We recently received notification that the Points.com site had undergone an upgrade – including a new look and a “community functionality” that includes nearly all the big rewards programs – so we thought it was a good opportunity to bring this review of the site back up to the front page. With more rewards programs included in Points.com now, the number of programs you might be enrolled in that you wouldn’t be able to track from within Points.com is far fewer than it used to be.
Points.com allows users to track, swap, earn, buy, gift, share and redeem miles in one handy location. With loads of participating partners, this can be a huge help. Each partner has their own rules and restrictions, so this works better for some than others.
- Track: All of your (partner) points program balances in one place.
- Swap: Unfortunately, many programs will allow you to swap in but not out. So I could potentially trade my American miles for Priority Club points, but I can’t trade my Priority Club points for American miles. Also, when you swap it is usually at a loss. Like right now I could swap 18,296 American miles for 12,422 Priority Club points. The only reason you’d want to do this is if you REALLY want the swap in miles and you don’t think you’ll ever redeem the swap out miles.
- Earn: Promotions for things like “Earn 2 Mileage Plan miles for every dollar spent at Barnes and Noble.”
- Buy: Buy miles or points up to a certain amount in a given timeframe. Like “Buy [American miles] in increments of 1,000 miles to a yearly maximum of 40,000 miles.”
- Gift: Give your miles away. Works about the same as buy and share.
- Share: Share miles with other people in the same program. For example, share your American miles with up to 3 other AAdvantage member recipients.
- Redeem: Get products or gift cards for hundreds of online retailers in exchange for points and miles.
Airline Participants: Aeroplan®, Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan, American Airlines AAdvantage®, Asia Miles™, British Airways Executive Club, Delta SkyMiles®, Frontier Airlines EarlyReturns®, GlobalPass® Mileage, HawaiianMiles®, Lufthansa Miles & More®, Midwest Airlines Midwest Miles, Northwest WorldPerks®, Scandinavian Airlines EuroBonus, US Airways® Dividend Miles®, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club.
Savings & Hotel Participants: BabyMint, CruisePoints, KidsFutures, NestEggz, Priority Club® Rewards, ReserveAmerica, Starwood Starpoints® and TripRewards®
Frequent Shopper Participants: American Express® Membership Rewards®, assistant™, ChanceRewards™, eBay Anything Points™, e-Rewards, Esso Extra, Gold Points Reward Network Gold Points®, Hbc Rewards, Hotspex, Microsoft™ Points, My Smart Rewards, PhoneHog.com, S&H greenpoints, Starbucks Card Duetto™ Visa® (Canadian Currency), Starbucks Card Duetto™ Visa®(US Currency), Starbucks Card Reload (Canadian Currency), Starbucks Card Reload (US Currency), ValuePoints
Redeem Participants: Too many to list. You’ll have to check the site.
{ 4 comments }
points.come sucks big time. As one other person put it, it’s a great way to turn a dollar into 15 cents. I spent $250 on extra points that I could not use literally 5 mins after purchasing and couldn’t get a refund. As far as I’m concerned, points.com is unethical and shame on the airlines for using them (I’m referring to you USAIR!).
Fur schizle. But most programs like this, and even the online malls run by the airlines, take a little time to post points to your account. The 5 minutes probably just wasn\’t long enough.
Need help, I have American Express points. Open for suggestions; looking for an effecient way to transfer my AE points to my AA, Advantage account? What are the down side?
Thanks,
Tom
Great resources Guy! Thanks for the information and additional resources.
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