MilesBuzz! - Goldpoints: LL Bean: 100 miles/ dollar???

Has this been discussed before?

Through goldpoints, one can earn 2000 points per transaction with LL Bean. So if you buy a $5 gift certificate, that's 2000 points (which translate to 250 airline miles, or 50 miles to the dollar.)

Can you then take the $5 certificate and use it to make a $5 purchase, earning you 2000 more points? (190 miles to the dollar) Is this legal?

I suppose you can do it over and over.

Doesn't sound ethical to me. Come to think of it, something like this MUST have been discussed in the past. I just can't find it.

[This message has been edited by zrs70 (edited 08-14-2003).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by zrs70:
Has this been discussed before?

Through goldpoints, one can earn 2000 points per transaction with LL Bean. So if you buy a $5 gift certificate, that's 2000 points (which translate to 250 airline miles, or 50 miles to the dollar.)

Can you then take the $5 certificate and use it to make a $5 purchase, earning you 2000 more points? (190 miles to the dollar) Is this legal?

I suppose you can do it over and over.

Doesn't sound ethical to me. Come to think of it, something like this MUST have been discussed in the past. I just can't find it.

[This message has been edited by zrs70 (edited 08-14-2003).]</font>

WoooHooo! This is awesome!
LL Bean used to have a link from Goldpoints, and I made a ton of points double dipping(buying a gc first, then using it for a purchase). It's been gone for a while, but if they really are back, this will be a windfall!

The problem is that LL Bean awards 2000 Goldpoints per transaction. Which means you have to make a whole lotta transactions for this to add up!

Maybe some will find it 'worth it' but I don't see this as another Goldpoints/Valumags or Goldpoints/Hallmark. At least with Hallmark, IIRC, you could do 12000 Goldpoints per transaction and that's when Goldpoints were worth twice as many airline miles. Those Hallmark Gift Certificates were then redeemable at hundreds of places (like Hertz, Amazon.com, etc.) And Valumags... Wasn't that 120 miles per dollar spent, and fewer transactions too? That was sweet.. (for those that could get the miles to credit!)

------------------
View from the Wing (http://www.webflyer.com/blog): A blog about Free Miles and Free Markets

Should this be in S.P.A.M?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by jfe:
Should this be in S.P.A.M?</font>

Or: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum91/HTML/000356.html

This is a nice find if you want to do the work.

But from my calculations, it's only 80 miles per dollar, not 190.

$5 GC = 2000 goldpoints
$5 purchase using GC = 2000 goldpoints

A total of 4000 goldpoints for $5.
4000 goldpoints = 400 miles

400 miles / $5 = 80 miles per dollar.

FF

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by zrs70:
Has this been discussed before?

Through goldpoints, one can earn 2000 points per transaction with LL Bean. So if you buy a $5 gift certificate, that's 2000 points (which translate to 250 airline miles, or 50 miles to the dollar.)

Can you then take the $5 certificate and use it to make a $5 purchase, earning you 2000 more points? (190 miles to the dollar) Is this legal?

I suppose you can do it over and over.

Doesn't sound ethical to me. Come to think of it, something like this MUST have been discussed in the past. I just can't find it.

[This message has been edited by zrs70 (edited 08-14-2003).]</font>

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Fire_Fly:
This is a nice find if you want to do the work.

But from my calculations, it's only 80 miles per dollar, not 190.

$5 GC = 2000 goldpoints
$5 purchase using GC = 2000 goldpoints

A total of 4000 goldpoints for $5.
4000 goldpoints = 400 miles

400 miles / $5 = 80 miles per dollar.

FF

</font>

4000 Goldpoints is 500 miles not 400.

------------------
Pat

[This message has been edited by Pat H (edited 08-14-2003).]

No way will I touch another Goldpoints promotion after the fiasco last year. Besides, it doesn't sound like much of a bargain.

If $1.00 equals 80 miles, that's $100.00 for just 8,000 miles. I received 10,000 miles for $44.00 from the AT&T Worldnet promotion months ago.

[This message has been edited by Neal (edited 08-14-2003).]

Wow, I'm surprised - this has all the makings of megadeal - and it meets a lukeworm reception by veterans gleff and cactuspete.
Have we lost our touch, did fixation on airline miles blurred our vision?
In short - the value of this deal is with using Goldpoins at Radisson hotels.
Let's put our collective brains to work before it goes away, DIG, DIG, DIG !!!
Briefly: $1.25 items available, free shipping for holders of LL Bean Card (MBNA).

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by neophyte:
Wow, I'm surprised - this has all the makings of megadeal - and it meets a lukeworm reception by veterans gleff and cactuspete.</font>

This is a perfectly reasonable topping off strategy.

But it takes a whole lot of transactions to build up a significant amount of points.

It would take 5 transactions each day and night over 40 days to earn 100,000 miles at a cost of $1000.

That's IF all the miles post. And plenty of folks (myself included, although fortunately only on smaller transactions) have had bad experiences there. I guess a bunch of FTers reporting back "Success! My 2000 GPs posted overnight! For each transaction!" would make it easier to go down this road.

