The Case of the Vanishing Points

It happens to the best of us. Our loyalty statement comes in, we open it up, and are greeted by — disappointment in the form of expired points/miles. Where did our hard earned points go?

Fortunately, this is one mystery that is easily solved — and prevented from happening again, with just a few simple steps. Below we have included a few quick tips to help you keep your points and miles from expiring. Feel free to add your own tips in the comments below!

3 Tips to Keep Your Points & Miles From Expiring

1. List.

Jot down a list of all your loyalty programs. If you have registered your programs on Points.com, you can use this as a starting place rather than digging through cards.

2. Note.

Figure out when your points or miles will expire, and note the date beside each program. How to find out? Some programs send an email or paper statement. Or check the program website for the expiry policy. (Tip: Many airline miles expire after 12-18 months of account inactivity. For a list of airline program expiry policies, check out this blog post.)

3. Save (or use).

Make a plan to save your points and miles before they vanish. There are lots of ways to do this. You could redeem some or all of them for travel, merchandise, a subscription or a gift card. (Tip: Check out the redeem tab when you log in to Points.com for featured redemption offers.) Or, you could make small eligible purchases to keep the account active. Try browsing your airline’s online shopping portal (earn mall) if they have one — you may be able to purchase a single iTunes song to reactivate for just pennies. Here’s an article with even more purchase ideas. Similarly, watch for social media promos or rewards to sign up for marketing emails. You could also consider buying points or miles on Points.com — just make sure that they qualify to keep that program active. And, if you really don’t plan to use the points or miles in that program any time soon, why not transfer them into another program?

Taking a few minutes to get a handle on your loyalty programs can really pay off in the long run. It will help you get the most value from your carefully earned points and miles, and it will help ensure you remain a satisfied customer of the program. After all, isn’t that the point of a loyalty program?

Points.com blog - Loyalty program news & advice

Mother’s day is fast approaching: only 9 days until May 12th. If you’re still struggling to find the perfect gift to thank Mom this year, check out our promotion below.

Redeem on Points.com & Get Free Flowers:

Now until May 7th, you can get up to $45 in FTD Flowers gift codes when you redeem on Points.com.

Here’s how it works:

1) Redeem for any gift certificate valued at at least $100 on Points.com.

• If you redeem for a gift certificate worth $100-$200, we’ll give you a bonus $15 gift code that can be used on FTD.com.
• If you redeem for a gift certificate valued at over $200, we’ll give you three $15 gift codes for FTD.com — that’s $45 in total to spend on flowers for Mom!

2) Once your redemption is complete, we’ll send you an email with the FTD gift code(s).

That’s it! By redeeming for something you want on Points.com (or something for Mom!) you can get free flowers for Mother’s Day.

Go here to learn more, or start redeeming here.

Points.com blog - Loyalty program news & advice

Earlier this month we added 25 new loyalty programs for you to track on Points.com. This means you can now track over 120 loyalty program balances all in one place! With so many programs to track, it’s even easier to keep your loyalty life organized.

Here are the new programs you can track:

• ANA Mileage Club
• Big Crumbs
• Gernam Wings Boomerang Club
• China Eastern Airlines Eastern Miles
• eBay Bucks
• Enterprise Plus
• Fairmont President’s Club
• FlyBuys
• Preflight Parking Frequent Parker
• Shangri-La Golden Circle
• HSBC Rewards
• Taj Inner Circle
• Kimpton InTouch
• XBox LIVE Rewards
• Mabuhay Miles
• Park ‘n FlyNational Rewards
• Capital One No Hassle
• Bass Pro Shops Outdoor Rewards
• GameStop PowerUp Rewards
• Rakuten Super Points
• Thanks Again
• The Ritz-Carlton Rewards
• Chase Ultimate Rewards
• Rite Aid Wellness+

To see all of the programs you can track, log in to Points.com.

Points.com blog - Loyalty program news & advice

Points.com was recently featured in two Toronto Star articles!

Living the Fantasy Life by Cashing in on Points – by Himani Ediriweera

Points.com user Cassandra Munro used points she earned on her Esso card and frequent flyer miles to travel to Atlanta’s Dragon Con. Read the article below to learn how Cassandra uses Points.com to make her costume-filled trips happen — for free!

Living the Fantasy Life on Points

Simplicity Key to Maximising Reward Points – by Carola Vyhnak

Christopher Barnard, President of Points, offers tips on how loyalty program members can make the most of their points and miles. Click the link below to read Christopher’s top 5 tips.

Simplicity Key to Maximizing Reward Points

Points.com blog - Loyalty program news & advice

At Points.com, you can redeem points and miles from selected loyalty partners into your PayPal account.

