Airmiles
I've been collecting Aeroplan Miles and Air Miles since the mid 90s. There have been a lot of promo's in the last couple of years for extra miles but it is basically 1 airmile for every $10 you spend at most participating merchants.
I find redeeming them annoying because of the lack of variety of products available, the selection thru Aeroplan seems better to me. The difference in cost to redeem for a specific service is f*&ked up as well.
Best example is car rental. I like to grab a nice ride for the Boyz Weekends I've been organizing for the past decade or so at my friends cottage up near Casino Rama. To rent a Cadillac DTS for 3 days with Gift Certificates for National Car Rental at Pearson Airport would have cost just over 3200 Air Miles. The same vehicle, for the same amount of time, booked thru the AirMiles Travel Service, cost only 1200 AirMiles......
The situation is pretty similar at Aeroplan, if you use Gift Cards or any other "direct to the merchant" method of purchasing with your credits, you will get hosed. Using their services ie. the travel services people, will generally get you a better deal, at least from what I've seen when I redeem for stuff I want.
Since I get AirMiles when I buy gas at Shell, it's basically a freebie for me. From a marketing perspective the AirMiles do keep me buying gas at Shell, so I guess there is value to Shell as well. It has been interesting watching all these other companies come out with their own version of the programs, ranging from gas companies with "Petro Points" and "Bonus Bucks" to Shoppers Drug Mart and the "Optimum" cards.
It's good that companies are working hard to keep you coming back, the debate could go on forever over which type of program is better. The ones run by a given merchant have more restrictions on what you can get back for your points, the national, across the board programs like air miles require more vigilance and work researching 'how' you redeem your points.
I figure anything I get for free is better than paying for it.....call me
HTH
I find redeeming them annoying because of the lack of variety of products available, the selection thru Aeroplan seems better to me. The difference in cost to redeem for a specific service is f*&ked up as well.
Best example is car rental. I like to grab a nice ride for the Boyz Weekends I've been organizing for the past decade or so at my friends cottage up near Casino Rama. To rent a Cadillac DTS for 3 days with Gift Certificates for National Car Rental at Pearson Airport would have cost just over 3200 Air Miles. The same vehicle, for the same amount of time, booked thru the AirMiles Travel Service, cost only 1200 AirMiles......
The situation is pretty similar at Aeroplan, if you use Gift Cards or any other "direct to the merchant" method of purchasing with your credits, you will get hosed. Using their services ie. the travel services people, will generally get you a better deal, at least from what I've seen when I redeem for stuff I want.
Since I get AirMiles when I buy gas at Shell, it's basically a freebie for me. From a marketing perspective the AirMiles do keep me buying gas at Shell, so I guess there is value to Shell as well. It has been interesting watching all these other companies come out with their own version of the programs, ranging from gas companies with "Petro Points" and "Bonus Bucks" to Shoppers Drug Mart and the "Optimum" cards.
It's good that companies are working hard to keep you coming back, the debate could go on forever over which type of program is better. The ones run by a given merchant have more restrictions on what you can get back for your points, the national, across the board programs like air miles require more vigilance and work researching 'how' you redeem your points.
I figure anything I get for free is better than paying for it.....call me
HTH
