Shop for Holiday Gifts Using Your Points & Miles!

Posted on 24. Nov, 2011 by PointsAdvisor.

Want to save money on your holiday shopping this year? Try redeeming your points and miles for some of our great gift ideas! You can use points and miles to redeem for gift cards, online discounts, or even magazine subscriptions.

Here are a few ideas from our Holiday Gift Guide:

Gift Cards:

You can redeem for gift cards from hundreds of retailers on Points.com. Some popular options are gift cards from Best Buy, Amazon.com and Target, but there are lots more to choose from. Some people choose to redeem for gift cards and give those as gifts, or others redeem and use the gift card to purchase a gift. It’s up to you! Learn more about redeeming for gift cards here. *Please note: American Airlines AAdvantage requires a minimum balance of 25,000 miles to redeem for gift cards on Points.com.

Low Balance Offers:

Low Balance Offers are a new feature on Points.com, just in time for the holidays. You can make use of orphan points and miles to redeem for discounts from online retailers such as MooseJaw clothing, New Balance (US only) and Norton AntiVirus. Offers start as low as 500 points or miles! To find out which programs participate and to see all options, visit our redeem page on Points.com.

Magazine Subscriptions:

Some loyalty programs will allow you to redeem your miles for magazine subscriptions. Year-long magazine subscriptions make great gifts – it’s like a new present every month! Even better, magazine subscriptions start from as low as 500 miles, so they’re a great way to make use of low balances. Visit our Holiday Gift Guide and scroll to the bottom of the page to see your options.

Bonus Tip:

If you’re shopping online this year, be sure to check your favorite loyalty program’s website to see if they have an Earn Mall. Shopping through earn malls will allow you to earn points/miles as you purchase gifts!

Do you have any suggestions for using your points and miles to save money during your holiday shopping? Leave a comment below!

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What’s the Best Thing You Ever Redeemed For?

Posted on 16. Nov, 2011 by PointsAdvisor.

With the holiday season fast approaching, we wanted to share some of the best things we’ve ever redeemed for as inspiration for readers. We asked some of our colleagues to tell us the best thing they ever redeemed for, and here’s what they said.

The Best Thing I Ever Redeemed for Was…

Not Your Average Destination Wedding: “I redeemed Aeroplan miles to go to my wife and I’s wedding in Japan. I *guess* it worked out <shrug>! ” – Luke

A Clean Floor & Indulgences: “I redeemed my AIRMILES for a Dyson vacuum cleaner! I also redeemed AIRMILES for Roots gift certificates and purchased (on three different occasions!) three Roots leather flat bags.  All things I lusted over but wouldn’t have bought for myself otherwise.” – Kat

Honeymoon, Take 2: “We hated the cruise we took for our honeymoon so I booked us a second honeymoon….this time to Paris, flight for two on Air France paid in Delta SkyMiles! And because I booked through Delta.com, I saved about $150 in taxes too!” – Kerry

Practical Savings: “I’ve used my PC Financial points for free groceries and my Petro Points for free car washes.” – Tara

Making Family Connections: “I redeemed 400 Frontier EarlyReturns miles for a discount offer at Ancestry.com and received a Family Tree Maker 2012 CD. Our family tree has been on “paper” for the past 300 years and I can now enter/upload it online and share with my sisters.” – Roz

Vacation in San Fran: “I once redeemed my Aeroplan miles for a round trip fare to San Francisco.  I ate lots of chowder and visited Alcatraz…it was awesome.” – Dan

Daughter of the Year Award: “My parents celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary last year and I was able surprise them with a trip to Washington, DC using my US Airways Dividend miles. The best thing was that because I booked off-peak travel, I got 2 round trip tickets for 50,000 miles and then used my Starwood Preferred Guest membership to put them up in the Sheraton for 2 nights using only 20,000 Starpoints. Finally I was able to make the surprise that much sweeter by giving them my Air Canada lounge passes (that I selected as a bonus for reaching Aeroplan elite status), so that they could relax in style before their flight. Total cost for an unforgettable getaway for 2 and #1 child status: $250 in taxes.” – Diana

Bachelor Party on a Budget: “I went to Vegas for a friend’s bachelor party using 40,000 Delta SkyMiles.  I had 38,500 in my account before I booked so I used Delta transfer and took advantage of a 100% transfer bonus promo to transfer 1k from a friend’s account and get up to 40k to book the trip.” – Andrew

