So, seeing the 10,000 Delta SkyMiles manna from heaven falling into our laps with the Dash to the Gate game, we once again were given a lesson in maximizing miles: You have to jump at these offers before they (quickly) disappear!

Looking at just some of the great offers over the last few years which appeared on FT and then disappeared, it's a clear pattern that when one of the companies makes an offer that gives out more FF miles than it should, it will quickly disappear. Let's look at some of them:

LatinPass Million Mile Offer -- LP announced that only existing members could get in on the offer, after articles in the WSJ and Time flooded their website. But many knowledgeable FT'ers had already become members!! And flew through Latin America racking up big mileage in the process. (including yours truly.)

Delta Amex 50,000 Mileage Match -- Delta Amex offered to match your miles in another FF account, up to 50,000 miles, if you signed up for the DL Amex card and spent $10,000 in six months. Only available for the first 10,000 people (I think that was the number), and I would venture to guess that FT'ers were most of that number. (I was one of 'em.)

Delta/1-800-Flowers.com Bonus -- Offered the wrong number of FF miles, 100 per $1 spent. LOTS of flowers got ordered by FT'ers, but the company corrected it within a couple of days. (Got my flower gifts ordered.)

Valumags--Lots of magazines got ordered, when Valumags offered an incredible number of GoldPoints per $1. Offer quickly pulled when they were flooded with FT'ers signing up and ordering dozens (hundreds, thousands) of magazines. (I didn't get any magazines. )

Dash to the Gate -- 10,000 miles for a few minutes playing a game? Heck, everyone in my family thought that was a good idea! Thousands of Ft'ers jumped on it. And it was pulled in about 36 hours. (All 4 of us in my family got our Dash points.)

So, the moral of the story, folks, is that you have to jump on these deals immediately to get 'em. I know you long-time FT'ers know this, but the history might help some of the neophytes who may have wavered and missed the Dash to the Gate miles.

Djlawman

Just when I start to convince myself that I really don't need to check in to FT 3 times a day, something like this happens!

Guess I'm hooked for good.

Yes, but.

These are the successes. There have also been too-good-to-be-true offers that either the company backed out of (Sheraton Bora Bora), or it was so much hassle and followup to get the miles that it just wasn't worth it.

Sometimes, the risk is low. This latest DL offer was like that. If the miles don't post (I think they will), all I've lost is 10 minutes of my time. I jumped on that one after seeing the cross-post (thanks!)

Other times, the risk is higher. For example, with the InterContinental 25K DL for $150, the risk was much higher, especially for a non-targeted non-elite. Was I really eligible? Would I spend my hard earned cash and end up only with a hotel status that I might not use and no miles? So that one, I waited a month, and only jumped in after others had reported that their miles were posting. The early adopters on that got an extra 5K due to another bonus, but I figured that was their reward for taking the risk.

Oddly, I'm a risk taker at a lot of other things. I love the blackjack table, for example. But I'm gun-shy on many of these mileage offers, especially those requiring cash outlay for flowers, magazines, etc.

Its a risk vs rewards question.

I jumped on valuemags for a few hundred $s since I wanted some magazines anyway. Worked out after a number of phone calls etc. In retrospect, Iam not sure if it was worth it. Maybe it was, because that is what got me hooked to FT and miles mania.
Iam still kicking myself for sitting out the 1800flowers promo, I was afraid I will be struck with a few GCs that I could never use.
There was an earlier delta signup bonus for 10K miles 2 years back,I did that and this is the second one.
I missed the inetercontinental /delta, but i dont think I would have signed up.

The folks who get these offers tend to hang out on FT way more than is healthy (I include myself in that category). We are really bad (i.e., unprofitable or barely profitable) customers for just about everyone in travel.

Lots of folks have opined that this Delta boondoggle was actually a good thing for Delta, what with all of the goodwill and loyalty. Hooey, I say. Giving out valuable stuff to FTers for free is the path to financial ruin.

I couldn't remember how I got the initial 10K for my ex and my son. It was that signup bonus -- thanks for reminding me. Now the've both got enough for a free US ticket, from the trips they did on Delta in between the two free 10Ks. Quite a deal.

Actually, I think they both started with 11K. There must have been some other bonus, too. So a free plane ride for 4K earned miles.

for me, #1 was clearly valumags (i hope my high school appreciated its 20 economist subscriptions!), #2 is anythingpoints for pl (because i can get the cheapest rooms and earn way more than from any hotel program), and #3 was the 40k nw sprint promo (i stuck my mom's phone on sprint for 18-months and that was that).

i'm guessing some of you co and nw people have achieved far greater heights with that mileapalooza stuff, but i never got a chance to participate in those promos.

act fast on incredibly generous offers? not exactly sure how that's breaking news.

It is to those who posted that the Delta game looked too good to be true and that they would wait and see.

I guess SOME PEOPLE can't be bothered to read an entire post.

Remember the Hallmark offer that ocurred simutaneously along with the Valuemags offer? That was another gift!

As for the Dash to the Gate: I completed my own game first. I procrastinated and waited til the next day for other family members. I got the 10K for my husband and about 8K for #1 son. By the time we did #2 son the game was over. I should never have hesitated to finish for all of us. But, I am pleased with 28K family miles for a few minutes work.

You are right in that we need to do these [too good to be true] offers right away.

An important lesson for those who missed-out on the DL promo is to read as many of the Forums as possible...at least a couple of times a day. Go to "New Posts" to see what forums are the most active. The ones who luck out on the promos arrive early.

do you mean: "i.e., bump?"

i mean, isn't that obvious?

the more posts you read and the more forums you visit, the more potential you have to earn miles. i fail to find out how this thread is...well...informative.

Out of your 8,000+ posts, I fail to see how many of them are informative. Most seem to be the above usual banter.

I second that opinion. I fail to see why simply ignoring threads you disapprove of isn't sufficient.