Lessons learned (or, Making plans for 2012)

Old Nov 8, 2011, 9:48 pm
  #16  
 
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there may be a GS12.
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Old Nov 8, 2011, 9:52 pm
  #17  
 
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Originally Posted by Michael El
Give him a break and don't be a cyber bully.
lol.

I am not trying to be a jerk, but the one lesson I hope people learn for next year (knock on wood) is that starting a thread for an individual question clutters the forum.
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Old Nov 8, 2011, 10:06 pm
  #18  
 
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Originally Posted by stallion114
lol.

I am not trying to be a jerk, but the one lesson I hope people learn for next year (knock on wood) is that starting a thread for an individual question clutters the forum.
Fair enough. ^
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Old Nov 8, 2011, 10:22 pm
  #19  
 
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Originally Posted by beltway
I'm not so sure about "several" partners, but I think there is a valuable principle here. I'd articulate it as "Don't start early with a partner where there is a significant new development." In the case of AR, that was the new feature of being able to accrue miles directly from trivia. As for the shuttle, I'm pretty sure PHX didn't work for some folks; more importantly, for 2012 I don't think there would be any reason (absent some add'l development) to go slow at first, since the crew this year seems to have mapped out enough options & relative success rates to enable a snap judgment next year as to which shuttle to "ride".
I ended up spreading out my hits as my travel patterns ended up shifting around from the start of GS to now. For instance, I expected 1 hotel stay hit and 4 rental car hits; I'm now going to wind up with 3 hotel stays and 6 rental car hits.

Since for obvious reasons, my last few hits are my most expensive (or at least could have been if I chose to order them that way), it's good to know I wouldn't need some of the more expensive ones to work my way up to 36 hits.
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Old Nov 8, 2011, 10:25 pm
  #20  
 
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Wow
All those comments and nothing substantive about the suggestions I made. I mentioned at the beginning that this was my first year. I am sure there will be a great many people for whom GS 12 (if it happens) will be their first Grand Slam. All I can say is that if I had read my own advice two or three months ago, I would have saved a lot of time and wound up with many more miles. Pretty odd that when one comes with some thought-out advice for the benefit of others, one gets flamed. It's as if some of the commenters here think they are paying out of pocket for my few KBs of memory. I would be more interested in constructive comments and additional suggestions than these kinds of put downs. I assume we've all graduated from Junior High School here, right? As for "starting a thread for an individual question" cluttering the forum, I couldn't agree more. But is this distillation of the many threads on this subforum an individual question? I leave that to your own judgment.
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Old Nov 8, 2011, 11:52 pm
  #21  
 
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I'm fed up with the attitude that permeates much of FT and has done so over the past 18 months or so. Perhaps a bit longer. Maybe I'm an old curmudgeon in my ripe old age of mid 30's but it's why I don't actively participate as much as I once did. I come to read and I search FT via Google but beyond that my posts are sporadic. That attitude I've witnessed is why.

On topic, I will disagree with the argument to finish early. It simply depends on your goals and your patterns. Perhaps you won't be doing any travel until November and you'll get your hotel and/or car rentals then. There's no urgent need to complete your hotel stays early unless you intend to burn the bonus miles as soon as you get them.

Then there's always the possibility of late promotions. In prior years buy/gift bonuses started near the end of a Grand Slam. This is precisely why I won't be sharing miles between my wife and myself until Monday November 14th in the unlikely event such a promotion begins then.

While you should never hoard miles there's no reason to earn them immediately in September instead of November if you're planning to use them on a trip 6 to 11 months later.
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Old Nov 9, 2011, 12:06 am
  #22  
 
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Originally Posted by larrythai
Wow
It's as if some of the commenters here think they are paying out of pocket for my few KBs of memory.
What took you so long to figure out??
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Old Nov 9, 2011, 5:38 am
  #23  
 
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Originally Posted by ArizonaGuy
I'm fed up with the attitude that permeates much of FT and has done so over the past 18 months or so. Perhaps a bit longer. Maybe I'm an old curmudgeon in my ripe old age of mid 30's but it's why I don't actively participate as much as I once did. I come to read and I search FT via Google but beyond that my posts are sporadic. That attitude I've witnessed is why.

On topic, I will disagree with the argument to finish early. It simply depends on your goals and your patterns. Perhaps you won't be doing any travel until November and you'll get your hotel and/or car rentals then. There's no urgent need to complete your hotel stays early unless you intend to burn the bonus miles as soon as you get them.

Then there's always the possibility of late promotions. In prior years buy/gift bonuses started near the end of a Grand Slam. This is precisely why I won't be sharing miles between my wife and myself until Monday November 14th in the unlikely event such a promotion begins then.

While you should never hoard miles there's no reason to earn them immediately in September instead of November if you're planning to use them on a trip 6 to 11 months later.
that's why MP is better - just not as much info there, yet
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Old Nov 9, 2011, 6:17 am
  #24  
 
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Originally Posted by ArizonaGuy
I'm fed up with the attitude that permeates much of FT and has done so over the past 18 months or so. Perhaps a bit longer. Maybe I'm an old curmudgeon in my ripe old age of mid 30's but it's why I don't actively participate as much as I once did. I come to read and I search FT via Google but beyond that my posts are sporadic. That attitude I've witnessed is why.

