Airmiles Armchair Chatter

[alohamom]

I also grabbed a few more of the Maple Leaf Frozen chicken buy 2 save $5 coupons so if any one wants some just PM your address and I will mail some out to you

 

[Donald - my hero]

Anyone getting sick of seeing the purple font yet today I've been wanting to bring this info to people's attention but had to wait until i could link the website for those who might want to see MORE DETAILS OF THE CHANGES. There are some big changes coming the the AMEX Platinum Credit Card. Some are excellent (much higher earn rate) but others are mildly troubling (higher earn rate has a cap AND a ton of fine print!)
Here's the most notable changes:

I'm liking the widening of the type of purchases that will earn at the higher rate -- hello PRESTO card & Greyhound tickets! And then the fact that everything beyond this category will now be 1:$10 We'll hit the $30,000 mark long before the end of the year but then it switches to the 1:$10 which is still pretty decent IMHO.

NOW the troubling section to both The Duck and her loyal Pluto (ok, I still love him even if he's attached to a silly dog ) pertains to the earning of Airmiles. It looks like AM is cracking down and closing some loopholes and AMEX ain't planning on getting caught in the fallout!!
I can't provide any direct links OR even copy this info because it's only on the VEerrryyyy long amendment to the "Earning Miles in the Airmiles Reward Program the the use of an American Express Credit card" in the sub section"CALCULATION OF AIRMILES REWARD MILES" Phew, that's a lot to type out just by reading the massive paper! Here's a very brief summary, those of you who have a card will get this info in the mail soon and I imagine once Nov gets closer it will be on their website as well. All of the Red letters come directly from the letter, things in italics & underlined are the CHANGES. Purple words are, of course, my musings!

You will not earn Miles for the following:

• interest card fees
• cash equivalent transactions whether or not they appear as purchases on your month statement
• Miles earned in any way that breach or are not intended to be earned by these Terms & Conditions or any other terms you are subject to
• any other transaction we tell you is excluded from earning miles

You agree that you are not entitled to earn Miles for transactions in any of the categories listed above.If you receive Miles in error and then take steps to repeat the transaction type we may, at out discretion, consider that to be abuse related to these terms and conditions and the earning of Miles. (DO they mean the double & triple dipping we have been enjoying at Rexall ) If you applied for multiple cards to earn Miles,if you cancelled or downgraded your card after acquiring it, or you cancelled or returned purchases you made to earn Miles, we may, at our discretion, consider that to be abuse (anyone else ever made a mistake returned something AFTER the miles appeared on your account, I know I have, but not on purpose! .. also no more card churning)

All deductions for returns credits and adjustments will be calculated at the earn rate in effect at the time of the time of return, credit or adjustment. This means that the Miles deducted from your account may be different that the amount originally earned (in other words if this happens after Nov 4th they can claw back MORE than you earned!!)

We may freeze, cancel and reverse any Miles not properly issued. We may refuse to issue Miles, cancel Miles already issued of deduct Miles previously issued to you if we have reason to believe that you caused or allowed a breach the conditions, engaged in any fraud or abuse related to the Program, if you card account is not in good standing or for any other reason.

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

Yikes! I'm glad I got rid of those cards long ago and stuck with my BMO World Elite Air Miles Mastercard! My $10 earn rate on every purchase I make and my annual fee is the same at $120.

 

[Donald - my hero]

Yikes! I'm glad I got rid of those cards long ago and stuck with my BMO World Elite Air Miles Mastercard! My $10 earn rate on every purchase I make and my annual fee is the same at $120.

I wouldn't be surprised to dig deeper and find the Mastercard already has some of those similar terms, i have a feeling Airmiles is struggling now that miles don't expire and there are a TON out there waiting to be redeemed .. our DIL's mom has close to 500,000 (yes, i gave that the correct number of zeros!) because she can't be bothered to go thru the redemption process

We personally, don't intentionally abuse the system, we might "stretch" it to the limits but I know there are some out there that do! Like i mentioned, we'll surpass that limit on the $5 rate in a hurry but we'll be happy with the $10 rate after that. We're loyal to AMEX for a slew of other reasons, not the least of which is the excellent customer service we've had in some extremely sticky situations over the years.

 

[Donald - my hero]

Soooo i took the time to track down the fine print for Mastercard and it's very similar to the ones AMEX will implement next month .. don't come right out and call it "fraudulent use" but the gist is definitely there! Now it's perhaps time to study the differences and decide if it's worth it to drop our AMEX down to the "basic card" and bump the Mastercard up to the World Elite???

