Long distance telephone providers and internet providers routinely give 10,000+ miles for their services. 500 miles is a trivial joke in comparison. I suppose if I was predisposed to sign up for DIRECTV and had a SkyMiles account, I would take the 500 bonus miles, but otherwise, I wouldn't dream of locking myself into a satellite contract with all the attendant drawbacks (i.e. poor or no reception in the rain and unbreakable long-term obligation) just for a mere 500 miles.