On topic, I will disagree with the argument to finish early. It simply depends on your goals and your patterns. Perhaps you won't be doing any travel until November and you'll get your hotel and/or car rentals then. There's no urgent need to complete your hotel stays early unless you intend to burn the bonus miles as soon as you get them.

Then there's always the possibility of late promotions. In prior years buy/gift bonuses started near the end of a Grand Slam. This is precisely why I won't be sharing miles between my wife and myself until Monday November 14th in the unlikely event such a promotion begins then.

While you should never hoard miles there's no reason to earn them immediately in September instead of November if you're planning to use them on a trip 6 to 11 months later.
I would agree with the attitude issues. And I feel its mainly from people who have been on the boards for awhile. Note to FT members: Just because you post 1,000 posts on the boards or have been on here for years doesn't give anyone the entitlement to be rude or snarky. I for one don't mind the extra threads because I hate reading a thread that is a 100 pages long.

As to lessons learned: There are some things I wish I had waited on (i.e The Thanks Again hit--I didn't need to buy a GC because I got 100 points for liking them on Facebook; or the Audience Rewards hit-I got a hit for trivia so I didn't need to buy a ticket). But there are other hits I am glad I did early (NetSol, ShareBuilder, Biscoff, 1-800-flowers) I would say for next year-if there are multiple ways to get hits--wait and see what happens after the first sweep. If something is a good deal and you can get a hit (for example, I got a great deal on 1-800-flowers) then snatch it up quickly.
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Old Nov 9, 2011, 6:36 am
  #25  
 
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The biggest lesson learned for me is to read post #1 before asking questions for the 97th time!



I'd also like to backup the thanks to Beltway (and others) for keeping this sub-forum in order. I do wonder how many packs of Biscoff cookies you got from overseas members who couldn't get them shipped outside of the US?

Last edited by andyfarrimond; Nov 9, 2011 at 6:42 am
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Old Nov 9, 2011, 7:01 am
  #26  
 
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When someone provides information for a "no show" for hotel and car rental with specific information , follow it and don't inquire with head office.

By the way, the car rental I provided for the "no show" will be delighted to do it again next year. I told the 2 managers I will visit them again for the next GS 2012.

For myself, I will never give up 1500 SPG points for a hit. Too valuable for me.
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Old Nov 9, 2011, 7:19 am
  #27  
 
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Originally Posted by amolkold
Same thing with TopGuest - 50 points/day can really add up over a while and help with the lower threshold transfers (like BW or Choice 5000 points ... 100 check-ins over the course of a few months = free transfer if you don't stay at those chains). I didn't start hardcore TopGuesting until the GS and it helped me with my Hilton Transfer hit, but had I started last year, I could have saved $ with 2 other hotel transfers.
^

As a GS Virgin I relaized I need to find ways to plus up my hotel programs that are gathering dust. (IHG, Choice, BW) I will be looking for ways to take advantage of promos to bulk them up for next year.

I have been filling out mindless surveys a few times a week, got up to $100. $25 went to US and $75 went to HH to help offset that transfer.

Oh, and as a PLT on AA one can transfer small amounts of miles to AsiaMiles. Need to do that before I sink to GLD in Feb. As a GLD or Kettle member one can only transfer a much larger number.
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Old Nov 9, 2011, 8:12 am
  #28  
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Originally Posted by Gamecock
Oh, and as a PLT on AA one can transfer small amounts of miles to AsiaMiles. Need to do that before I sink to GLD in Feb. As a GLD or Kettle member one can only transfer a much larger number.
Note, though, that even as an AA kettle I can (and did) transfer a few miles directly to US because I have more than 25K miles in my AA account. (Of course, points.com could change that, just as they yanked the CO low-miles transfer option mid-GS this year.) However, the larger point is a sound one: plan around points.com's arbitrary rules by banking a few miles in places that allow small-amount transfers to US.
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Old Nov 9, 2011, 9:48 am
  #29  
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Originally Posted by FlyerChrisK
I ended up spreading out my hits as my travel patterns ended up shifting around from the start of GS to now. For instance, I expected 1 hotel stay hit and 4 rental car hits; I'm now going to wind up with 3 hotel stays and 6 rental car hits.

Since for obvious reasons, my last few hits are my most expensive (or at least could have been if I chose to order them that way), it's good to know I wouldn't need some of the more expensive ones to work my way up to 36 hits.
This. Do the cheapest hits first and don't necessarily do expensive ones on the theory, "Well, I'm going to have to do this one anyway, why not do it now?" I did a couple of expensive hotel transfers first that I ended up not needing.

Do your e-rewards now. Don't miss the surveys. You may have as many as three or four redemption partners on ER that you can transfer to US.

Mike
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Old Nov 9, 2011, 10:03 am
  #30  
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Originally Posted by mikeef
This. Do the cheapest hits first and don't necessarily do expensive ones on the theory, "Well, I'm going to have to do this one anyway, why not do it now?" I did a couple of expensive hotel transfers first that I ended up not needing.
I've updated post #1 to narrow the "start early" injunction to retail partners. I agree that hotel transfer rules are very stable & unlikely to change mid-GS, so there's not much reason to do them early.
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