Grand Slam 2010!
Sep 21, 2010, 12:49 pm
#1501
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: CHA/TYS
Programs: The Mac Daddy of Heimlich County (and low-ball status)
Posts: 2,868
OK so help me understand this: the goal is to do everything humanly possible in order to get Dividend miles for highly constrained seats on one of the country's worst airlines at inflated redemption rates and fees, plus perhaps some remote hope of getting enough miles to redeem for seats on a decent Star Alliance partner. You can now buy these miles outright for 1.375 cents apiece on the US Air website. And yet you guys are willing to invest unlimited HOURS of your time, plus (it seems from the posts that I have read after I wasted unlimited hours of my own) you are willing to spend up to about $30 or more per "hit" that nets between 1000-2777 miles depending on the tier. Therefore, assuming that all of your time has a value of ZERO and you have no work you should be doing, no test you should be studying for, no friends or family you should be cooking dinner for, no wife or husband or girlfriend or boyfriend you should be making love to or apologizing to for not making love to or cooking dinner for, you are participating in this whole exercise for the purpose of obtaining currency of highly dubious value for more, the same or only slightly less cost than you could if you just whip out your credit card and buy some miles. So call me crazy (and I'm sure you all will) but it seems that the only sane way to approach a promotion like this is to register and make an absolutely minimal effort to get miles for anything that is free, requires minimal time and hassle, and/or that you would have bought anyway. And not waste a single moment of your precious life with Super 8 rooms in Shanghai, shuttles to nowhere, waiting on hold with overseas call centers to speak to incompetent reps, trying to figure out what to do with absolutely useless merchandise for which you are paying four times the value in shipping costs, creating landfill waste, and bemoaning broken wine thermometers (since even if you were lucky enough to get one that worked you wouldn't have any time or energy left to actually use it.) Or buy the miles that will make you happy. Or buy yourself and your SO a plane ticket to wherever you like. And don't ever look back.
Sep 21, 2010, 12:51 pm
#1502
Join Date: Sep 2009
Programs: *G, SPG, OW Sapphire
Posts: 2,565
OK so help me understand this: the goal is to do everything humanly possible in order to get Dividend miles for highly constrained seats on one of the country's worst airlines at inflated redemption rates and fees, plus perhaps some remote hope of getting enough miles to redeem for seats on a decent Star Alliance partner. You can now buy these miles outright for 1.375 cents apiece on the US Air website. And yet you guys are willing to invest unlimited HOURS of your time, plus (it seems from the posts that I have read after I wasted unlimited hours of my own) you are willing to spend up to about $30 or more per "hit" that nets between 1000-2777 miles depending on the tier. Therefore, assuming that all of your time has a value of ZERO and you have no work you should be doing, no test you should be studying for, no friends or family you should be cooking dinner for, no wife or husband or girlfriend or boyfriend you should be making love to or apologizing to for not making love to or cooking dinner for, you are participating in this whole exercise for the purpose of obtaining currency of highly dubious value for more, the same or only slightly less cost than you could if you just whip out your credit card and buy some miles. So call me crazy (and I'm sure you all will) but it seems that the only sane way to approach a promotion like this is to register and make an absolutely minimal effort to get miles for anything that is free, requires minimal time and hassle, and/or that you would have bought anyway. And not waste a single moment of your precious life with Super 8 rooms in Shanghai, shuttles to nowhere, waiting on hold with overseas call centers to speak to incompetent reps, trying to figure out what to do with absolutely useless merchandise for which you are paying four times the value in shipping costs, creating landfill waste, and bemoaning broken wine thermometers (since even if you were lucky enough to get one that worked you wouldn't have any time or energy left to actually use it.) Or buy the miles that will make you happy. Or buy yourself and your SO a plane ticket to wherever you like. And don't ever look back.
Sep 21, 2010, 12:57 pm
#1503
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: PHX
Posts: 4,787
Seems like you understand it. I have plenty of hobbies and lots of time for other stuff. But I also enjoy the challenge of a good promotion.
I'm getting close to done with this promo, and I think I'll end up with 80k miles, 6k EQM, and 14 bottles of wine which is the primary gift I give at my office anyway for the holidays, for about $450 ai. I also get a few neat things along the way -- some bag clips, credit reports during my lifelock trial, and netflix. My opportunity costs -- the stuff I give up to get hits -- looks to be about 8,000 miles or points in various programs I could have earned. At the same, in addition to the 80k bonus miles, I think I'll end up with another 12k or so in bonus US miles. So, $450 plus some opportunity costs for a *A biz ticket? Worth some of my time.
I think that's a pretty good result. I work at my desk. When I get a bit bored, I check in on this thread. Doesn't seem like I'm missing out on much. To each his or her own.
I'm getting close to done with this promo, and I think I'll end up with 80k miles, 6k EQM, and 14 bottles of wine which is the primary gift I give at my office anyway for the holidays, for about $450 ai. I also get a few neat things along the way -- some bag clips, credit reports during my lifelock trial, and netflix. My opportunity costs -- the stuff I give up to get hits -- looks to be about 8,000 miles or points in various programs I could have earned. At the same, in addition to the 80k bonus miles, I think I'll end up with another 12k or so in bonus US miles. So, $450 plus some opportunity costs for a *A biz ticket? Worth some of my time.
