2009 Grand Slam Promotion - Some Good, Some Bad Changes
Aug 20, 2009, 8:29 am
#1
Original Member and FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Kansas City, MO, USA
Programs: DL PM/MM, AA ExPlat, Hyatt Glob, HH Dia, National ECE, Hertz PC
Posts: 16,579
2009 Grand Slam Promotion - Some Good, Some Bad Changes
As announced in the MilesLink newsletter I received yesterday, US Airways is again going to run a Grand Slam promotion this year (Link to Thread on last year's Grand Slam Promotion).
You can read all about it here:
LInk to this year's Promotion
Anyway, the big differences I notice are:
1) Each car rental and hotel stay count as one hit, last year every two counted as one hit.
2) Rate for hits hits 8-28 have been changed, resulting in a total payout at 28 hits of 50,000 miles instead of 40,000 miles.
3) A 4,000 EQM bonus awarded at the 12 hit level replaces the Gold DM x 2 status awarded to the first 50 to reach 24 hits.
For those just wanting to earn miles, the promo has been significantly improved because of 1 and 2. For those wanting to earn status this promo is significantly less attractive. For those who don't like their elite status being watered down by folks like me earning Gold DM through silly promos, this promo is now significantly less bothersome.
PROMO doesn't start until 9/1/09, so don't start doing transactions until then!
Here's the full T&C (posted in case of future changes/revisions)
Eligibility
Offer void where prohibited by law. Registration required. Only Hits earned after registration and between 9/01/2009 and 11/15/2009 are eligible ("Eligible Activity Date").
General terms:
All Dividend Miles terms and conditions apply. You must be subscribed to US Airways e-Statement and Earn More Miles emails in order to register for this promotion. If you are not currently subscribed, we will automatically subscribe you using the email address you provide when registering. You may opt out of US Airways emails at any time. US Airways is not responsible for the quality or delivery of goods and/or services provided by Dividend Miles partners. All Dividend Miles partner terms and conditions apply. Partner offers are subject to change without notice. Hotel transfers (points to miles conversions) are subject to terms and conditions as stipulated in your agreement with your hotel program.
Earning Hits and bonus miles:
Bonus miles are in addition to miles awarded by Dividend Miles partners. Registered Dividend Miles members will earn 1 Hit for each qualifying partner activity described below (“Hit”). In order to earn a Hit, a valid Dividend Miles number must be provided to the qualifying partner. Use of a partner without earning Dividend Miles will not count as a Hit. US Airways will track the number of Hits earned and will award bonus miles cumulatively based on the total number of Hits as per the bonus chart below. Bonus miles will only be awarded for every fourth Hit (For example, obtaining 4 Hits will result in 4,000 bonus miles, obtaining 8 Hits will result in another 4,000 bonus miles for a total of 8,000 bonus miles. But, obtaining 10 Hits will not result in any additional bonus miles. Bonus miles post on 10/12/2009, 11/12/2009, 12/15/2009, 1/15/2010 and 2/15/2010.
Preferred-qualifying miles
Only bonus miles designated as Preferred-qualifying in the Grand Slam promotion count. All other bonus miles earned during this promotion do not count towards Preferred status.
Eligible Activity Date
Only miles earned after registration and between 9/01/2009 and 11/15/2009 are eligible (“Eligible Activity Date”). Eligible Activity Date is based on the date the qualifying partner records the mileage transaction, and not necessarily the date on which the transaction occurred. US Airways assumes no responsibility for how qualifying partners record Eligible Activity Dates. Most qualifying partners record Eligible Activity Dates based on completion of the required activity (for example, delivery of the item purchased or return of car rental, hotel check-out, cruise completion, etc.). You should check with the applicable qualifying partner to confirm its policies and procedures for recording Eligible Activity Dates. The last date that activity from a qualifying partner can be received by US Airways for bonus miles consideration is 2/11/2010, regardless of the Eligible Activity Date for such activity.
