Airmiles Armchair Chatter

[Donald - my hero]

Well gang, just got back from my weekly Rexall shop (thanks to @ottawamom for the heads up BTW!) and yes, you can NOT use cash miles right now. A big message pooped up on the screen saying that redemption is not available. My favourite cashier was on and mentioned how scared she was to work this weekend since at noon she had already dealt with at least 10 shoppers who wanted to redeem today! They don't know how long it will be down and haven't been notified if there will be any extension on the offer or not and we both agreed that the poor saps who get stuck on the Airmiles customer service this weekend will be under attack. I would imagine that this will lead to Shell no longer offering redemption towards Gift Cards in the same fashion that PC had to pull out, (not happy since that was the sole reason we did the STB promotion) so I'll be trying to figure out another way to use mine.

The flyer for this weekend clearly states that you need to spend $50.00 to get the $10.00 giftcard and if you use $30.00 worth of cash miles to make that purchase you will get the bonus 100 AM and THIS is where the problem will arise this weekend if they don't get the system fixed because how can you earn the bonus if you can't spend the cash miles

To answer the question about the gift cards/coupons counting towards sale totals at Rexall that @AngelDisney and @ttaylorcan were discussing, it really depends on your local store. Mine have NEVER allowed me to use any coupons and have them apply before the tax meaning i would need to purchase enough to have my total match that -- so if i use the $5.00 survey coupon i would need to spend $55.00 this weekend, same applies for manufacturer coupons. HOWEVER, gift-cards are applied after tax is applied since it is used as a method of payment.

So my sales today?
1) Spent $50.38 on vitamins and earned 152 AM
2) Spent $46.19 on "stuff" and earned 93 AM
Total score for my 40 minute shop (YES it did take that long, don't judge ) spent $96.57 and earned 245 Am not half-bad

 

[Donald - my hero]

***Heads Up gang** if you haven't already done this you should really Lock your Cash Account to protect what you've earned. It is simply too easy for anyone to use them, all you need to do is swipe the card (when the system is up and running again) and ask to use them -- no PIN or ID needed.

 

[ottawamom]

Add to @Donald - my hero message, tell those you know who have AM and may not read this thread or the AM site regularly that they should also lock their accounts. When I got home today I called my FIL and a girlfriends husband and told them both to lock their accounts. They would have had no idea any of this was happening.

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

Ironically, I just locked both of our accounts on Monday.

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

I just posted this on my FB page for my friends and family...

 

[ottawamom]

I wasn't aware you could lock your Dream miles. I learned something new today!

Correct me if I'm wrong. It is automatically locked each and every time I log out of my Airmiles account or is there another way?

 

[ttaylorcan]

Well gang, just got back from my weekly Rexall shop (thanks to @ottawamom for the heads up BTW!) and yes, you can NOT use cash miles right now. A big message pooped up on the screen saying that redemption is not available. My favourite cashier was on and mentioned how scared she was to work this weekend since at noon she had already dealt with at least 10 shoppers who wanted to redeem today! They don't know how long it will be down and haven't been notified if there will be any extension on the offer or not and we both agreed that the poor saps who get stuck on the Airmiles customer service this weekend will be under attack. I would imagine that this will lead to Shell no longer offering redemption towards Gift Cards in the same fashion that PC had to pull out, (not happy since that was the sole reason we did the STB promotion) so I'll be trying to figure out another way to use mine.

The flyer for this weekend clearly states that you need to spend $50.00 to get the $10.00 giftcard and if you use $30.00 worth of cash miles to make that purchase you will get the bonus 100 AM and THIS is where the problem will arise this weekend if they don't get the system fixed because how can you earn the bonus if you can't spend the cash miles

To answer the question about the gift cards/coupons counting towards sale totals at Rexall that @AngelDisney and @ttaylorcan were discussing, it really depends on your local store. Mine have NEVER allowed me to use any coupons and have them apply before the tax meaning i would need to purchase enough to have my total match that -- so if i use the $5.00 survey coupon i would need to spend $55.00 this weekend, same applies for manufacturer coupons. HOWEVER, gift-cards are applied after tax is applied since it is used as a method of payment.

So my sales today?
1) Spent $50.38 on vitamins and earned 152 AM
2) Spent $46.19 on "stuff" and earned 93 AM
Total score for my 40 minute shop (YES it did take that long, don't judge ) spent $96.57 and earned 245 Am not half-bad

Nice shop!

And I totally agree each store may process the gift card offer differently, unless what is acceptable has been set by head office or the computer system. At this point I'm hoping for a good Monday-Thursday offer tomorrow, I'm anticipating the cash miles situation isn't going to be fixed over night.

 

[Donald - my hero]

I wasn't aware you could lock your Dream miles. I learned something new today!

Correct me if I'm wrong. It is automatically locked each and every time I log out of my Airmiles account or is there another way?

not that I'm aware of, but I don't think there is anyway to access your Dream Miles without using your PIN. Even if you call in they will ask for some confirmation of your identity. If you're referring to @ilovetotravel1977 commenting that she locked both of her accounts i *THINK* her family has 2 cards so was referring to locking both Cash Accounts???