Mastercard charges for the second card so annual fee will be $170 compared to AMEX $120
Earn rate confuses me! But i think it would work out to close to same amount???
Mastercard 1/$10 everywhere?? is there a cap?
AMEX 1/$5 for certain things and 1/$10 other things or after a cap on the initally higher rate

Extra benefits is where it gets really confusing: Mastercard has the lounge tickets -- would we use them? Not in Pearson since we tend to use the earliest flights, is there one in MCO?
Travel insurance? yeah, we buy this so the fact that Mastercard includes *some* is a benefit we would use.

Huhm, lots to ponder. Any thought from all the loyal Mastercard users? I know there's more of you than us AMEX users and I'd appreciate your input!

 

[mort1331]

So not a AM mastercard user, but MCO does have 2 lounges. And since you get picked upped 4 hours ahead of flight, and sometimes hanging out for couple of hours at MCO it s good. I have sometimes paid out of pocket for it, food and drink up there so you dont have to fight for seats or pay for food.

 

[Donald - my hero]

So not a AM mastercard user, but MCO does have 2 lounges. And since you get picked upped 4 hours ahead of flight, and sometimes hanging out for couple of hours at MCO it s good. I have sometimes paid out of pocket for it, food and drink up there so you dont have to fight for seats or pay for food.

Yeah, that's what i was thinking as well! Since we often take the last flight out most of the food spots in MCO are already closed when we'd like to pick something up -- not like Pearson where they are open from the very first flight in the morning until the last one actually leaves. 4 years ago our flight was supposed to leave at 8 and didn't take off till after midnight, those poor people in the store & restaurants looked exhausted!

 

[youngdeb12]

Does the Amex give a discount on flights? The BMO World Elite AM card gives 15% off miles required for North American flights. I have not run into a cap yet and we have used our cards for renovations and flipped a house and put most of the charges on there and didn’t ever notice a cap.

 

[youngdeb12]

Also, if one of you is the primary on your current BMO MC, you could have the other apply for the World Elite when they have the companion fare promotion going on and that can add up. DH signed up for his own card to put all the rental expenses through to keep it separate and we were able to take advantage of this. Saved us 4675 Air Miles for our January trip!

 

[Donald - my hero]

Does the Amex give a discount on flights? The BMO World Elite AM card gives 15% off miles required for North American flights. I have not run into a cap yet and we have used our cards for renovations and flipped a house and put most of the charges on there and didn’t ever notice a cap.

That's a new thing coming in November Once per calendar year, on the first flight you book thru Airmiles or vacation package you book thru Redtag you will get BACK 25% of the miles used.

Also, if one of you is the primary on your current BMO MC, you could have the other apply for the World Elite when they have the companion fare promotion going on and that can add up. DH signed up for his own card to put all the rental expenses through to keep it separate and we were able to take advantage of this. Saved us 4675 Air Miles for our January trip!

Not something we'd be interested in doing, 2 credit cards is enough for this family

 

[Disney Addicted]

That's a new thing coming in November Once per calendar year, on the first flight you book thru Airmiles or vacation package you book thru Redtag you will get BACK 25% of the miles used.

Wow, that will be very cool!

 

[Days In the Sun]

If your DH can buy something for $10 at Shell that will get you 11 miles. Almost everything in the store counts. I usually do lottery. Yesterday I bought $12 in scratch tickets and got 11 miles.....I did it for my DD's card...she got the earn 1 mile get 50 bonus offer so there was no way I was going to let that one go.

I'm missing this deal, I don't see it on Shells website. Might you be able to explain the 10 airmiles?

 

[Days In the Sun]

OT Shell info:

Number 1. On Friday I filled up at Shell and used a Sobeys 4 cents off a litre coupon and paid with a Shell giftcard. I had also signed up for the 3 cents off a liter when you use your BMO mastercard but haven't been using it. Well I received both 4 cents off and 3 cents off on Friday and since then found a promo that you get 3 cents off a litre for BMO and Shell mastercard purchases until October 31. Since the Shell giftcard is a Shell mastercard, I guess it qualified. I have no idea where this offer came from, but googling, this is what I found:

https://creditcardgenius.ca/blog/bmo-shell-mastercard-offer/
Number 2. Disclaimer, I am reluctant to post this one.
There are threads on a number of websites about a Shell/MC offer Fuel Up For Less at Shell. 10% back on MC at Shell if you spend $50+ in a transaction until December 30, offer began September 23 and "people" have posted getting 10% off on giftcards and have already received the money back. You need to register your credit card on a website that doesn't show being on a Shell server so I decided not to register. Today I contacted Shell through their website, livechat, and was told right away that it was a legitimate offer. So I have now registered one of my mastercards and will see how it goes. Please don't register without contacting Shell yourself, there is way too much fraud on the internet. If you are interested, just google Fuel Up for Less at Shell.