Bonus Chart Total number of Hits Total bonus miles awarded
4 hits 4,000 miles
8 hits 8,000 miles
12 hits 12,000 miles + 4,000 Preferred-qualifying miles
16 hits 20,000 miles
20 hits 30,000 miles
24 hits 40,000 miles
28 hits 50,000 miles
Qualifying Partner Activities
The following activities do not count as Qualifying Partner Activity or Hits:
Qualifying Partner Activities
Edited to add:
Based on my experience, the EQM bonus is also RDM, which I did not expect, because it means the earnings structure is:
Hits 1-4 - 4,000 bonus miles (1,000 bonus miles/hit)
Hits 5-8 - 4,000 bonus miles (1,000 bonus miles/hit)
Hits 9-12 - 8,000 bonus miles (2,000 bonus miles/hit)
Hits 13-16 - 4,000 bonus miles (1,000 bonus miles/hit)
Hits 17-20 - 10,000 bonus miles (2,500 bonus miles/hit)
Hits 21-24 - 10,000 bonus miles (2,500 bonus miles/hit)
Hits 25-28 - 10,000 bonus miles (2,500 bonus miles/hit)
So hits 9-12 are more lucrative than hits 13-16, which is a bit odd.
You can read all about it here:
LInk to this year's Promotion
Anyway, the big differences I notice are:
1) Each car rental and hotel stay count as one hit, last year every two counted as one hit.
2) Rate for hits hits 8-28 have been changed, resulting in a total payout at 28 hits of 50,000 miles instead of 40,000 miles.
3) A 4,000 EQM bonus awarded at the 12 hit level replaces the Gold DM x 2 status awarded to the first 50 to reach 24 hits.
For those just wanting to earn miles, the promo has been significantly improved because of 1 and 2. For those wanting to earn status this promo is significantly less attractive. For those who don't like their elite status being watered down by folks like me earning Gold DM through silly promos, this promo is now significantly less bothersome.
PROMO doesn't start until 9/1/09, so don't start doing transactions until then!
Here's the full T&C (posted in case of future changes/revisions)
Eligibility
Offer void where prohibited by law. Registration required. Only Hits earned after registration and between 9/01/2009 and 11/15/2009 are eligible ("Eligible Activity Date").
General terms:
All Dividend Miles terms and conditions apply. You must be subscribed to US Airways e-Statement and Earn More Miles emails in order to register for this promotion. If you are not currently subscribed, we will automatically subscribe you using the email address you provide when registering. You may opt out of US Airways emails at any time. US Airways is not responsible for the quality or delivery of goods and/or services provided by Dividend Miles partners. All Dividend Miles partner terms and conditions apply. Partner offers are subject to change without notice. Hotel transfers (points to miles conversions) are subject to terms and conditions as stipulated in your agreement with your hotel program.
Earning Hits and bonus miles:
Bonus miles are in addition to miles awarded by Dividend Miles partners. Registered Dividend Miles members will earn 1 Hit for each qualifying partner activity described below (“Hit”). In order to earn a Hit, a valid Dividend Miles number must be provided to the qualifying partner. Use of a partner without earning Dividend Miles will not count as a Hit. US Airways will track the number of Hits earned and will award bonus miles cumulatively based on the total number of Hits as per the bonus chart below. Bonus miles will only be awarded for every fourth Hit (For example, obtaining 4 Hits will result in 4,000 bonus miles, obtaining 8 Hits will result in another 4,000 bonus miles for a total of 8,000 bonus miles. But, obtaining 10 Hits will not result in any additional bonus miles. Bonus miles post on 10/12/2009, 11/12/2009, 12/15/2009, 1/15/2010 and 2/15/2010.
Preferred-qualifying miles
Only bonus miles designated as Preferred-qualifying in the Grand Slam promotion count. All other bonus miles earned during this promotion do not count towards Preferred status.
