To the point
With the approach of a rather busy spending period for many, I asked the community whether or not they would take advantage of "Black Friday" and "Cyber Monday" to accumulate points via the airmilesshops and Aeroplan netBoutique portals. And what did they say?
A reminder of common sense
milesopedia names it right off the bat and repeatedly throughout its site:
The accumulation of points must be based on real needs. We don’t create them for ourselves.
milesopedia
At no time is it suggested that we purchase products or services that we do not need in order to increase our mileage and points. We would quickly lose out. At most, we can advance expenses, such as a phone account to unlock a bonus.
The site provides a variety of strategies to turn legitimate spending into profitable points so we can travel. This is what brings us together; we want to travel better and save money…
That said, the perception of needs differs from one individual to another. So is the budget and the ability to resist the siren calls. The declination of the accumulation actions varies according to the values of each member and it is necessary to note that we are definitely a heterogeneous group in this respect.
So much the better: no one will be able to claim to have THE right answer.
milesopedia community and shopping
The October 6 thread that generated 111 comments about our impact as travelers on the environment highlighted our differences.
And the one on November 9 on online shopping as part of “Black Friday” and “Cyber Monday” further highlighted the range of positions of the “milesopedian gender”.
So what kind of consumers are we to meet our needs as frequent and short travelers?
Unquestionably there are members in our club:
- more adventurous than others in their choice of strategies to generate points
- more affluent than others to participate in the offers that are coming from all over in November and December
- more committed than others in their social involvement, for example minimalism.
Different consumer profiles
There are those who are horrified by the idea of going shopping with the crowd. These members will happily buy online from portals that generate the coveted points and have the boxes or envelopes that make them happy delivered to their homes. The Amazon delivery man is their friend.
They are excellent strategy seekers: double and triple dipping are theirs. In their group, some have been compiling purchases for weeks and waiting for “THE” sale. Their Christmas shopping will be finished the day after Crazy Monday.
They will spend the rest of the time monitoring the deposit of points into their accounts. They will then proudly post a photo of the winnings online.
There are also members who will be buying over the American Thanksgiving weekend but not in preparation for the upcoming holidays. But rather becausethey need the item right now and my goodness, the promotions come at a good time. Who knows, they may be found at The Bay on December 24th, looking for the gift for the person they picked in November. The file is to be followed.
Then there are those who will also take advantage of the sales but not on the portals known as travel point multipliers Champions and champions of great deals that are more suited to their consumer profile, they will simply accumulate their points with the card used. So much for the Aeroplan NetShop and Airmilesshops.
Among them, some are close to the eco-responsible movement and one of them confided to us that she had never used her Cobalt to buy gift cards! That says a lot!
These members will first try to encourage the local economy and find what they need in their neighborhood and/or in a recycled goods store. They will allow themselves to complete if necessary with the sales on the portals. After all, if they tend towards minimalism they still want to travel better and save money.
Some add that they are tired of the material and prefer to experiment and go out. No matter what, they will relax in a SPA or the family will have both feet in the warm sand at Christmas.
Along with them are a few soldiers in their 40s and up who are influenced by their children who are aware of the cause and join the fray of the three Rs:
- Refuse
- Reduce
- Reuse
And finally, closing the procession, there are those who seem to have no need to buy anything. Ditto Black Friday and Mad Monday shopping. They are free of it and do not stop traveling for all that.
What can we conclude about the types of Milesopedian consumers?
That we won’t find them lining up in the cold on Crazy Friday night in front of electronics stores like the horde of tourists that invades some popular destinations. They will have taken advantage of the online sales for this type of purchases paying in travel points.
Secondly, that despite their differences, they are hopefully part of the 50% who do not incur interest charges following a partial payment of their credit card balance. If they follow milesopedia’s recommendations, they actually pay their entire balance each month.
Personally, I was very happy with the 16,000 Aeroplan miles I received during the July 10x Apple promotion on the Netboutique.
And I would love to do it again on my way to accumulating the 160,000 Aeroplan miles required for my next mini-tour of the world. However, my budget is not bottomless, my needs are limited and I will have to choose my promotions.
Good accumulation of points dear milesopedians!
Come to discuss that topic in our Facebook Group!
