trying to understand something. I can buy Visa gift cards with air miles from shell? Is there a fee for using them? Is there a limit to what I can pick up? Seems like this would be a good way to pay for some vacations we take but I keep thinking there must be a catch.

 

[DilEmma]

I'm trying to understand something. I can buy Visa gift cards with air miles from shell? Is there a fee for using them? Is there a limit to what I can pick up? Seems like this would be a good way to pay for some vacations we take but I keep thinking there must be a catch.

There is a very big catch...
Activation fee as much as $6.95 (Visa $200 card).

I was browsing the grocery store gift card rack for my coworker who really wants to convert his STB Miles to cash.

Currently the highest denomination that could be loaded onto a prepaid Visa or Mastrcard was $200. MCard activation fee was $5.95 (plus HST). Visa $6.95.

Used to be one could get a Visa Paypower card for $6.95 and load as much as $950.

So at $200 maximum load with a $6.95 activation fee, you're paying 3.5% to convert Air Miles to a kind of cash.

I see where it is worth the fee to some people, like my coworker. He doesn't want to change his habits and shop at Sobeys or Metro and he doesn't care for Shell. He did STB five times with family cards, so has about $1,000 he would like to convert to cash. Given how easy STB was for him, it's certainly worth the 3.5% fee if he can convert the Air Miles to cash.

I shop at Sobeys and Rexall fairly regularly so I prefer to save my Cash Miles for bonus redemption opportunities.

Though I do have some concern that Air Miles will devalue everything.

Money is fungible. If they do devalue, I'm happy to just buy Sobeys gift cards etc online and use some mental accounting to earmark the Air Miles cash for travel.

 

[bababear_50]

I just checked my starbucks cards and I am on track for our March trip and I just need $40.00 more and I will have $300.00 in SB Gift cards for this trip,,,,all collected with cash airmiles.
I need 285 more airmiles which I think I can do before we leave.
Hugs Mel

 

[bababear_50]

DilEmma, when you cancel an Amex card how do you do it. Do you send them and email or just call and cancel it over the phone. I've never actually cancelled a card before.

I just called today to cancel mine also.(number on back of the card).
They said I would receive a letter of confirmation in 7-10 days.
Hugs Mel

 

[mort1331]

Hmmmm. I was going to pay cash for a ticket, but if that's the case I will continue collecting and see if I can make it to the last one.
That takes the sting out of realizing tonight that the 5 day tickets I planned to upgrade to 6 day tickets would lose their discount .. making them too costly to add one stinking day. I don't know how I didn't put that together before.

Now I dont have firm confirmation on this, so keep an eye out, but once I know I will post the extension, or if anyone else sees it first.

 

[mort1331]

I just checked my starbucks cards and I am on track for our March trip and I just need $40.00 more and I will have $300.00 in SB Gift cards for this trip,,,,all collected with cash airmiles.
I need 285 more airmiles which I think I can do before we leave.
Hugs Mel

Is the SB card here converted to $us there. Do they just see $20 and dont have an exchange rate?

 

[ttaylorcan]

My husband received the booklet today in the mail, as well as mine. There was nothing mentioned on his home page about offers, but it is listed at the bottom of his offers page. If you didn't think you received the booklet offers, I missed his so you might want to take a second look.

 

[ttaylorcan]

I'm getting really annoyed with AM right now, still no STB resolution, the 50 from the Metro coupon during that hassle hasn't posted, I never received the blue booklet and noticed with some digging that a bunch were Rexall that expire today, the tailored offers we just got in an email from Metro are NOT tailored very well, only 3 of them are things we buy on a regular basis, and we had a rather unfortunate snag with one of our redemptions connected with our trip.

We had booked a night at the Sheraton Gateway for the night before our flight since hubby didn't want to risk getting stuck in rush hour traffic in the winter on our way to the airport. THEN the ice storm hit and we flew out the day before and i thought i'd be nice and let the Sheraton know we wouldn't be staying in case they needed the room for stranded passengers. OMG what a mistake THAT was, "sorry you can't cancel that since you didn't book thru us so you'll be charged for the night in full. Can we have a credit card #" UHM, seriously?? Don't think so, we've paid in full. Great, let's call AM and ask them how to handle it... yet another mistake, the person i got had NO idea how to handle what i was trying to do and offered to put me on hold, might take 90 minutes NO THANK you, we're literally on our way out the door. OK he'll get someone to call us .. I kept saying that i didn't pay for insurance and do NOT want my miles back, all I wanted was to cancel ... we eventually got a call to hubby's cellphone at 5 PM, as he was turning the phone off on the flight to New York (only 7 hours after my call!) We stopped at the hotel on our way to the flight and asked the on duty manager "Would you prefer we check in now and then toss the key in the express box as we leave, RIGHT now or just cancel the reservation so you have the room?" Finally someone who understood, no problem, moral of that story? Just don't show up!

AND one other thing to mention: if you rent a car thru AM be sure you bring a print out of the receipt!!! We forgot the 2nd set of paperwork and while they were able to pull up the reservation they wanted to charge us 5X our expected rate ... the walk up rate minus the piddly amount we had actually "paid" thru AM. Luckily that go around we actually got ONYX level service, phone was answered on 2nd ring and we had them shoot a copy to us via e-mail (when we looked thru the My Travel section the one for car rental was a broken link!) showed that to the agent and POOF the expected $49.00 instead of the amount she had tried to charge us -- $259.00

Hang in there Donald, sounds like a lot of issues all at once. I personally have a love/hate relationship with airmiles promos, I find the individual retailer ones work out well but the multiple vendor ones always seem to have so many ways that things go wrong. Having to wait 120 days to resolve an issue is ridiculous IMHO.

 

[ttaylorcan]

Hmmmm. I was going to pay cash for a ticket, but if that's the case I will continue collecting and see if I can make it to the last one.
That takes the sting out of realizing tonight that the 5 day tickets I planned to upgrade to 6 day tickets would lose their discount .. making them too costly to add one stinking day. I don't know how I didn't put that together before.

I'm confused. So is this true for the airmiles vouchers as well as the disney purchased Canadian vouchers? I've looked through a number of threads and can't see anyone confirming trying to change airmiles vouchers. I was expecting to be able to add park hoppers and switch one to an DVC Gold pass. Anyone know if you can or cannot do either of these things?

 

[bababear_50]

Is the SB card here converted to $us there. Do they just see $20 and dont have an exchange rate?

Hi
When I used them last year I was charged USD at the different locations and the balance left on the card reflected this.(so yes an exchange rate applies).
Hugs Mel

 

[Donald - my hero]

I'm confused. So is this true for the airmiles vouchers as well as the disney purchased Canadian vouchers? I've looked through a number of threads and can't see anyone confirming trying to change airmiles vouchers. I was expecting to be able to add park hoppers and switch one to an DVC Gold pass. Anyone know if you can or cannot do either of these things?

Yes Airmiles is sending out the exchange certificates now as well, which is why the number of miles required to redeem have dropped.

Someone has reported back that they did in fact upgrade their certificate for an AP but didn't let us know how much that transaction cost.

Someone else reported adding hopping to the tickets but alas, no report of the price for THAT transaction either.

So yes to all of your questions just no idea how much it will cost to do the upgrading and if the realized discount will vanish when you DO upgrade! Since there is no discount on the hoppers or APs so you will pay the difference between the certificates and the current FULL gate price of the other ticket media "bridging" -- a term i wouldn't recommend using BTW it can cause confusion in any CMs who are ESL --- won't happen i don't think. There will never be any question how much you actually paid for these certificates.