I have begun to think it may save me frustration if I chose to just NOT use ANY shopping portal to get extra miles on online store purchases.

If I think I am GETTING something by shopping and ending up with miles, but the miles dont post, I may experience the following in that process:

1) I lose some piece of mind
2) I lose some hope of the extra reward promised to me
3) I lose some faith in a system or in such consumerism in general
4) I get frustrated
5) I have to save files and notes and wait and chase and email and call and mail and fax or waste paper printing things out which kills trees and costs more money at Staples where I buy my paper, through the airline malls.
6) I waste time in these forums
7) I believe and then feel duped and get angry that these people mess up these things and actually get paid to do so, meaning some jerk marketing president is making a killing on commissions based on rebate fraud
8) I want to find ways to game the system which many moralists do not like.
9) I have antagonists on FT coming at me for posting my thoughts
10) While the many miles from such purchases do add up and could save your acct from expiring or could bring you to an award level, it is not really worth it and I find dining to be a more solid rewards network even though it can have its own issues.

yes, I am giving up the mall thing I think.
That is, until and unless the people who run it shape up or ship out.
I mean in 2011 you would think systems and databases and computers are far enough advanced to handle this sort of thing but no! I think things went backwards and that is so very sad.