Originally Posted by
singlemalt
I'm sure there's something simple that I'm missing - I'd appreciate some help.
We frequently have work crews staying at hotels in this program. If I spend $800 at a Days Inn and keep the points option, I get 10 points/$ = 8,000 points, which I can transfer to AA for 3,200 miles. The same $800 with the miles option gets me 2 miles/$ = 1,600 AA miles. The 25% bonus doesn't change my choice of options.
Not understanding what your question is. Is it if you should earn miles, or earn points to convert to miles?
Most programs seem to lean towards it being more efficient to earn points and convert, then earn miles.
In your situation, I'd set my account to earn AA miles, sign up for the AA promotion, then earn 1600 miles (
2pts/$ for $800), 400 bonus miles (
25% promotion mile bonus), then convert the 8800 pts (
4x promotion 2200pts) to 3200 AA miles.
I'd be concerned that if you earned points, they'd say the promotion is for those that earn miles, and since you didn't earn milles, you don't get bonus points.