I think that's a pretty good result. I work at my desk. When I get a bit bored, I check in on this thread. Doesn't seem like I'm missing out on much. To each his or her own.
Sep 21, 2010, 12:58 pm
#1504
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: NYC
Programs: Landry's President's Club, Marriott Silver, Awesomeness EXPLT
Posts: 20,410
OK so help me understand this: the goal is to do everything humanly possible in order to get Dividend miles for highly constrained seats on one of the country's worst airlines at inflated redemption rates and fees, plus perhaps some remote hope of getting enough miles to redeem for seats on a decent Star Alliance partner. You can now buy these miles outright for 1.375 cents apiece on the US Air website. And yet you guys are willing to invest unlimited HOURS of your time, plus (it seems from the posts that I have read after I wasted unlimited hours of my own) you are willing to spend up to about $30 or more per "hit" that nets between 1000-2777 miles depending on the tier. Therefore, assuming that all of your time has a value of ZERO and you have no work you should be doing, no test you should be studying for, no friends or family you should be cooking dinner for, no wife or husband or girlfriend or boyfriend you should be making love to or apologizing to for not making love to or cooking dinner for, you are participating in this whole exercise for the purpose of obtaining currency of highly dubious value for more, the same or only slightly less cost than you could if you just whip out your credit card and buy some miles. So call me crazy (and I'm sure you all will) but it seems that the only sane way to approach a promotion like this is to register and make an absolutely minimal effort to get miles for anything that is free, requires minimal time and hassle, and/or that you would have bought anyway. And not waste a single moment of your precious life with Super 8 rooms in Shanghai, shuttles to nowhere, waiting on hold with overseas call centers to speak to incompetent reps, trying to figure out what to do with absolutely useless merchandise for which you are paying four times the value in shipping costs, creating landfill waste, and bemoaning broken wine thermometers (since even if you were lucky enough to get one that worked you wouldn't have any time or energy left to actually use it.) Or buy the miles that will make you happy. Or buy yourself and your SO a plane ticket to wherever you like. And don't ever look back.
Cheers
Howie
Sep 21, 2010, 1:06 pm
#1505
Suspended
Join Date: Mar 2010
Programs: Migros Cumulus Platinum Hero
Posts: 1,628
OK so help me understand this: the goal is to do everything humanly possible in order to get Dividend miles for highly constrained seats on one of the country's worst airlines at inflated redemption rates and fees, plus perhaps some remote hope of getting enough miles to redeem for seats on a decent Star Alliance partner. You can now buy these miles outright for 1.375 cents apiece on the US Air website. And yet you guys are willing to invest unlimited HOURS of your time, plus (it seems from the posts that I have read after I wasted unlimited hours of my own) you are willing to spend up to about $30 or more per "hit" that nets between 1000-2777 miles depending on the tier.
gil123, you are perfectly right with your statement. I wish I would not have started this s****. Indeed, it costs hours and hours and hours of my time. Further, it costs sometimes more than it gets.
In the end, I guess, it will cost me around 1000+ $ in order to generate 100k miles. Still cheaper than buying them for around 1500+$ but not worth the whole effort.
Well, still I am already in the middle of nowhere, I must go to the end.
To those of you who did not yet start: Think twice about it @:-)
Sep 21, 2010, 1:08 pm
#1506
Suspended
Join Date: Mar 2010
Programs: Migros Cumulus Platinum Hero
Posts: 1,628
That's only possible for US residents, remember that @:-)
Most of the free/cheap things (e.g. credit card hits, dining club, etc) are impossible for non-us-residents :-(
Sep 21, 2010, 1:08 pm
#1507
Join Date: May 2010
Programs: SPG Platinum, Hertz Presidents Circle, Hilton Diamond, US Airways Chairman, Delta Gold
Posts: 59
OK so help me understand this: the goal is to do everything humanly possible in order to get Dividend miles for highly constrained seats on one of the country's worst airlines at inflated redemption rates and fees, plus perhaps some remote hope of getting enough miles to redeem for seats on a decent Star Alliance partner. You can now buy these miles outright for 1.375 cents apiece on the US Air website. And yet you guys are willing to invest unlimited HOURS of your time, plus (it seems from the posts that I have read after I wasted unlimited hours of my own) you are willing to spend up to about $30 or more per "hit" that nets between 1000-2777 miles depending on the tier. Therefore, assuming that all of your time has a value of ZERO and you have no work you should be doing, no test you should be studying for, no friends or family you should be cooking dinner for, no wife or husband or girlfriend or boyfriend you should be making love to or apologizing to for not making love to or cooking dinner for, you are participating in this whole exercise for the purpose of obtaining currency of highly dubious value for more, the same or only slightly less cost than you could if you just whip out your credit card and buy some miles. So call me crazy (and I'm sure you all will) but it seems that the only sane way to approach a promotion like this is to register and make an absolutely minimal effort to get miles for anything that is free, requires minimal time and hassle, and/or that you would have bought anyway. And not waste a single moment of your precious life with Super 8 rooms in Shanghai, shuttles to nowhere, waiting on hold with overseas call centers to speak to incompetent reps, trying to figure out what to do with absolutely useless merchandise for which you are paying four times the value in shipping costs, creating landfill waste, and bemoaning broken wine thermometers (since even if you were lucky enough to get one that worked you wouldn't have any time or energy left to actually use it.) Or buy the miles that will make you happy. Or buy yourself and your SO a plane ticket to wherever you like. And don't ever look back.