Of course, if gift certificates were available in $1 denominations... or gift certificates could be used to buy gift certificates... or GP hadn't doubled the number of points necessary to redeem for miles.. this would be a better deal.

Perhaps I've been spoiled by all the great "Get Miles Quick!" schemes folks here have come up with, and I'm jaundiced. But as for me, I'd just assume buy a whole bunch of Inside Flyer subscriptions and let Randy, Karen, Michelle, and the gang do the work for me... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

------------------
View from the Wing (http://www.webflyer.com/blog): A blog about Free Miles and Free Markets

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by jfe:
Should this be in S.P.A.M?</font>

Would certainly be appropriate there, although my own hunch is that since the original poster was asking whether this was a megadeal in the making it's probably alright to leave it here. Fair question, though!

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by neophyte:
Wow, I'm surprised - this has all the makings of megadeal - and it meets a lukeworm reception by veterans gleff and cactuspete.

Have we lost our touch, did fixation on airline miles blurred our vision?
</font>

Many of us have been around long enough to remember the last time Goldpoints offered something that seemed too good to be true. Then they remember how Goldpoints refused to honour some of the transaction. Then they remember how Goldpoints cut redemption levels in half overnight, without any prior warning.

Many people on Flyertalk got f*cked by Goldpoints last year, and no longer want anything to do with them as a company. In a nutshell, here was my analysis of Carlson (who own Radisson and Goldpoints) at the time:

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">
Are Carlson most dishonest company around? (http://www.flyertalk.com/pasttalk/ftpasttalk_forum/Forum91/HTML/000231.html)

Carlson proclaims on their website that "the history of Carlson Companies is one of the classic business success stories in the American free enterprise system". But this company seems to succeed despite itself. It frankly amazes me that a company which conducts business in this manner is still in business.

Let's look at the facts for their market-leading loyalty program:

1. They introduce a promotion which clearly was not properly vetted or researched
2. They are overwhelmed with orders, so they pull the promotion early and without warning
3. They make ad hoc exceptions on which orders will be honoured and which will not
4. Their staff give inconsistent responses about the redemption rates for the promotion
5. They change the redemption policy for frequent flyer miles by stealth, with no warning.
6. Their staff give inconsistent responses about the frequent flyer mileage

At best, this company is grossly incompetent. They fail to grasp even the most rudimentary elements of marketing, communications, or generating loyalty. They establish a relationship with a customer then do their best to destroy it. They overpromise and underdeliver. They'd rather lose customers rather than make the right decision. Marketing 101 was obviously lost on this bunch.

But Carlson's conduct goes beyond gross incompetence. It borders on being deceitful and dishonest. There is something about this company that makes me angry every time I think about it. I don't trust them, not as far as I could throw them.

And I'm not alone. Here on Flyertalk we had hundreds of people post about their poor experiences with this company. My experience was not an isolated one, and I am not the only one on Flyertalk vowing never to do business with Carlson again. Never mind, with their new exchange rates and dwindling vendor list, there isn't any point in doing business with Carlson anyhow.

Yes, the terms and conditions of the Gold Rewards program state that the rules can be changed at any time, without warning. But let's be honest - changing rules by stealth, not honouring your own commitments - these are not good business practices. They indicate weak, indecisive management; poor market research and poor product testing.

Carlson may have made Fortune magazine's 2002 list of "The 100 Best Companies to Work For", but I wouldn't want to work there. I will never do business with Carlson or any of its related companies again.

We dropped Carlson Wagonlit as our corporate travel provider. Good riddance. Now I've actually got a chance of getting a decent fare, receiving my tickets, and no longer having to educate our travel agents. In my experience, every element of Carlson shouts out incompetence. The folks at Carlson even make me look clever.
</font>

If you're interested in the whole story, do a search in the Radisson forum or in Milesbuzz around December 2001.

I have to agree with MatthewClement. Although I eventually received the points/miles I was due from the GoldPoints/ValueMags promo, it took way too much time and effort. It's fairly clear to me that GoldPoints, i.e. Carlson, was attempting to delay awarding of the points so that they could alter the redemption structure and thus incurr lower costs for what was a botched promotion.

I can't begin to count the number of times I was told by GoldPoints reps that "the points will post in two weeks". I was also told that they were auditing my purchases and that was holding things up, even though I twice faxed them complete screen copies of my ValueMags transaction as they requested and acknowledged that the orders were indeed placed by me and were indeed valid. ValueMags reps confirmed the same thing with GoldPoints.

After this fiasco and the total lack of customer focus exhibited by GoldPoints, I too have vowed not to do business with GoldPoints, Radisson, Carlson, Country Inn & Suites and other Carlson enterprises...and so far have stuck to this.

It may seem like a good deal, but if experience is any guide you will have a difficult if not impossible task getting the points. My recommendation is simple: Don't do business with them!

