It seems that the number of "earnings malls" established by airline and hotel frequent flyer/frequent guest programs has increased in the past half year or so. For example, in addition to Thank You Point program, BA, Hilton and Marriott, Aeroplan seem to have establishd comprehensive programs where you can earn miles or points by clicking through their websites to various internet retailers.

I was thinking that it might be a good idea to accumulate some comparative data in a discussion thread about these programs. Topics might include: (i) Who has the best regular miles/points offer for certain typical purchases (e.g. electronics stores, book stores, major clothing retailers, wine stores, vitamins/drugstores, office supply store, luggage, etc.); (ii) who has good, special points-earning opportunities (e.g. limited time double points offers); and (iii) perhaps most importantly, Flyertalkers' customer service experience - do points post quickly (how quickly) and consistently? I've noticed, for example, that TYPs from online shopping have posted consistently so far, although it takes about 5-6 weeks. The jury is out on Marriott, but I have some concerns, and I'm impressed by Hilton because it sent me an email 24 hours after a purchase to confirm the transaction (10 points per $ spent with wine.com) and advise me that they were tracking a specific number of "pending" points, which would take about 4-6 weeks to show up. My HH earnings mall account has a section that tracks pending purchases. That certainly gives me more confidence to shop the HH mall.

I'll confess that I don't have the time to create a comprehensive database of points-earning opportunities, but I will volunteer to contribute if someone else has the time to get something like this started.