Boost Your Airmiles Discussion Area

[MSE Andrea]

This thread is specifically to discuss ways to boost collecting and using your Airmiles as discussed in the

Loyalty Cards Article

You can also join in a Loyalty Card article discussion plus discussions about boosting your Tesco Clubcard points , Nectar points and Boots Advantage Card points.

To discuss or ask a question about the article: click reply

[orvilleduck]

A few years ago I opened up an online betting account with Ladbrokes for a free bet offer they had. I quickly noticed that you could pay in funds using your credit card - but withdraw them to your bank account. What's more, there was no obligation to bet with the money you paid in. To test the water I started with a low amount:
1. I paid in £25 using my Natwest credit card.
2. Without placing a bet, I immediatly withdrew the £25 to my current account
3. From my current account I paid my credit card off in full.

I checked with Natwest and they treated the transaction as a purchase (not a costly cash-withdrawal) so, I’d effectively gained an Airmiles for free.

I started doing this with increasing amounts: £100, £100 and £1000 at a time - until I was putting through £2000 in each transaction. Admittedly, I was being phoned by Natwest's security deptartment every time I made a large transaction but Ladbrokes didn't seem to mind - as I was putting a few £1 bets on here and there.

I then applied for other credit cards in the Airmiles scheme and opened more Ladbrokes accounts: one for my Tesco Card and one for my Airmiles card whilst retaining the Natwest Card. I could complete the "transfer circle" three times a month for each card so I was moving around thousands of pounds worth of cash, and accumulating all the Airmiles!!! I was getting about 800 Airmiles a month! What's more, as I was paying off my card in full each time the credit limit on my cards went up and up and up!

Would this have made my credit "rating" better????

This all had to stop however, when new money laundering regulations came in. This put the emphasis on bookies to account for each transaction. Although I wasn't doing anything illegal It must have looked pretty dodgy from their point of view (and costly as they'd have had to pay a percentage of each transaction!) and they (quite rightly) told me to take my "business" elsewhere.

I haven't yet spent my Airmiles - but I’ve now got enough for a holiday in Sydney!

So, there are loopholes out there to be exploited!
Has anyone else got any other schemes like this up their sleeves?

[quoia]

Every now and then you will see a new £5 coin being released by the Royal Mint and often they will be advertised in the newspapers where you can "buy" them. They can usually be bought at face value, ie £5 for £5 with FREE P&P - sadly there seems to be a maximum of 3 (or similar) available per person/application. (This might actually have been because of ME !)

Some years ago the form just had a quantity box and no mention of a maximum limit.

I ordered 1000 coins and duly £5000 appeared on my NatWest credit card.
A few days later I received a card from DHL or similar regards collecting a package.
I went and was presented with 2 large (ish) wooden boxes (20" x 10" x 8" I'd guess) each weighing about the same as a sack of potaoes (25kg?)
They were full of coins - 1000 £5 "Jubilee crowns" (or some other such "commemorative" issue)

Anyway I took most them in quantities of about 100 to 200 to a few branches of my bank (NatWest) that I passed on my way to work and paid them into my current account.
I thought paying them all in in one go might raise an eyebrow.
The last 200 (£1000) was actually used at a Citroen dealership as part payment for a car I had just decided to buy. The salesman was very happy to accept them.

I would have repeated the process but I'm sure the maximum quantity appeared shortly afterwards. I've often wondered how much the P&P would have cost, not forgetting the percentage on £5000 for the CC payment

[jackylawson]

If you book a scheduled flight using Air Miles to pay for it you should always register with the airline's Frequent Flyer programme because you can claim the mileage used on the ticket you bought via Air Miles to build up points on the Frequent Flyer Programme. I've used Air Miles to buy KLM tickets to Istanbul and now have enough Frequent Flyer Miles with KLM for a free european flight.

[desperado]

If you're a Virgin frequent flyer you can boost your airmiles by 5000 by depositing $20 and playing fifty hands;

http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/en/gb...irgingames.jsp

All you have to do is play the blinds and fold the rest. Games are from 25p a go.

