air miles gold and onyx -- a quick review

recently, air miles came out with a new top tier above their current gold level.

air miles gold
requirements:

• 1,000 air miles earned throughout the calendar year. they no longer stipulate a 5-partner minimum

benefit:

air miles onyx
requirement

• 6,000 air miles earned throughout the calendar year

benefits:

the analysis of the benefits:
priority call centre: 
i remember being a gold member for many years in row, and i never really made use of the priority call center. i can't imagine the priority call center would be any more helpful now than it was back then.

the merchandise:
this is certainly not the best choice for rewards. i took a quick look at what was available:

• a garmin nuvi 2557 LMT north american edition gps system can be purchased at amazon.ca for $189.95, or $212.744 after tax. or, you could redeem 2300 air miles. this would give each air mile a value of 9.25 cents.
• an electrolux access T8 bagless canister vacuum can be purchased at bestbuy.ca for $249.99, or $279.99 after tax. or, you could redeem 2400 air miles. this would give each air mile a value of 11.67 cents.
• a nikon coolpix s6800 digital camera can be purchased at bestbuy.ca for $199.99, or $223.99 after tax. or, you could redeem 2050 air miles as a gold member (regularly 2450 as a regular member). this would give each air mile a value of 10.93 cents
• there are currently no onyx specials that are specifically for onyx members

i can't imagine the "special order" rewards to be of a better value than what they currently offer.

flights:
these are typically the best value, even for non-elite members. for economy flights, these are usually better than aeroplan as availability is often much better. for a dummy booking between vancouver and calgary next month shows this:

air miles

same flights on westjet

for the same flight, you can spend 1500 air miles to save $223.65. this makes each air mile worth 14.91 cents. (of note, they recently increased their redemption rates -- it used to only cost 1200 air miles during the high season).

currently, for air miles gold and onyx members, you can save 30% and 40%, respectively on air canada and westjet flights on certain routes between september 9, 2014 and december 14, 2014. vancouver to calgary is one of those routes. if you were a gold or onyx member, you'd only need to spend 1050 or 900 airmiles, respectively. this makes each air mile worth 21.3 cents and 24.85 cents, respectively.

these sales used to be available to regular members in the past too, but it looks like it's only reserved for gold and onyx members now.

overall:
if you're willing to use your air miles only for flights, then the jump leap to gold may be worth it. it may not, however, be worth it to jump for onyx as the incremental value achieved over gold is too small given the huge leap in qualification requirements from regular gold status.

25 free air miles with sobey's

in june 2013, sobey's, an aeroplan partner, acquired safeway, an air miles partner. back in june, sobey's and aeroplan announced that for its non-ontario stores, their partnership would end on september 11, 2014.

what i didn't see at the time was that sobey's would now be partnering with air miles, a partnership that safeway has had for quite some time now. and until september 11, 2014, you can get 25 free air miles by simply linking your sobey's account with air miles account.

sobey's hasn't been a major part of my life in british columbia -- they don't really have a good presence here in vancouver (i don't know if you can earn points at IGA, which is owned by sobey's). but, i did have a card hanging around from when i lived in calgary. and so now, i'm going to find myself with 25 free air miles.

as a side note, you get 1 club sobey's point for every dollar spent, and 14 club sobey's points is equal to 1 air mile. this is a better proposition than safeway's $20 spend for 1 air mile.

links from the web -- US News' rankings of hotel and airline programs, airmiles onyx, united app changes, american frequent flyer non-changes

1) gary from view from the wing breaks analyzes the results of the US News' rankings of hotel and airline points programs. i agreed that they are flawed, and he takes a look at the actual score breakdown. for both, it seems like the majority of the points go directly to domestic travel, how large the domestic network is, and how big their presence is in various american cities. it says little about upgrades and bonus perks, amenities, the ability to earn top tier, etc. i think it's important to look at the finer details of how they come up with these rankings. some people buy into these rankings, and i'd hate for people to be misled.

2) airmiles announces a new level in their earnings program as reported on flyertalk. the official website from airmiles is here. to reach this new level, one requires 6,000 airmiles a year. i find it hard to even get myself excited about reaching airmiles gold. when i was airmiles gold, i didn't really take advantage of the 40-50% off reward miles for flights because they were only between odd destinations (prince george to regina, for example), or were only valid for times in the very near future (e.g., how often does one begin to plan a trip to europe 3-4 weeks before actual expected departure date?). i'll probably do a more thorough review in a bit.

3) despite delta and united transitioning to a revenue based frequent flyer program, american airlines has noted that it will not make that transition yet. they still have to merge their programs first, which is expected to start sometime in 2015.

4) united is set to start allowing passengers to check in and scan their travel documents using their mobile app. i've downloaded the latest update but haven't had time to try this out. as someone who definitely flies internationally on united, this is something that would help me to avoid the kiosks at airports.

links from the web: 10 free airmiles, 100 free hyatt points, aeroplan decreasing earnings on united flights

1) taken from smart canucks, you can fill in this 5-question survey re: transportation options in the greater toronto area for 10 airmiles. this is limited to the first 12,000 respondents. it's easy and probably not intended for everyone to do, but i couldn't say no to a freebie. the direct link is here.

2) from view from the wing, hyatt is offering a free 100 points to celebrate chinese new year. the direct link is here. it's good until february 15, 2014.

3) canadian kilometers notes that aeroplan has now decreased the number of miles earned on united flights. united flights used to earn at least 100% across all fare classes, but effective april 1, 2014, the cheapest fares go down to 50%. on the upside, those who are willing to spend money on the more expensive classes and products (including business and first) will receive higher earning rates. the net impact for me: future possibilities of earning status on air canada just became that much harder. the most important thing is that asiana doesn't follow suit. at the time of writing, so far, they haven't.

links from the web: killed over baggage, 15 bonus airmiles, neat in flight safety demos, delta's mistake fares

1. from flyertalk which references a link from abc, a turkish airlines employee was stabbed and subsequently killed by a passenger over a luggage dispute. you can be irritated at having your luggage lost, but i'm sure that killing someone crosses a line somewhere ...
2. wpgpoints on the flyertalk says that you can earn 15 air miles for "liking" the heart and stroke foundation on facebook. this is for the first 10,500 people only. link is here.
3. view from the wing writes about the inflight safety demo, "t'was the flight before christmas", and links a youtube video as proof.
4. my friend's friend managed to book a super low, mistake fare to hawaii from portland on delta airlines on boxing day. i think overall, he paid $90.30 all in for a business class return flight. granted it had some awful connections, but i'm sure he will manage. delta has said that they will honor those tickets. my friend and i mused that someone at delta probably just lost their job ...