Archive for 'Guest Bloggers'
Top 5 Reasons to Celebrate the Arrival of Fall (in the Land of Loyalty)
Posted on 19. Aug, 2011 by PointsAdvisor.
Here’s our super-intern Jessie to talk about the advantages fall brings for points and mile fanatics. Enjoy!
Top 5 Reasons to Celebrate the Arrival of Fall (in the Land of Loyalty)
Don’t despair as the curtain slowly drops on this summer season! There are lots of lovely things to look forward to this fall (including great ways to earn, redeem and share your loyalty points, miles and rewards!).
Here are our Top Five Picks in the celebration of fall:
1. Fashion: Are you as sick of the prominence of belly-tops and capri-pants as I am? Well it won’t be long before navels and ankles are banished once again! Under a fresh batch of sweaters, trench coats, and (best) new boots. There are plenty of ways to supplement the cost of those new items with your points and miles: you can redeem your Aeroplan or AIRMILES miles for great items through their online stores or choose the Gift Card option, offered by many loyalty programs, including HBC Rewards, American Express Membership Rewards, Diners Club Rewards and more (check out more programs at Points.com).
2. Off-season Holidays: Whether you’re looking to squeeze in some last minute summer revelry over the Labour Day weekend or you’re a savvy holiday planner who prefers a cooler temperature and shorter line-ups, now is the time to start thinking about your off-season holiday plans. Forbes.com did a great highlight on some of the best places to travel to in the off season, find it HERE. Frequent flyer program members should also check out last minute vacation offers and specials with their favorite airlines, such as Virgin Atlantic, jetBlue, Porter Airlines and more.
3. New Releases: I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait for a few rainy days so I can enjoy my T.V./movie time sans guilt… and it won’t be like you aren’t doing anything productive if you take your Scene card along with you when you go to movies. Also, Netflix offers great bonus incentives for American Airlines AAdvantage, Delta Skymiles, and United MileagePlus members.
4. Fresh Start: While Spring usually gets all the glory of “rebirth” and “renewal”, the freshness of fall should not be overlooked. Whether it’s a new grade, semester or quarter, this is a time to start over. Of course starting anew means a new pack of pencils (or flash drives). Alleviate some of the costs by using your OfficeDepot Worklife Rewards and Best Buy Reward Zone points!
5. Pumpkin Spiced Everything: Hey, don’t knock it till you try it…I don’t know what it is about a spicy pumpkin makes your everyday treats that much more delicious, but it does. One of the masters of the pumpkin spice is Starbucks, with their Pumpkin Spiced Latte! Also, residents of the U.S. and Calgary can use this (soon to be new addiction) as an opportunity to collect Starbucks Rewards points! And for the many other caffeine-loving Canadians, take advantage of the Starbucks Card Rewards card, which allows you to track your account online and connects you to news on special offers and member benefits!
How do you plan to celebrate fall with your points and miles?
Image source: http://www.sxc.hu/profile/lpalmer22
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Most Popular Posts of 2010: Frugal John’s Top 5 Tips for Making the Most of your Points & Miles
Posted on 15. Mar, 2011 by PointsAdvisor.
Frugal John:
Around Points.com, one of our colleagues, John, is known as the go-to person for questions about how to get the most out of your loyalty programs. His penchant for savings has even earned him the nickname “Frugal John”. Last year, John wrote a series of guest posts listing his top 5 tips for making the most of your miles and points.
John’s top 5 list generated some of the most popular posts we had in 2010. We’ve compiled all of John’s tips here in one place in case you missed them last year.
5 Tips for Making the Most of Your Points & Miles:
Tip #1: Have a redemption goal in mind.
Tip #2: What goes up must come down.
Tip #3: Aim for your goal but be open to change.
Tip #4: Know the expiry rules for your programs.
Tip #5: Don’t be afraid to spend “hard” cash to maximize your point/mile balance.
What strategies do you use to get the most out of your points and miles? Do you have any additional tips to add to Frugal John’s list?
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Frugal John’s Top 5 Tips for Making the Most of your Points & Miles – Tip #5
Posted on 13. Dec, 2010 by PointsAdvisor.
Without further ado, here is Frugal John’s 5th tip on how to make the most of your loyalty programs:
5. Don’t be afraid to spend “hard” cash to maximize your point/mile balance.
Cash is king for the simple reason that it is accepted pretty much anywhere, by anybody, for almost anything. The acceptance rates on loyalty program points/miles are somewhat more constrained. So, while it may feel like it doesn’t make much sense to exchange a hard currency into a less-liquid reward currency, there are many situations in which the financial case can be made.
For example, most major airlines allow you to purchase miles for yourself or others. In general, these purchased miles will cost you around 2.5 cents/mile. If you’re only 10,000 miles away from redeeming for an award flight that would cost $400 normally, the $250 it takes to purchase the miles you need are less than the outright cost of the flight. If you manage to buy during a promotional period, you may find your per mile purchase rate effectively cut in half.
