Everyone likes getting a ride to the airport; no parking, no trudging from the garage to the terminal, but do you really care if it’s Lyft, Uber, a taxi, or your cousin Ralph who takes you there? Lyft is trying to make that decision easier for JetBlue passengers by offering them frequent flyer points by using the ride-hailing service. [More]
points
Starbucks’ New Rewards Program Starts Today
By 4.12.16
Today is the day. The day that Starbucks rolls out its new rewards program which bases loyalty points on how much customers spend, not on the frequency of purchases. [More]
Starbucks Confirms: Loyalty Rewards Members Will Now Earn Points For Every Dollar Spent
By 2.22.16
Confirming what we reported last week, Starbucks announced this morning that it’s changing how its members earn loyalty rewards points in its My Starbucks rewards program: instead of earning a star per every transaction on anything you buy — food, coffee, mugs, etc. — starting in April, members will earn two stars for each dollar they spend. [More]
All You Have To Do To Fly Free Forever Is Put A $170M Purchase On Your American Express Card
By 11.23.15
Are you sick and tired of shelling out money every time you want to fly somewhere? If you’ve got the right credit card and an urge to spend some millions, you’ll be set: a billionaire who won a rare painting at auction for $170 million will never have to pay for a flight again when the sale goes through on the American Express card he plunked down to buy the artwork. [More]
Hilton's Points-For-Haiti Offer Isn't A Good Value
By 1.20.10
If you’ve got Hilton Honors points, the hotel chain will let you redeem them as cash donations for Haiti relief efforts. That’s a pretty nice offer, but Oyster Hotel Reviews points out that the hotel chain is only offering $25 in donations for every 10,000 points–an exchange rate that puts the points at a fourth of what they’re usually worth. [More]
Why Can't Microsoft Help Get This Guy's Stolen Xbox Live Account Back?
By 9.25.09
Erik has been patiently trying to get his stolen Xbox Live account back for a month and a half now, but all Microsoft has done to help is lie and fail to follow up on phone calls or emails. Oh, and there was that one point where they sent “how to get your account back” instructions to the person who had stolen the account, which sort of defeated the point.
ThankYou Network Announces Changes To Its Rewards Program
By 2.25.09
What’s going to happen with Citibank’s ThankYou Network on March 1st? Is Vikram Pandit going to convert all of your points into executive bonuses? Will it be nationalized?!? Um, no, but here’s a copy of the letter one of our readers received today announcing the changes that are going in place next week.
'My Coke Rewards' Program Grows Authentically Smaller, Less Rewarding
By 2.3.09
If you have a large number of points you better use them in the next few weeks, or be content with getting a large amount of Coke-branded clothing.
More Changes To United Airlines Frequent Flier Program
By 11.5.08
Could this be a sign of thawing in the hearts of United Airlines? They announced yesterday that after four months of crediting Mileage Plus members with actual miles flown instead of a minimum of 500, the airline will reinstate the old program for “elite” members.
Best Buy (Accidentally) Announces Yet Another "Elite" Reward Zone Level? "Premier Black?"
By 9.3.08
Reader Andrew forwarded an email he just got from Best Buy letting him know that he now qualified for an even more special fantastic elite reward zone level. One in which he would be granted access to something called a “Premier Black Concierge.” We’re assuming this is like Reward Zone Silver but, more so.
Pepsi & Amazon Won't Fix PepsiStuff Error, Keep Ignoring Customer
By 3.11.08
Jon saved up a bunch of PepsiStuff points and decided to redeem them for an item PepsiStuff is promoting on its website. That’s how these point redemption programs usually work, you see. PepsiStuff.com apparently thinks otherwise—they’ll let you redeem the points for a COBY player (ha ha ha ha), but the Sony alarm clock is just redemption bait. You’re not supposed to actually pick that.
Budget's Free Frequent Flyer Miles Promos Will Cost You
By 3.3.08
Michael writes, ” I was just reserving a budget rental car, and for some reason decided to actually read some of the fine print.” Buried in the text was something called an “FTP Surcharge,” which basically amounts to a participation fee for any frequent flyer promotion they offer their customers.