Every word about moral values of Carlson management is true, and I have my doubts about it, but the deal is a deal, and it is probably worth pursuing.
Just for reality check, Radisson still has a solid if second rate hotel frequent guest program, and hotels redemption levels had never been devalued. The even added redemptions in Europe earlier this year:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum91/HTML/000326.html

So here's the simpliest strategy I see now:
Buy multiple cheap items from LL Bean using LL Bean credit card (for free shipping), earning 2000 GP's for $1.25 - $1.75
That earns basic hotels night (20,000 GP's or 2500 miles) for $15, or a night in the nice hotel (60,000 - 70,00 GP's) for $45 - $50
Not too bad.
Strategies with Gift Certs might exist, but the free shipping is a key.

A few thoughts:

1) I did the original goldpoints/ valuemags thing. It took time and many calls, but the miles did go through, and I have no reason to complain about tons of miles for little $$$.

2) With items through LL Bean at $1.25, it's worth it to spend a half hour a day, buy those items, donate them, and earn miles.

3) I wouldn't regergiate the $5 gift certificates.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by zrs70:
A few thoughts:

1) I did the original goldpoints/ valuemags thing. It took time and many calls, but the miles did go through, and I have no reason to complain about tons of miles for little $$$.

2) With items through LL Bean at $1.25, it's worth it to spend a half hour a day, buy those items, donate them, and earn miles.

3) I wouldn't regergiate the $5 gift certificates. </font>

I agree. This offer does not have nearly the potential return as the ValuMags offer, butthen again you can actually use the money/GCs to buy something of value at LLBean (whereas the magazines really had no "value"). And sorry, I read your initial post too quickly, which led to my comment in the other thread about churning GCs.

what items are there for $1.25?

Go fishing http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif - you'll find a lot below $2 in there.
Please do not post items codes here, we'll cause run on some items and LL Beans could shut down deal prematurely - there're hundreds of cheap items to fish out.
I'm still waiting a confirmation of free shipping from someone with LL Bean card.

After buying three separate GC's yesterday, LL Bean called me to verify that I was purchasing them.

I will send them an e-mail today giving them a heads up that I will be making multiple fishing related purchases, and that they may ship them in one box rather than several.

If anyone's interested in a very nice Radisson, the hotel in Aruba is more than worthy as a vacation destination...

Convert your Gold Points into Diners Club Rewards Points. Redeem 6,250 Gold Points for 1,000 Club Rewards Points by contacting the Gold Points Rewards Contact Center at 1-800-508-9000

This means that for about 3x1.25$ you would get 1000 DC points which would be 1000 BA points which is even a better deal then Inside Flyer promotion. 1000BA miles for under 4$ is a pretty good deal.

Wait, it gets better..

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum1/HTML/009131.html

Only 150K is needed for First Class with BA from anywhere in the US to Europe. This means 150*4=600$, when did you fly FIRST Class for that price? How many miles is needed for concorde and do they have any award seats left?

[This message has been edited by kempis (edited 08-15-2003).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by zrs70:
After buying three separate GC's yesterday, LL Bean called me to verify that I was purchasing them.</font>

How long are your GoldPoints from LLBean transactions taking to post?

I'm not very familiar with the Goldpoints site but the portal from Goldpoints to LL Bean doesn't seem to be working. Am I doing something wrong?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by vandykes44:
I'm not very familiar with the Goldpoints site but the portal from Goldpoints to LL Bean doesn't seem to be working. Am I doing something wrong? </font>

When you click on the green L.L.Bean icon on the GP page, it opens a new browser window with a blue "Start Shopping!" link on it. When you click on that, that window is replaced with a new window that has a Goldpoints frame on top and an L.L.Bean frame below. Perhaps your browser is set to prevent web sites from opening new windows. I just went through the process using Netscape 7.0, and it worked fine.

Here's an improved strategy:
1. Buy $5 emailable Gift certicate
2. Buy fishing items using the gift certificate
from step 1 until it used up.
3. Return to step 1.

All this requires the free shipping. Ones who have LL Bean credit card are covered already.
I think I've found one, I will test and publish it later today.
For now I'd stock up gift certificate, they deliver them only in about 10 hours.
And, please, please - don't buy the same item all over and don't publish item# here. If on Monday they'll find that they have 50,000 orders for the item, and only 500 in stock, the whole thing will crumble.

is it right goldpoints can only be transferred into delta, nwa and us airways miles at 5,000 gp to 500 miles?

i know there is diners, but i don't have a us diners club card.

my calculations come out at

US$5 = 2,000 gold points
5,000 gold points = US$12.50
500 nwa miles = US$12.50 (or US$0.025c per mile...)

This means a flight from CNS-GUM-JFK on CO is US$2,000 (80,000 x US$0.025c). Not that good a deal?

Certificates can be used in store - if so... maybe i might get some new clothes??... $2,000 worth to be exact! Still... is it such a great deal if u dont have an LL Bean credit card?

Alternatively, you could do SYD-SFO (or LAX)-JFK (or anywhere in the US on the UA network) using US Airways miles for 60,000 miles. This equates to an expense of US$1,500 (or 300 x US$5 purchases on LLBean). This seems a little more reasonable - it is only US$2,250 in Biz class from SYD-US on UA...

