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Using Skymiles to purchase alcohol at Skyclubs (Consolidated Thread)

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Using Skymiles to purchase alcohol at Skyclubs (Consolidated Thread)

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Old May 12, 2017, 11:53 am
  #1  
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Smile Using Skymiles to purchase alcohol at Skyclubs (Consolidated Thread)

I noticed at the Sky Club at LAX and JFK - T4 you can now order bottles of various champagnes and pay with points.

I wouldn't typically spend my own money on such an expensive purchase, but on a recent trip we treated ourselves to a bottle of Cristal as we had ample time to kill/enjoy at the T4 terminal at JFK.

They even let you pay the tip in points.

If your points can't take you somewhere they can treat you to something you may not otherwise consider indulging in..... OR BOTH

Cheers to Skymiles
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Old May 12, 2017, 12:24 pm
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Re: tips by points ... does anyone know if the recipients are able to cash them in ... or must the wait until they have enough to go to D1 to Europe?
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Old May 12, 2017, 1:23 pm
  #3  
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Originally Posted by Pharaoh
Re: tips by points ... does anyone know if the recipients are able to cash them in ... or must the wait until they have enough to go to D1 to Europe?
The recipients can NRSA in D1 to Europe
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Old May 12, 2017, 1:31 pm
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I noticed at the DCA SkyClub a bottle of Dom Perignon (I believe 2004 or 2006) was 12,500 SkyMiles. For those of us with a ton of miles that's not too shabby if you're traveling with friends or a client and have time to burn drinking champagne in the club.
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Old May 12, 2017, 1:37 pm
  #5  
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Originally Posted by DCAproducer
I noticed at the DCA SkyClub a bottle of Dom Perignon (I believe 2004 or 2006) was 12,500 SkyMiles. For those of us with a ton of miles that's not too shabby if you're traveling with friends or a client and have time to burn drinking champagne in the club.
Are you sure that wasn't for a glass?!?!?
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Old May 12, 2017, 1:39 pm
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Originally Posted by C W
The recipients can NRSA in D1 to Europe
Typically not these days - most SkyClub bartenders appear to work for a third party hospitality/catering contractor after the rollout of the Luxury Bar. (Previously, most bartenders were DL employees.)

I imagine the tips are converted at a rate of one point = one cent or so. It would be interesting to confirm this process and rate, as it would be a direct counterpoint to Delta's ~3cpm valuation they use for tax purposes on promotions...
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Old May 12, 2017, 1:43 pm
  #7  
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Originally Posted by BenA
Typically not these days - most SkyClub bartenders appear to work for a third party hospitality/catering contractor after the rollout of the Luxury Bar. (Previously, most bartenders were DL employees.)

I imagine the tips are converted at a rate of one point = one cent or so. It would be interesting to confirm this process and rate, as it would be a direct counterpoint to Delta's ~3cpm valuation they use for tax purposes on promotions...
Ouch. Missing out on airline employee benefits would really sting
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Old May 12, 2017, 2:29 pm
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Originally Posted by C W
Ouch. Missing out on airline employee benefits would really sting
To say nothing of just how long it could take an employee to accumulate enough points to convert to something useful to them. Personally, if I were a bartender, I think the hard cash would be way more preferable.
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Old May 12, 2017, 2:34 pm
  #9  
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Simple conversion rate at the bar. 1 mile is equal to $0.02
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Old May 12, 2017, 4:23 pm
  #10  
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Originally Posted by flyerCO
Simple conversion rate at the bar. 1 mile is equal to $0.02
That's better than pay with miles.
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Old May 12, 2017, 5:39 pm
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Originally Posted by MSPeconomist
That's better than pay with miles.
Until you realize the drinks are marked up 2x.
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Old May 16, 2017, 9:28 am
  #12  
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I'm not sure how the tips get paid out - miles/cash.

I did notice that the pricing at T4 JFK was higher than LAX and apparently at DCA per DCAProducer. Dom and Cristal were each about a 1,000 points higher at JFK than other skyclubs.
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Old May 16, 2017, 11:22 am
  #13  
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Originally Posted by QDDawg
I'm not sure how the tips get paid out - miles/cash.

I did notice that the pricing at T4 JFK was higher than LAX and apparently at DCA per DCAProducer. Dom and Cristal were each about a 1,000 points higher at JFK than other skyclubs.
Most likely alcohol taxes.

You can add a tip amount to be paid using miles. The tips get either sent to the server or split depending on how they do tips.
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Old May 16, 2017, 12:23 pm
  #14  
 
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Originally Posted by QDDawg
I'm not sure how the tips get paid out - miles/cash.

I did notice that the pricing at T4 JFK was higher than LAX and apparently at DCA per DCAProducer. Dom and Cristal were each about a 1,000 points higher at JFK than other skyclubs.
I'll be at the DCA SkyClub in a couple of hours. I'll try to get a snapshot of the menu/prices.
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Old May 16, 2017, 1:01 pm
  #15  
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I'm not sure about taxes as CA and apparently DC are the exact same pricing - for what it's worth I was in ATL at T Terminal Sunday and the Dom there was priced the same as in LAX - but still less than JFK.

I think, as with most things, things are just more expensive in the Big Apple.

But this is all just speculation.

I did say something at JFK regarding the price difference and only got the NY attitude response of "well this ain't LA" ..

I am going to inquire on my next visit how the tip with points get paid out to the people, if it is in fact as flyerCO stated 1 mile = $.02
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