Milepoint Premium Membership is Now Available!

Milepoint Premium membership was available a few weeks ago for a brief period of time before it sold out.  It cost $59 and if you travel with Hyatt and United it's likely worth buying just for the bonus points.  I'm not going to go into a whole lot of depth here as I think the included benefits speak for themselves.  I did take advantage of the offer when it was available previously.

check it out here: http://milepoint.com/forums/index.php?account/upgrades

Offer Details:

Milepoint Premium Membership - Introductory Offer
Take advantage of this Premium Membership Special Offer! Purchase today and enjoy the following benefits and privileges:
> 2,000 United MileagePlus miles
>Gold Passport Platinum status through Feb. 2014 or 2,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points
> One year of ad-free viewing on Milepoint.com
 > Free 1-year subscription to InsideFlyer.com
 > One Free Gogo Inflight Internet 24-hour pass

> Free 3-month trial of Clear
 > Free upgrade to AwardWallet Plus account and a free AwardWallet OneCard
 > Free upgrade to UsingMiles Premier Membership
 > Free upgrade to National Car Rental Emerald Club Executive Status
 > 40% discount on "Decoding Air Travel" books
> 25% discount on "Frequent Flyer Master" e-book
 > 20% discount on "Decoding Air Travel" seminars/webinars
 > 20% discount on ExpertFlyer.com
 > 20% discount on BookYourAward.com
 > 20% discount at SCOTTEVEST
 > 10% discount on KVS Tool

These special Milepoint Premium Memberships are limited, so purchase yours today to lock in these benefits. Each offer is valid for one (1) year from date of purchase, unless otherwise specified.

Please allow 8-12 weeks for miles, points and/or status to appear in your accounts.

No refunds.

Ten (10) cents of every dollar will go toward supporting Milepoint charities-of-choice.

Don’t leave Cash on the Table – 15% back at Priority Club Hotels with MrRebates.com

I'm not sure how long this sale is going to be running but I believe this is close to 3x the usual cashback amount for IHG hotels.
 

 


I’ve used other cash back sites over the years, including Big Crumbs, ebates, and TopCashBack.  I started with BigCrumbs, added ebates.com when some sites weren’t available on BigCrumbs and then eventually moved away from those sites as Mr. Rebates seemed to have a better selection of retailers and the best payouts.  TopCashBack does frequently offer slightly higher rebate percentages than Mr. Rebates but I've sometimes had problems with the transactions showing up in my account and getting credit.  I've never had any problems of the sort with Mr Rebates which is part of the reason they are my go to cash back portal.


What is Mr. Rebates?
Mr. Rebates is a shopping portal which provides cash back on purchases at select merchants.  Many of the major online retailers are partners with www.mrrebates.com and I tend to use them as my go to shopping portal as I find their cash back rates to be some of the best available.  They give you a $7.50 sign up bonus after your first purchase through their site and they do offer referal credits, so if you do choose to sign up I'd be appreciative if you'd use one of my links– if prompted for a referral email address, just use pointscashmiles@yahoo.com.

Mr. Rebates Link

Win up to 1,000,000 Hhonors points

Hilton HHonors is celebrating its 25th anniversary by giving away more than 25 million HHonors Points over 25 days.

Each day through to September 18, 2012, one member will walk away with one million HHonors Points. There are also 6 instant win prizes each day including more HHonors Points, free night stay certificates, and exclusive prize packages from the various Hilton brands. That's 150 instant win prizes in total plus the 25 one million point prizes. You can enter once each day.

Here's a link to the rules and list of prizes: http://hilton.promo.eprize.com/hhonors/public/fulfillment/rules.pdf

 

And an excerpt from the FAQs:

Q. What is the Hilton HHonors 25 Million Point Giveaway?
A. The Hilton HHonors 25 Million Point Giveaway is in celebration of Hilton HHonors 25th anniversary. Hilton HHonors is giving away a variety of daily prizes including HHonors points, free night stay certificates and branded prize packs, plus 1 million HHonors points to 25 lucky grand prize winners. See Official Rules for complete details.