Can you use the US$5 gift voucher to perpetually buy further US$5 gift vouchers at the online store and qualify??


[This message has been edited by kawoh (edited 08-16-2003).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by kawoh:
is it right goldpoints can only be transferred into delta, nwa and us airways miles at 5,000 gp to 500 miles?</font>

Be sure to sign up for Goldpoints via Radisson rather than directly with Goldpoints. Then you get to redeem with plenty of other airlines and you get 8:1 redemption into miles.

Goldpoints is both the Radisson loyalty program and a more general mass market loyalty program (and in particular, TGI Friday's) and the two offer different redemption rates. They key is how you sign up. (Although IIRC you can sign up through Goldpoints and request to be switched later.)

But you'll want to search the archives for all this... fleshed out in some detail ~ December 2001...

gleff, thanks, so this revises my current calculation for non LL Bean credit card holders, I suspect getting a gift cert and redeeming it for another cert would be limited, can anyone confirm?

2,000 gold points = US$5
2,000 gold points = 250 miles (8 gold points = 1 airline mile on DL, NW or US)

effective cost US$0.02c per mile.

awards available (ie redemption on US Airways or UA MP):

Economy: SYD-SFO or LAX-JFK (or anywhere in US on UA network) 60,000 miles = US$1,200 (and US$1,200 worth of LL bean clothes)

Business: SYD-SFO or LAX-JFK (or anywhere in US on UA network) 90,000 miles = US$1,800 (and US$1,800 worth of LL bean clothes)

Starting to look a little more reasonable? If I could get it down to US$0.01c per mile I think it's a definite goer gleff? except the concerns re meeting what they promise?

[This message has been edited by kawoh (edited 08-16-2003).]

Consider transfers to AA, b/c even though their US-SYD redemption costs are a little higher you get somewhat closer to lifetime elite...

Also note that I think (or at least recall) that Goldpoints has implemented a limit of 1 million Goldpoints transferred out per year (125,000 FF miles at 8:1).

And at least for this you're not running up against a deadline of 8/31 for posting and transfers to Diners. So this is better.

Don't even think of buying miles @ 2 cents, though, for the purpose of a Y award to SYD. You can generally buy a revenue (and mileage earning) ticket for the same price.

Also, you can buy UA miles @ 2 cents/apiece from Randy (http://www.insideflyer.com/united) and at less risk, IMHO. (Though there's a maximum of 20k miles to be earned this way.) (The maximum AA miles earned is 35k/yr (http://www.insideflyer.com/american). There is apparently no limit to the number of Continental miles (http://www.insideflyer.com/continental/) you can pick up this way, but CO miles aren't worth anything. Although you could launder your CO miles through Amtrak to United with no devaluation, and rack up more UA miles than the stated limit.)

Gary

[This message has been edited by gleff (edited 08-16-2003).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by gleff:


Also, you can buy UA miles @ 2 cents/apiece from Randy (http://www.insideflyer.com/united) and at less risk, IMHO. (Though there's a maximum of 20k miles to be earned this way.) </font>

But when you buy from Randy (or with hte airline), you get just the miles. If you do it through Bean, goldpoints, or whatever, you get the stuff you buy in addition to the miles.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by zrs70:
But when you buy from Randy (or with hte airline), you get just the miles. If you do it through Bean, goldpoints, or whatever, you get the stuff you buy in addition to the miles.

</font>

Yes, you can get some clothes.

If you think about it for US$1,200 - agree you can buy a fare at or the same amount but if you consider the fare at US$600 (which is v.cheap), then you're getting any LL Bean clothes instore for 50% off. So it isn't that bad, but not that compelling. Now if you had an LL Bean visa, well that's another story.

Perhaps it's a good way to top up your DL a/c, especially if you took up that DL Yahoo promo last year where many got 11,000 DL miles automatically.


[This message has been edited by kawoh (edited 08-16-2003).]

...Now if you had an LL Bean visa, well that's another story.


OK, it's late so I missed something obviously,
what is the extra value from a Bean Visa?

Update:
I tried to use the strategy I mentioned above - buy $5 GS and then turn over and use it at LL Bean for items priced about $1.75
They emailed me right away asking to call, so I called back and found the most incredible reason - their gift certs can only be used once! If GS is not used completely, they send back a paper check for the balance. I tried to argue that that is very uncommon practice and potentially could cost them a lot of money, but how can that be explained to customer service? Any word here from previous LL Bean customers?
I gave up, and canceled my orders for fishing items.
Now, I present here two altered strategies:

Regular:
1. Buy $5 GS using your mileage card
2. Redeem it for inexpensive (average $1.50) fishing item.
3. Wait for $3.50 refund check
This one earns 4000 GP's (or 500 miles)+ 5 miles for about $1.50
"Never pity a fool" strategy:
1. Buy $500 GS using your mileage card
2. Same as above
3. Wait for $498.50 refund check
This one earns 4000 GP's (or 500 miles) + 500 miles for about $1.50
I don't recommend the second one http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif though.

