Since the series of posts on points and miles wrapped up, a couple of items of interest have come my way.
A loyal blog follower informs me that there is an AirMiles app for your smart phone. Put in your location and it will show you the nearest AirMiles partners. Text "AirMiles App" to 26898 to go straight to the download page on your iPhone or BlackBerry.
Until November 4, CHOICEprivileges, the loyalty program of Choice Hotels (Comfort, Quality, Clarion, etc.), is offering a free night when you stay two nights. You can join the program here. Further down the page, you'll also see a link to apply for the affiliated MBNA MasterCard to earn points for all your credit card spending. If you do a lot of road trips and are looking to earn free nights at a budget hotel chain, this could be a good program for you.
Something I did not discuss in my series of posts about point programs, is that for the majority of airline and hotel programs, you may purchase points, either for yourself, or as a gift for others. The problem is that the cost is usually more that the points are worth (i.e.: you could book a flight or room directly for less money), but under certain conditions, buying points does make sense. And occasionally, points do go "on sale".
For example, until December 31, Starwood Preferred Guest is selling points for 20% less -- $14 for 500 instead of the usual $17.50. If you need only a few points to get to a reward level, or if you are close to the 20K threshold for earning the 5K bonus for converting to airline miles, this can make sense. SPG allows you to buy up to 20K points in a calendar year and the points appear in your account within 24 hours.
In some cases, you could even save money on a holiday. That's because when redeeming SPG points for a five-night stay, the fifth night is free, so five nights at a category 3 hotel requires 4x7K=28K points. If you purchase 20K points for $560 before December 31, and another 8K for $280 (at the regular rate of $17.50 per 500) in January, that works out to $168 per night for a five-night stay. For January 20-25, the Sheraton Fort Lauderdale Beach Hotel is $190 per night. The Westin Fort Lauderdale is $229. I chose these hotels and dates at random. Depending on your choice of date and location, you, too, can find values like this. All you have to do is belong to the Starwood Preferred Guest program and buy points through this link. There's a fuller description of the program in the post dated October 4.
And finally, here's an update to the Aeroplan/BMO Club Sobeys MasterCard snafu (see post dated October 7). I received a letter on October 8, dated October 5, confirming what the Club Sobeys CSR had told me over the phone. But since the change did not take effect until October 15, the Club Sobeys points I received for keeping the credit card when Bank of Montreal took over from Citi were autoconverted. So, props to Sobeys, BMO, and Aeroplan for living up to their end of the (original) bargain. I still plan to cancel the card, since I don't have any need for another MasterCard if it doesn't earn me travel rewards.
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