Q. Where can I enter the 25 Million Point Giveaway?
A. Enter by visiting the Hilton HHonors Facebook page or the Facebook page of one of our brand partners: Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, Conrad Hotels & Resorts, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, DoubleTree by Hilton, Embassy Suites, Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton Hotels, Homewood Suites by Hilton, Home2 Suites by Hilton. See the Official Rules for complete details.

Q. How many times can I play?
A. You may enter once per day from any one of the participating brand Facebook pages.

For more information and to enter, here's a direct link to the contest page: http://www.facebook.com/HiltonHHonors/app_420113214707653

Audience Rewards Update 08-29-2012

Todays Audience Rewards Questions are repeats from earlier weeks, and I'm unable to answer them once logged in... definitely strange, I'll post an update if I get any more information about the issue.  As usual the questions are the same across the 4 programs.

• Which of the following shows has Kristin Blodgette not worked on? Billy Elliot
• True or False? Old Jews Telling Jokes has two acts, and one intermission. False
• Michael Morpurgo wrote the book that what Broadway play is based on? War Horse
• Which of the following shows did NOT have an actress nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical in 2012? Leap of Faith
• Which New York City Mayor is portrayed in Newsies? Robert A. Van Wyck
• Who starred in the film version of Bring It On? Kirsten Dunst

Delta Skymiles (08-29-2012)

US Airways Dividend Miles (08-29-2012)

Starwood Preferred Guest 08-29-2012

Best Buy Reward Zone (08-29-2012)

Gift Card Sale at Chase Ultimate Rewards

Chase is currently running a promotion where you can redeem points for select Gift Cards at either a 10% or 20% discount depending on the brand.  It's scheduled to run through the end of September so there's no real rush, just an interesting redemtion alternative to consider.

Keep in mind that I'm not necessarily recommending redeeming in this way, I'm fully aware that transfering the ultimate rewards points to airline or hotel programs can provide a better value but this still works out to 1.25c per point (on the Lands End and Gap GCs) and could be very handy if you need something and are short on cash.  Land's End GCs are redeemable at Sears, and I would certainly consider redeeming for them if I was low on cash and needed something like an appliance or a new grill. Similarly, if I needed to do back to school shoping I would consider the Gap giftcards as they can be used at Old Navy, Gap, Banana Republic, and their outlet stores.

I won't personally be taking advantage of this offer, largely because I'm not in the market for anything from these particular stores right now but also partially because I redeemed most of my Ultimate Rewards points earlier this year for roughly $1800 worth of Southwest Airlines flights.  I mention this because, I full well knew that I could get more "value" by redeeming for high end hyatt hotels or business class international flights, but these weren't things I needed.  I needed (or I should say wanted since I could have chosen not to travel) 6 Southwest Airlines tickets and couldn't or at least didn't want to spend the cash on them. 

My point here is simple; Always consider the best value for you when making redemptions and keep in mind this can change over time.  This year, my best value for UR points was Southwest flights, next year it could be first class international tickets or it could be giftcards.

Free Miles/ Points - Audience Reward Trivia update 08-20-2012

Audience Reward Trivia update 08-20-2012

There seems to be a change in the Audience Rewards program; where we previously had different sets of questions for each of the partner programs, there is now one set of questions which is listed on each of the partner sites.  The questions can only be answered once, so you need to pick which partner program you want to earn the points in.  I’ve listed all 4 links below; though personally, I’ll be using the SPG link as I value their points more than Delta or US miles.

Delta Skymiles (08-20-2012)

US Airways Dividend Miles (08-20-2012)

Starwood Preferred Guest 08-20-2012

Best Buy Reward Zone (08-20-2012)

Your Trivia Questions and Answers for 08-20-2012:

§  In what year did the novel that the play War Horse is based on come out?

1982

• Which of the Following Broadway regulars in NOT in Nice Work If You Can Get It?

Megan Hilty

§  Prior to Nice Work If YouCan Get It, which of the following shows did NOT play the Imperial Theatre?

Shrek The Musical

• In Avenue Q, “If You Were Gay” is sung by which characters?

Nicky and Rod

• At what theatre is Rebecca, The Musical set to open this fall ?

The Broadhurst Theatre

• What is the female lead’s name in Once?

Trick Question – we never learn her name

• True or False? While Disney is involved with the stage musical version of Newsies, it was not involved in the movie version.