Impromptu Redemption: “I redeemed 15000 Aeroplan points for a hotel room in Collingwood and booked in on my iPhone standing outside the hotel. I walked in 3 minutes later and checked in for free.” – Dena

Family Fun: “The top two in my mind are the time I redeemed 100,000 Aeroplan miles to fly my family (wife plus two kids) to Orlando to visit Disney for the first time, and when I redeemed Aeroplan miles for two tickets to Cirque du Soleil (Totem) this past summer…” – Marc

Western Adventure: “My best and most adventuresome redemption was using the American Airlines AAdvantage miles that I  accumulated over the years towards a trip to Victoria, BC on Vancouver Island, via Chicago and Seattle. The “bestest of the westest” moment was en route back home;  the day was completely clear and cloudless and we flew over the Rockies all the way, then the Grand Cranyon  – it was spectacular!  Then due north to Chicago we flew over one of the largest lakes I’ve ever seen in my life, and still don’t know the name!” – Jo

Stay tuned for our Holiday Gift Guide, coming next week. We’ll be dishing out more advice on redeeming, and lots of ideas for the holidays! In the meantime, let us know what the best thing you ever redeemed for is below.

Image source: http://www.sxc.hu/profile/timobalk

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Get to Know Our Points.com Employees

Posted on 08. Nov, 2011 by PointsAdvisor.

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to work at Points.com? How about what kind of loyalty-crazy people might spend their days thinking about innovative ways to use loyalty programs? Well, you can now get an insider’s look at what it’s like to work at Points.com on our Life @ Points blog.

The Life@Points blog is a forum for Points.com employees to share their expertise, talk about events and projects and let everyone know about the latest insider Points.com news. We post videos and pictures from recent staff events, and our tech team has been known to share some pretty serious tech chat.

We especially hope you’ll drop by the Life@Points blog if you think Points.com might sound like a place you’d like to work, but welcome all visitors who are interested in seeing what we do each day at Points.com.

Until next time,

The Points.com Team

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November Promo Roundup

Posted on 02. Nov, 2011 by PointsAdvisor.

November has us reaching for our winter jackets and tuques here in Canada, but brings thoughts of pumpkin pie and Thanksgiving dinner for our American friends to the south. Luckily we’ve got lots of mile- and point-earning promos to be thankful for this month. Read on to find promotions that we’re hosting, and promotions that are being hosted by our partners.

Happy American Thanksgiving  from everyone here at Points.com!

Buy, Gift or Transfer for more:

Priority Club Rewards: Buy or gift Priority Club points now till November 30, 2011 and get a 20% bonus on points purchases of 10,000 points or more.

Choice Hotels: Buy or gift points now until December 15, 2011 and receive a 10% bonus!

Starwood Preferred Guest: Buy or Gift Starpoints between November 1 and December 30, 2011 and receive 20% off the regular price.

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan: Buy Alaska Mileage Plan miles now until December 31, 2011 and get 4,000 bonus miles for every 10,000 miles purchased – up to 16,000 bonus miles.

JetBlue TrueBlue: Buy or Gift TrueBlue points between November 1 and December 31, 2011 and receive a 35% bonus!

More ways to earn:

American Airlines AAdvantage,  Delta SkyMiles, and US Airways Dividend Miles: Get 5,000 miles and 6 wines for only $6.99 per bottle with FREE shipping when you join American Cellars Wine Club - a savings of $69. Also earn 5 miles per dollar spent and a free gift! Offer ends December 31, 2011.

Best Buy Reward Zone: Get 5,000 points and 6 wines for only $6.99 per bottle with FREE shipping when you join American Cellars Wine Club - a savings of $69 . Also earn 4 points per dollar spent and receive a free gift. Offer ends December 31, 2011.

Earn points/miles when you shop online:

Earn points/miles in the program of your choice when you shop online at T- Shirt Now.   T-Shirt Now features an assortment of witty Ts with slogans and phrases from your favourite TV shows, movies and celebrities.

Do you have a promotion to share? Leave a comment below! We’d love to hear from you.

Image source: http://www.sxc.hu/profile/sbpp

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