You're correct, logging out (or even leaving it logged in for any length of time without actually using the site) will require you to sign in before you do anything --even checking your transaction history will require your PIN

 

[hdrolfe]

I logged into my account and see the message about cash miles. hopefully it doesn't last forever, I do want to actually use them at some point!

I also see the 100 AM for that Sobeys deal, however they aren't added to my total. So I'm not sure what's going on there, I see them in my transactions but it's the same total as last week (dated today). Hopefully the numbers add up tomorrow.

I will be going for some ice cream this weekend! 75 AM even though it's not exactly the best price we do like ice cream

 

[ottawamom]

They must have posted the 100AM from Sobey's just recently because mine weren't there earlier today. Sometimes my total doesn't add up to the items that have been posted. It usually clears itself up within a few hours.

 

[DilEmma]

The AirMiles Cash lock is on CBC
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/air-miles-rewards-program-theft-1.4037632

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

DH and I both got our 100 AM from Sobeys too!

 

[hdrolfe]

You were right, they add up again! Phew... Now if puppy will stop trying to eat my flyers I can actually make a grocery list!

 

[NorthernGrl]

Has anyone ordered tickets recently? I have enough to get a child WDW pass, and would like to grab it while the sale is still on.
On the site, it still says no expiry, but has that changed?

 

[kerreyn]

Has anyone ordered tickets recently? I have enough to get a child WDW pass, and would like to grab it while the sale is still on.
On the site, it still says no expiry, but has that changed?

Disney has extended the Canadian Residents offer until May 20/17. I've ordered 5 x 5 day WDW Canadian Resident passes, and 2 x 2 day Universal passes and will be ordering my third after April 3/17, the day that Airmiles says they're giving gold and onyx members extra discounts. I'm curious to see if we will actually get a discount off the current price (airmiles), or if they'll increase the airmiles needed, and then discount that.

 

[Donald - my hero]

Thought i would keep everyone in the loop -- tried to contact AM via Live Chat --- gave up that thought when i was 9th in line!, then went to FB to see if they had any information posted, nope, nothing there, went to their Twitter feed, again nothing! SO let's go the route of FB messenger (since they claimed they will now offer 24-7 support) they responded within minutes with this super helpful (NOT) answer

 

[pigletto]

Has anyone tried to add days or parkhoppers to the airmiles discounted tickets yet? I still don't know if I will lose the discount upon upgrade. Assuming I will, but haven't seen proof either way.

 

[ottawamom]

Some others have reported being charged $55 for adding hoppers to the discounted tickets but the Canadian discount is still being offered so that may be affecting things. I don't think we'll know the answer to that question until after May 20th for those who aren't planning until visiting until later in the year. I'm going to see if I can upgrade my Airmiles tickets (purchased last summer, not Canadian discount) when I'm there in May. My ideal would be to get the pre Feb 12 value for them and then apply that to a phoned in order for Canadian Discount tickets. I know I won't be able to do this at the ticket windows but I'm hoping maybe GR can work some magic and make it happen. I don't want money back I just want to add hoppers + water parks.

 

[pigletto]

Some others have reported being charged $55 for adding hoppers to the discounted tickets but the Canadian discount is still being offered so that may be affecting things. I don't think we'll know the answer to that question until after May 20th for those who aren't planning until visiting until later in the year. I'm going to see if I can upgrade my Airmiles tickets (purchased last summer, not Canadian discount) when I'm there in May. My ideal would be to get the pre Feb 12 value for them and then apply that to a phoned in order for Canadian Discount tickets. I know I won't be able to do this at the ticket windows but I'm hoping maybe GR can work some magic and make it happen. I don't want money back I just want to add hoppers + water parks.

Thanks Ottawamom.
In one possible scenario for our August trip, we have to get two day tickets for free dining anyway and we would use those, plus the 5 day tickets I have, and there is no additional cost incurred. It's not the best use of two day tickets though and I would ideally save them for another trip.

In the second scenario, I am offsite and then need to bump these five day tickets up to seven days. I don't want to lose the discount, but 5 days of parks on a 10 day trip is disappointing and I would do it to get the extra few days.

Oh how I wish I'd been patient and just saved enough miles for 7 day tickets. I have one I ordered before the Canadian deal so it should be ok. I have two I collected during the Canadian deal. Now for the final one, I will be buying a seven day before the deal ends. So it's not that bad to lose the discount on two tickets by adding days.. but it's still not good.

 

[Sparrow78]

Anyone know if as onyx we can redeem for westjet gift cards?

I was trying to put my miles towards a trip but ended up redeeming for park passes instead. So when the travel people called she said she can take what I have and it doubt be $1650 off the package vacation through westjet vacations. But then I remembered ive got points and a companion fare for the fall too. So I was hoping I can just get a gift certificate and then call westjet myself. Plus she said the package was $3300 but when I go online it's $2950!