False

• Which of the following tracks is often played by a non-minority actor in the cast of the Lion King?

Scar

100 Free Points Every Day with Club Carlson!

Club Carlson - 100 free Points per day for the next 39 days

I've always been a fan of quick and easy ways to get free miles or points, even if it's only a few miles at a time. Club Carlson’s current promotion, The Club Carlson Global Giveaway is the latest opportunity I've come across and is god everyday for the next 5 and a half weeks!   Basically this is a 6 week long promotion and Club Carlson is giving away one trip each week. Each week's prize includes a five-night stay at a selected hotel, business class airfare for two and $5,000 cash.

 When you register for the drawing, you're given the opportunity to flip through a virtual "Vacation Look Book".  Once you've viewed each of the pictures, you earn 100 Club Carlson Points.

The promotion Website is: www.clubcarlsonglobalgiveaway.com

You can enter daily and can collect the 100 points each day for the length of the promo - and remember points can be transferred in between member accounts by contacting customer service so it could be especially useful if there are multiple family member participating in the promotion.

I'll never remember to do this every day for the next month and a half so I don't expect to get the full 3,900 possible points remaining, but I probably will remember more often than not and expect to earn around 3,000 points from the promo. 

Club Carlson is the Rewards Program for a number of Hotel Chains including Country Inn & Suites, Park Inn, Park Plaza, Radisson, and the Flagship Radisson Blu Brand.  Room night redemptions start at 9,000 points per night so this promo could get you almost halfway to a free night at one of their lowest tier hotels.

Audience Rewards Trivia for 08-09-2012

Audience Reward Trivia update 08-09-2012

For some reason I was expecting these on Monday but it appears we are back to the new questions every 10 days schedule.

There seems to be a change in the Audience Rewards program; where we previously had different sets of questions for each of the partner programs, there is now one set of questions which is listed on each of the partner sites. The questions can only be answered once, so you need to pick which partner program you want to earn the points in. I’ve listed all 4 links below; though personally, I’ll be using the SPG link as I value their points more than Delta or US miles.

Delta Skymiles (08-09-2012)

US Airways Dividend Miles (08-09-2012)

Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) Points (08-09-2012)

Best Buy Reward Zone (08-09-2012)

Your Trivia Questions and Answers for 08-09-2012:

§  True or False? Old Jews Telling Jokes has two acts, and one intermission.

False

·         Aside from winning the 2012 Tony Award for Best Play, what other famous award did Clybourne Park win in 2011?

The Pulitzer Prize

·         Which of the following movies was Nicholas Hytner NOT involved in?

Shakespeare in Love

§  True or False? Both Celia and Andrew Keenan Bolger went to the University of Michigan.

True

§  Michael Morpurgo wrote the book that what Broadway play is based on?

War Horse

§  True or False? Bring It On, The Musical is based on a movie.

True

§  What show won the Tony Award Best Book of a Musical in 2012?

Once

§  True or False? "When Your Mind's Made Up" has two versions in Once. One is as is, and one replaces "Made" with a swear word.

True

§  In the show, Newsies, there is a big dance number that famously involves what prop?

 Newspapers

§  Which of the following shows has Kristin Blodgette not worked on?

Billy Elliot

Monday Morning Updates - 08-06-2012

Just a couple of quick updates for Monday morning:

• No new Audience Rewards Trivia Questions so far - I'll be checking periodically today and will post as soon as I see they are updated.

• Codes for 20 free My Coke Rewards are still working as of this morning - more info here.

Fandango Free Movie Fridays - Visa Signature Promotion

OK, so you might have to have a Visa Signature credit card and it's not really free... but it is Buy One Get One Free which is still pretty good in my book.  I haven't used the offer yet but plan to use it either tonight or next Friday.

The Details:

• Only valid on Fridays
• www.fandango.com/visasignature
• you pay for the first ticket (and convenience fee) and the second is free at checkout.
• Through August 17th
• You can use the offer once per card if you have multiple Visa Signature cards.

This isn't by any means an original find, it's actually an offer that's been running pretty much all summer, I think I first saw it a couple of months ago over on the MommyPoints blog at Boarding Area.  I didn't write about it back then but wanted to mention it now that I'm taking advantage of the offer.