And now finally - ta-ta - free shipping code:
2206810

OK, trying to get my head around your strategy:

1/ why buy a US$5 cert if you can buy the $1.50 item on it own instead of waiting for a refund cert? DUH - sorry you answered this to get double.

2/ the shipping code: 2206810 , is that if you have an LL Bean visa, or is that part of a special offer?

3/ will use of that free shipping code OVER-RIDE your GP code and track you through for that promotion.

4/ As per point 1, is your strategy to buy the certificate in case they've run out of stock for that item rather than buy a $1.50 item and be told they don't have it in stock, and refund you and you miss out on your 2,000 gold points? - DUH sorry, I understand as mentioned in your post, you want to double dip.


Re - the free shipping code, this is used on the promotional code page on the payment page and includes the postage, then reverses it out. Effectively making the cost $1.50. By the way - the free shipping only applies to delivery in the US (i tried overseas and you don't get it rebated).


Important --- one thing to be mindful of in the T&C's;

"Only a Radisson Gold Rewards member, who has had a Gold Points-earning stay at any participating Radisson hotel in the past 12 months, is entitled to convert Gold Points to airline miles at an 8:1 ratio, up to one million points per year. PARTICIPATING AIRLINE MILES PARTNERS: Air Canada, American, America West, Asiana, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Continental, Delta, EL AL, Gulf Air, Icelandair, Latin Pass, Mexicana, Midwest Express, Northwest, United, US Airways. "

So this needs to be added into your equation if you don't currently use the points you'll need to check into a Radisson property in order to be elgible to make the transfer.

Now depending on how they interpret it, does it mean

- if you haven't and u stayed AFTER the points were earned, will those points earned prior not qualify for transfer?

- is it (transfer of gold points to airline miles) ONLY for gold points earned for stays and not earning from partners?


Another important rule for Gold points:

"As of January 2002, Radisson hotel brands issuing Gold Points to eligible Radisson Gold Rewards members residing in North, Central and South America include Radisson hotels throughout the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, Mexico, Central and South America, Radisson SAS properties in Europe and Radisson Edwardian properties in the United Kingdom. "

So if you aren't normally resident North or South America, you won't be able to do the Radisson promo. If it does become and issue, this could affect you.


[This message has been edited by kawoh (edited 08-16-2003).]

looks like the gold points site is now DOWN ... anyone else having problems?

http://www.goldpoints.com/en_US/site/earn/Sports.jsp

This link does work for me, but unsure what the codes are and whether it will track your gold points number (this was cached on google on the page after a search for "goldpoints bean" and view the cached page with the bean logo):

http://clickserve.cc-dt.com/link/click?lid=41000000001145900&mid=601599003997790441002207

[This message has been edited by kawoh (edited 08-16-2003).]

They're down for maintenance - I remember the warning - so we could get some sleep http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Will the free-shipping code overwrite the GoldPoints - it's anyone's guess. I don't think so, judging from their web prowess, customer service claimed code for GP's don't even exist, they track it most likely through third-party engine.

Again, GP's are much more valuable for hotel stays, so I wouldn't worry about transfers to miles. If that would present a problem - Radisson awards points for Priceline stays.

Like Matthew Clement noted, BE VERY CAREFUL with Goldpoints. They were complicit in reneging on over 72 million Goldpoints worth of legit, verified orders during ValueMags promotion.

www.milespy.com (http://www.milespy.com) which summarizes Randy's most recent If/Diners Club/BA deal for 1.7 cents USD for UNLIMITED miles, all with one simple transaction, seems like a safer, more accountable option.

I concur with all the above about GoldPoints.
It took month after month of faxes, emails and letters to get the Valuemags/Hallmark fiasco posted. I for one quit eating at Friday's forever in protest! If anyone needs a place to send an IF subscription, please keep me in your thoughts http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
JudyJFLA
right now in Very Smoky East Glacier Park, MT

I'm going to try it.
Used the free shipping code.
Thanks very much.
If I get the 2000 points, I'll post a note.
Worth a try for a couple bucks.

I actually placed an order for LLBean on 8/4, but no points have posted yet. Has anyone actually received points yet? My order was for merchandise but I'd love to hear when anyone actually sees points post for the gc.

Anyone knows if you could buy a gift certificate with a gift cirtificate?

supposedly you can, but you need to wait 10 hours for your gift cert to be issued kempis, so you'll be waiting a long time for each 2,000...?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by kempis:
Anyone knows if you could buy a gift certificate with a gift cirtificate?</font>

That's a sure way to get this deal shut down in a big hurry.

If you want to keep this offer open, apply for the LL Bean card. If LL Bean sees a few 100 credit card apps because of this, they're likely to keep it open.

Doing the perpetuum mobile with buying the same denomination GS is bordering on fraud, and I'd bet you won't keep your points.
As I stated above, they do monitor transactions and will most likely contact people doing that and annul the transactions.
I don't see what's wrong with spending some money for this offer - LL Bean is a reputable company and most likely will stand by customers even if Carlson will try to renege again.