[rayfuzz]

My apologies if I am repeating another post but I have been told by Nat West that they are no longer doing airmiles with their credit card. Main reason why I swapped to Morgan Stanley and their cash back offer.:rolleyes:

[quoia]

Originally Posted by rayfuzz

....................... I have been told by Nat West that they are no longer doing airmiles with their credit card...................

Well I'm still getting them and only today I received some mail from NW that referred to the scheme.

Also just looked at their website - still says "can collect Airmiles as you spend "

http://www.natwest.com/personal02a.a...Y/CREDIT_CARDS

[rayfuzz]

Sorry quoia, just re read letter dated May 2006 definitely says ' From the day after your June 2006 statement we will no longer be issuing Airmiles for purchases made with your NatWest Card' may be different rules for different cards.:confused:

[searcher30]

has anyone ever got their airmiles through the company called Dabs?
i ordered a digital camera a year or so ago but they never credited me with the airmiles ( i think now they no longer give points). I wrote in about it but i have never had a reply. has anyone any experience of them ? and what i could do? thanks in advance

[Simon300]

Originally Posted by searcher30

has anyone ever got their airmiles through the company called Dabs?

Yes, I did but it was towards the end of 2004. It was a bit of a nightmare too and I had to phone Dabs up a few times to get them sorted.

As you say Dabs don't offer AirMiles or any other loyalty scheme now. Dabs.com is often quite cheap but there is no customer service for general customers any more - you can't contact them by phone or email. You pays your money (or not) and you takes your choice

I think you'll have to write off those miles now - Dabs almost certainly won't have any means of issuing airmiles any more so the best you could hope for would be some sort of discount voucher (if you manage to get a response at all).

[jnd]

If anyone wants 30 Airmiles (not a lot, I know, but it all helps) and you aren't a BAA Worldpoints member already, I've posted some details on the referrer's board http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/....html?t=224307

[Fifi]

Does any one know for sure whether Worldpoints convert to Airmiles, not only Virgin or BMI Diamond Airmiles?

[jnd]

Originally Posted by Fifi

Does any one know for sure whether Worldpoints convert to Airmiles, not only Virgin or BMI Diamond Airmiles?

Yes, 500 BAA Worldpoints can be converted as follows:

30 Airmiles
500 Virgin Points
750 BMI Diamond Club Points

[rosieparry]

The Airmiles new online shopping scheme is well worth looking at. All you need to do is register on the airmiles website and go to the online shopping section. There are loads of high street shops, department stores, insurance companies who you can buy from eg John Lewis, Boden, Admiral Insurance etc etc and it's mostly 1 mile for every £2 spent, though some are 1 mile per £5.

It's a great way to shop from home, get airmiles from great shops (that don't reward airmiles instore), save yourself all the hassle of walking round the shops and get some kind of holiday/flight reward at the end.

[lily the pink]

Although I think Airmiles are a bit of a waste of space, in the last year I managed to redeem

3 adult fares on London Eye
Adult ticket for Legoland

This was through Southern Electric points and through haphazard buying of the Times during the Airmile promotions.

[zia]

Originally Posted by jnd

Yes, 500 BAA Worldpoints can be converted as follows:

30 Airmiles
500 Virgin Points
750 BMI Diamond Club Points

750 BMI points??? Hmmm...I am not sure about this...too good to be true...

[jnd]

Originally Posted by zia

750 BMI points??? Hmmm...I am not sure about this...too good to be true...

Why would I lie? Scroll down the rewards page on the BAA Worldpoints website to the 500 point reward chart and see for yourself.

http://www.baa.com/portal/controller...00147e120a____

[timhorner]

which is the best credit card for getting airmiles whilst purchasinf fuel?
Is there a stright comparrison betwen say airmiles card,shell, tesco?

[BaritoneUK]

The article on boosting airmiles is now out of date. The link for the BAA credit card doesn't work. Does anyone else know if they have stopped doing it now?

Also with the airmiles credit card although you do get 200 free miles for joining you have to spend a whopping £2000 in the first 3 months to get the extra 300. Not so good.

[hedge2004]

Can't believe it, I use that card to boost my miles. Was saving for a holiday for me and my girlfriend. Dose anyone think I can phone up and threaten to cancel my card to try and get extra points out of them!!!