Rocket Miles - Earn and Burn
Sep 11, 2017, 5:19 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Economy, mostly :(
Programs: Skywards Gold
Posts: 7,801
Rocket Miles - Earn and Burn
EK launched a partnership with Rocket Miles a month or so ago (not sure when exactly), and right now there's a 3000 mile bonus for booking a stay.
Rocket Miles let's you book any hotel and earn airline miles, kind of like booking.com but you earn miles. You can also spend Skywards miles with redemptions starting at 5,000 miles apparently.
Anyone got any experience earning miles with Rocket Miles, and any idea whether the guest's name has to be the same as the Skywards member? I am 2,520 miles short of the miles I need for an upgrade, so $120 to purchase, IHG, Mariott and SPG purchases and transfers cost around the same, between $90-$120. With Rocket Miles I can book a hotel in Cape town for $92 and get 3,500 miles. Better yet a good friend of mine is going on a weekend away from Cape Town this coming weekend and may need to still book a guesthouse/hotel for one night > Question: Can I book in his name and get the miles? Miles post 48 hours after check-out, so I wonder if there is some kind of name match that takes place.
Bit of a outside chance that anyone here has tried it I reckon given it is a new partnership but one never knows...
Rocket Miles let's you book any hotel and earn airline miles, kind of like booking.com but you earn miles. You can also spend Skywards miles with redemptions starting at 5,000 miles apparently.
Anyone got any experience earning miles with Rocket Miles, and any idea whether the guest's name has to be the same as the Skywards member? I am 2,520 miles short of the miles I need for an upgrade, so $120 to purchase, IHG, Mariott and SPG purchases and transfers cost around the same, between $90-$120. With Rocket Miles I can book a hotel in Cape town for $92 and get 3,500 miles. Better yet a good friend of mine is going on a weekend away from Cape Town this coming weekend and may need to still book a guesthouse/hotel for one night > Question: Can I book in his name and get the miles? Miles post 48 hours after check-out, so I wonder if there is some kind of name match that takes place.
Bit of a outside chance that anyone here has tried it I reckon given it is a new partnership but one never knows...
Sep 11, 2017, 5:23 am
#2
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Economy, mostly :(
Programs: Skywards Gold
Posts: 7,801
Never mind, found the answer, on OMAAT of all places!
http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.c...s-rocketmiles/
This is a potentially great way to get a couple extra Skywards miles when needed at a lower cost, especially if one has a friend wanting to stay at a hotel somewhere.
http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.c...s-rocketmiles/
When you’re booking hotel stays for others
This is perhaps the best kept secret of Rocketmiles. I’m sure we all have friends who always book their hotel stays through OTAs, since they don’t know any better. They just assume Expedia, Orbitz, etc., have the best prices, without any regard for the number of points they’re forgoing.
With Rocketmiles, you can earn miles for other peoples’ hotel stays. Simply enter your loyalty program information, but enter the person staying as the primary guest. This isn’t some way to skirt the rules or anything, but rather this is actually encouraged, per the Rocketmiles FAQs:
Can I book for other people and earn the rewards for myself?
Absolutely. Log into your account, book the room, and enter the actual guest’s name who will be checking in as “primary guest”. If you are booking for a company, contact us and ask to be put in touch with one of our Corporate Account Managers who can explain how to fully take advantage of Rocketmiles for your business.
This is huge, as it lets you earn tons of miles for stays made by your acquaintances, family, friends, etc. It’s especially awesome for those who frequently stay in hotels but can’t be bothered to care about loyalty programs. You might as well profit off of helping them plan their travels a bit.
This is perhaps the best kept secret of Rocketmiles. I’m sure we all have friends who always book their hotel stays through OTAs, since they don’t know any better. They just assume Expedia, Orbitz, etc., have the best prices, without any regard for the number of points they’re forgoing.
With Rocketmiles, you can earn miles for other peoples’ hotel stays. Simply enter your loyalty program information, but enter the person staying as the primary guest. This isn’t some way to skirt the rules or anything, but rather this is actually encouraged, per the Rocketmiles FAQs:
Can I book for other people and earn the rewards for myself?
Absolutely. Log into your account, book the room, and enter the actual guest’s name who will be checking in as “primary guest”. If you are booking for a company, contact us and ask to be put in touch with one of our Corporate Account Managers who can explain how to fully take advantage of Rocketmiles for your business.
This is huge, as it lets you earn tons of miles for stays made by your acquaintances, family, friends, etc. It’s especially awesome for those who frequently stay in hotels but can’t be bothered to care about loyalty programs. You might as well profit off of helping them plan their travels a bit.
Sep 11, 2017, 6:19 am
#3
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 238
I wonder if it is anything like Kaligo where you are essentially buying the miles... I've used them a few times for Asia Miles points when I needed a top up and the hotel was quite a bit more expensive then booking the same through another OTA, but the mileage was substantial, for only a 20% mark up in price I got in the range of 7500 Asia Miles.
