News, Tips, & Tricks
One of our readers, Bill passes along this story on getting bonus Air Miles reward miles from Shell:
A quick note with regards to Shell and their current bonuses. Until July 8th, they are running 2 promotions. The first one is get 3X or 10X Air Miles (depending on grade)with minimum $30 fuel fill. This one does not require any coupons and is administered automatically. The other one is for bonus coupons with merchandise purchase in-store. Each of these 4 coupons offer 3 bonus points per coupon. These are also conditional on a fuel purchase being made, except that they only require $20.
The kicker is that one will override the other. So, you automatically get the 3X or 10X just by fuelling up, but if you use one of the coupons, it will cancel out the first promo. So, if you buy $30.00 of premium fuel, you get 10 Air Miles. But, if you use the coupon on this purchase, you will only get 3 Air Miles, not 13 (10+3).
One of the clerks at my local Shell told me about this, so I called Air Miles. They couldn’t find anything that specifically indicated that this was the case, but the CSR I spoke with tended to agree that this is how it worked. I told him that if this is how the program is set up, then the coupons are worthless, they have no value (you can’t use them without a fuel purchase). No point in using the coupons to actually get less Air Miles. He suggested buying $30.00 worth of gas and paying for it on one transaction, then buying another $20.00 and using the bonus coupon. (I did enough of the small transactions (Esso) getting the 15,000 Aeroplan miles last month….).
Air Miles checked my account and said that I did get the 10X bonus for the 2 transactions I did last week, but there was no indication that any 3 point bonuses were being credited to my account. He did add the 6 points onto my account right away. He said that if the bonus points do come through, then I will have an extra 6 points. If not, then at least I got the points. That was fair enough and not expected, but appreciated.
I’ll let you know if I actually do get the bonus points credited, but Shell is notorious for posting points loooooooong after the promotion is over…..
I am glad Bill sent this over as I had no idea it worked this way as I don’t really use Shell that often. So the moral of the story here is to make sure you only take advantage of one offer and that should be the one that provides you with the biggest bonus!
Are you holder of a Capital One Aspire Travel World or Platinum MasterCard? Have you redeemed any of your miles yet? If so please tell us your redemption story and if it was good, bad or ugly. You can do so here.
Finally, if you are Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express check out the offer below for 1 Bonus Starpoint for every dollar spent at Starwood hotels until the end of July!
Bonus Offers
Best Western Rewards
– 1,000 Bonus Rewards Points for all Best Western stays in Denmark
that are booked via the Best Western Denmark site. More…
Ongoing
Etihad Guest
– Double Guest Miles on Etihad flights between Abu Dhabi and Addis
Ababa or Ahmedabad. More…
Nov 1 – 30, 12
– Double Guest Miles for stays at the TilalLiwa Hotel. More…
Until Aug 15, 12
Hertz Gold Plus Rewards
– Double Gold Plus Rewards Points on all weekly rentals of an Economy
through Full-Size car at airport locations in the U.S. and Canada.
More…
Jul 1 – Aug 31, 12 Valid for residents of the U.S. and Canada only
Japan Airlines Mileage Bank
– 1,000 Bonus Mileage Bank Miles for Hertz rentals of 3+ days at participating
locations Worldwide. More…
Until Sep 30, 12
Qatar Airways Privilege Club
– Double QMiles for stays on the Jumeirah Summer Breaks package at
the Jumeirah Beach Hotel Dubai, Madinat Jumeirah Dubai, Jumeirah Zabeel
Saray Dubai, Jumeirah Creekside Hotel Dubai and Jumeirah Emirates
Towers Dubai. More…
Until Sep 30, 12
Starwood Preferred Guest
– 1 Bonus Starpoint for every eligible dollar charged to your Starwood
Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express at over 1,000 participating
hotels and resorts worldwide in the SPG®* program. More…
Until Jul 31, 12 Residents of Canada Only