Buy AMEX gift cards and earn 3X Alaska Mileage Plan Miles through today 12/29/13 only at the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Shopping Portal.
Details
- AMEX Gift Card denomination may be up to $3000
- Fees apply: $3.95 per card + $8.95 shipping
- “Not eligible on purchases made with coupon or discount codes that are not found on this site. Only eligible on purchase of American Express Gift Cards and American Express Business Gift Cards. Offer is only valid on the purchase fee. Shipping fees will apply.”
The Caveat
Unfortunately, the Alaska Mileage Plan shopping portal, as are virtually all the airline e-shopping portals, is run by Cartera. There have been many reported instances on Flyertalk and elsewhere of people not getting the promised bonus on shopping portals run by Cartera, and getting the run around by Cartera's abysmal “customer service.” So far, on the few occasions I've used Cartera, mainly on the AAdvantage E-Shopping mall, I've received my bonus miles after ~3 weeks. But do take this into account, and if you're a person who doesn't like any risk in bonus miles or points posting, this deal probably isn't for you.
Liquidating AMEX Gift Cards
I will likely use Amazon Payments to liquidate the AMEX gift cards I buy (see Amazon Payments: Cash Out Gift Cards Bought to Meet Minimum Spend), but you can of course simply spend AMEX gift cards anywhere AMEX is accepted, and you may be able to buy other gift cards or Vanilla Reload cards with them (although keep in mind the additional fee for Vanilla Reload cards).
Why Earn More Alaska Miles?
Given the impending United Award Chart Devaluation, other miles, particularly American AAdvantage miles and Alaska miles, are becoming relatively more attractive. Alaska miles can be redeemed on a number of great partners, such as Emirates, Qantas, and Cathay Pacific, as well as British Airways (albeit with fuel surcharges), LAN, Air France / KLM, Korean, American Airlines, and Delta. Also see Alaska Airlines New Online Award Search for Emirates and FAQ
Which Credit Card to Use to Buy AMEX Gift Cards for 3X Alaska Miles?
1. Whichever Credit Card You Need to Meet Minimum Spend on for a Signup Bonus
Likely the best choice to use for earning 3X on AMEX gift cards is whichever new credit card you're working on meeting minimum spend for, in order to receive the signup bonus. Caveat: don't use Citi credit cards, as these usually incur a cash advance fee on AMEX gift card purchases.
2. SPG AMEX: Worth ~2.2 Cents per Point
The other good credit card choice is an SPG AMEX, since most folks value SPG points somewhere between 2 cents to 2.2 cents per SPG point, given that they can be transferred to many different frequent flyer programs with a 25% bonus, if transferred in increments of 20,000 SPG points. So for example, 20K SPG points = 25K Alaska Mileage Plan miles.
Do you plan to buy AMEX gift cards to earn 3X Alaska miles?
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