This means that you can turn your points and miles into just about anything: merchandise at your favorite shopping sites, event tickets, professional services — or cash!

Here are three ideas for using your points and miles in PayPal:

1. Get holiday spending money:

After you’ve redeemed for an award flight or free hotel stay, redeem any remaining points or miles into PayPal to use while you’re on your trip! You could also use your PayPal funds before you go to purchase new luggage or clothes for your adventure.

2. Spring clean:

Consolidate by redeeming points or miles in programs with smaller balances into PayPal. By cleaning up your loyalty wallet you can make the most of points and miles you might not use otherwise. While you’re at it, be sure to register all of your programs on Points.com to make sure you know what’s in your wallet!

3. Treat yourself:

If you’re not planning a trip in the near future, why not treat yourself to a rejuvenating weekend at home by transferring your points or miles into your PayPal account to fund a trip to the spa or a night out on the town?

 Visit this page to find out all of the programs that you can redeem from!

Points.com blog - Loyalty program news & advice

Yesterday US Airways and American Airlines officially announced their upcoming merger.

To keep you in the loop, we’ve shared the information that US Airways sent to their members below:

“Today we announced that American Airlines and US Airways will combine to create a premier global carrier. Operating under the iconic American Airlines name, one of the most recognized brands in the world, the combined airline will have a robust global network, a strong financial foundation and one of the most modern and efficient fleets in the industry. We are excited about what the combination of our two great airlines means for our valued customers.”

What does this mean for you?

Until the merger actually happens, it’s business as usual with both programs on Points.com. See the below excerpt from US Airways on how they’re advising their loyalty program members:

“Until the merger is complete, US Airways and American Airlines will remain separate companies and each company will maintain its current loyalty programs (US Airways – Dividend Miles and American Airlines – AAdvantage^®). In the meantime, existing miles will continue to be honored, and there will be no impact to your US Airways MasterCard^® or US Airways Visa^® card. Customers can continue to book travel and track and manage flights as well as frequent flyer activity on www.usairways.com. You can also continue to earn and redeem mileage for travel awards with us and our Star Alliance^™ partners.We expect the combination to be completed in the third quarter of 2013. Additional information will be provided to customers of our frequent flyer program on any future program updates, including account consolidation or benefit alignment. In the meantime, please visit www.usairways.com/arriving for the latest information.”

There’s no action required to continue tracking and using your Dividend and AAdvantage Miles on Points.com.

For further updates, visit:

American Airlines:  http://www.aa.com/arriving/
US Airways: www.usairways.com/arriving

Points.com blog - Loyalty program news & advice

Happy New Year!

We hope you had a good break and are ready to earn even more points and miles in 2013. To get you started, we have a special guest on the blog today: Tracy Soldan. Tracy is one of our Points.com super-users and someone who knows points and miles inside out.

We asked Tracy to share his top 4 tips for earning more points and miles in the new year. Here’s what he had to say!

Hello!

Points.com asked me to offer some tips on how to use their services more effectively, and how to collect points and miles quickly. Either could be a whole series of blog posts, but I’ll stick to a few basics to get you started.

1. Use exchanges on Points.com to top up accounts for redemptions, flights and hotel stays.

A few hundred or thousand points/miles you aren’t using can be worth it to obtain an award flight or hotel stay, a gift card, or to accept a trade for what you *really* want.

2. Take advantage of bonus point promotions when they are available.

You can find these on the loyalty program websites, and some are only available through social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.). Many programs have promos where you have to follow the link they send you to register, so be sure to sign up to receive emails from them.  They often come in the form of either points per dollar or a bulk amount for a transaction.

3. Use everyday spending to accumulate points/miles.

Most programs have shopping portals that earn you points/miles if you go through the portal first; many also let you register cards that earn even in-store when you use them! Dining programs that earn on registered cards when you dine at participating restaurants are also quite common. Here are a few popular shopping portals to get you started: the JetBlue ShopTrue store, the Amtrak Points for Shopping store and the Choice Privileges Online Mall.

4. Use co-branded cards.

Most programs offer credit cards issued by major banks that earn points/miles in that program on all purchases, and even more when you spend on that program itself. Some programs even offer co-branded debit cards with certain banks. Using co-branded cards with shopping portals will earn on both the portal and the cards!

Even better – combine these tips to double or even triple dip your purchases!

Bio: Tracy Soldan only got interested in loyalty programs a few years ago, but made up for lost time quickly and has earned around half a million points and miles since then. He’s not just a points hoarder, though. This year he will be taking several award trips, and plans to take his sister and nephew to Japan in the fall using airline miles and hotel points. He recently moved from Seattle to the Atlanta area, which prompted him to review which programs suited his needs best in his new home city.

