Beckles

A new company called MileNet offers you miles as long as you leave a small window visible on your desktop and you are connected to the internet. It has a counter that shows how many miles you've earned, and it keeps clicking away the miles as long as its visible and you're on the net.

Right now they're offering American Airlines, Delta, and United, but they say they plan to offer more airlines in the future. As with most programs, you get bonuses for signing up friends, the more friends you sign up, the faster your counter increments ... so, if you're interested, drop me an e-mail ([email protected]) and I'll send you an e-mail so that I'll get credit for your sign up (or at least have someone else sign you up so someone benefits!).

You can check out the program at http://www.milenet.com

baobab

As I posted in the United section, this is only for Windows users - Rudi & I are entitled to feel discriminated against!

Beckles

Hmmm ... that sucks ... I'm sure they'll be coming out with a Mac version one of these days, especially given the Mac's new found popularity with the introduction of the iMac!

BlondeBomber

They are having startup problems (just launched yesterday) so be patient. They hadn't expected such a large response and their server is down. So if you get a "server error" response you'll know why. At 8 AM EST they said it could take a couple of hours to fix.

baobab

I e-mailed MileNet, asking when a Mac version would be available, & this is the reply I got:

Andrew Raskin wrote:

As a former Apple employee (I worked at Apple Japan for an internship once), I hate to say this, but we're not working on a Mac version yet. Our hope is that eventually we'll create one in Java that can go cross-platform. For now we're just trying to get the word out, and unfortunately that's easier to do for Windows. When we have something Mac-compatible, we'll spread the word!

--Andy

So - for all those who use non-Windows machines (this means you, Rudi!), it might be an idea to let them know that we do exist & are eagerly awaiting a cross-platform version of their program. The e-mail addresses to send these messages to are [email protected] or [email protected]

They replied to my message promptly: I wrote to them at 7 pm yesterday, & had a reply by 10.30.

burkey

It took several (ten) attempts just to download the software, and since then I've only been able to get the "mile counter" connected to their server once... they must be having a very big demand on it!

Beckles

It is a bit flaky it seems, but hopefully it's just growing pains ... it's an idea with a lot of potential.

Now that I've got a few people signed up, I can also tell you that you get 25 miles for each new person you get to sign up.

IDUR

I am sooooooo glad it is not Mac-compatible - this helps me against another time-consuming temptation here.

burkey

Just received an email from MileNet stating that in the next few days, their system should be up to speed to handle the heavy traffic they are experiencing. Right now,however, my counter is up, running, and clicking off points!!

MileageAddict

Ooooh! I have earned .00000000000001 miles so far! As I sign up new members, the mileage will add up...at least I hope so!

Beckles

They do give a 25 mile bonus for each new member you sign up ... not as generous as some other programs I suppose, but not too bad, especially since you only need to sign up 12 people to get something (300 miles).

BlondeBomber

This thing seems to be a waste of time--you are alright Rudi. The Mile Net screen always disappears when you do some new operation (change programs, open a new window) and you have to keep clicking all the time to keep it on. I wouldn't mind it staying in front all the time. Other problems: startup server problems mean it disconnects all the time and you have to manually reconnect. If you are not on unlimited net access, you will not get your money's worth out of leaving you machine on to let the counter keep adding up (see below). Also after 5 hours unattended it automatically kicks off and you have to re-enter again (no good unless you only sleep 5 hours like me). The biggest kicker is the slow miles. With all the service interruptions and but still trying to keep it going all the time (I have unlimited time on the net with a cable connection), I have earned half a point (yes you heard right) in 4 days. Even if I signed up 30 friends that would only be 750 points for the signing and if it went 30 times faster (unrealistically presuming that my friends all have their counter on all the time), I would have 15 points in 4 days or about 4 points a day average. So at most I could earn about 1500 points a year plus the 750 signing = 2250 points. A lot of work for little reward. Oh well, like they say. . . if it looks too good to be true, it probably is. You get what you pay for.

kokonutz

I agree with the Bomber on all but one issue:

You get AT THE VERY MOST what you pay for. Ususally you get less.

MileageAddict

I had high hopes for MileNet but that is diminishing quickly. I have not been able to access their server for days now via the software you download. When I do access the server, it crashes and boots me off after a few minutes. The only real way to earn miles is to refer others to join. I have a list of about 300 people that would join but it requires me to enter to email addresses one at a time. I don't have time for that and it's a moot point since their little server needs to be operational to do the task anyway.

Today, I received an email from MileNet admitting that they started on the internet ill-prepared and that it's going to be rough for a long time as they are not well financed. I give them credit for the honest letter. As a small positive, they have added 100 miles to all established accounts. So, with the few people I got to sign up, I earned 400 miles for about 30 minutes of effort. Not a bad deal but now I need to access their inaccessible server to redeem the miles!

burkey

Make sure when others sign up that you refer, to tell them to use the email at which the invitation was sent to, otherwise you will not receive credit.... I email MileNet this concern, b/c it happened to me, but have yet to hear from them, and I don't think I've got those 100 miles credited yet either...