I made my first LLBean purchase on 8/16 and goldpoints posted today!

------------------
Rachel
Pepperell, MA
AA Plat

Do gift certificates count for transactions? I doubt as many websites nowadays are not giving miles for gift certificates.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by RachRB:
I made my first LLBean purchase on 8/16 and goldpoints posted today!

</font>

Lucky you - I purchased the day before you and haven't seen any points. Did you get a gift certificate or merchandise?

This from the goldpoints website:


"Also note that the awarding of points for merchandise ordered from an online retailer, via the Gold Points Rewards website, will take place within 30 business days"

so it should happen within 4 weeks...

I purchased a gift certificate - just called Gold Points to convert some points into miles certificates rather than let them build up and risk losing --

"We are updating our system and cannot access account information. We will be able to do so at 8AM tomorrow."

So I will call and convert points in AM BEFORE buying anything else.

------------------
Rachel
Pepperell, MA
AA Plat

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by RachRB:
"We are updating our system and cannot access account information. We will be able to do so at 8AM tomorrow."
</font>

This like dropping back into a long lost foreign country where everyone speaks with a very distinct dialect. "Welcome Back To The Old Gold Points Run Around, Hope You Enjoy The Ride." The second you hear it being spoken again, you instantly realize where your at. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/eek.gif

[This message has been edited by ORDNorth (edited 08-20-2003).]

[This message has been edited by ORDNorth (edited 08-20-2003).]

Looks like LL Bean is now gone from Goldpoints...maybe I am blind but I don't see it.

------------------
Rachel
Pepperell, MA
AA Plat

Hmmm, I guess all those fish hooks suggested to Bean that something, well, fishy was going on!

I bought about 10 $50 certs. I'll get the points, buy some products with them, and wait for the next promotion!

Well it was good while it last. Hopefully I be able to get my points without being sent through the ringer.

Guys / gals...

I ordered FREE catalog w/ FREE shipping @ LLBean - I didn!t expect to get the points.

To my BIG surprise - 2000 points came to my account !!!

I think I do not have to be a prophet if I say now that LLBean will be surprised how many catalogs will they ship after this post... :}

Now while checking GoldPoints website, I can't find LLBean offer anymore - but I found eBay offer for 2000 pts. You need to sign-up as new member and place a bid.

I just found this thread. There is a ton of information here which I'm trying to digest.

I love LL Bean. I have an LL Bean Platinum Visa (MBNA). How can I benefit from this as I order from LL Bean all of the time. Is there a link for me to sign up? I'm confused about what gold points are but what I want to know is can I get free clothing or access to special discounts? Any info would be great. Thanks. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Amazing-LL Bean did it again. I used the fish hook strategy last year when they were on Goldpoints. It worked fine until I started getting phone calls from MBNA's fraud departmetn, from LLBean's FLyshop, from their shipping dept., etc. It got to be WAY too much hassle. Shortly thereafter, LLBean left Goldpoints. I thought the two might have been related. But they did the same thing again....well congrats to those who caught fishing fever the 2nd time around!

THE DEAL IS OVER....

This is an email I got from Goldpoints last night.

"Thank you for contacting Gold Points Rewards. Unfortunately,
L.L.Bean.com was removed from GoldPoints.com on 8/20/03. Orders with
L.L.Bean.com are no longer eligible for points.

Thank you.
Customer Service Representative
Gold Points Service Center Team"

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by satickets:
Unfortunately, L.L.Bean.com was removed from GoldPoints.com on 8/20/03. Orders with
L.L.Bean.com are no longer eligible for points.</font>

Oh well. I have a Gold Points card from Food Emporium. Is that the same Gold Points?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Analise:
Oh well. I have a Gold Points card from Food Emporium. Is that the same Gold Points?</font>

Yes. Purchase $100 worth of peanut butter, $100 worth of jelly, and $100 worth of bread, get 1 mile per dollar if you use your Citibank AAdvantage card. Easy 300 miles!!! Hurry!

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Spiff:
Yes. Purchase $100 worth of peanut butter, $100 worth of jelly, and $100 worth of bread, get 1 mile per dollar if you use your Citibank AAdvantage card. Easy 300 miles!!! Hurry!

</font>

I called and tried to register but was told that a code is needed. Please post the promotion code so that others may take advantage of this offer.

I’m amazed by how relatively little “Buzz” this discovery generated. Call it the L.L. Bean Dip, the Roe Bug Deal, whatever, this was certainly the best frequent “fly”er promotions ever.

Purchase of a $1.25 fly earned 2,000 GoldPoints, or 1,600 GP/$. Recall how excited everyone got over GoldPoints' ValuMags promotion in 2000? That one earned 450 GP/$. Yes, this produced 3.5 times more GoldPoints than the ValueMags deal.

Sure, GoldPoints has changed the rules since 2000 to limit and devalue direct transfers of GP to miles, but it was still a great bargain. $625 of fly purchases could have been used for a quick 125,000 miles on Air Canada, American, America West, Asiana, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Continental, Delta, EL AL, Gulf Air, Icelandair, GlobalPass, Mexicana, Midwest Express, Northwest, United, or US Airways. That’s $0.005/mile or 200 miles/$. For comparison, in the ValueMags era, the net was only 112 miles/$. Plus, fishing flies are a lot easier to sell on e-bay. With the range of airlines included, this was a great top-out strategy.

