Airmiles Armchair Chatter

Hi All. Needing some assistance please with Airmiles as well as ideas on options. I neglected to read the fine print on using Westjet dollars for flights. Hadn’t realized that you can’t use them for taxes and fees, and now find myself looking for ways to make up a $550 out of pocket when I was banking on an entire itinerary being covered with WJ$. It throws my whole budget off and I refuse to proceed with booking until I can “feel better” about the out of pocket expense.

The plan was Disneyland this Sept (already have Halloween party tickets) and I was using my AM to redeem for park tickets. My initial thought was to use the leftover AM on my account to redeem for WJ travel vouchers though I don’t see them offered. Live chat said the same. I’m Onyx, so maybe I’ll send an email tomorrow for a final answer unless any of you know for sure. My excess AM are in dream, and I don’t have any in cash right now.

I use the PC Optimum points system as well and have cleared my account for Disney GC’s to cover our food and souvenirs for the 6 day trip. Our out of pocket was going to be the hotel and transportation only. For reasons I won’t explain, the $550 places us to question going at all. It’s not our first trip but the family time is very much needed.

Of course I prefer to have the cash prior to the trip, though I would certainly entertain any ideas that would help to pay off the credit card debt soon after. The only other option I see for savings is to reduce the trip by one day, which I estimate will save $325. We’ve done a trip in 5 days before and can definitely make it work this time too.

Thanks in advance. Any and all replies to my plea are welcomed.
 


I'm sorry to tell you this but, as you've discovered, you can't use airmiles to cover the cost of taxes and fees on flights. The only way this is possible is if you have the highest level of AMEX airmiles credit card. All you're able to do is book the flights you can see online.

being ONYX doesn't give you any options for this either, only thing that's *supposed* to give us is more flight choices but I haven't ever noticed this so there's no reason to try to contact them about that. Personal shoppers can only get you tangible things, no travel related rewards unfortunately. Only things that are available to be bought in Canada, in Canadian funds.

I don't have any suggestions for the credit card debt, maybe others will be able to help. I just wanted to save you the trouble of contacting airmiles again for nothing. Again, I'm sooo sorry you aren't able to redeem your miles as you planned
 
Yep - the taxes & fees & travel insurance (if you take them up on it) are a real stinger.

If you have AM cash or PC optimum points you can use instead of paying for your groceries that's the way I would balance the extra $550 cost but of course that's if you have it already / can earn that in the meantime.

I totally get not wanting to spend money you don't have right now. I'm trying to be very budget concious right now. (Always am, but gotta be more than usual these days!)
 
Did the AM show on your receipt when you purchased the Foodland GC?

I purchased several gift cards at Foodland yesterday in Van Kleek Hill. All separate transactions, not one transaction showing the Airmiles. There is a reference to a marketing promo 6. Not sure why all these stores can’t all just show the miles. Do we have to wait 120 days to chase them down?
 


Hi All. Needing some assistance please with Airmiles as well as ideas on options. I neglected to read the fine print on using Westjet dollars for flights. Hadn’t realized that you can’t use them for taxes and fees, and now find myself looking for ways to make up a $550 out of pocket when I was banking on an entire itinerary being covered with WJ$. It throws my whole budget off and I refuse to proceed with booking until I can “feel better” about the out of pocket expense.

The plan was Disneyland this Sept (already have Halloween party tickets) and I was using my AM to redeem for park tickets. My initial thought was to use the leftover AM on my account to redeem for WJ travel vouchers though I don’t see them offered. Live chat said the same. I’m Onyx, so maybe I’ll send an email tomorrow for a final answer unless any of you know for sure. My excess AM are in dream, and I don’t have any in cash right now.

I use the PC Optimum points system as well and have cleared my account for Disney GC’s to cover our food and souvenirs for the 6 day trip. Our out of pocket was going to be the hotel and transportation only. For reasons I won’t explain, the $550 places us to question going at all. It’s not our first trip but the family time is very much needed.

