Grand Slam 2011 Advance Discussion: US 'Tweets' its coming soon (Merged thread)
 

8/21/11 - IMPORTANT UPDATE!

The mods at FlyerTalk along with some members have put up a sub-forum for all of us US DM GS junkies, so most of this discussion will continue there, at least once the promo begins.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/2011-...promotion-684/


US Airways Grand Slam 2011 - Preparing for the next one

I know that I'm making a huge assumption here, but if there is another Grand Slam next year similar to the last ones, then there's no time to prepare like the present.

While many of the opportunities to earn hits won't need any preparation ahead of time, we can get a head start on many others. So I'm starting this thread as a place to post opportunities that we all find for ways to start accruing points or other info as the year progresses.

A great example is hotel clubs. For most hotel transfers, we all need to start earning these points now. I was able to do a transfer from Priority Club even though I've never stayed in one of their hotels, just based on free earning opportunities I had seen over time here on FT. Same for Radisson (from the 2010 thread, in fact). So I intend to follow through on opportunities for miles in these programs over the course of the year, so that I'll be able to get these hits if/when the time comes.

Advance preparation also makes sense for e-miles and e-rewards, and for many of the financial hits, like credit and debit cards.

Finally, some hits make require a different type of preparation, namely, canceling our services. For Netflix - should we cancel now, and will that leave enough time to become a new customer again for 2011? What about ShareBuilder? Same thing, or keep working for the quarterly bonuses, and will those hit at the right time (and count)?

So I'm hoping this thread will become a place where people mention deals for hotel club specials and things that might seem measly and piddling on their own, but might add up to hits for next year. If there's a great Rewards Network Dining program that helps get enough points for a hit to a hotel program that can transfer to US DM . . .


EDIT: Some threads and posts to use for reference:

The thread from the US DM Grand Slam 2010, if you need some light reading at a mere 385 pages:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/us-ai...am-2010-a.html

Here's a hotel master post I've been working on:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/16360684-post146.html

Here's the 2010 info page from US Airways' site:

http://shopping.usairways.com/promot...PromoCode=GS10

Sharebuilder info
 

For those of us who opened Sharebuilder accounts as hits for the 2010 US Grand Slam, many of us also received 500 mile quarterly bonuses for having the account open and active.

The terms say:

That's from here:

http://content.sharebuilder.com/mgdc...ir/dmhome1207/

I'm not sure why they mention the "calendar year" expect, maybe, to mean that the quarters are based on calendar quarters, not three-month periods since you've opened the account.

So, in turn, what does it mean to subscribe to one of these two programs? The Advantage program costs $12/month, so it's clearly not advantageous. I can't find any info on the Standard program, but I think I might be enrolled in it somehow. I got this:

10/4/2010 10/05/10 SHAREBUILDER QUARTERLY BONUS MILES 500

For points of reference, I opened the account with the 2500 mile bonus link and did one trade. My wife used the 3000 bonus link, did no trades, and has not received a quarterly bonus (at least yet).

So this leaves two questions, to me:

-Am I "basic" now?

-Will these bonus miles count as a hit?

I'm hoping for a "yes" to both; I'll update as the quarters go by.

Netflix - One Time Only Hit
 

It is my understanding that you can only receive one hit for Netflix. Here are their terms:

LifeLock - A hit every two years
 

Depending upon when a DM member signed up for LifeLock during the 2010 Grand Slam promotion, they might have to wait until the 2012 Grand Slam promotion to get a hit.

According to their terms, https://secure.lifelock.com/Enrollme...ocode=TRAVEL42, it states that you need to be a new member and haven't been a member for the past 12 months in order to receive the miles.

If you signed up for LifeLock after October 10, 2010, you can't get a hit for the 2011 Grand Slam promotion.

October 10, 2010 - November 9, 2010 - 30 day free trial
November 10, 2010 - credit card charged
November 11, 2010 - you cancelled your membership

November 12, 2011 - you signed up for a new LifeLock membership
November 13, 2011 - the 2011 Grand Slam promotion ends

Personally, I think that a DM member needed to sign up for LifeLock in September 2010 and cancelled the service within a few days after his\her credit card was charged in October 2010 in order to have enough time to get a hit in the 2011 Grand Slam promtion.

