I told a good friend about the AA 75K sign up Visa (?) last year. He tepidly said he would do it and, to my surprise, he & his wife both got an AA card & 75K pts. He didn't seem to be excited about it though!

When the CapOne match the points deal came out this year I sent him the links & info. Nothing! I mentioned it during a recent call and he said yeah, too busy to do that. Meanwhile, my wife & I both got a match of our 75K AA pts.

My friend seems interested but also seems suspicious and daunted by the "work" he needs to do (I refuse to do the work and research for him).

Other people seem mildly interested but, when I talk about the "deals", they quickly seem bored and I drop the subject.

Go figure!

Wow...did I miss them ??

You should take your own advice. What you just listed in value can be made with one transaction in real cash with the Chase AARP card.

Thanks for answering my question.

It's not free. - It takes time and effort and work, sometime a small amount for high return, sometimes not, but it's still work. Many people don't have the time nor desire to add more tasks to their already busy lives.

While the Cap One card is a nice example of how to get a great return for minimal effort, it only worked if you already had a healthy balance in another account. Not everyone has the knowledge to get 100k easily (like the BA promo) and when faced with the task like spending $10k to get it via Citi AA, it becomes too much. They see "spend $10k" and back away

When you tell them of other means to "spend" the money, most get nervous and think it's not legal or there's some sort of catch. People like easy, not complicated, and aside from the quick bonus miles, much of it does take an amount of time and effort

Even something as simple as a coin order can require someone be available to sign for the package, having the time to ferry them to a bank, having a bank that'll take the coins, etc

On top of that, most people have been convinced that it's far too much work to get an award flight. They've been told over and over again that they'll face constant blackout dates or high fees or some other hassle

i have found that most people actually fear the travel. they want to call a travel agent and have them take care of a flight then a cruise thent he flight back and they want a bus from the airport to the boat so they dont have to explore a new city.
People that play the milage games tend to be more adventerious want to fly some where and go from there. some are willing to buy cash (or coins) on a credit card just for miles and have them shipped ups. although there are some safeguards there is some risk involved if not actual monitary risk, there is the risk of time it will take to sort out problems.
plus most people would rather watch to find out who got voted of the island that actually goto an island

I think that's the most accurate assessment yet

Huh? Sorry, you lost me there. I didn't know you were asking a question. I was simply refuting your claim that what we're doing is ultimately resulting in less than minimum wage.
But please clarify the AARP card deal you mention. Definitely interested if it brings in a couple thousand dollars for less than an hour's effort!

The Chase AARP card offers 5% cashback for the first 6 months.

Originally Posted by brasov02
"SUMMARY: 58 minutes = $2,290 = slightly more than minimum wage And there are often much more lucrative opportunities than this out there all the time."

You were probably kidding with the remark but just to clarify for others, I'm talking more lucrative in the sense that even just a 50,000 mile card deal (as opposed to say a deal resulting in a straight $1,000 cash deal) could easily be parlayed into something far more valuable than $1,000.

Wow. Or maybe they just have a different hobby? Prefer different things?

Personally, I like to travel well--business class, top end hotels. So, I play the miles/points game. Other people take just as much enjoyment flying in coach and staying in hostels, so the effort isn't worth it to them. They'll grab the off-off-season last minute fares and have as good a time as I do. Viva la difference.

The bottom line is do you really want to travel? For most people the answer is probably no. For those of us who have a high priority to see the world, miles/points are a realistic way to do so. My chosen profession will never be lucrative enough to allow me to travel in style, but there still is a way, and it takes some effort.
Why many people don't get into miles/points is likely the same reason why I don't try extreme couponing for groceries. I don't value the game enough to spend the time to make it happen.

So he's saying, for example, by making a $40,000 purchase on the card you will come away with $2,000 and equating that with my CapOne "Match your miles" example?
The only problem with that is people like me could/would never purchase anything on a credit card for $40,000 since, for one reason, I would never have a CL limit that high and even if I did I would never do that kind of spending in 6 months, much less one transaction. Even going the U.S. mint route wouldn't even clear a $1,000 return in that six month window and that would entail a whole lot more than an hour's worth of easy computer work. More like several hours of major hassle, hard labor and heavy lifting.
Sorry, it doesn't look like the AARP card is on my horizon any time soon. Next...

I couldn't get my friends/family into it, until I showed them how they could fly two people to Hawaii (summer) and New York for $20 (via AA 75K). I was so proud when I found out they had also taken up the Capital One offer without me even directly telling them about it. They hadn't touched frequent flyer miles before, and a few months later four free flights and $1700 in travel spending cash, more if they stay at an NYC Hyatt.

Sad, but true.

I think you got it, exactly....most people consider it too many hoops to jump through before they get the end result....30% of rebates are never claimed because people forget or fill them out wrong or miss a hoop.

Hoop 1 getting the right application and applying...with chance of denial and unknown consequences to thier credit score. also set up FF account if needed.
Hoop 2 qualifying spend...the negative thought of having to SPEND a few grand to gain the bonus, even if it's on stuff they buy anyway, or coins...even after explaining coins, some people think its a scam or illegal...and adding coins to the process adds a few additional hoops.
Hoop 3 after making sure to do everything needed, you hope the CC company posts the correct bonus to your FF account, if not you have to call and make sure points get posted, then the big hoop......
Hoop 4 find an award ticket to use the points on...we all know what a battle that can be, even for people like us, much less an average flyer.
The prize is at the end of the line of hoops, and in todays world of instant gratification, people dont want to look that far down the road and figure its easier to just focus their energy on their daily job, earn income and spend it on the flights or hotels they want...less hoops, less hassle
I agree personally the fewer people that jump on the bandwagon, the more points for us...so let most of them do it the old fashioned way and only enlighten the people that are interested and motivated enough to join us in our rewarding hobby/obsession.

I'm not sure how he was using the AARP card rewards, just stating what the offer is. However, to play devil's advocate and just for fun, it takes me 1 minute to transfer $1000/month via Amazon payments. Using the AARP card, that will give me $50 in 1 minute = $3000/hour.