Taking the indirect route to transfer GoldPoints to Diner’s Club Rewards to British Airways under the current 1-to-1 transfer promotion (or the next one?) effectively eliminated the limit on the number of miles that could’ve been earned in a year, and was even a slightly better bargain (even after taking into account the DC $0.95 assessment per 1,000 miles). It works out to about 206 BA miles/$. Thus, unlimited trips in ClubWorld from the US to Europe for $485. [I know, I know, it would have been much better before BA changed the rules (e.g., $728 for SFO-LHR-BKK-SYD-SIN-LHR-SFO in First), but you used to be able to buy a Hershey Bar for a penny, too…]

As neophyte noted, the Radisson hotel stays are also a great value. Lots of relatively nice hotel stays to be had for as low as $10.94/night (35,000 GPs for a 2-night weekend at a Tier 1 property).

With the transfer options from GoldPoints to Diner Club Rewards, many other options were possible that might have been equally appealing (e.g., onward transfers to Starwood Perferred Guest or Amtrak, etc.).

As for the time and hassle of placing the orders, that’s somewhat true. However, I have it on good account that 80 orders per hour were easily possible, even by skilled 8-year olds with DSL connections. That’s 25,000 miles/hour. As for the difficulty in getting the GoldPoints to post, I don’t doubt there will be some of that, too. But for some, the points have already posted. The rest should receive them eventually…

Props to zrs70, neophyte, and kempis for working this all out. It sounds like Duckman was way ahead of the pack, though.

hey pudding guy ,what would you do with the 2million points ihave from value mags?

See - I told you so - Pudding Guy itself backed us up !
Too bad, I was too chicken and too busy to try it on a real scale.
By the way, my second strategy above - "Never pity a fool" seems to be the still alive and well.
Hint: I already received first $3.75 refund for $5 GiftCert, but it could've been $498.75 as well.

GoldPoints are out of picture, but who would prevent us from going through other shopping portals?
For instance, Upromise has an offer (expire 08/27) for $6 back for any LL Bean purchase.

Anyone care to work out this idea tonight? It could be even better then GoldPoints.

Get 6$ back per order? What if I order for less then 6$? Will I actually get money back? What if I order a 5$ gift certificate? Will that be free?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Pudding Guy:
I’m amazed by how relatively little “Buzz” this discovery generated. Call it the L.L. Bean Dip, the Roe Bug Deal, whatever, this was certainly the best frequent “fly”er promotions ever.</font>

Problem is, after the last Goldpoints fiasco, a lot of people simply don't trust them and don't want to do business with them. No matter how good the deal, I'll never do business with this bunch of charlatans again.

FWIT, my points are begining to post.

L.L. Bean's marketing department has some interesting approaches. They obviously don't know their own products and policies too well. How else can you explain giving away $6 (or the like in GoldPoints) for someone who makes a $1.25 purchase?

The Upromise thing isn't my sort of deal (which is maybe why I'm miles-rich and cash-poor). I'll be interested to hear how that one turns out, though. Upromise seems to have T&Cs that would allow them to reverse any "contributions" (as they put it) that they decide were based on abuse of their program. Given that, and the extremely long time they suggest it takes for one to actually receive the funds, it seems a little dicey.

Back to Goldpoints and martino, the best values now seem to be using the points for hotel stays.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Pudding Guy:
Upromise seems to have T&Cs that would allow them to reverse any "contributions" (as they put it) that they decide were based on abuse of their program. Given that, and the extremely long time they suggest it takes for one to actually receive the funds, it seems a little dicey.</font>

Contributions to my UPromise account are quite frequently adjusted (due to error, not abuse) long after they have posted. Also, a contribution to UPromise is not equivalent to cash.

None of these purchases of roe bugs which have been charged and delivered, have gone through on goldpoints, has anyone else had their points post?

also, is it me or do they not respond to correspondence you send them?

Made just one purchase of those roe bugs. Never got the second e-mail from LLBean confirming the delivery. E-mailed them with the request to resend me a copy of that e-mail. Not even an attempt to answer. No points from Goldpoints either so far.

None of mine have posted either, but the rules say 4-6 weeks after the item was shipped so i guess they still have more time. I called them but they won't do anythign until 6 weeks pass. My guess is that after the 6 weeks, we are going to have to fight for the points.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by kawoh:
None of these purchases of roe bugs which have been charged and delivered, have gone through on goldpoints, has anyone else had their points post?
</font>

This big fish got away.

I've heard that L.L. Bean isn't going to pay GoldPoints for any of these purchases. As a result, GoldPoints isn't planning to post any points. Those that have posted already will likely be taken away.

GoldPoints' position is understandable. L.L. Bean is the problem.

L.L. Bean's Loss Prevention group apparently doesn't have a sense of humor.