!
Sep 12, 2017, 3:39 am
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Economy, mostly :(
Programs: Skywards Gold
Posts: 7,801
Booked a lovely highly rated Bed and Breakfast in Tamboerskloof, Cape Town for myself for tonight (no friends wanted a free hotel tonight for today, and I didn't want to wait as I need the miles asap). 4k Skywards miles for a cost of R1100, and I get a free breakfast, and I love a hotel breakfast (hope it's good!)
That's a cost of approx. $0.021 per mile, whereas purchasing from EK is $0.04 per mile. Upgrade redemption when used on both legs (e.g. CPT-DXB-FRA) has a value of around $0.02 per mile, so it's basically just a cash co-pay to the upgrade (though for now I'm only upgrading DXB-FRA).
Finally get to try J on the A380 (I've flown Y, J and F on the 777 and Y & F on the A380 but never J on the A380!!)
That's a cost of approx. $0.021 per mile, whereas purchasing from EK is $0.04 per mile. Upgrade redemption when used on both legs (e.g. CPT-DXB-FRA) has a value of around $0.02 per mile, so it's basically just a cash co-pay to the upgrade (though for now I'm only upgrading DXB-FRA).
Finally get to try J on the A380 (I've flown Y, J and F on the 777 and Y & F on the A380 but never J on the A380!!)
Sep 13, 2017, 12:29 am
#7
Join Date: Jul 2016
Programs: Skywards Gold
Posts: 112
Booked a lovely highly rated Bed and Breakfast in Tamboerskloof, Cape Town for myself for tonight (no friends wanted a free hotel tonight for today, and I didn't want to wait as I need the miles asap). 4k Skywards miles for a cost of R1100, and I get a free breakfast, and I love a hotel breakfast (hope it's good!)
That's a cost of approx. $0.021 per mile, whereas purchasing from EK is $0.04 per mile. Upgrade redemption when used on both legs (e.g. CPT-DXB-FRA) has a value of around $0.02 per mile, so it's basically just a cash co-pay to the upgrade (though for now I'm only upgrading DXB-FRA).
Finally get to try J on the A380 (I've flown Y, J and F on the 777 and Y & F on the A380 but never J on the A380!!)
That's a cost of approx. $0.021 per mile, whereas purchasing from EK is $0.04 per mile. Upgrade redemption when used on both legs (e.g. CPT-DXB-FRA) has a value of around $0.02 per mile, so it's basically just a cash co-pay to the upgrade (though for now I'm only upgrading DXB-FRA).
Finally get to try J on the A380 (I've flown Y, J and F on the 777 and Y & F on the A380 but never J on the A380!!)
Sep 13, 2017, 4:12 am
#8
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Economy, mostly :(
Programs: Skywards Gold
Posts: 7,801
Sep 13, 2017, 8:15 am
#10
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Cape Town
Programs: BA Exec Gold , Qatar Priviledge Club Plat
Posts: 1,584
Booked a lovely highly rated Bed and Breakfast in Tamboerskloof, Cape Town for myself for tonight (no friends wanted a free hotel tonight for today, and I didn't want to wait as I need the miles asap). 4k Skywards miles for a cost of R1100, and I get a free breakfast, and I love a hotel breakfast (hope it's good!)
That's a cost of approx. $0.021 per mile, whereas purchasing from EK is $0.04 per mile. Upgrade redemption when used on both legs (e.g. CPT-DXB-FRA) has a value of around $0.02 per mile, so it's basically just a cash co-pay to the upgrade (though for now I'm only upgrading DXB-FRA).
Finally get to try J on the A380 (I've flown Y, J and F on the 777 and Y & F on the A380 but never J on the A380!!)
That's a cost of approx. $0.021 per mile, whereas purchasing from EK is $0.04 per mile. Upgrade redemption when used on both legs (e.g. CPT-DXB-FRA) has a value of around $0.02 per mile, so it's basically just a cash co-pay to the upgrade (though for now I'm only upgrading DXB-FRA).
Finally get to try J on the A380 (I've flown Y, J and F on the 777 and Y & F on the A380 but never J on the A380!!)
Sep 13, 2017, 8:25 am
#11
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Economy, mostly :(
Programs: Skywards Gold
Posts: 7,801
Sep 13, 2017, 8:53 am
#12
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Cape Town
Programs: BA Exec Gold , Qatar Priviledge Club Plat
Posts: 1,584
Sep 15, 2017, 4:07 am
#14
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Economy, mostly :(
Programs: Skywards Gold
Posts: 7,801
Ok so it's been 50 hours since check-out (but to be fair I'll consider noon as check-out time, not the property's 10am, don't expect them to take into account each property's checkout times) and no miles yet (now 12:06 here).
The upgrade is still available, but has been for a week, I'm anxious that it's going to disappear any minute, those miles better post soon!
The upgrade is still available, but has been for a week, I'm anxious that it's going to disappear any minute, those miles better post soon!
