Airmiles Armchair Chatter

[ottawamom]

I stocked up my cereal cupboard today, 5 Chex cereals + 4 Larabars (75 AM), Hot sauce (2) get 25AM got two of that deal, some frozen veggies and of course the black beans (I absolutely love refried beans I get at a local Mexican place, found a recipe online). Total of 165AM spent just over $75. Not a great haul but not bad considering.

In Ontario, for those who have asked about the Sobey's brand GC promotions at Sobey's. They started for 2016 in March then May and June. Switched over to Foodland in August and again late September. Nothing since then. I hope they bring them back again this year.

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

Earned 65 miles tonight at Sobeys, should have been another 30, but I forgot to check my targeted offers before I went! Grrr.

 

[pigletto]

My PC Points offers haven't changed at all. I just received 17 new offers, plus the three I saved from last week to add into this week. And I got 3 really good bonus offers, but I might have to wait to use them next Wednesday before they expire.

I plan on hoarding these points too and cashing them in for Mastercard / VISA gift cards to help offset travel costs of flights.

Wait a minute. I can buy gift cards with PC points?
This may be a game changer.

 

[mort1331]

Wait a minute. I can buy gift cards with PC points?
This may be a game changer.

Yup..thats what we do. Now you still pay the activation fee if getting MC or Visa. But all others good to go.

 

[DilEmma]

Yup..thats what we do. Now you still pay the activation fee if getting MC or Visa. But all others good to go.

I was going to use my Shop the Block Cash Miles (when they post) for gift cards at Metro, Sobeys or Shell. Anyone have experience buying gift cards with Air Miles?

 

[pigletto]

Yup..thats what we do. Now you still pay the activation fee if getting MC or Visa. But all others good to go.

Well there's the plan. On bad airmiles weeks I will concentrate on PC points.

 

[star72232]

Well there's the plan. On bad airmiles weeks I will concentrate on PC points.

I find PC points much more flexible than AirMiles. You can buy an GC they carry with them. Plus, with the targeted points I tend to get a lot more than with AM. Especially since you can price match at No Frills and get the points on those items too.

 

[pigletto]

I find PC points much more flexible than AirMiles. You can buy an GC they carry with them. Plus, with the targeted points I tend to get a lot more than with AM. Especially since you can price match at No Frills and get the points on those items too.

That's a good tip.
I was doing really well with airmlies and had a bit of a system going, but Sobey's completely dried up. Then I read articles about how much they are struggling and I'm thinking the good airmiles deals might not be coming back. So with potentially far fewer airmiles on the horizon, I think concentrating on both programs makes sense.

 

[AngelDisney]

IME the $10 coupon stacks with the $5 off survey coupon and both those stack with the Air Miles coupons (in the Ottawa area).

Both of those are treated as cash tender rather than the way Rexall handles manufacturer coupons.

Now this is worth a trip to Rexall! Thanks for the tip!!

 

[kuhltiffany]

I think you can do that at Shell?

I was going to use my Shop the Block Cash Miles (when they post) for gift cards at Metro, Sobeys or Shell. Anyone have experience buying gift cards with Air Miles?

 

[DilEmma]

I think you can do that at Shell?

I've done it at Rexall. And am pretty sure one can do it at Shell and Metro. I'm wondering about opportunities though.

Metro and Rexall, there is nothing 'extra' that you get. No points and no qualifying spend. Shell though... ?

In store purchases at Shell earn Air Miles. I think I read gift cards are NOT excluded from that at Shell. And Shell has some multiplier promotions where you can earn, say, 10x Air Miles on in store purchases. So, can one buy gift cards at Shell on multiplier days and actually earn Air Miles?

I plan to test it out, but was hoping someone here may have done it in the past.

I rarely buy gas at Shell because it's not on the way and is generally more expensive. So I'm not even sure what kind of promotions they have.

 

[DilEmma]

FYI I was chatting to my Shell guy and he said that he's expecting the 10x miles for in-store purchases promotion to be back around the beginning of March (he was estimating the 6th). Planning to stock up on some gift cards when that promo's back!
......

This is what I'm looking for!
ngm, sorry to revive an old post.
Have you been able to do this recently?