 

[bababear_50]

Just got an email talking about the new booking Hotel stays using airmiles

I'm happy about this
Hugs
Mel

 

[hdrolfe]

Just got an email talking about the new booking Hotel stays using airmiles
View attachment 440808
I'm happy about this
Hugs
Mel

Was coming to say the same thing! Since I can book Disney or Universal hotels... this is awesome! even pre-cruise hotels when I don't quite have enough miles...

Still waiting for cruises to be able to book on redtag, the year is running out to add that!

 

[bababear_50]

That's a new thing coming in November Once per calendar year, on the first flight you book thru Airmiles or vacation package you book thru Redtag you will get BACK 25% of the miles used.

Not something we'd be interested in doing, 2 credit cards is enough for this family

I am a one card family,,WestJet Mastercard,,I do keep a backup BMO airmiles card for special offers.
After one of my cards got compromised last year I downsized all my cards and lowered my limits.
I am going to maybe drop the WestJet Mastercard as the yearly fee eats away the benefits I am getting.
BMO is not my choice of banks,,,, so having a credit card through them is not ideal,,though most transaction these days are done online.

Hugs
Mel

 

[mort1331]

OT Shell info:

Number 1. On Friday I filled up at Shell and used a Sobeys 4 cents off a litre coupon and paid with a Shell giftcard. I had also signed up for the 3 cents off a liter when you use your BMO mastercard but haven't been using it. Well I received both 4 cents off and 3 cents off on Friday and since then found a promo that you get 3 cents off a litre for BMO and Shell mastercard purchases until October 31. Since the Shell giftcard is a Shell mastercard, I guess it qualified. I have no idea where this offer came from, but googling, this is what I found:

https://creditcardgenius.ca/blog/bmo-shell-mastercard-offer/
Number 2. Disclaimer, I am reluctant to post this one.
There are threads on a number of websites about a Shell/MC offer Fuel Up For Less at Shell. 10% back on MC at Shell if you spend $50+ in a transaction until December 30, offer began September 23 and "people" have posted getting 10% off on giftcards and have already received the money back. You need to register your credit card on a website that doesn't show being on a Shell server so I decided not to register. Today I contacted Shell through their website, livechat, and was told right away that it was a legitimate offer. So I have now registered one of my mastercards and will see how it goes. Please don't register without contacting Shell yourself, there is way too much fraud on the internet. If you are interested, just google Fuel Up for Less at Shell.

from their website.
for $50 or more at any Shell location, with your Mastercard (includes non-fuel purchases)

 

[mort1331]

now if only shell sold Disney gift cards.

 

[Days In the Sun]

from their website.
for $50 or more at any Shell location, with your Mastercard (includes non-fuel purchases)

Great, thank you. I didn't see it anywhere on Shell.ca. I was actually coming back to delete my post, didn't want anyone in a financial mess over something I posted.

 

[dancin Disney style]

Well, the direct link i put in my post is to Red Tag to earn miles on JUST FLIGHTS, not the packages .. it's hard to find but if you go thru THIS DIRECT LINK you will see this wording:
Book your flight using your credit card and get Miles on your booking. (Note: you can’t use Miles to book flights here.) And this rather large image on the right hand side
View attachment 440689

Unless things have changed recently you can in fact earn miles on Expedia for just flights, we've done it often AND if you're flying any airline that has it's own reward programme you'll earn those rewards as well. You don't earn miles on PACKAGES thru this website.
Flighthub is a site I've never used but it doesn't say there are any exclusions.

Thanks....I fished around Redtag and never figured out how you got to the place that the link goes to. Turns out that Redtag give the most miles. I've booked the ticket and it got me 195 miles plus what I get from Amex. I would have gotten less than half that amount going through airmilesshop. It makes me a tab nervous booking through a third party...I'm used to booking online but always direct with the airline etc.

So now DH will be overseas for 2 weeks in November and I will have 15 glorious nights of silence. He asked me if I minded him being gone so long and was not amused when I said I was going to have the best 2 weeks of sleep and did he want to double down for 4 weeks.