You break my heart, Pudding Guy. Are you trying to tell me that I'm out $10 (they've refunded unused balance of every GC with a check, can you believe that ?) http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/redface.gif
Anyway, are they going to rescind the transactions and return the money then - I hardly believe it, it will cost them less just to grant the d*a*m*n points. If not we're going to haunt them with our multicolored collections of fishing hooks until all the fishing ponds of hell freeze over http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif
Seriously, I don't think anyone had the time to do a serious spree here, at least no one is bragging here.

[This message has been edited by neophyte (edited 09-13-2003).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Pudding Guy:
This big fish got away.

I've heard that L.L. Bean isn't going to pay GoldPoints for any of these purchases. As a result, GoldPoints isn't planning to post any points. Those that have posted already will likely be taken away.

GoldPoints' position is understandable. L.L. Bean is the problem.

L.L. Bean's Loss Prevention group apparently doesn't have a sense of humor.</font>

I faxed the copy of my shipping statement to Goldpoints and 2000 points posted within 4-5 days.

I don't think the LLbean will refuse to pay for GoldPoints since they didn't have any restrictrions in their contractual agreement with GP: it was 2000 per transaction with no minimum

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">I've heard that L.L. Bean isn't going to pay GoldPoints for any of these purchases. As a result, GoldPoints isn't planning to post any points. Those that have posted already will likely be taken away.[/B]</font>

Now I have a decision to make---do I fight goldpoints for the points, or just give up and return the fish hooks to LL Bean and get my money back. Its only about 5,000 miles (40,000 Goldpoints) so I am leaning towards just returning them instead of fighting with Goldpoints/LLBean for an undetermined length of time.

What do you guys think?

From GoldPoints' T&Cs:

"We may also cancel recorded Gold Points if the issuing Partner does not pay amounts owing to us or tells us to cancel the Gold Points (for example, because you returned or didn't pay for products or services for which the Gold Points were issued). Partners will determine the conditions under which they will permit you to obtain Gold Points and may change those conditions at any time and without notice. Neither we nor any Partner is responsible for any offer of Gold Points which is no longer in effect. Any dispute must be settled between you and the Partner."

I'm not sure how the contract with L.L.Bean and GoldPoints reads, but L.L.Bean apparently isn't going to pay GoldPoints a dime, so GoldPoints isn't going to eat the cost of those points.

Maybe all the transactions that have posted thus far won't be caught by GoldPoints, but I'm pretty sure what will happen if you call to ask. Also, the chance of new points posting is about nil. I wouldn't think fights with GoldPoints would work, as their T&Cs seem to support their actions given a non-paying Partner.

Despite taking such a hard line on paying GoldPoints, L.L. Bean didn't seem to anticipate that people might actually want to return their purchases if points weren't awarded. So they didn't probably didn't the administrative cost of processing returns into their decision.

L.L.Bean is employing at least three of the Seven Dwarfs. Happy works in Customer Service taking and processing orders; Grumpy's in Loss Prevention; and Dopey is in Affiliate Programs. (Sleepy might be the poor sap who had to package and restock all them flies.)

Based on the ValueMags fiasco, can't say y'all weren't WARNED!

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by beaubo:
Based on the ValueMags fiasco, can't say y'all weren't WARNED!</font>

It took ALOT of work on my part but I got every single one of my deserved Goldpoints (which converted to a few hundred thousand airline miles) from the ValuMags and Hallmark fiascos. In retrospect it was well worth it to me, I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by beaubo:
can't say y'all weren't WARNED!</font>

On the first page of this thread even.

------------------
View from the Wing (http://www.webflyer.com/blog): A blog about Free Miles and Free Markets

I too got all my Goldpoints(about 500k) from the Valumags/Hallmark promos and I still use the portal for some limited shopping and getting Fridays points.
From my perspective the program is ok and still of some value.

On the other hand I must say I wonder about the people who thought a) they could pull this LL Bean thing off( or thought they would be allowed to) by ordering $2 flies
and b) who are now pissed or even surprised they shut it down pronto.
Sorta like an all you can eat buffet invaded by hordes of 400lb guys eating 12 plates of food each.
mike

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by yanxfann:
It took ALOT of work on my part but I got every single one of my deserved Goldpoints (which converted to a few hundred thousand airline miles) from the ValuMags and Hallmark fiascos. In retrospect it was well worth it to me, I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

</font>

Better take your miles somewhere else where they are safe. Goldpoints can yank them out even after the fact.

Did anyone get Goldpoints for any of these orders?

I only managed to buy two $5 gift cards, but didn't get points for either.

Who should I contact first, LL Bean or Goldpoints?

Fire_Fly

Contact Goldpoints. I emailed them twice and then had to fax the order in twice to get the points for one order ($5 cert).

I placed 6 $5 gift cert. orders and never received a point. After at least 3 hours of time wasted on follow-up I give up. Personally I think this is what's to be expected with goldpoints.

So glad I stayed away from this one!

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by gleff:
So glad I stayed away from this one!</font>

Ditto.

ditto for me and MC