Of course I prefer to have the cash prior to the trip, though I would certainly entertain any ideas that would help to pay off the credit card debt soon after. The only other option I see for savings is to reduce the trip by one day, which I estimate will save $325. We’ve done a trip in 5 days before and can definitely make it work this time too.

Thanks in advance. Any and all replies to my plea are welcomed.
Are you renting a car? Can you use airmiles for that, or the hotel? Did you get the Halloween party tickets via airmiles? If not, can you and cancel the ones you have?

I have never use westjet $ for flights but I know on airmiles sometimes different flights have different taxes/fees. Or use westjet $ one way and airmiles the other? I have done one way flights when I dont have enough points for round trip.

Good luck
 
I purchased several gift cards at Foodland yesterday in Van Kleek Hill. All separate transactions, not one transaction showing the Airmiles. There is a reference to a marketing promo 6. Not sure why all these stores can’t all just show the miles. Do we have to wait 120 days to chase them down?
urgh! I hate the gift card promos that are attached to these large promos, they rarely work smoothly!!! Here's your answer that I know you won't be happy about, since there's no big miles to be collected at the end there's no way you'll be able to track them down earlier unless you luck in with one of the agents who are also long time active collectors 😔
Screenshot_20190809-081508_Chrome.jpgScreenshot_20190809-081817_Chrome.jpg
 
No, but I did get the luggage tag when they sent those out. Was there a promo or offer involved also? I can’t remember.
I don't remember if we used any of the offers that came with that ridiculous luggage tag or not. I'm thinking maybe there was one connected to online shopping since that's where the bonus is posting from 🤔
I'll look closer at the stuff if I kept any! I'm not expecting a 50 bonus but on the lookout for 100 from booking a hotel in May that I can chase down on the 14th

I redeemed some cash miles last night for an ecard for sobey's, got the confirmation email, miles are gone but no e voucher yet, almost 12 hours now 🤬 I was planning on using it this morning while I'm in Toronto to get some milk for my bus ride home!!! Luckily I have a couple of toonies tucked into my emergency pocket in my backpack! Guess I need to track that down when I get home
 
Hi All. Needing some assistance please with Airmiles as well as ideas on options. I neglected to read the fine print on using Westjet dollars for flights. Hadn’t realized that you can’t use them for taxes and fees, and now find myself looking for ways to make up a $550 out of pocket when I was banking on an entire itinerary being covered with WJ$. It throws my whole budget off and I refuse to proceed with booking until I can “feel better” about the out of pocket expense.

The plan was Disneyland this Sept (already have Halloween party tickets) and I was using my AM to redeem for park tickets. My initial thought was to use the leftover AM on my account to redeem for WJ travel vouchers though I don’t see them offered. Live chat said the same. I’m Onyx, so maybe I’ll send an email tomorrow for a final answer unless any of you know for sure. My excess AM are in dream, and I don’t have any in cash right now.

I use the PC Optimum points system as well and have cleared my account for Disney GC’s to cover our food and souvenirs for the 6 day trip. Our out of pocket was going to be the hotel and transportation only. For reasons I won’t explain, the $550 places us to question going at all. It’s not our first trip but the family time is very much needed.

Of course I prefer to have the cash prior to the trip, though I would certainly entertain any ideas that would help to pay off the credit card debt soon after. The only other option I see for savings is to reduce the trip by one day, which I estimate will save $325. We’ve done a trip in 5 days before and can definitely make it work this time too.

Thanks in advance. Any and all replies to my plea are welcomed.
I don't see that you have really any choices here. You've used your PC Opt and you have no AM cash miles...only dream. Unless you can earn a ton of PC Opt between now and the trip.....to be able to pay for groceries and then bank the cash you would have spent. If you can't cover the $550 that way and that money is so significant then I think you have to reduce the number of days.