Eligible Activity Date
Only miles earned after registration and between 9/01/2009 and 11/15/2009 are eligible (“Eligible Activity Date”). Eligible Activity Date is based on the date the qualifying partner records the mileage transaction, and not necessarily the date on which the transaction occurred. US Airways assumes no responsibility for how qualifying partners record Eligible Activity Dates. Most qualifying partners record Eligible Activity Dates based on completion of the required activity (for example, delivery of the item purchased or return of car rental, hotel check-out, cruise completion, etc.). You should check with the applicable qualifying partner to confirm its policies and procedures for recording Eligible Activity Dates. The last date that activity from a qualifying partner can be received by US Airways for bonus miles consideration is 2/11/2010, regardless of the Eligible Activity Date for such activity.
Bonus Chart Total number of Hits Total bonus miles awarded
4 hits 4,000 miles
8 hits 8,000 miles
12 hits 12,000 miles + 4,000 Preferred-qualifying miles
16 hits 20,000 miles
20 hits 30,000 miles
24 hits 40,000 miles
28 hits 50,000 miles
Qualifying Partner Activities
The following activities do not count as Qualifying Partner Activity or Hits:
- Miles earned flying US Airways or any US Airways partner airline not listed below
- Miles earned from any company other than those listed below as qualifying partners
- Hotels stays that do not earn Dividend Miles
- Car rentals that do not earn Dividend Miles
Qualifying Partner Activities
Code:
Number of Possible Hits Qualifying Partner Activity
1 Purchase or renew your personal membership in the US Airways Club. All US Airways Club terms and conditions apply.
5 Earn miles by using our credit or debit cards. Each partner can count for 1 Hit: 1 each for US Airways MasterCard, US Airways Business MasterCard, US Airways Visa, US Airways Visa Business Card, US Airways Visa Check Card.
1 Asiana Airlines – Earn Dividend Miles on a paid qualifying ticket
1 Singapore Airlines – Earn Dividend Miles on a paid qualifying ticket
6 Earn 1 Hit for car rentals from a qualifying partner, up to a maximum of 6 Hits per member. Hits can be earned by using the same car rental partner six times or by using 6 different car rental partners. There are 8 qualifying partners: Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Hertz, National, Sixt, Thrifty
6 Earn 1 Hit per hotel stay with a qualifying partner, up to a maximum of 6 Hits per member. Hits can be earned by using the same hotel partner 6 times or by using 6 different hotel partners. There are 11 qualifying hotel families available:
* Accor Hotels: Sofitel, Novotel, Mercure, Pullman, MGallery
* Best Western
* Carlson Hotels (Gold Points Plus): Country Inns & Suites, Park Inn, Park Plaza Hotels & Resorts, Radisson Hotels & Resorts
* Choice Hotels: Cambria Suites, Clarion, Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Econo Lodge, MainStay Suites, Quality Inn, Rodeway Inn, Sleep Inn, Suburban Extended Stay
* Hilton Family of Hotels: Conrad, DoubleTree, Embassy Suites, Hampton Inn & Suites, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Hilton Garden Inn, Hilton Grand Vacations Club, Homewood Suites, Waldorf=Astoria Collection
* Hyatt: AmeriSuites, Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, Hyatt Place, Hyatt Summerfield Suites
* Intercontinental Hotels Group: Candlewood Suites, Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Hotel Indigo, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Staybridge Suites
* Marriott: Courtyard, Fairfield Inn, JW Marriott Hotels & Resorts , Marriott Hotels & Resorts, Renaissance Hotels & Resorts, Residence Inn, Springhill Suites, TownePlace Suites, Marriott Executive Apartments, Marriott Vacation Club (mileage-earning stay)
* Starwood Hotels: Aloft, Element, Four Points, Le Meridien, The Luxury Collection, Sheraton, St. Regis, W Hotels, Westin Hotels & Resorts
* WORLDHOTELS
* Wyndham Rewards: Baymont Inn & Suites, Days Inn, Hawthorn Suites, Howard Johnson, Knights Inn, Microtel Inns and Suites, Ramada Worldwide, Super 8 Motel, Travelodge, Wingate Inn, Wyndham Hotels
10 Earn 1 Hit when you convert hotel points from a qualifying partner into Dividend Miles. Maximum 1 Hit per qualifying partner. There are 10 qualifying partners: Accor (AClub), Best Western Rewards, Choice Privileges, Hilton HHonors, Hyatt Gold Passport, InterContinental Hotels Group (Priority Club), Marriott Rewards, Radisson Gold Points Plus, Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG), Wyndham Rewards.