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Overall, don’t forget that you’ve probably earned these points and miles by engaging in the everyday activities you would have done regardless – travelling for business or pleasure, shopping at your local store, using your credit card for everyday essentials. Don’t be afraid to treat these loyalty program miles/points like the crumpled $5 bill you find in a freshly washed pair of jeans – it’s a windfall – use it to reward yourself and the ones you love.
Read all 5 of Frugal John’s Tips:
Tip #1: Have a redemption goal in mind.
Tip #2: What goes up must come down.
Tip #3: Aim for your goal but be open to change.
Tip #4: Know the expiry rules for your programs.
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Frugal John’s Top 5 Tips for Making the Most of your Points & Miles – Tip #4
Posted on 06. Dec, 2010 by PointsAdvisor.
Welcome to Frugal John’s latest tip on how to make the most of your points and miles!
4. Know the expiry rules for your programs.
Nothing is more wasteful than having your points/miles vanish because your account has been deemed inactive. Know the expiry rules for your programs so you can engage in enough activity to keep the account active, or at the very least, redeem out of the program before your account is expired.
If you do suffer the unfortunate fate of having your account expired, some loyalty programs will reinstate your balance for a fee. The charge – usually a fraction of a penny per point/mile – is a small price to pay to restore a sizable balance just waiting to be redeemed. Check your loyalty program’s website for details, or call their customer service line.
For more tips, see:
1. Have a redemption goal in mind.
2. What goes up must come down.
3. Aim for your goal but be open to change.
Please feel free to share your own tips below!
Until next time,
Frugal John
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Frugal John’s Top 5 Tips for Making the Most of your Points & Miles – Tip #3
Posted on 29. Nov, 2010 by PointsAdvisor.
Hello and happy Monday!
Below you will find Frugal John’s latest tip on how to make the most of your points and miles. This is the third tip in John’s five part series where he gives his advice on how to manage your loyalty programs. John is our in-house expert on the best ways to use your points and miles, so we thought we would share his expertise with our readers.
You can find John’s first two tips here (Tip #1) and here (Tip #2).
Enjoy!
Frugal John’s Tip #3:
3. Aim for your goal but be open to change.
People like to be rewarded. We also like to procrastinate, putting off to tomorrow what could have been done today, because while we are painfully aware of how much effort is required to do something in the now, we are perpetually optimistic in how long and how hard it will be to do something in the future. This bias may be part of the reason so many of us join so many loyalty programs – the appeal of a free flight is instantaneous, while the future effort needed to earn all those frequent flyer miles is underestimated.
Aiming for the dream vacation is natural, but if your circumstances change, and you’re not earning points/miles as frequently as you had thought, be flexible and redeem for something within your grasp.
Frugal John
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Frugal John’s Top 5 Tips for Making the Most of your Points & Miles – Tip #2
Posted on 22. Nov, 2010 by PointsAdvisor.
Frugal John is back again with another Monday morning tip about how to make the most of your loyalty program rewards. Today John is sharing his thoughts on inflation and rewards.
Here’s John’s second tip:
2. What goes up must come down.
In 1958, $2.70 would get you a “Wash & Wear” dress shirt from the Sears Christmas catalogue. Today, $2.70 will get you a coffee. From the inception of monetary systems, rulers and governments have been able and quite willing to devalue their currency when the need arose; as with cash, so too with your loyalty programs’ points/miles. Whether because the cost of the underlying redemption award has increased or because an increasing liability of unused and unexpired points/miles has forced program operators to revalue their worth, over time, you’ll need more miles/points to redeem for a certain award than you would have needed today.
While there is value in saving your points/miles for that dream vacation, don’t forget that inflation will dip into your loyalty program savings too. You’re not earning any interest on that loyalty program balance, so don’t be too stingy with it.
Was this tip useful? Have a tip of your own to share? Leave a comment below!
Until next time,
Frugal John
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Frugal John’s Top 5 Tips for Making the Most of your Points & Miles – Tip #1
Posted on 15. Nov, 2010 by PointsAdvisor.
Around the office, Frugal John is known as our most value-conscious colleague. When ever we need advice on getting the most out of our points and miles, we turn to him. We wanted to share John’s expertise with the world, so we’ve asked him to share his top 5 tips for making the most of your points and miles. Since John has so many great tips, we’re going to share one every Monday morning for the next five weeks.
Here’s John’s first tip:
1. Have a redemption goal in mind.
Few, if any, loyalty program members know the points/miles “cost” of all the possible reward options in all the programs they are engaged in. But you should know the cost of at least one option in each program – preferably the option you’re aiming to achieve. Surveying our user base, we found that among certain retail loyalty programs, over 60% of respondents accurately reported the number of points required for a certain redemption award (usually the option most redeemed for). Among airline loyalty programs, the accuracy dropped to only 1/3 to 1/2 of respondents correctly reporting the number of miles required for an award flight, while among hospitality programs, only 10% – 30% were able to give a correct answer.
The simple truth is that if you don’t understand how many points/miles it takes to get that reward you’re looking for, you won’t be able to make good decisions about how to maximize those balances. Knowing the “price” of at least one reward option will give you an anchor point against which you can evaluate future earning opportunities.
Was this tip helpful? Leave a comment below to let us know what you think.
Until next time,
Frugal John