ShareBuilder
 

Yes...in 2009, I set up an account where I am investing every month. I received my quarterly bonus in October and it counted as a hit for the 2010 promotion.

Earn 2,500 Priority Club Points
 

Since it takes 10,000 Priority Clubs to transfer and convert into US miles, you can earn 2,500 Priority Club points (1,000 points if you are a resident of Arizona) for getting an insurance quote (Auto, Home, Life, Cycle, Renters, Boat, Umbrella, Annuity, Personal Articles, Snowmobile or RV) from from Sentry Insurance. Here is the link, http://www.sentry.com/CP/Promotions/...pc=10-40-214-1

Since Sentry agents don't follow-up on their leads from travel providers (i.e. US Airways, Priority Club, etc.), it will make sense to document your requests (i.e. making screen shots, keeping e-mails, keeping voice mails, etc.). I think that it is worth it since you are earning 25% (or 10% if you are living in Arizona) of the points necessary to convert and transfer into miles.

So I invested once. Is that activity what qualified me for the quarterly bonus? If so, I'll just invest again next year.

Does anyone know if you have to actually speak with a live person on the phone, in order to get the sentry insurance hit?

I always have. I think that some have been able to complete the quote via email but this is not the norm.

I have set up a monthly investment; therefore, I receive the quarterly bonus.

I can recall that you can select what week of the month for the dollars to be taken from your checking or saving account and what week of the month that you want it to be invested but I can't recall if there is another option other than monthly (i.e. every two months, once a quarter, etc.).

Since I wanted to do this monthly investing, I never research if there is another investing schedule (i.e. every two months, once a quarter, twice a year, etc.) that qualifies for the quarterly bonus. It is my understanding that you need to have an investing plan (either Basic or Advantage) set-up to receive the quarterly bonus.

Unless you set up a Basic plan when you signed up and you don’t know yet, I was surprised that you received a quarterly bonus since you only made one trade and didn’t not signed up for an investing plan either Basic or Advantage. Maybe there is a bug in the ShareBuilder program in determing the quarterly bonus UNLESS you signed up for an investing plan without knowing it…check your checking account for withdrawals.

Well, I did do a one-time "automatic" investment, since that was the least expensive way to buy a share ($4). I didn't realize at the time that I didn't actually need to buy a share to get the sign-up bonus.

Maybe in a few months I'll give it a shot on my wife's account. If she gets no bonuses for a few quarters, I'll buy a share, and see what posts.

I really really hope GS 2011 comes to be. It's my favorite promo out there. I find it a lot of fun.

e-rewards is huge. B/C you can only redeem per e-rewards partner every so often (I think it's every six months or quarterly in some cases), the key is to time deposits into Choice, PCR, and Hilton.

This year I didn't use Hilton, but I'm getting ready to use it next year. I just deposited a bit and need another $100 e-rewards to get the 7,000 HHonors redemption and set myself up for the 2011 GS.

I foolishly used $100 e-rewards during the 2010 GS for 2,000 US Air miles when I should have just used $25 to get the hit and save the rest for other hotel partners.

Yep...but if you use a different address and credit card, it should work.

What a great point you make here! Thanks.

:)

I figure e-rewards can yield 4 hits for free (albeit time intensive hits): e-rewards, Hilton, PCR, and Choice.

Plus e-rewards can also be transferred to Continental and Continental can be used to get hotel points through points.com.

I also plan to save my office supply shopping for the GS next year. I stocked up on stuff this year (I got office max hits for my fiance, her mom, and my dad).

It also might make sense to negotiate with a FT GS rate for a Wyndham property. The $20 AAA rate at the Cleveland, TN Knights Inn was great but maybe they could do something cheaper if we pushed for it. It's a lot of revenue for a little bit of work. I just wonder if the hotel manager would get in trouble for doing it.