1 Earn 1 Hit when you make a qualifying purchase at the US Airways Dividend Miles Shopping Mall. Maximum 1 Hit regardless of number of merchants used at the Shopping Mall. Purchases of SkyMall and/or Bose merchandise do not count towards Shopping Mall, but do count as unique Hits. All US Airways Dividend Miles Shopping Mall terms and conditions apply.
1 Earn 1 Hit when you buy or gift miles at usairways.com or points.com (max 1 hit per member).
1 Earn 1 Hit when you share miles with a friend at usairways.com or points.com (max 1 hit per member).
1 Earn 1 Hit when you swap miles in to Dividend Miles at points.com – swapping Dividend Miles does not count (max 1 hit per member)
2 Earn 1 Hit when you fly on selected Star Alliance partners. Maximum one Hit per partner. There are 2 qualifying partners: Asiana Airlines, Singapore Airlines
1 21st Century Auto Insurance
1 Biscoff
1 Bose
1 Charlotte Observer
1 Chase Home Mortgage
1 Dividend Miles Dining
1 Dividend Miles Wireless
1 e-Miles
1 Energy Plus
1 e-Rewards
1 FTD.com
1 getAbstract
1 Homeloancenter.com
1 iNest.com
1 ING Direct - ShareBuilder
1 LendingTree
1 LifeLock
1 Marriott Vacation Club (ownership purchase)
1 Magazines for Miles
1 Netflix
1 Network Solutions
1 OfficeMax
1 Philadelphia Inquirer
1 Realestate.com
1 Reservations Rewards
1 Sentry Insurance
1 SkyMall
1 SuperShuttle & ExecuCar (counts as 1 partner)
1 TD Ameritrade
1 Thanks Again
1 Trackitback.com
1 US Airways Cruises
1 USA Today
1 Vinesse
1 Wine Insiders
1 US Airways incentive partners. Maximum 1 Hit regardless of number of incentive partners used including but not limited to: Abbey Carpets, Google Check-out, Health Fusion, Loyalty Works, Vankomen Media, VOIP-Pal, Waterfront Place Hotel, WCI Communities
Based on my experience, the EQM bonus is also RDM, which I did not expect, because it means the earnings structure is:
Hits 1-4 - 4,000 bonus miles (1,000 bonus miles/hit)
Hits 5-8 - 4,000 bonus miles (1,000 bonus miles/hit)
Hits 9-12 - 8,000 bonus miles (2,000 bonus miles/hit)
Hits 13-16 - 4,000 bonus miles (1,000 bonus miles/hit)
Hits 17-20 - 10,000 bonus miles (2,500 bonus miles/hit)
Hits 21-24 - 10,000 bonus miles (2,500 bonus miles/hit)
Hits 25-28 - 10,000 bonus miles (2,500 bonus miles/hit)
So hits 9-12 are more lucrative than hits 13-16, which is a bit odd.
Last edited by Beckles; Oct 29, 2009 at 3:04 pm
Aug 20, 2009, 8:58 am
#2
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 2,450
I wonder this is? How can I use Google Check-out to earn miles? Honestly, I've never heard of these as a DM partner.
US Airways incentive partners. Maximum 1 Hit regardless of number of incentive partners used including but not limited to: Abbey Carpets, Google Check-out, Health Fusion, Loyalty Works, Vankomen Media, VOIP-Pal, Waterfront Place Hotel, WCI Communities
-Kinglobjaw
US Airways incentive partners. Maximum 1 Hit regardless of number of incentive partners used including but not limited to: Abbey Carpets, Google Check-out, Health Fusion, Loyalty Works, Vankomen Media, VOIP-Pal, Waterfront Place Hotel, WCI Communities
-Kinglobjaw
Aug 20, 2009, 9:17 am
#3
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: PHL, NYC
Programs: AA PLT, DL SLV, UA SLV, MR LTT, HH DIA
Posts: 10,060
Do I read correctly that, if I rent from the same car company and typically stay at the same chain, I cannot credit more than 1 of each of those towards "hits"? Pfft. Next promo, please. And it only appears that a max of 4000 miles go towards preferred. Understandable, but since I don't accumulate miles on US (even when I fly them), this doesn't really entice me to switch back over.
