Originally Posted by
CMK10
Like pudding, AA and Kellogg's had a promotion in the early 2000's where you could earn miles for buying cereal. My Dad was really into it so we ate a lot of Product 19 in our house.
I bought a BMW back then (late 1998 for a 1999 model). I chose the dealer in part because they participated in a program that gave you an AA mile for every $4 of vehicle cost, so something north of 8,000 miles - and at the time those miles counted toward your million-miler level, too. Unfortunately, the miles never came through. My salesman kept trying. Nothing happened.
Then I had an inspiration. I suggested to my salesman that I buy six 14-box cases of Kellogg's Corn Flakes at about $2 per box on sale. They'd reimburse me for the cereal. I'd cut out the 100-mile coupons, then donate the cereal to a local food bank. Salesman ran it by the sales manager. He said OK. Had a lot of fun at the food bank with three or four of their volunteers cutting out the coupons. They thought it was a great idea, too!
Not too long after, AA imposed a limit on how many coupons one person could redeem in a year. I don't recall what the limit was, but I know I was over it. (I also sent in quite a few coupons from cereal I ate, though it wasn't Corn Flakes.) Good thing they didn't make it retroactive.
Originally Posted by
IAD_flyer
I would say test driving a car for AA miles. I brought with me my mother (to double the offer) as my friends and other family members refused to come with me. They just filled out our coupons and my mother and I, did not have to test drive.
Had a similar experience with Buick. I drove up in the brand-new BMW from the first part of this thread, parked it next to the showroom window, went in, and said to the salesman who greeted me "I got this offer in the mail [show the coupon]. I also just bought that car [point]. Obviously, I'm not going to buy a Buick right now. Do I really have to drive one?" I didn't.