Thanks to Tracy for sharing his insider secrets!

Here are a few examples of places where you can earn points and miles in your favourite programs when you shop this week:

•  1-800 FLOWERS: 20 points/miles per $1 spent
• Preflight Parking: 1 mile per $1 spent with their Frequent Parker program
• Clarendon Hotel in Arizona: 1,000 – 2,500 per qualified night
• Digitized Logos: Up to 50,000 miles with your purchase

How do you plan on earning more points and miles in 2013? Let us know in the comments below!

Points.com blog - Loyalty program news & advice

Happy Holidays from Points.com!

We’d like to wish you and your family a wonderful holiday season.

Our Points.com customer support centre will be closing at noon EST on Monday, December 24th and will re-open on Thursday, December 27th. We’ll close again to celebrate New Years at noon on Monday, December 31st and re-open for usual business hours on Wednesday, January 2nd.

You can always check our FAQs for help when we’re closed.

Customer Service Centre Holiday Hours:

Monday, December 24th: 9 am ET until 12 pm ET
Tuesday, December 25th: Closed
Wednesday, December 26th: Closed
Thursday, December 27th: 9 am ET until 5 pm ET
Friday, December 28th: 9 am ET until 5 pm ET
Saturday, December 29th: Closed
Sunday, December 30th: Closed

Monday, December 31st: 9 am ET until 12 pm ET
Tuesday, January 1st: Closed
Wednesday, January 2nd: 9am ET until 5 pm ET (regular hours resume)

We’ll sign off by sharing a recent CTV new article with a mention of Points.com. You can read the short article here.

We hope you have a safe and happy holiday season and look forward to sharing more point and mile earning opportunities in 2013!

The Points.com Team

photo credit: andywon via photopin cc

Points.com blog - Loyalty program news & advice

Are you ready for Black Friday?

For those of you new to the Black Friday shopping madness, Black Friday is held the Friday after American Thanksgiving (November 23rd this year). Retailers offer massive sales to kick-off the holiday shopping season, which means it’s a great time to stock up or get your holiday shopping started.

To save even more money this Black Friday, consider redeeming your loyalty points or miles for gift cards to use while you shop. On Points.com you can redeem points/miles for gift cards from hundreds of retailers, including:

• Amazon.com
• Bed, Bath and Beyond (US)
• Best Buy (US)
• Macy’s
• Pottery Barn (US)
• Pottery Barn (Canada)
• Sears (US)
• Target (US)
• TJ Maxx MultiBrand Card (US)
• Walmart (US)
• Winners (Canada)

And many more!

You can redeem from any of the following programs:

• Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan™
• American Airlines AAdvantage® miles ** Note that you must have a minimum balance of 25,000 miles to redeem from this program on Points.com.
• Asia Miles™
• AviancaTaca LifeMiles
• Delta SkyMiles®
• Esso Extra
• Frontier Airlines EarlyReturns®
• Hawaiian Airlines® HawaiianMiles®
• Icelandair Saga Club
• La Quinta Returns®
• Priority Club® Rewards
• S&H greenpoints
• United Airlines MileagePlus
• US Airways® Dividend Miles®

Redeem soon to make sure you get your gift card in time for Black Friday! Depending on the gift card you choose, delivery can take between 5-10 business days.

For more details on redeeming, visit Points.com.

A final tip: here’s an article from eHow that gives you five tips on how to plan for your Black Friday shopping adventure.

Happy shopping!

Points.com blog - Loyalty program news & advice

From now until September 30th you’ll get double miles when you Buy or Gift US Airways Dividend Miles!

You’ll get the 100% bonus when you buy any amount of miles, up to 50,000. For example, if you buy 10,000 miles, you’ll get 20,000.

Here are the official rules:

The 100% bonus offer is non-transferable and is applicable on purchases made between September 1 – 30, 2012, 11:59 MT. All purchases are non-refundable. The maximum number of Buy or Gift miles that can be purchased through this offer is 50,000 miles. Share transactions are not eligible. Offer is subject to change. Offer cannot be combined with any other offer. Only purchases made online are eligible. Miles purchased through Buy, Share or Gift Miles do not count towards Dividend Miles Preferred status. All other Dividend Miles Terms and Conditions apply. Please note that Dividend Miles accounts less than 12 days old are not permitted to Buy, Share or Gift miles. Award seats are capacity controlled and may not be available for the requested dates or mileage amounts.

To buy Dividend Miles and get your 100% bonus, click here.

Points.com blog - Loyalty program news & advice