You said the family time is much needed. So what is that worth? Is it worth putting that $550 on a credit card for a little while? Personally, my answer would be yes. However, I know that I can pay that back without worry....if I couldn't I wouldn't be travelling at all. A lot of unexpected things can happen on a vacation and you have to have money. This I know first hand.
 
I purchased several gift cards at Foodland yesterday in Van Kleek Hill. All separate transactions, not one transaction showing the Airmiles. There is a reference to a marketing promo 6. Not sure why all these stores can’t all just show the miles. Do we have to wait 120 days to chase them down?

I checked my receipts. It shows the "Marketing Promo 6 $0.00 C" and right under that it says "BTS Gift Card Offer 100 Miles" Then each receipt has a box titled Air Miles showing part of my card number, the total miles earned 100 and then my AM balances. I don't know why your receipt doesn't show the air miles. Hopefully they will post in your account next week.

Are you renting a car? Can you use airmiles for that, or the hotel? Did you get the Halloween party tickets via airmiles? If not, can you and cancel the ones you have?

That's a great idea. You (Baby Ninja) should totally look into seeing if you can cancel the Halloween tickets and repurchase them through the Onyx system. For a general idea of cost, I ordered 2 MNSSHP tickets (adult tickets $79 US each) and paid 2,400 miles.
 
I decided to try Facebook messenger to track down my sSobeys voucher. I'm not overly excited about the answer, even if I did get 25 miles for the inconvenience. Makes me nervous to try this again, they sure took my miles fast enough but I don't have my reward! I don't think we should constantly need to police their work.
Screenshot_20190809-102738_Messenger.jpg
 
I decided to try Facebook messenger to track down my sSobeys voucher. I'm not overly excited about the answer, even if I did get 25 miles for the inconvenience. Makes me nervous to try this again, they sure took my miles fast enough but I don't have my reward! I don't think we should constantly need to police their work.
View attachment 424162

Hi J
I just checked and when I click on my transaction for the e vouchers in my view transaction list it takes me to a page where I can see all the things I've redeemed for. It gives me the option to re send the evoucher.
Not sure if any of that helps. Sorry you are waiting
Hugs
Mel
 
Hi J
I just checked and when I click on my transaction for the e vouchers in my view transaction list it takes me to a page where I can see all the things I've redeemed for. It gives me the option to re send the evoucher.
Not sure if any of that helps. Sorry you are waiting
Hugs
Mel
yeah, I saw that last night and tried it in Chrome, firefox and on my phone, and just now again on my phone, this is the message I get, not sure if it's big enough for you to read but basically says I'm sol

Screenshot_20190809-120238_Chrome.jpg
 
I'm sorry to tell you this but, as you've discovered, you can't use airmiles to cover the cost of taxes and fees on flights. The only way this is possible is if you have the highest level of AMEX airmiles credit card. All you're able to do is book the flights you can see online.

being ONYX doesn't give you any options for this either, only thing that's *supposed* to give us is more flight choices but I haven't ever noticed this so there's no reason to try to contact them about that. Personal shoppers can only get you tangible things, no travel related rewards unfortunately. Only things that are available to be bought in Canada, in Canadian funds.

I don't have any suggestions for the credit card debt, maybe others will be able to help. I just wanted to save you the trouble of contacting airmiles again for nothing. Again, I'm sooo sorry you aren't able to redeem your miles as you planned

Thank you. Thought perhaps I could somehow redeem AM for a WJ travel voucher. Could have sworn I seen these available before, but things on the site change without notice all the time. Boo.

Yep - the taxes & fees & travel insurance (if you take them up on it) are a real stinger.

If you have AM cash or PC optimum points you can use instead of paying for your groceries that's the way I would balance the extra $550 cost but of course that's if you have it already / can earn that in the meantime.

