Am I eating the most possible miles?

This has been the year of the category spending bonuses!  I now find myself signing up for cards because of their spending categories, rather than simply their sign up bonus.
For example, the Chase Sapphire Preferred offers double miles on dining!  Being a fan of both Ultimate Rewards Points and American Airlines AAdvantage miles.

Let this post serve as a bit of a reminder that you can also register for the AAdvantage Dining Program and earn up to 5 American AAdvantage miles per dollar spent, in addition to the 2 Ultimate Rewards points per dollar spent.

All you need to do is sign up at:
http://aa.rewardsnetwork.com/

Read how it works, register ANY credit card with them (not necessarily an American Airlines card), then browse the restaurants in your area that are a part of the network!

The AAdvantage Dining Program is nothing new, but its amazing how many people either don't know about it or just pass up on these easy miles!

Happy Flying & Dining!

-Jason of TWiBT

Earning More Frequent Flyer Miles for Holiday Shopping

Earning More Frequent Flyer Miles for Holiday Shopping

While most people will be doing their holiday shopping in regular malls, maybe earning 1 or 2 miles per dollar.  The true frequent flyer addict thinks of how he/she can earn the most amounts of miles before purchasing anything.  Instead of purchasing items in store, you should be purchasing gifts through your credit card’s reward shopping mall.  In the past, I have mentioned how you can be earning 8 American Airline miles per dollar spent on Groupon.  This holiday season, there are plenty of options for rewards network shopping.  Here a few of my favorite:

1.)     AAdvantage eShopping

The American Airlines shopping mall works like any other, it just happens to be one of my favorite because I truly love American Airlines AAdvantage miles.  You have to sign up (free) register your credit card with them (in “My Account”) and then start shopping with the links they provide.

2.)     Ultimate Rewards Shopping Mall

Chase has been going after American Express Membership Rewards, hard, and due to some recent changes over at Membership Rewards and at Chase, I’m going to say that Chase Ultimate Rewards points are more valuable.  Chase UR points can be transferred into a variety of airline and hotel programs.

3.)     Evreward.com

This is a site that indexes various shopping programs.  So think of it as a search engine for other shopping portals.  Why take 8 AAdvantage miles per dollar for Groupons, when Ultimate Rewards is giving 12 per dollar on Groupons!?



There are also some bonuses that go out so it is important to check these sites often.  Here are a couple interesting bonuses that others have blogged about that you should take advantage of right now:
-30 United Miles per dollar on FTD

-Ultimate Rewards Mall Bonuses

Enjoy!

-Jason of TWiBT

Groupon Getaways - Do we need another deals site?

 TWiBT Reviews Groupon Getaways
Groupon + Expedia = Groupon Getaways

Groupon, a daily deals site which posts offers for anything from massages to restaurants, is teaming up the travel booking giant Expedia to provide the masses with heavily discounted travel deals.  Deals are posted usually every Tuesday and are offered for about a week before they run out.  While a discount travel deal site of this sort is hardly an original idea, competitors (aka clones) like TripAlertz, Trippo, LivingSocial, JetSetter, Overstock Vacations, Vacationist, Voyage Privé, Yuupon, and SniqueAway hardly see the level of traffic that Groupon does.

It is still way too early to tell if Groupon Getaways will stand apart or blend in with similar sites.  I’m not blown away by many of the deals on their site, but let us see how good a value these really are.

For example, one recent offer was for an all-inclusive resort in the Dominican Republic.  The offer read:
“For $268, you get a four-night stay for two, plus all-inclusive food and drinks, valid November–December 23, 2011, not including November 24–27, 2011.”

Hotel Pictures & Review at http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g147290-d150887-Reviews-BlueBay_Villas_Doradas-Puerto_Plata_Dominican_Republic.html

$268 ÷ 4 night = $67/night

$67 per night is a pretty sweet deal for this type of hotel, especially when your food is included.  A quick search on the hotel’s website show that rooms start at $98 per night.

Groupon Getaways is a good option for those who are already fans of Groupon, but I feel it does little to bring in new customers.  There are countless other daily deal sites geared towards travel, what makes this site stand apart?  The deals are decent, but nothing amazing.  The % discounted shown is usually inaccurate, as shown in our research.  Personally, my biggest complaint is that Groupon Getaways brings nothing new to the already overly crowded market of Groupon-clone sites.  Ironic.

TWiBT Frequent Flyer Mile Opportunity Alert
If you register your credit card and American Airlines AAdvantage account with the AAdvantage eShopping Mall and use that site as a portal to Groupon, you will earn 8 AAdvantage miles per dollar spent.  That’d be 2144 AAdvantage miles for booking this $268 Groupon.  Never spend a penny unless you are earning mileage for it!

Thanks for reading!
-Jason of TWiBT