Sep 21, 2010, 1:12 pm
#1508
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: NYC
Programs: Landry's President's Club, Marriott Silver, Awesomeness EXPLT
Posts: 20,410
Cheers
Howie
Sep 21, 2010, 1:12 pm
#1509
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: NYC
Programs: Hyatt Diamond, AA Plat
Posts: 1,138
gil123, you are perfectly right with your statement. I wish I would not have started this s****. Indeed, it costs hours and hours and hours of my time. Further, it costs sometimes more than it gets.
In the end, I guess, it will cost me around 1000+ $ in order to generate 100k miles. Still cheaper than buying them for around 1500+$ but not worth the whole effort.
Well, still I am already in the middle of nowhere, I must go to the end.
To those of you who did not yet start: Think twice about it @:-)
In the end, I guess, it will cost me around 1000+ $ in order to generate 100k miles. Still cheaper than buying them for around 1500+$ but not worth the whole effort.
Well, still I am already in the middle of nowhere, I must go to the end.
To those of you who did not yet start: Think twice about it @:-)
This coincided with a heavy-ish travel period for me so I had 12 travel related hits (hotel + car) already planned and my net cost was zero (apart from the opportunity cost of not crediting the regular programs, of course). Apart from that, I spent ~3-4 hours in the first couple of days ordering other stuff and my net outlay will probably end up around $300-$400. Definitely not a bad deal. Of course, I spend a lot more time posting in this thread but I do that on other FT forums in any case
Sep 21, 2010, 1:18 pm
#1510
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: PHL
Programs: Former long-time US GP; now AA dirt
Posts: 4,904
OK so help me understand this: the goal is to do everything humanly possible in order to get Dividend miles for highly constrained seats on one of the country's worst airlines at inflated redemption rates and fees, plus perhaps some remote hope of getting enough miles to redeem for seats on a decent Star Alliance partner...
That's where your whole reasoning breaks down. Getting award seats on *A partners is far from "some remote hope". In July I flew around-the-world in F to HKG on various airlines (see my signature; it's fun stuff) for 120K miles. If it cost me close to $1300 to do this promo, well, sure I would just buy the miles. But it looks like I will be able to get the miles for far less.
There IS truth there. Once you're in this promo, you're IN. And it looks like some of the hits are not as easy to get as we thought. But it's still fun and because the promo is for over two months, it can be done in your spare time, especially at night.
Sep 21, 2010, 1:21 pm
#1511
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Washington, DC, USA
Posts: 98
Sharing Miles
If anyone is interested in a sharing opportunity for the Grand Slam promotion, please pm me.
Sep 21, 2010, 1:22 pm
#1512
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: SFO
Programs: Not Worthy...
Posts: 131
Sorry about the wording, I meant to ask how many 1000MR Increments would be required for the minimum transfer to DM. unfortunately as 1000 MR only gets 400 SPG right now it would take 4000MR to get 1 hit! I was hoping it was less.
Sep 21, 2010, 1:28 pm
#1513
Join Date: Sep 2009
Programs: *G, SPG, OW Sapphire
Posts: 2,565
SPG Terms:
"There is no minimum Starpoint transfer requirement for Platinum members with most airlines. Gold members have a minimum transfer requirement of 1,500 Starpoints, and Preferred members have a minimum transfer requirement of 2,500 Starpoints."
Do you already have 1,100 SPG points?
Sep 21, 2010, 1:28 pm
#1514
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Norfolk, VA
Programs: MT, AA
Posts: 17
gil123, you are perfectly right with your statement. I wish I would not have started this s****. Indeed, it costs hours and hours and hours of my time. Further, it costs sometimes more than it gets.
In the end, I guess, it will cost me around 1000+ $ in order to generate 100k miles. Still cheaper than buying them for around 1500+$ but not worth the whole effort.
Well, still I am already in the middle of nowhere, I must go to the end.
To those of you who did not yet start: Think twice about it @:-)
In the end, I guess, it will cost me around 1000+ $ in order to generate 100k miles. Still cheaper than buying them for around 1500+$ but not worth the whole effort.
Well, still I am already in the middle of nowhere, I must go to the end.
To those of you who did not yet start: Think twice about it @:-)
). I'm only really wasting a couple hundred dollars (although I am still getting some sort of product or service out of it).