 

[Donald - my hero]

I don't want someone to expect to be able to cash in miLes for gift cards at any store other than Shell. The exclusions on the website clearly exclude them at every location EXCEPT Shell. We've seen within this thread that Rexall policy seems to vary from store to store (where the coupon is applied, before or after taxes) so perhaps one or two will be able to "sell" you gift cards but I know mine will not.

I'd copy from the website but I'm in bed recovering from a 3 park day

 

[bababear_50]

I don't want someone to expect to be able to cash in miLes for gift cards at any store other than Shell. The exclusions on the website clearly exclude them at every location EXCEPT Shell. We've seen within this thread that Rexall policy seems to vary from store to store (where the coupon is applied, before or after taxes) so perhaps one or two will be able to "sell" you gift cards but I know mine will not.

I'd copy from the website but I'm in bed recovering from a 3 park day

I was wondering if you can use cash reward airmiles to purchase gift cards? (at Sobeys,Metro?)
Hugs Mel

 

[Donald - my hero]

Ok, up now waiting on a washing machine so i took the time to find out what the website says ---
Metro

Rexall


Sobeys

And Shell

their direct website


I've always *assumed * (careful with that word )because the word GIFT CARD is NOT in the Shell exclusions that means they are the ONLY place i can redeem cash miles for gift cards -- also the only place i *think* you can EARN if you purchases them there!

 

[ttaylorcan]

I stocked up my cereal cupboard today, 5 Chex cereals + 4 Larabars (75 AM), Hot sauce (2) get 25AM got two of that deal, some frozen veggies and of course the black beans (I absolutely love refried beans I get at a local Mexican place, found a recipe online). Total of 165AM spent just over $75. Not a great haul but not bad considering.

In Ontario, for those who have asked about the Sobey's brand GC promotions at Sobey's. They started for 2016 in March then May and June. Switched over to Foodland in August and again late September. Nothing since then. I hope they bring them back again this year.

Thank you for mentioning the Larabars, adding them to my list.

 

[bababear_50]

Ok, up now waiting on a washing machine so i took the time to find out what the website says ---
Metro
View attachment 216402
Rexall
View attachment 216403

Sobeys
View attachment 216404
And Shell
View attachment 216406
their direct website

View attachment 216405
I've always *assumed * (careful with that word )because the word GIFT CARD is NOT in the Shell exclusions that means they are the ONLY place i can redeem cash miles for gift cards -- also the only place i *think* you can EARN if you purchases them there!

Thanks for posting this,,
Hugs Mel

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

Well there's the plan. On bad airmiles weeks I will concentrate on PC points.

This is what I do as well.

When both flyers come out, if Air Miles gives me something really good, I concentrate on that first. Then I use my PC offers and fill in my groceries with those targeted offers.
Lastly, I will use Lawton's Drugs if Sobeys doesn't have anything great for Air Miles. I'm actually slightly more obsessed with PC Points and they seem to accumulate much faster overall then Air Miles.
And, we are not locked in to having buy 2 or more of something we won't eat/need. That REALLY grinds my gears the way Sobeys is doing the program now.

Today, instead of buying my pizza pockets and clementines at Sobeys, I bought them at Superstore and got 2600 points.

 

[ottawamom]

What's the conversion of PC points to $ value.(Sorry I know nothing about PC points. It has been my DH's domaine until now.) This may be an area where I need to become more involved.

 

[star72232]

What's the conversion of PC points to $ value.(Sorry I know nothing about PC points. It has been my DH's domaine until now.) This may be an area where I need to become more involved.

1000 points is $1. The minimum to redeem is $20, and you can redeem in $10 increments from there.

I redeemed all my points at the redemption event in mid-November. I was down to under 1000 points after that. I now have 93000 points. And that's only on buying what I would normally buy. I love that I can price match and still receive points. Plus, No Frills is my base grocery store anyway, and I prefer most PC brand products.

Make sure you load your new offers every week. 2 weeks ago I got an offer for 400 points on a package of Old Mill bagels. They were on sale that week for $0.88. Needless to say, I bought about 8 packs (I have 4 kids, we go through a lot of bagels! I just keep them in the chest freezer.) You can actually hold an offer over until the next week if you want (up to 3 per week), so if you see something go on sale in an upcoming flyer, you can take advantage of the sale + points.

You can only use each offer at one shopping trip each week, but they are almost never limited in quantity at that one trip.

If you are missing points, there is a feedback function on the app. The points are almost always added to your account immediately. No tracking down missing AM 3 months later.