Aug 20, 2009, 11:07 am
#4
Original Member and FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Kansas City, MO, USA
Programs: DL PM/MM, AA ExPlat, Hyatt Glob, HH Dia, National ECE, Hertz PC
Posts: 16,579
Aug 20, 2009, 12:17 pm
#5
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Winston Salem, NC
Programs: Ex Plat, Avis President's, and various hoteliers...
Posts: 167
So...I have the mastercard...I use it once...then 1 hit? Or do I have to sign up for a new card...
Aug 20, 2009, 1:33 pm
#6
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Pittsburgh
Programs: MR/SPG LT Titanium, AA LT PLT, UA SLV, Avis PreferredPlus
Posts: 30,993
No, I don't think you read correctly - it seems pretty clear to me:
- "Hits can be earned by using the same car rental partner six times or by using 6 different car rental partners"
- "Hits can be earned by using the same hotel partner 6 times or by using 6 different hotel partners."
Aug 21, 2009, 8:27 am
#7
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Finally back in Boston after escaping from New York
Posts: 13,644
Friendly reminder: When you register, print the confirmation screen that says you have successfully registered. Just in case.
Oh, and dumb question of the day: I didn't see any minimum spend requirements at the partners (e.g. a $.99 pencil refill at OfficeMax). Am I missing something?
Mike
Oh, and dumb question of the day: I didn't see any minimum spend requirements at the partners (e.g. a $.99 pencil refill at OfficeMax). Am I missing something?
Mike
Last edited by mikeef; Aug 21, 2009 at 8:34 am
Aug 21, 2009, 8:43 am
#8
Original Member and FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Kansas City, MO, USA
Programs: DL PM/MM, AA ExPlat, Hyatt Glob, HH Dia, National ECE, Hertz PC
Posts: 16,579
There was no minimum spending requirement last year and I don't see any reason to believe there is this year either.
Aug 21, 2009, 4:41 pm
#9
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 7,900
http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/...t_holiday.html
Aug 21, 2009, 5:46 pm
#10
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Purgatory
Programs: Too many to list. Status is a half dozen.
Posts: 9,235
Friendly reminder: When you register, print the confirmation screen that says you have successfully registered. Just in case.
Oh, and dumb question of the day: I didn't see any minimum spend requirements at the partners (e.g. a $.99 pencil refill at OfficeMax). Am I missing something?
Mike
Oh, and dumb question of the day: I didn't see any minimum spend requirements at the partners (e.g. a $.99 pencil refill at OfficeMax). Am I missing something?
Mike
Aug 21, 2009, 7:21 pm
#11
Join Date: May 2003
Programs: AA (1MM), Marriott (LT Gold)
Posts: 1,766
How do points.com swaps post to US DM accounts?
The reason I ask is that last year, my Live Search Club redemption posted as
INCENTIVE MILES - POINTS.COM
This counted last year as one of my unique partners, and I assume this type of activity would fall into the last category listed in this year's promo unless it duplicates a points.com swap transaction.
In case anyone thinks that this is a way to generate a partner activity, I would advise doing it sooner rather than later since Microsoft has decided to build in ridiculous delays in miles postings. (In fact, it may already be too late.
)
The reason I ask is that last year, my Live Search Club redemption posted as
INCENTIVE MILES - POINTS.COM
This counted last year as one of my unique partners, and I assume this type of activity would fall into the last category listed in this year's promo unless it duplicates a points.com swap transaction.
In case anyone thinks that this is a way to generate a partner activity, I would advise doing it sooner rather than later since Microsoft has decided to build in ridiculous delays in miles postings. (In fact, it may already be too late.