I totally get not wanting to spend money you don't have right now. I'm trying to be very budget concious right now. (Always am, but gotta be more than usual these days!)
With the intended date of travel 6 weeks away, I still do have time to make up the cash. Just trying to do the responsible thing and have the money in my hands before the intended departure.
Are you renting a car? Can you use airmiles for that, or the hotel? Did you get the Halloween party tickets via airmiles? If not, can you and cancel the ones you have?

I have never use westjet $ for flights but I know on airmiles sometimes different flights have different taxes/fees. Or use westjet $ one way and airmiles the other? I have done one way flights when I dont have enough points for round trip.

Good luck
No, not renting a car. We use Supershuttle to/from airport. Less hassle for us, and estimated at $120 CAD for us to use. Halloween tickets are already paid, in hand. Still wishing to use the AM for park tickets because using AM for flights would require us to still pay for taxes and fees. I believe I'd be out more cash if I did it that way because I'd have to pay for park tickets.
I don't see that you have really any choices here. You've used your PC Opt and you have no AM cash miles...only dream. Unless you can earn a ton of PC Opt between now and the trip.....to be able to pay for groceries and then bank the cash you would have spent. If you can't cover the $550 that way and that money is so significant then I think you have to reduce the number of days.

You said the family time is much needed. So what is that worth? Is it worth putting that $550 on a credit card for a little while? Personally, my answer would be yes. However, I know that I can pay that back without worry....if I couldn't I wouldn't be travelling at all. A lot of unexpected things can happen on a vacation and you have to have money. This I know first hand.
I certainly do agree with you. $500 shouldn't be a huge deal breaker, and as I mentioned above, there is 6 weeks to the intended travel date. That's enough time for me to purge my house and see what some unused stuff might be worth to someone. But, you do make another point. Having a contingency plan/fund is essential and I too know this first hand. Last trip to WDW the airline misplaced my luggage and I was forced to replace my essentials for 4 days, and it took 2 months to get reimbursed.

Still lots to think about, and unless both hubby and I are in agreement about the charted course, we are on hold. I truly appreciate you taking the time to post. It means a lot.
 
Yesterday when shopping at Sobeys one of *My Offers* didn't post so I phone contacted them and they graciously added the missing 15 airmiles.
In the process they must have added all of *My Offers* to my loaded section because:

This morning when buying a $200.00 Sobeys card I received not just the 100 airmiles but a *My Offers spend 150.00 get 65 airmiles!!!That has never happened for me because the T&C say you can't earn miles on Gift card purchases but hey I'm not complaining.Instead of picking and choosing I think I'll load them all from now on.

All of the $200.00 bought today were *exchanged* for 8x 25.00 Shell gas cards.
I also noticed that clorox bleach was buy 3 = 20 bonus airmiles which I picked up.

Hugs
Mel
 
This morning when buying a $200.00 Sobeys card I received not just the 100 airmiles but a *My Offers spend 150.00 get 65 airmiles!!!That has never happened for me because the T&C say you can't earn miles on Gift card purchases but hey I'm not complaining.Instead of picking and choosing I think I'll load them all from now on.

That might have been a glitch. I load those threshold offers every week and I've never had it redeem when just buying gift cards...
 
Yesterday when shopping at Sobeys one of *My Offers* didn't post so I phone contacted them and they graciously added the missing 15 airmiles.
In the process they must have added all of *My Offers* to my loaded section because:

This morning when buying a $200.00 Sobeys card I received not just the 100 airmiles but a *My Offers spend 150.00 get 65 airmiles!!!That has never happened for me because the T&C say you can't earn miles on Gift card purchases but hey I'm not complaining.Instead of picking and choosing I think I'll load them all from now on.

All of the $200.00 bought today were *exchanged* for 8x 25.00 Shell gas cards.
I also noticed that clorox bleach was buy 3 = 20 bonus airmiles which I picked up.

Hugs
Mel

I always load them all whether I plan to use them or not, just in case I happen to use it anyways.
 

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