How to avoid any foul balls
 

Hi -

I hit a couple of foul balls last year which prevented me from getting the last 20K.

I was wondering if people could post here what hits need to be made early in the promotion so they post on time.

I will give an example -- I signed up for a USA TODAY subscription in October and it did not post until December 4, so I missed out on that.

Also, I believe that the debit card did not post in time for me either.

Also, I was going to get a trial Silver this year so I could qualify for the last 10K. Is there any delay in processing that?

And of course, anyone buying miles will do so on 9/14 or 9/15 to get the 2x miles.

Not necessarily.

First off, you don't get x2 miles. You get a 10,000-mile bonus at 10K plateaus -- so if you buy 1K miles, that's all you get.

Second, shelling out for 10K miles isn't cheap. Yes, you'd be getting much more than the value of the hit itself, but isn't the point of doing GS that there are cheaper ways to get miles than buying them?

Last, what's the rush? IIRC, last year US began a new miles-purchase promo in the middle of GS, and that was a true x2 bonus down to even the smallest 1K purchase.

As I've suggested elsewhere, the better move here is to keep your $300 in your pocket and see what develops. You may not even need the hit as the end of GS draws near; if you do, you can always buy miles, and the promotion might be better on a 1K purchase than it is this month.

I was going to be snarky and say something along the lines of 'you can't foul off what you don't swing at.' :D

There are going to be hits that go awry and planning for backup hits need to be in the calculation.

Just don't hit into a triple play by canceling any subscription before May 15, 2012. :eek:

Magazines for Miles is one I planning on executing on the first day as it is a request, not an order, and stocks of the magazines are limited. If they can't fulfill they don't deduct the miles and the hit is not granted.

Biscoff posting times have been very slow in past years. Credit/debit card should post monthly for existing users, might be slower for new users depending on the timing of the new account.

Office Max also needed a lot of pushing to get the actual posting done.

OTOH, if you (like me) see value in the double promotions and want a large number of miles anyway, why take a chance on not having a double mile promo later in the year? I bought 1,000 last year, and it ended up being my safety hit after a couple of foul balls. Later in the year, I bought the 50K (x2) during the promo and am going to be in China during a large part of GS thanks to those miles. I like the *A award availability and love having a stash of miles to use for premium cabin travel. The 100K I hope to earn during GS will be in addition to the 100K I think I'll buy, so why not have buying them count, as well?

great shout^

As others have said buying 10K and getting the 10K bonus is attractive, but that's 20K points for $300. If you were planning on buying miles anyways, by all means go ahead. But if you're unsure of getting all 36 hits for 100k miles, your $300 is almost certainly better invested in the GS itself, as you can certainly get more than 20k miles for $300 at the higher tiers.

I was tempted to buy 20k as well, but I don't want my total GS investment to be pushing $1000. If you're one of those people who can use all the US miles they can get for business class international redemption, the 100% bonus is indeed a great deal.

But if you're like me and usually redeem for coach, and value things the US program doesn't offer (like one-way awards), then 1.5 cpm to purchase US miles isn't such a great offer.

I think Biscoff was ready to kill us all from the number of calls they got asking about when miles would post. :D

From what I remember, they post monthly.

Mike

Deleted.

Remember to avoid coupons with SkyMall. Any coupon code invalidates the miles.

... and sometimes every two months :D

Some Marriott-related things to watch out for:

- You need $100 of mileage-eligible spending on your final folio to count as a GS hit. That is always a pre-tax amount.

- At any of the "limited service" Marriott brands (Courtyard, Residence Inn, Fairfield, etc.), incidentals do NOT count towards this total. It may be a nice new Courtyard with a full restaurant and bar, but only the room rate counts.

- At some full-service Marriotts, they sublease space in the hotel to outside restaurants not owned by Marriott. These can accept room charges but usually DON'T count as a mileage-earning incidental.

- Your safest bet is a lobby bar or the hotel's basic breakfast restaurant for a qualifying incidental at a FS hotel. Spas, shops, valet parking services, dry cleaning, etc. - I've had mixed experiences on whether those count or not. You can (and should) confirm with the front desk if you have a question about a specific product or service.

- The parallel Marriott-US Airways 2,000-mile-per-stay promo is very limited: only about 7% of all Marriott properties, and only FS brands in and near North America. (People are discussing this promo in parallel to the Grand Slam, even though they aren't directly related. You can get a hit at almost any Marriott, not just this limited list.)

- Remember to set your Marriott profile to air miles earning. For most Marriott members, this act is so unnatural that it sends shivers down your spine...but for both the GS hits and the 2k promo (if applicable), you must do it before you stay.

can someone advise the actual time that promo goes live for those overseas?

After doing a little more searching, I realized the partner from last year's Grand Slam that used an activity date one day prior to the actual activity date was the Radisson Goldpoints transfer, NOT points.com swaps. So to avoid any surprises, I would advise against doing the Radisson Goldpoints transfer on the first day of the promo (today).