)
Aug 21, 2009, 7:39 pm
#12
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: TXL
Programs: US, LH, HH
Posts: 723
You open up an account with points.com (for which you can get up to ~150miles to the first program you register if you use promotion links and not the normal register routine), add the programs you want to swap between and then just go ahead. Exchange rate from frontier to us airways is something like 5:1. Swap is pretty much instant and without any additional fees. There are however various limitations. Not all programs at points.com allow to swap out (e.g. Delta) and I guess nearly all have minimum limits (not always documented what exactly they are). If you only have 100 frontier miles you wont be allowed to swap, for AA you need to be elite or have 25k+ miles.
List of programs you can swap to dividend miles is on their us airways info page: https://www.points.com/home/partnerP...=TRK&lpId=2079
100 Dividend Miles for points.com signup (I wonder if that counts as incentive?): https://www.points.com/acquisition/n...=0506-2042-003
List of programs you can swap to dividend miles is on their us airways info page: https://www.points.com/home/partnerP...=TRK&lpId=2079
100 Dividend Miles for points.com signup (I wonder if that counts as incentive?): https://www.points.com/acquisition/n...=0506-2042-003
Last edited by freakazoid; Aug 21, 2009 at 7:51 pm Reason: added links
Aug 21, 2009, 7:40 pm
#13
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 2,450
How do points.com swaps post to US DM accounts?
The reason I ask is that last year, my Live Search Club redemption posted as
INCENTIVE MILES - POINTS.COM
This counted last year as one of my unique partners, and I assume this type of activity would fall into the last category listed in this year's promo unless it duplicates a points.com swap transaction.
In case anyone thinks that this is a way to generate a partner activity, I would advise doing it sooner rather than later since Microsoft has decided to build in ridiculous delays in miles postings. (In fact, it may already be too late.)
The reason I ask is that last year, my Live Search Club redemption posted as
INCENTIVE MILES - POINTS.COM
This counted last year as one of my unique partners, and I assume this type of activity would fall into the last category listed in this year's promo unless it duplicates a points.com swap transaction.
In case anyone thinks that this is a way to generate a partner activity, I would advise doing it sooner rather than later since Microsoft has decided to build in ridiculous delays in miles postings. (In fact, it may already be too late.
)-Kinglobjaw
Aug 21, 2009, 7:56 pm
#14
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: TXL
Programs: US, LH, HH
Posts: 723
Speak of the devil. I recently redeemed Live Search Club (now Club Bing) points for Delta miles on 5/6/2009. They posted to my SkyMiles account on 7/2/2009, but under activity date it also showed 7/2/2009. I'm sure US Airways is no different since it's Bing who's causing the delay. IF anyone where to do this for the 2009 Grand Slam, I strongly advise you to do it immediately after registration on 9/1/2009! That way it will (hopefully) post by the 11/15/2009 cut off.
-Kinglobjaw
-Kinglobjaw
Aug 21, 2009, 8:09 pm
#15
Join Date: May 2003
Programs: AA (1MM), Marriott (LT Gold)
Posts: 1,766
freakazoid:
If your discussion of points.com was for my benefit, I think you are misunderstanding my post.
I'm asking how a points.com swap has historically been shown in the activity of a US DM account. If it posts as "INCENTIVE MILES - POINTS.COM" then there really is no point in counting on a Club Bing redemption being treated in this upcoming promo as a separate unique partner in addition to a points.com swap because US is not going to know the difference between the two different activities. The choice then becomes which is easier to do -- redeem Club Bing points or make a swap.
If your discussion of points.com was for my benefit, I think you are misunderstanding my post.
I'm asking how a points.com swap has historically been shown in the activity of a US DM account. If it posts as "INCENTIVE MILES - POINTS.COM" then there really is no point in counting on a Club Bing redemption being treated in this upcoming promo as a separate unique partner in addition to a points.com swap because US is not going to know the difference between the two different activities. The choice then becomes which is easier to do -- redeem Club Bing points or make a swap.